Twins Make Arbitration Decisions; Moran, Henriquez Non-Tendered (Updated Article)

[Danchat]

22 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I do wonder what their plans are for the 4 remaining spots on the 40. They could have protected a few more from the rule 5 draft. 

Probably free agents or trade acquisitions. I don't think there was anybody in the minors who needed to be protected, and it's better to have flexibility than to realize right before Opening Day you have to DFA one of those guys because the 40 man has too many minor leaguers on it.

[miracleb]

I don't see Gordon and Castro being on the same team.  Castro is 2-3 years younger than Gordon and I would argue Castro's 2023 season was BETTER...than Gordon's "breakout" year in 2022.

[Blyleven2011]

So basically they dfa'd  Moran and henrique  , so they are on waivers  and any team can claim them , resigning them to minor league deals might work in our favor  ...

[Otaknam]

Castro is more valuable than Gordon because of his speed and is also a better defensive player at several positions. So Gordon is a potential for trade.  I think Farmer will be traded to save money, and the team has infield depth in the minors to cover. Lewis could play shortstop and Lee, Polanco or Castro could play third occasionally. I believe they will hold onto Polanco unless they get an excellently trade opportunity. Kepler is a likely candidate for a trade, given the outfield depth. 

[jmlease1]

What a bummer about Moran. I know he was wild and a little inconsistent, but that changeup was such a weapon. Was really hoping he could get things under control and be a factor. Hope he will come back on a 2-year minor league deal, but it's a shame that he needs TJ.

Henriquez feels a bit like a 4A player: too good for AAA, but not quite good enough to succeed consistently in MLB. Probably the right move to non-tender him.

Twins big challenge this off-season really isn't the 40-man, it's the 26-man. they don't have a lot of spots available on the 26-man, and they're not giving themselves a lot of payroll room either (self-imposed problem, but still a problem). The 40-man seems to be in good shape.

[JD-TWINS]

On 11/16/2023 at 7:44 PM, Nashvilletwin said:

Agree. Tender them all. Trade Polanco. Now we are at $110MM. Top of the range budget is $140MM. Use $30MM on starting pitching.

Your 13 position players are:

Starters (9): Lewis (3B, R), Correa (SS, R), Julien (2B, L), Kiriloff (1B, L), Jeffers (C, R), Wallner (LF, L), Castro, (CF, S), Kepler (RF, L), Buxton (DH, R).

Bench (4): Vasquez (C, R), Farmer (IF, R), and two of the following three: Gordon (OF/IF, L), Martin (OF/IF, R) and Larnach (COF, L).

If Buxton plays some CF, then all the better, But if not, Castro, Gordon and Martin can cover (in fact, Gordon and Martin could theoretically platoon against lefties and righties if Castro has to cover an infield position).

If the $30MM is spent properly on starting pitching, this lineup, healthy, would be projected to win the division and compete for the AL pennant.

This is certainly one strategy.

 

 

These moves EXACTLY!

Trade a couple prospects (Rodriguez & Festa)  & Miranda & Gordon or Larnach to Milwaukee for Devin Williams. ($6.2M) Pen is now set for 2 years.

Varland moves back to 5th starter.

Sign Severino as FA from Yankees for $12.5M - risk, but great upside, & starter depth. Use Varland’s options as needed.

My estimation after Polanco trade is $114M on payroll - we add 2 pitchers for additional $18.7M & we’re under $133M total!

OR skip Williams & Severino & sign J. Montgomery for 5 years with escalating salary starting at $20M - $23M - $26M - $26M with player option in year 5 for $26M.

 

 

[Kenny Powers]

41 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

What a bummer about Moran. I know he was wild and a little inconsistent, but that changeup was such a weapon. Was really hoping he could get things under control and be a factor. Hope he will come back on a 2-year minor league deal, but it's a shame that he needs TJ.

Henriquez feels a bit like a 4A player: too good for AAA, but not quite good enough to succeed consistently in MLB. Probably the right move to non-tender him.

Twins big challenge this off-season really isn't the 40-man, it's the 26-man. they don't have a lot of spots available on the 26-man, and they're not giving themselves a lot of payroll room either (self-imposed problem, but still a problem). The 40-man seems to be in good shape.

 

I was hoping Henriquez would get a shot this past season since he's young and been a top prospect for several years.  But if you look at his AAA stats, he's definitely not too good for AAA.  He still has work to do.  Also, it looks like he throws around 93 which is fine, but not exactly flame thrower material that teams drool over.  So, I get why they dropped him.  Every year they pick up free agents (like Brock Stewart or Megill) that can probably be better - at least short term.

[Major League Ready]

56 minutes ago, Otaknam said:

Castro is more valuable than Gordon because of his speed and is also a better defensive player at several positions. So Gordon is a potential for trade.  I think Farmer will be traded to save money, and the team has infield depth in the minors to cover. Lewis could play shortstop and Lee, Polanco or Castro could play third occasionally. I believe they will hold onto Polanco unless they get an excellently trade opportunity. Kepler is a likely candidate for a trade, given the outfield depth. 

I see the likelihood of trade exactly the opposite.  What outfield depth do we have if Kepler is traded.  Who knows if Buxton can play the OF at all.  Matt Wallner was very good but he has a total of a little over 300 major league ABs.  Larnach is the definition of unproven.  What do you have if Wallner gets hurt?  I would seem to me that Kepler is much less likely to go than Polanco or Farmer.  I could see both of Polanco and Farmer being traded before Kepler.  Polanco has the most trade value and the highest salary so my bet his he does not break camp with the Twins. 

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, miracleb said:

I don't see Gordon and Castro being on the same team.  Castro is 2-3 years younger than Gordon and I would argue Castro's 2023 season was BETTER...than Gordon's "breakout" year in 2022.

18 months difference in age. Not exactly "2-3 years". I have argued that Willi's 2023 was significantly better than Gordon's 2022.

[ashbury]

Non-tendering Henriquez doesn't quite close the books on the Mitch Garver trade, but close. We still have Alejandro Hidalgo, who is young but pitched unimpressively at high-A yet maybe turns into something someday.  Otherwise we got a year of Urshela and Sanchez, and (probably most importantly) disposed of the remainder of Josh Donaldson's contract.  Pretty high price paid.

[Fatbat]

Meanwhile, Garver is a WS Champion and we have an open spot on the 40 man to fill from dropping henriquez. Lets say thats spot #40 of 40.  Do we need to track that next player to their end or is that too many degrees of separation? 

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, Fatbat said:

Meanwhile, Garver is a WS Champion and we have an open spot on the 40 man to fill from dropping henriquez. Lets say thats spot #40 of 40.  Do we need to track that next player to their end or is that too many degrees of separation? 

I think it's possible to prove that if Walter Johnson had pitched one season more, or one season fewer, we never would have gotten Mitch Garver.  So add him to the chain at the front end.   I think.

[Scott51104]

3 hours ago, ashbury said:

I think it's possible to prove that if Walter Johnson had pitched one season more, or one season fewer, we never would have gotten Mitch Garver.  So add him to the chain at the front end.   I think.

Interesting Train of thought

[tony&rodney]

9 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Trade a couple prospects (Rodriguez & Festa)  & Miranda & Gordon or Larnach to Milwaukee for Devin Williams.

I don't think the Twins trade either straight up (one to one) for the amazing Williams. Reconfigure in another fashion. Getting Williams is remote but i like your thought of adding a really good bullpen arm.