Who goes when making room for prospects on the 26-man?

[mikelink45]

15 hours ago, Danchat said:

Martin is not on the 40 man, as he does not need to be protected until December 2023. He was drafted in 2020, so there’s no need to have him on the 40 man at this moment.

I corrected my list, but he might be one we are cutting a player for if he performs as well as we hope.  He could sky rocket to the majors before the time he must be added - the good ones often do.

[Major League Ready]

Nobody!  Maeda and Enlow will be on the 60 day before Miranda / Martin or Celestini will be added.  They could add 3 more before it becomes any issue at all.   They probably will add 3 and the others will come up when an injury creates an opening.  As the season wears on, we hopefully see a situation where Miranda / Martin and Celestino force the issue with good play regardless of injury.  In that case, the FO will have had a couple months of play to determine if they want to part with Rooker / Gordon.  A trade of Arraez / Kepler / Donaldson or even Garver could also make room at some point in the season.  

The pitching staff is going to be a merry go round.  Guys will get auditioned.  Some will stay and some will go back down.   This won’t create a roster problem unless the young guys do exceptionally well and wouldn’t we love it to become a problem.
 

[stringer bell]

19 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Yes - I mean gone completely.  Basically making room for the next SS or any other move the team makes. 

Okay, Rooker vs. Larnach--Larnach is two and a half years younger and IIRC, he was minor league player of the year in 2019. Yeah, he was brutal last year--he probably shouldn't have been called up and he was beat up for much of his time on the Twins roster. The first 50 or so PAs were fine, after that he got caught in between and he continued to play even though he probably should have been sent back to St. Paul. I'm not sure if Larnach will be a major league regular but I think he has an infinitely better chance than Rooker. As far as defense goes, according to BBRef, Larnach's numbers were poor, but Rooker's are simply brutal. 

I believe Rooker has at least one option year remaining, so I would expect him to start the season in St. Paul. Larnach should have one or two option years, and it is probable that he will spend time in St. Paul, as well. If the team wants to make 40-man room, Rooker is my #1 candidate to be traded or outrighted, but if he has an option, someone else would most likely go.

Regarding Gordon, the question that didn't get answered last year was whether he can be relied on as a viable option at shortstop. If he can't, I don't see much future for him on the Twins. The club really needs two shortstops, and maybe Gordon is one and maybe Polanco is one. I think Gordon has no options, so perhaps the Twins will hold on to him or maybe they'll decide he is a capable shortstop. I've followed baseball for a long time and I really can't tell whether Gordon has the ability to be a major league shortstop or not.

If neither Polanco or Gordon is one of the shortstops, it is a near guarantee that the Twins will bring a utility infielder on a minor league contract north (Beckham or Robertson) creating more roster squeeze. It's also possible the Twins will find a fourth OF who is on a minor league contract. Yes, there is room with Enlow and Maeda both going to the 60-man IL, but they will fill up spots pretty quickly especially if a free agent pitcher or two is signed.

[TwinsDr2021]

3 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Nobody!  Maeda and Enlow will be on the 60 day before Miranda / Martin or Celestini will be added.  They could add 3 more before it becomes any issue at all.   They probably will add 3 and the others will come up when an injury creates an opening.  
As the season wears on, we hopefully see a situation where Miranda / Martin and Celestino force the issue with good play regardless of injury.  In that case, the FO will have had a couple months of play to determine it they want tom part with Rooker / Gordon.  A trade of Arraez / Kepler / Donaldson or even Garver could also make room at some point in the season.  

The pitching staff is going to be a merry go round.  Guys will get auditioned.  Some will stay and some will go back down.   This won’t create a roster problem unless the young guys do exceptionally well and wouldn’t we love it to become a problem.
 

100% correct nobody at this time needs to be cut at this time. The Twins 40 man currently stands at 38 (Miranda and Celestino are already on it). So there are two spots open now, and two will open up I believe if everything stays the same when the season opens. I assume they will fill the two open spots with some sort of Free agents, but who knows.

[Minny505]

19 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I'm pretty sure they won't miss Nick Gordon if they sign Trevor Story. Gordon probably passes through waivers unclaimed.

In a very, very limited sample of SS reps for the Twins at the end of the season, Gordon looked perfectly competent. Far more competent than Polanco. 

No matter who is the starting SS, the squad needs a backup and I prefer Gordon by a wide margin over Polanco, at least until Gordon proves he can't handle it.

Management should at least let the kid fail before calling him a failure. 

[Minny505]

I suspect a trade vs a straight cut, even of Rooker. He can at least bring back a Shaun Anderson type that is not yet on the 40.

I prefer Larnach and Celestino both start at AAA. That means Rooker or Miranda as the RHB COF, a position of need with Kepler, Kirilloff, and Arraez slated as the primary COFs. Would the Twins trust Miranda with 2-3 starts a week at COF, with another couple starts a week on the dirt?

This is such a great conversation. Thank you for getting the ball rolling @mikelink45

[arby58]

Other than the fact he is a catcher, what is the value of Rortvedt? He barely hits his weight. It is hard for me to believe that you can't find another defensive catcher with the same set of limitations without wasting a spot. I sort of agree that Gordon is the odd person left out in lots of discussions. If we sign a shortstop with reasonable durability, you can still slot Polanco in at SS for 10-20 games a year. That said, he had his moments last year, and he wouldn't be the last 'late bloomer' at bat the Twins parted with and probably regret (paging hall of famer David  Ortiz or even Aaron Hicks).

[mikelink45]

4 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

100% correct nobody at this time needs to be cut at this time. The Twins 40 man currently stands at 38 (Miranda and Celestino are already on it). So there are two spots open now, and two will open up I believe if everything stays the same when the season opens. I assume they will fill the two open spots with some sort of Free agents, but who knows.

My question is not who do they cut now, but with the potential to sign pitchers both SP and RP and maybe play around with other options through trades it is something that will happen so I speculate.

[mikelink45]

3 hours ago, arby58 said:

Other than the fact he is a catcher, what is the value of Rortvedt? He barely hits his weight. It is hard for me to believe that you can't find another defensive catcher with the same set of limitations without wasting a spot. I sort of agree that Gordon is the odd person left out in lots of discussions. If we sign a shortstop with reasonable durability, you can still slot Polanco in at SS for 10-20 games a year. That said, he had his moments last year, and he wouldn't be the last 'late bloomer' at bat the Twins parted with and probably regret (paging hall of famer David  Ortiz or even Aaron Hicks).

Or LaMonte Wade

[nicksaviking]

There's actually way more pitchers I want nothing to do with who'd I'd drop first. Cotton, Jax and Moran can go. Obviously you need to have enough pitchers on the 40 man, but since I don't want those particular pitchers on the 40 man, I'd start with them until the overall picture becomes more clear. 

[Major League Ready]

7 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

There's actually way more pitchers I want nothing to do with who'd I'd drop first. Cotton, Jax and Moran can go. Obviously you need to have enough pitchers on the 40 man, but since I don't want those particular pitchers on the 40 man, I'd start with them until the overall picture becomes more clear. 

How about Thorpe.  Have you seen enough of that experiment?

[nicksaviking]

5 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

How about Thorpe.  Have you seen enough of that experiment?

He’d be near the top of my cut list.
 

I still resent that the team never put him in the bullpen full time though. He should have had one full season as a reliever only. He’s going totally Liam Hendricks this club down the road. Probably too late for the Twins though; they already mucked up that opportunity.

[Major League Ready]

7 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

He’d be near the top of my cut list.
 

I still resent that the team never put him in the bullpen full time though. He should have had one full season as a reliever only. He’s going totally Liam Hendricks this club down the road. Probably too late for the Twins though; they already mucked up that opportunity.

He would be at the top of my cut list.  He sometimes struggles to break 90 mph on his fastball.  I don't see Thorpe as being capable of pumping up the velocity anywhere near Hendricks.  If he had that capability, I believe we would have seen him transitioned to the BP.

[TopGunn#22]

This is a great topic !  My brief thoughts (because many have already weighed in with thoughts that echo mine).

1.  Nothing needs to be done NOW.  But as soon as the lock out ends there will be a flurry of activity so discussions are being had that will/should determine what moves the FO will need to make.  Because they will need to make them QUICKLY !

2.  I don't see what Miranda has left to prove at St. Paul.  The Twins have no business playing "service time" games with him.  Would any of us prefer to have Rooker or Gordon or Larnach up AHEAD of Miranda to start the season with the big club ?  Miranda has positional versatility and an MLB BAT.  I think the kid should have to prove he's NOT capable of hitting big league pitching before we park him in St. Paul.

3.  I'd like Larnach and Celestino to get more seasoning in St. Paul.  I'd trade Rooker if the right deal came about.  And of course, as you all know, I'm ready and willing to deal Arraez (and package Larnach with him if needed) to add an impactful SP to head the rotation.  I'm looking at Oakland and Miami to pull this off.  Moving Arraez opens the door for Miranda and helps fill holes in the pitching staff.  And with Austin martin not that far away, Arraez is an asset to leverage.  Arraez has more trade "value" than either Bassitt or Manaea but not enough to bring back Montas.  Start from there.

4.  We have a LOT of young pitchers that we all feel have some good potential.  Guys like Thorpe may need to be a casualty of making sure we keep the right guys.  

[lecroy24fan]

On 2/23/2022 at 7:36 PM, DocBauer said:

 

Can someone clarify when the 60 day IL moves can take place? I believe they can't make those moves until the initial 26 man roster is set to begin the season?

 

Whenever Spring Training starts. I believe it was moved to that a few years back. Used to be later in ST, I think around March 15th.