The Twins Don't Need Another Righty Setup Man

[Beast]

Yes they do.

I wouldn’t trust anyone outside of Duran and Jax in a high-leverage playoff scenario.  Maybe Alcala, but he’s pretty volatile.  Even Duran has looked shaky at times with the significant decrease in velocity.

Banking on Paddack, Stewart, Staumont, Topa, to be healthy and performing well, and Sands and Varland to be good is irresponsibly optimistic.  The lefties in the bullpen are all pretty bad.  Thielbar was phenomenal most of last year, but we saw how well that worked out last year in the playoffs against the Astros.

I don’t want them to have to give up prospect capital for a reliever.  That’s why I implore them to be more aggressive in free agency.  It’s not a significant investment.  But, they made their bed and now have to sleep in it.  

[NYCTK]

8 minutes ago, Beast said:

Yes they do.

I wouldn’t trust anyone outside of Duran and Jax in a high-leverage playoff scenario.  Maybe Alcala, but he’s pretty volatile.  Even Duran has looked shaky at times with the significant decrease in velocity.

Banking on Paddack, Stewart, Staumont, Topa, to be healthy and performing well, and Sands and Varland to be good is irresponsibly optimistic.  The lefties in the bullpen are all pretty bad.  Thielbar was phenomenal most of last year, but we saw how well that worked out last year in the playoffs against the Astros.

I don’t want them to have to give up prospect capital for a reliever.  That’s why I implore them to be more aggressive in free agency.  It’s not a significant investment.  But, they made their bed and now have to sleep in it.  

I do understand the desire, but the type of relievers in FA that you wish them to go after are so expensive:  

Chapman - 10.5M

Hader - 19M for 5yrs

Kimbrel - 13M

Robertson - 11.5M

Neris - 9M

even Pagan - 8M for 2yrs! 

Cause after looking at those top and second rung tiers of reliever, we're looking at the likes of: 

Dylan Floro, Jake Diekman, Andrew Chafin, and...Josh Staumont

 

[Shaitan]

The team should consider any move that makes them better.

It's not just about a late inning in the playoffs scenario. You need to get to the playoffs first. There will also likely be injuries in the coming months.

As is, the bullpen is acceptable. It could be better, but there's definitely room for improvement and without giving up significant prospects or payroll.

[Shaitan]

I'm amused how many TD articles tore the team apart this off-season for their moves, but now the site is full of suggestions to keep the team as is, or only call up from the minors. That's ignoring all the "logjams."

(Yeah, yeah...payroll...I know... But the themes here seem contradictory, even if those arguments came from different posters. It's the Internet. I have a short attn span.)

[strumdatjag]

5 hours ago, LambchoP said:

I think at the very least we need a lefty for the bullpen. Maybe we keep one of either Theilbar or Okert for our playoff roster but I've got little to no faith in either of them in close games.

Don’t forget Fundy.   The Twins have left-handed options.  Agreed - Not perfect.  

[NYCTK]

40 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

The team should consider any move that makes them better.

It's not just about a late inning in the playoffs scenario. You need to get to the playoffs first. There will also likely be injuries in the coming months.

As is, the bullpen is acceptable. It could be better, but there's definitely room for improvement and without giving up significant prospects or payroll.

Getting to the playoffs is my biggest concern too. Which is why a 6th starter is way more important in my mind. If we get to the point that SWR or Paddack just run out of gas (or god forbid an injury) we're stuck with Boushley/Varland/Festa/Dobnak and that's basically giving away a game every 5 days. And I just feel like this need is inevitable.

 

[Mike Sixel]

19 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Getting to the playoffs is my biggest concern too. Which is why a 6th starter is way more important in my mind. If we get to the point that SWR or Paddack just run out of gas (or god forbid an injury) we're stuck with Boushley/Varland/Festa/Dobnak and that's basically giving away a game every 5 days. And I just feel like this need is inevitable.

 

I agree, but downvoted your post because I don't think they are necessarily giving away a game, and I don't want a "6th" starter, I'm only dealing for a guy I think is a number 2 or better....

[tony&rodney]

Names fly across the page, suggestions of adding this guy or that player. I like Tanner Scott. Watched Chafin a couple of times recently and he looked terrible because he constantly went to 3-2, traffic on the bases, very loud contact, and escaped through poor batting and sheer luck.

Question is who Miami wants for Scott. Are they willing to send off Scott for Gabriel Gonzalez and Marco Raya? What is the cost? Tell me who goes the other way and pretend you are the opposing GM/PBO. 

[Shaitan]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

I agree, but downvoted your post because I don't think they are necessarily giving away a game, and I don't want a "6th" starter, I'm only dealing for a guy I think is a number 2 or better....

A #2 is going to cost a lot of prospect capital. Probably what Mahle cost, even for a 1/2 year rental. At the time of the Mahle trade they had that abundance of questionable defense IF prospects that were somewhat redundant. Do they have something similar to move now? Plus, most trades for a high end pitcher will include the other team giving up a prospect SP. I'd love another top end pitcher, but I don't see it happening.

Other than left handed outfielders who are nearing the no-longer-prospects threshold, I don't see that much redundancy in the minor league pipeline.

[Mike Sixel]

10 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

A #2 is going to cost a lot of prospect capital. Probably what Mahle cost, even for a 1/2 year rental. At the time of the Mahle trade they had that abundance of questionable defense IF prospects that were somewhat redundant. Do they have something similar to move now? Plus, most trades for a high end pitcher will include the other team giving up a prospect SP. I'd love another top end pitcher, but I don't see it happening.

Other than left handed outfielders who are nearing the no-longer-prospects threshold, I don't see that much redundancy in the minor league pipeline.

then don't deal for one.....that's all I think is worth getting....

[DocBauer]

Want to be very clear that I'm NOT saying DON'T make a trade or upgrade. But I do agree in principal with the OP that the Twins don't...or shouldn't...need a RH arm for the pen. Now, not everyone will finish the season 100%, and not everyone will pitch awesome, but as  of this moment we're talking  about Duran, Jax, Stewart, Alcala, Staumont, Topa, Sands, and Varland. That's 8 possibles before SWR or Paddack possibly switched to the pen. I'd like to think that's enough to choose from to put together a pen for the post season....and the rest of the regular one...that you can rely on. 

Go ahead, add another good, solid option that you feel you can honestly trust in the 7th inning if you can and it doesn't cost you much.

But I'd really like to have a couple LH arms for that pen as well, and I just don't trust Thielbar to be the Thielbar of old...no pun intended...after a 7 short but effective outings. And Okert isn't a #1 lefty. And while Funderburk has better stuff than either of those guys, he's a young man still figuring out his stuff. So to me, any priority for the pen should be from the left side. 

[strumdatjag]

Unless one of our starters is out for the season, adding a #4 or #5 (or #6) guy to the rotation does nothing for this rotation. 

[Shaitan]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

then don't deal for one.....that's all I think is worth getting....

The many philosophies of the deadline are fascinating. Many are go big or go home. I'm a bit more of the "trade your pocket change for upgrades" personally. 

[Doctor Gast]

I agree we have an abundance of very good RHRPs. If we get a RP it needs to be a LHRP. AJ Pukk would be a bargain. AJ Pukk was a pretty good RP for MIA last season & piled up some saves. This year they experimented with him being a SP. That ended in a failure with a ballooned ERA. Since the return to the BP he has brought his ERA down to a little over 4,00. To give you an idea, I'd compare him to Varland, who doesn't quite have enough to be a MLB SP but his stuff plays well in the BP. MIA is motivated to sell & Pukk won't get the attention as Tanner Scott or Nardi will.

[saviking]

We are loaded with left-handed outfielders. So, the question is, Should we trade Kepler, as we will get nothing for him after the year is over? 

[strumdatjag]

23 hours ago, saviking said:

We are loaded with left-handed outfielders. So, the question is, Should we trade Kepler, as we will get nothing for him after the year is over? 

We won’t get much for our rent-a-player.  Better to keep him for the stretch run.  Max deserves loyalty which will pay off (with this and other similar decisions) in making the Target Field a more attractive place to play for free agents in the future.  
it helps when players go voluntarily to other teams and talk up how they liked playing for the Twins.