You're The Twins' GM! Plotting My Offseason: Shedding Salary, Investing In a Star, and a Few Intriguing Free Agents

[Lou Hennessy]

First of all, I could never become the general manager of my beloved Twins, because it would create a conflict of interest that would require me to resign from Twins Daily. I’ve built an empire over here, and I’m not about to give it up to play second fiddle to President of Baseball and Business Operations (POBABO) Derek Falvey. 

But if they did ask me how I would approach this offseason, here is what I would tell them once the check cleared. 
 

Image courtesy of © Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images (Shane Bieber)

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Overall Approach
This is going to be a pivotal season for the Twins as they try to keep their window of contention open. Despite the epic second-half collapse, the core of this team still has substantial upside, and now is the time to double down on them, especially without the seamless ability to add more star power on the free agent market. If things go south again in 2025, they’ll likely be dismantled anyway. 

My plan calls for the team to keep their offensive nucleus that includes Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, as well as their promising top three starting pitchers in Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober. It will also rely on young pitchers such as Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, Zebby Matthews and others to help carry the load for large portions of the season. 

Some key differences include the dismissal of all of the team’s free agents, as well as a few trades to create some much-needed wiggle room. 

Non-Tenders and Extensions
I would decide to let veteran relievers Michael Tonkin and Justin Topa walk rather than pay them their modest raises in arbitration. It’s another bust from the Jorge Polanco-to-Seattle trade from last year, but Topa should be seen as one of the fungible relievers who can be found on the open market at various points throughout the season. 

One of the most underrated aspects of the current front office was their ability to sign young, core hitters to long-term deals that locked in their arbitration prices and ate a free agent year or two. We saw this with Polanco, Max Kepler and Miguel Sano. The first two went rather swimmingly for the Twins and probably saved them some money, and while Sano didn’t live up to expectations, his deal wasn’t really a hindrance to the club at any point and he had the prospect pedigree to suggest he could’ve reasonably had an even bigger breakout.

I want to see the Twins do that again, and I want them to bury any sort of hatchet they have with Lewis. I lock the former first overall pick into a five-year deal that pays him $6 million this year, $10 million in 2025 and $17 million in each of the next three seasons, with a $23 million player option for 2029. That’s $67 million guaranteed to a player that has battled health issues every year since 2020, but has shown tremendous upside. If he opts into his age-30 season at the tail end, the deal will be six-years and $90 million, and still allows him to explore another big payday as a free agent in 2030. 

Trades
The first move I would make is to shop catcher Christian Vázquez and as much of the $10 million that is owed to him for 2025. I find a taker in his former ballclub, the Boston Red Sox, who still value him as an asset even if not for his entire salary. They agree to take on half of the contract, freeing roughly $5 million for the Twins to use elsewhere, and the return is simply a player to be named later or cash considerations. 

I would then trade Willi Castro to the New York Yankees for lefty reliever Tim Mayza and $2 million in cash. At just $2 million for his final year of club control, he then becomes the de facto replacement for Caleb Thielbar in a bullpen that is sorely lacking in left-handed talent. 

Next, I would flip Chris Paddack to a big market club that has the ability to gamble on his production on top of his $7.5 million contract. The big-pocketed Mets take the bait, agreeing to pay the entire salary, but they require a prospect kicker or two in return. The Twins include third base prospect Rubel Cespedes and relief prospect Cody Laweryson.

I would also make a minor swap with the Chicago White Sox, acquiring relief pitcher Gus Varland for 21-year-old starting pitcher Jose Olivares. I’m picturing the two Varland boys holding down spots in the Twins’ bullpen for the next few years, maybe giving each other a boost as if they were a bonded pair in Backyard Baseball. And if it doesn’t work out, the elder Varland still has two option years remaining and would be low-cost to acquire. 

Free Agents
Even after the trades, the Twins would still have just a little wiggle room to add if they want to remain at or near their $135 million payroll from last year. The good news is that there aren’t many holes to fill. One glaring need, however, remains at first base. 

So I would try to sign switch-hitting slugger Josh Bell, who should be available on a modest one or two-year deal after hitting a combined .248/.322/.412 (.734 OPS, 102 wRC+) over the last two seasons. While those numbers certainly seem underwhelming for a now 32-year-old, it puts him firmly in the Twins' wheelhouse price-wise and still provides considerable upside. In the second half of last season, Bell rediscovered his power stroke, with an .885 OPS and 145 wRC+. He would be a reasonable, lower-cost replacement for Carlos Santana, and he’d pair extremely well with Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien, who will likely be part of that rotation between first base and designated hitter. Let’s give Bell a two-year deal with a $7 million average annual value.

I would then try to sign veteran backstop Jacob Stallings to a one-year deal for $2 million. He provides at least adequate offense for a backup catcher, but his framing and overall defense are a step down from Vázquez. But at just one-fifth of the cost, he could be a useful complement to Ryan Jeffers. 

The last free agent I would make might come off as controversial for a team with limited resources and a win-now mentality, but I would try to reel in starting pitcher Shane Bieber to a back loaded multi year deal. He’s going to be out of commission until the middle of the season after undergoing elbow surgery last summer, but Falvey is as familiar with the former Cy Young winner as just about anyone, since he was a major proponent in the Guardians’ decision to draft the righty back in 2016. Would Bieber be amenable to a modest $4 million salary with a major jump in 2026? Maybe a $17 million salary in year two, with the option to opt out after the 2025 season? This would give him a solid payday should his recovery not go as planned, and it would give him the option to re-enter the free agent market next year if he does return to form.

We saw that type of contract work really well when the Twins brought in Michael Pineda. Could it work again?

Conclusion
After making these moves, the team would sit at a total salary of roughly $135.4 million, which is right in line with where they sat in 2024 and where they anticipate being in 2025. They lose their three veterans in the salary dump, give up a few down-list prospects, extend Lewis and add a few veterans, one of which could make an instant impact, with the other being a high-upside gamble. 

Their season-long success likely relies on better health from their core hitters (which is no sure thing), but their additions could help fill the void as secondary contributors, with the potential to be game-changers in the second half. 

Most importantly, this roster looks the part of a contender on-paper, which will be pivotal as they try to regain trust and goodwill with the fan base, as well as interest from a potential buyer. 

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What do you think? Is this yet another pipe dream from the twisted mind of Sweet Lou? Do you think this would be a contending roster? Which of these moves do you like, and which do you hate? Let us know in the comments, and as always, keep it sweet. 

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[Greglw3]

That’s a good and very thoughtful plan, creative and with a will to win. I especially like the signing of Bieber, who my brother and I were just talking about for the Twins yesterday! He’s a Guardians fan.

I think the cherry on top would be to use their entire international signing pool on Sasaki. Now you have a contender!

[bean5302]

Pretty detailed plan. I'd expect about 86-87 wins out of that team which is an improvement of a couple wins over current and it carries a decent chance at the playoffs as a WC team. Not sure in the final locations of a couple guys, but it's not relevant since you're not getting anything of note back for departing players.

[Brandon]

I’m not sure downgrading backup C for 3 million savings is a win.  Also Paddack has value and will bring back a prospect or what you proposed with including Dobnak with the flyers for salary relief and now you can keep Vazquez.  
 

And lastly, I am fine with the Twins tendering both or either Tonkin and Topa especially after dropping Winder and Blewitt last week.

I Like the idea of signing Bieber but how do the Twins afford him in 2026?  17 million is a lot.  

[old nurse]

The twins in the last 3 years have been averaging using 20 relief pitchers. Yes bad relievers are fungible. The extended stays of Okert, Jay what’s his name, and Dobnak would show that quality relievers are not fungible. If you believe Topa can be a good reliever you keep him. If you think he is going to be injured once again, you let him go. Tonkin ate up 80 innings last years of low league pitching. Not exactly a great job, but somebody has to do it. If having a roughly league average pitcher as your 7th guy in the bullpen and not worry about it, Tonkin’s expected arb numbat is not egregious, nor is it likely to be more expensive than a league average pitcher free agent. What is out there is likely not better for a cheaper price, 

[lecroy24fan]

23 hours ago, Brandon said:

I’m not sure downgrading backup C for 3 million savings is a win.  Also Paddack has value and will bring back a prospect or what you proposed with including Dobnak with the flyers for salary relief and now you can keep Vazquez.  
 

 

It's $8M savings. CV makes $10M and the proposal is Stallings at $2M.

[Brandon]

9 minutes ago, lecroy24fan said:

It's $8M savings. CV makes $10M and the proposal is Stallings at $2M.

Read it again.  In his trade we eat 5 million 

[SteveLV]

Bieber at $17M guaranteed in 2026 coming off elbow surgery at his age?

No chance the Twins make that financial commitment.

The rest of the moves are ok, but don't move the needle much for this year or next.

I would prefer they either stick to their guns and essentially run it back praying for good health, or trade off the expensive salaries and go young and cheap and see who develops.

[DocBauer]

Not bad Lou. But I'm not quite with you. Forgetting any extension signings and just looking at the 2025 roster, I'm using the "as is" payroll as of a couple weeks ago with everyone back. That was almost dead on $135M with the promise of no cuts, but no increase. So that's my baseline.

#1] KEYSTONE to all of this. The FO has little choice but to make some kind of move for today and tomorrow. They make a move for a young, talented, and controlled catcher to join Jeffers. I'm going to suggest Rushing from the Dodgers, or Teel from the Red Sox, but there's a couple other options out there.

Since Rushing bats LH, and is a top 100 prospect, and recently mentioned in a TD OP, let's just say the target is HIM. The Dodgers do things differently than many teams. They're flush with catchers right now, and have a keen eye for talent and development and no real glaring weaknesses. And they have $ to spend to address and weaknesses. So they're looking for future talent. The Twins offer up a 2 or 3 prospect package that includes an arm of Raya/Lewis/Culpepper, and INF of Lee/Keaschall/Culpepper and an OF of Rosario/J Rodriguez/Mercedes. Mix and match, that's a combination of 2 or 3 top 10-20-30 prospects that HURT the Twins, but doesn't desimate the system.

#2] The Twins then move Vazquez for a lower level prospect with some promise to shed his contract. Some believe they can move his whole deal. Some don't. As I stated in another thread, a Cubs writer brought up the idea of trading for him since their current catchers are poor defensively, awful offensively, and Vazquez would at least bring defensive value, even if he didn't improve the offense much.

Projected savings, $10M saved, potentially.

#3] Move Paddack to someone who needs some rotation depth and believes there's still some upside with him. (There is). And who recognizes that $7.5M is about market value for a decent SP with some upside, especially since it's only a 1yr deal.

Projected savings, $7.5M saved, potentially. 

#4] As of TODAY, I'm keeping both Tonkin and Topa as potentially solid middle inning relievers that will only cost a little over $3M vs the approximate $1.5M of rookies or cheap FA fliers on minimum deals. There's too much veteran ability and solid performance upside to just not spend the extra $1-2M to not keep them.

#5] In theory, at least, the Twins now have $17.5M free with Vazquez and Paddack gone. With Kiriloff's projected salary coming off the original $135M, that gives them about $19M to spend. It could be a couple $M less if they are forced to toss in some $ to make the trades happen, but there you go.

#6] You have Bell signing on for $7M. I hope you're right. But even though I expect a shrinkage of the FA market this offseason due to the flux of lost revenue and future losses except for the TOP FA, I still see Bell as coming in at $12-13M per on a 2yr deal. Maybe a Cruz like deal of $14-$12 2yr deal. Less defense than Santana, probably more offense, and Miranda gets to adapt to 1B without being the #1 guy right away. Potentially, same with Julien.

#7] There's still enough $ to sign a FA LHRP with some kind of track record for the pen, maybe on a rebound. They aren't going to have the $ to spend on a Tanner Scott, and probably never will. But there was a fairly recent post on TD that I can't find right now that offered some inexpensive options that were older, coming off poor seasons but were good previously, or coming off injury. (My bad i can't name names right now). Maybe there's a former SP who needs to reclamate his career. Regardless of my memory, there's still room to add a LH arm to the pen for a couple $2-3M if the FO is smart enough to pick the Thielbar replacement, even on a 1yr deal. 

#8] IF there's enough $ left over, doubtful in my numbers, come February, there might be a solid RH OF sitting there with no deal you might be able to sign to compete with Helman and Martin for a 4th-5th OF spots.

#9] This is where depth comes in to being. I'm telling Keirsey, Helman, and Martin THIS IS YOUR TIME. You don't have to try to do too much, just do your best and try to be part of the bench and be part of the team. And I'm bringing in Eeles and probably McCusker to ST to see in person if there's SOMETHING to believe in for later in the season. 

A little more in depth from what you posted Lou. But we agree on many ideas.

 

[Mark G]

I think your plan is mostly, if not completely, logical and cost effective.  I have no beef with it as you lay it out.  But........ oh come on, you knew there would be a but, 😉 you are relying on one thing you have little to no control over:  willing trade partners.  The teams you would be approaching might have completely different ideas of a good trade than you do.  And each move you make, from not tendering guys to signing free agents appear to make sense if your trades go through as planned.  My question is does the plan change with each trade scenario that doesn't go as planned?  I see what I would say is a very good plan A, but I don't think I saw a plan B or C, which is usually where teams end up at some point.  Or am I just not seeing the picture in the way you drew it?  

I do like the detailed thought you put into this, and I think it would improve the team if it all came to fruition.  I just worry about the parts we have no control over, be it trade partners or free agents willing to sign here.  Thanks for a good article.  

[Reptevia]

Giving Lewis a long term deal is the definition of insanity. Most of this is just mixing and matching that doesn’t move the needle. Beiber is a pipe dream. No way they are committing that much money. 

[Otaknam]

I appreciate the effort to put this together, with a lot of ideas to consider. Sarcastically, Bieber signing would be another example of the team’s desire to ancquire injured pitchers, with no guarantee that they will recover and be effective. Mahle, Paddock, and DiSclifani are the latest examples. Why not just keep Paddock at $7.5 million instead of an injured Bieber for a half season at $4 million, with no guarantee that he will be effective? And I would want a team option for Bieber in 2027 instead of a player option, given that in this scenario the Twins took all the risk on paying an injured pitcher substantial money. Vasquez needs to be dumped if they can find anyone to take him and half his salary. 

[DJL44]

I would rather keep Willi Castro at $6M than give Josh Bell $7M. Castro out-hit Bell both of the last two seasons and Castro can actually play infield. Josh Bell is a downgrade on Miranda at 1B.

Your roster still needs an outfielder and a second baseman.

[LambchoP]

I think we should keep Topa. He's got decent upside now that he's healthy and he's cheaper than most free agent relief pitchers. I like most of these other ideas. Trying to sign Sazaki will be tough, but he could be exactly what this team needs, plus he would be cheap. I would hold off on extending Royce Lewis though. Until he can both stay on the field and put up good numbers for a whole year, he's another potential Buxton. We don't want to be stuck paying a lot of money for a guy who will always be on the IL 60 percent of the time...

[saviking]

I'm not saying I agree with all of it, but it's for being well thought out. Good job

[mikelink45]

Fun read, but not quite palatable for me.  

I see Castro as too good of an asset to let go.

Camargo seems to be the backup catcher of choice based on his call ups.  He saves them a lot of money if they can find a taker for Vasquez.  This does not increase the quality of C, but it does get rid of money and that is what the Twins really want.

Paddack can go if we find a taker and our young arms got a good introduction to MLB last year.  I do not sign or trade for another SP.

I see the bench filled from AAA - Eeles, McCusker, Keirsey.  

The BP is another issue.  We do not want Thielbar back, but what do we have?  Do we take young arms that have issues staying in the Rotation like Varland, Culpepper... and put them in the pen?  Try for another Sands.

This is not my preferred plan, but it fits what I see with the no spending Twins.  Why bring in more questionable RP when you can run the young arms out and keep changing them so you have something fresh.  BP management is much more difficult now that the complete game is no longer a part of the pitchers goals. 

[FargoFanMan]

No on Josh Bell and no on Bieber and Tim Mayza. I don’t think Lewis signs that contract. If you can save $17M I believe you’ve gotta go for Goldy. 2 years for $25M with a mutual option. I’d rather take the risk and pay $12.5M to Goldy than pay $7M to a guy who hasn’t hit at all since 2022. Also, if I’m trading Castro to the Yankees I’m asking for young guys. Not an old guy who’s mediocre at best. I do what I can to get Will Warren and no messing around. Slot him into the bullpen and let the fastball tick up and that elite slider play up. He also has an average changeup. With the slider and changeup I believe he’s more effective against lefties than Mayza based on his metrics. Maybe you can ask for the throw in being Edgleen Perez or Engelth Urena. They’ll hopefully be about ready when Jeffers becomes a FA. Especially if you plan on Stallings and Camargo filling your catcher depth for a few years. As far as Bieber. I’m out. He’s struggled to stay healthy lately and I’d rather stick with the young guys. There’s depth there that’s cheap with upside. I’m not committing 2 years and $21M to this guy. As far as Lewis, I’m not sure he signs that deal. I think he tries to establish himself this year as a star and makes the Twins invest in him next offseason following a top 10 MVP season. Or he gets injured again and he takes the Twins “Buxton” incentive laden deal. Great article and very realistic though. Love these articles!

[TopGunn#22]

How much International Signing Money do the Twins have for 2025 when Roki Sasaki is posted?  He would certainly be worthy of blowing it ALL on him to win the prize of a major league ready, 23 year old RHP who can 100 mph.  

The idea is that the Dodgers have the inside track to sign him because of Ohtani and Yamamoto.  But there is also talk of him preferring a smaller market.  The Japanese, being an island nation are famous for their love of fishing.  Minnesota has over 15,000 lakes, many of them scattered around the Twin Cities.  Could that be an incentive for Sasaki?  I'd sure look into that.  His cost could be anywhere from $4 to $8 million.

Just assume the Twins signed him for a moment.  That allows the Twins to easily trade SWR and bring back some real talent in the deal.  SWR's value has never been higher.  The Dodgers had a slew of injuries in the rotation and could have interest.  The Red Sox have gaping holes in their rotation.  They may only have 2 spots out of 5 at this point.

Both the Dodgers and Red Sox have good, young, CATCHERS.  The Dodgers have 3 or 4 !!  Put a package together centered on SWR and fill the hole at catcher.  Go into next season with Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Sasaki and Festa as your rotation.  Leave Jax in the BP.  

[bean5302]

18 hours ago, Brandon said:

I’m not sure downgrading backup C for 3 million savings is a win...

Vazquez was worth -0.3 bWAR in 2023 and -0.2 bWAR in 2024; he was worth 0.9 fWAR and 0.8 fWAR in those years, respectively. If we average it all out, Vazquez was worth an average of 0.6 WAR per season over the past two years.

Stallings was worth -0.6 bWAR in 2023 and +1.8 bWAR in 2024; he was worth -0.4 fWAR and +0.9 fWAR respectively. Averaging that out, +0.9 WAR per year. He was better than Vazquez.

It'd be awfully hard to find a catcher worse than Vazquez, to be honest.

[Doctor Gast]

Lou, I agree that if we trade Vazquez, we need to bring someone in and extend our key players. I agree with Brandon that the $2M* saved isn't worth the loss of Vazquez's projected 1.3 WAR, leadership, handling of pitchers, defense & chemistry for Stallings's .2 WAR. Plus we don't need a backup catcher we need a primary catcher. * (IMO CO will offer Stallings  $2.5 M & Stallings's preference is to return there so $3M is closer to what we'd have to offer. $10M - (5+3) = $2M). You also forgot to add that $5M that was given out in the budget,

The money that you are spending on FA is a waste. Bell's $7M for .6 WAR compared to Miranda's $.77M for 1.8 WAR is ridiculous, How can we pay for extending our key players (which you didn't allow in your budget) if you are wasting all of it on FA? We have to resist FA & just say NO! NO to Bell, Stallings, Bieber & Mayza. Any holes we may have we need to fill with more reasonable player's salaries via trade from our rich farm. Let's not make the same mistakes as last season

[Blyleven2011]

2 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

How much International Signing Money do the Twins have for 2025 when Roki Sasaki is posted?  He would certainly be worthy of blowing it ALL on him to win the prize of a major league ready, 23 year old RHP who can 100 mph.  

The idea is that the Dodgers have the inside track to sign him because of Ohtani and Yamamoto.  But there is also talk of him preferring a smaller market.  The Japanese, being an island nation are famous for their love of fishing.  Minnesota has over 15,000 lakes, many of them scattered around the Twin Cities.  Could that be an incentive for Sasaki?  I'd sure look into that.  His cost could be anywhere from $4 to $8 million.

Just assume the Twins signed him for a moment.  That allows the Twins to easily trade SWR and bring back some real talent in the deal.  SWR's value has never been higher.  The Dodgers had a slew of injuries in the rotation and could have interest.  The Red Sox have gaping holes in their rotation.  They may only have 2 spots out of 5 at this point.

Both the Dodgers and Red Sox have good, young, CATCHERS.  The Dodgers have 3 or 4 !!  Put a package together centered on SWR and fill the hole at catcher.  Go into next season with Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Sasaki and Festa as your rotation.  Leave Jax in the BP.  

I think we have 7.5 million  in international  money  , I saw it posted last week when a member posted that amount for a trade with the Dodgers  ...

the trade was  , give some of the Dodgers the international money to boost dodgers chances better at getting Sasaki and we get back a good minor league catcher without giving up prospects ... 

I do like that idea , but I think the twins should put all there chips in acquiring sasaki first  ...

 

[Greglw3]

7 hours ago, Reptevia said:

Giving Lewis a long term deal is the definition of insanity. Most of this is just mixing and matching that doesn’t move the needle. Beiber is a pipe dream. No way they are committing that much money. 

By backloading the real money on Bieber, they assume new ownership is in place by 2026 and the $17 may be just fine.

[FargoFanMan]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Vazquez was worth -0.3 bWAR in 2023 and -0.2 bWAR in 2024; he was worth 0.9 fWAR and 0.8 fWAR in those years, respectively. If we average it all out, Vazquez was worth an average of 0.6 WAR per season over the past two years.

Stallings was worth -0.6 bWAR in 2023 and +1.8 bWAR in 2024; he was worth -0.4 fWAR and +0.9 fWAR respectively. Averaging that out, +0.9 WAR per year. He was better than Vazquez.

It'd be awfully hard to find a catcher worse than Vazquez, to be honest.

If we’re trying to find a catcher I wonder what it takes to pry Jefferson Quero from the Brew crew? He would be a perfect candidate to pair with Jeffers for a year and then trade Jeffers next offseason. With William Contreras entrenched in Milwaukee for a few more years maybe we can flip a few guys to obtain a stellar defensive young stud and develop his bat splitting time with Jeffers.

[Doctor Wu]

On 11/17/2024 at 11:55 AM, DocBauer said:

#3] Move Paddack to someone who needs some rotation depth and believes there's still some upside with him. (There is). And who recognizes that $7.5M is about market value for a decent SP with some upside, especially since it's only a 1yr deal.

Hmm ... I agree in the sense the Paddack DOES indeed have some upside and value. So why not keep him? Many people are eager to trade him away, but I still like the idea of giving him another shot this season. Plus, do we really expect to get much value in return for trading him at this point?

[Doctor Wu]

20 hours ago, LambchoP said:

I think we should keep Topa. He's got decent upside now that he's healthy and he's cheaper than most free agent relief pitchers.

I agree. Of course being healthy is a big issue with Topa, plus he's not a young man any longer. But I still like his potential, and keeping him around, especially if the cost is low, might be a good investment. 

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

Hmm ... I agree in the sense the Paddack DOES indeed have some upside and value. So why not keep him? Many people are eager to trade him away, but I still like the idea of giving him another shot this season. Plus, do we really expect to get much value in return for trading him at this point?

I’m fine with keeping him if it doesn’t mean we have to trade someone else for budget.  He seems the easiest one to trade between him and Vazquez.  There isn’t anyone else I would want to trade 

[TopGunn#22]

I don't really care what we get back in trades of Vasquez and Paddack.  To me, the primary benefit of moving them is the $17.5 million we would trim from the payroll.  We have to admit to the reality that this is what is primarily motivating the Pohlad family.  The benefit in saving that $17.5 million is in how the team could better invest it. 

If you dumped those 2 for nothing and realized the full $17.5 million in savings, you could conceivably sign Tyler O'Neill for two years at $14-$15 million per and Aroldis Chapman for 1 year at $3 million.  You would have your starting LF who is Gold Glove caliber, a 30HR guy who could also play a little CF and a fire balling LH out of the pen with closing experience.

If you could somehow attach a couple of prospects/players in a Vasquez deal to Miami for either Alcantara or Luzardo, so much the better. Some candidates to attach:  Larnach, Austin Martin, and any number of prospects outside of our top 8.   That would allow the Twins to consider trading SWR in a package to acquire Quero, Rushing or Teel.  ANY of which would be exciting.  

And having $7.5 million in international money (Thank You, Blyleven2011 !!!) should really put the Twins squarely in the middle of the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.  If ever there was a time to blow the entire international signing budget on ONE player...Sasaki would be the guy.  23 years old.  Throws 100 mph.  Has a solid mix of breaking/off speed pitches.  Would slot right into your rotation.  He also allows the Twins to consider dealing another SP outside of SWR to plug some other gaping hole in the roster.  

I don't know where the $7.5 million ranks compared to the rest of MLB, but it certainly puts the Twins in the mix (should they CHOOSE to be in the mix).  Half measures aren't going to put the Twins back in contention in the A.L. Central.  Some bold moves moves need to be made.  One trade or one FA signing isn't going to be effective, especially with current ownership's self imposed limitations.  A series of moves needs to be planned, with contingencies for each move as well.

 

[jmlease1]

not a fan of Josh Bell as a 1B option. he hasn't been good for a couple of years and there's a reason he's been on 5 teams in 3 seasons and Cleveland at a bunch of salary to make him go away. I think the price is probably about where he might land, but I don't want him; we'd likely be better giving that same about to bring back Santana, which will be in that same range i suspect.

Mayza seems like an interesting piece worth going for to give us a LH option in the bullpen, but dumping Topa for nothing feels like an overreaction to not getting an immediate result from the Polanco trade. 

Signing Bieber is not where I want to put what few dollars we have. Much rather put money into getting a real 1B/RH hitter instead of Josh Bell.

Adding Gus Varland feels a little more like a PR move than a real attempt to upgrade the bullpen. 

[DocBauer]

5 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

Hmm ... I agree in the sense the Paddack DOES indeed have some upside and value. So why not keep him? Many people are eager to trade him away, but I still like the idea of giving him another shot this season. Plus, do we really expect to get much value in return for trading him at this point?

I don't dislike keeping him. And he's not expensive. But with the payroll so tight, and Festa seemingly ready, it just makes sense to move him and get the $7.5M to play with for some additions to the roster. No AK, no Vazquez, and Paddack moved and the Twins have around $19M to work with and still keeping payroll at $135M.

Nothing against Paddack.

[TheLeviathan]

I guess this whole thing falls apart here for me:

Topa and Castro or Bell and Mayza.

I take the Topa/Castro side of that 100 out of 100 times.