Cory Engelhardt’s 2025 Payroll Blueprint: Cory's offseason blueprint

[Cory Engelhardt]

I hope you enjoy my blueprint. These are fun to put together.

1) Edouard Julien to Miami for reliever Andrew Nardi and OF prospect Andres Valor, their #17 prospect. Nardi is left handed with good stuff, and would immediately slot near the end of our bullpen. Valor is a lottery ticket. Julien could use a fresh start, and Miami could use all the help they can get on the offensive side.

2) Chris Paddack and Tanner Schobel to the Athletics (it's weird not writing Oakland before Athletics, I don't like it) for their #29 prospect Will Simpson, 1B/OF. Oakland takes on all of Paddack's salary and get a good prospect in Schobel. Oakland is on board this offseason in taking on contracts like this, as their overall team payroll is super low, and they get to add a decent prospect. IF Paddack is healthy, he could even be a trade chip for them at the deadline. Simpson, to me, is an interesting flier for 1B in 2026 or 2027.

3) Willi Castro to the Dodgers for their #18 prospect pitcher Maddux Bruns and their #30 prospect, catcher Jesus Galiz. The Dodgers take on his salary too. Bruns is a lefty with great stuff, but he MIGHT end up being a reliever. Galiz hasn't hit a TON at all, but he is a good athlete and gets good remarks for his defense behind the plate.

4) Christian Vazquez and 4 million to the Chicago Cubs for their #13 prospect, catcher Pablo Aliendo. Aliendo may start the year at AA or AAA, and can hit a little for a catcher.

5) CJ Culpepper to the Phillies for CF Johan Rojas. Rojas won't hit much, but he is very fast and is very good in centerfield on defense. Late inning defensive option in the outfield and pinch running asset.

6) Sign Paul Goldschmidt, 1 year 15 million, with an option year tacked on. 1B and DH. He still hits the ball hard, and would be a decent option for the middle of the lineup.

7) Sign catcher Tomas Nido, 1 year 1.4 million. Decent defensive option. Camargo will probably be up and playing at some point too.

8) Have Jax move into the rotation, and go with a 6 man rotation to start the year. A rotation of Lopez/Ryan/Ober/Jax/Festa/SWR is solid. I do think Jax can make the jump, and hopefully with Nardi coming in, Varland moving to the bullpen and Topa being healthy, the bullpen will still be a strength.

Thoughts?

• C: Ryan Jeffers ($4.70M)
• 1B: Paul Goldschmidt ($15.00M)
• 2B: Royce Lewis ($2.30M)
• 3B: Brooks Lee ($0.80M)
• SS: Carlos Correa ($36.00M)
• LF: Trevor Larnach ($2.10M)
• CF: Byron Buxton ($15.00M)
• RF: Matt Wallner ($0.80M)
• DH: Jose Miranda ($0.80M)
• 4th OF: Johan Rojas ($0.80M)
• Utility: Michael Helmon ($0.80M)
• Utility: Austin Martin ($0.80M)
• Backup C: Tomas Nido ($1.40M)
• NA: Dead Money Here ($4.00M)
• SP1: Pablo Lopez ($21.50M)
• SP2: Joe Ryan ($3.80M)
• SP3: Bailey Ober ($4.30M)
• SP4: Griffin Jax ($2.60M)
• SP5: Simeon Woods Richardson ($0.80M)
• RP: Jhoan Duran ($3.70M)
• RP: Brock Stewart ($0.80M)
• RP: David Festa ($0.80M)
• RP: Jorge Alcala ($1.50M)
• RP: Cole Sands ($0.80M)
• RP: Justin Topa ($1.30M)
• RP: Louie Varland ($0.80M)
• RP: Andrew Nardi ($0.80M)
• NA: Dead Money Here ($0.00M)

Payroll is 0.92% under budget

[Brock Beauchamp]

Whew, trading for a lot of prospects here. An unusual route to take compared to most other blueprints.

[TheLeviathan]

Yeah, count me on the side of not loving the idea of dumping all that salary for prospects only to invest in Paul Goldschmidt.

[Cory Engelhardt]

12 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Whew, trading for a lot of prospects here. An unusual route to take compared to most other blueprints.

I can see that. I figure both Rodriguez and Keaschall can use some time at AAA before they ascend, and otherwise they do generally have a fairly veteran roster. 

These are fun to do though.

[Cory Engelhardt]

4 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

Yeah, count me on the side of not loving the idea of dumping all that salary for prospects only to invest in Paul Goldschmidt.

I do want an upgrade on the roster from what is currently slated at 1B. I'm not certain which direction to go necessarily, but I don't see them giving a multi-year deal to anyone (this is as close as I can get on the free agent market to that) and I certainly don't see them signing anyone with the QO attached.

What would you do for 1B?

[Brock Beauchamp]

8 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

Yeah, count me on the side of not loving the idea of dumping all that salary for prospects only to invest in Paul Goldschmidt.

I'm not entirely against Goldschmidt. I don't think I'd personally pursue him but he's a good steady veteran hand to have in the clubhouse and leading the team on a one-year deal.

[tony&rodney]

Interesting trades. I like #1-4 and #7.  I would think they are possible too, which may not be the case in some of the roster guesses. I can see Goldschmidt at 1B.

My only question with your team is using both Larnach and Wallner in the outfield and having Lewis at 2B. All three could certainly play those positions, but I think they would need to OPS over .900 to make up for the missed plays. I would choose one to hold down a spot. However, Twins Daily agrees with you.

Good job on this roster.

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I do want an upgrade on the roster from what is currently slated at 1B. I'm not certain which direction to go necessarily, but I don't see them giving a multi-year deal to anyone (this is as close as I can get on the free agent market to that) and I certainly don't see them signing anyone with the QO attached.

What would you do for 1B?

Honestly, if we're cutting salary and dumping players - then we should be playing young players there.  I give it to Miranda and Julien.

Goldschmidt was really, really bad last year.  I'm not eager to sink what meager space we have into him.

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I'm not entirely against Goldschmidt. I don't think I'd personally pursue him but he's a good steady veteran hand to have in the clubhouse and leading the team on a one-year deal.

I'm only interested in him if it's a total tear down and you're hoping to buy the dip on him and deal him in July.

Which may be the right path if the purse strings are as tight as we think.

[Cory Engelhardt]

44 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

Honestly, if we're cutting salary and dumping players - then we should be playing young players there.  I give it to Miranda and Julien.

Goldschmidt was really, really bad last year.  I'm not eager to sink what meager space we have into him.

He was definitely down compared to the rest of his career. He was still an upgrade over what both Miranda and Julien gave last year no?

But yeah, I'd be open to a different guy at 1B. Just like doing the blueprints :)

[TheLeviathan]

47 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

He was definitely down compared to the rest of his career. He was still an upgrade over what both Miranda and Julien gave last year no?

But yeah, I'd be open to a different guy at 1B. Just like doing the blueprints :)

Actually...no.  Miranda was better than Goldschmidt last year.

I give you kudos for the effort!  I'm just so pessimistic about the state of the payroll that I feel like the only reasonable path is total tear down. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

2 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

Actually...no.  Miranda was better than Goldschmidt last year.

I give you kudos for the effort!  I'm just so pessimistic about the state of the payroll that I feel like the only reasonable path is total tear down. 

I meant to say Goldschmidt was better both with the bat AND at 1b last year. I don’t see either Miranda or Julien as a true option there defensively. And maybe Goldschmidt isn’t that anymore either. But I do think he would bring something to the team that we lack. I’d be open to more ideas

[Cory Engelhardt]

16 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Interesting trades. I like #1-4 and #7.  I would think they are possible too, which may not be the case in some of the roster guesses. I can see Goldschmidt at 1B.

My only question with your team is using both Larnach and Wallner in the outfield and having Lewis at 2B. All three could certainly play those positions, but I think they would need to OPS over .900 to make up for the missed plays. I would choose one to hold down a spot. However, Twins Daily agrees with you.

Good job on this roster.

I am having a hard time figuring out what to do with Larnach. He certainly made strides last year, but I also think they will add a right handed power guy that would fill in either at 1B or LF this offseason. Larnach, to me, could also have some value. Especially with Keaschall and Rodriguez knocking on the door as well, and either (theoretically) could also be a left field option.

What would you do for left field? My assumption is that Wallner is penciled in right field.

[tony&rodney]

23 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

What would you do for left field? My assumption is that Wallner is penciled in right field.

I put up my Take 2 roster yesterday under Twins Talk. I kept Wallner in RF, despite my concerns with his defense. I like Larnach and will plug him in at DH. LF goes to Emmanuel Rodriguez. I would not be afraid to put EmRod in CF and move Buxton to LF.

[Cory Engelhardt]

4 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

I put up my Take 2 roster yesterday under Twins Talk. I kept Wallner in RF, despite my concerns with his defense. I like Larnach and will plug him in at DH. LF goes to Emmanuel Rodriguez. I would not be afraid to put EmRod in CF and move Buxton to LF.

I do think Buxton will move off of CF at some point. Maybe that is this year. I'm also curious how fast they will promote Walker Jenkins. I'm not saying opening day or even June, but I could see him (barring health) debuting next year too. Should be fun :)

[tony&rodney]

2 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I do think Buxton will move off of CF at some point. Maybe that is this year. I'm also curious how fast they will promote Walker Jenkins. I'm not saying opening day or even June, but I could see him (barring health) debuting next year too. Should be fun :)

Jenkins still needs to navigate AA and AAA. He will almost certainly play right field, maybe left.

EmRod will either bust or flourish. He doesn't need any more time to develop. He can hit MLB pitching now and will need to make adjustments as a Twin. Because of the wide variance of outcomes for Emmanuel, he is a very controversial player. I wonder if the Twins will become skittish about EmRod and wind up trading him this winter. I also wonder whether this might be the case with Luke Keaschall too. I would keep both.

On the other hand, I think Jenkins just needs repetitions / experience and will possibly debut sometime in 2026. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

18 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

Actually...no.  Miranda was better than Goldschmidt last year.

I give you kudos for the effort!  I'm just so pessimistic about the state of the payroll that I feel like the only reasonable path is total tear down. 

It was a BAD 6 weeks, but they still ended 2024 with the 4th most runs scored in the AL. 4th!

Injuries are going to happen, building a better bench, some fielding fundamentals, and better middle relief will go a long ways. All cheap fixes

[Richie the Rally Goat]

@Cory Engelhardt with prospects being the currency of trades, I think your blueprint is heading down a reasonable path.

agreed w/Brock and Levi, not sure how I feel about this much salary dumping, but my picture is a couple of offloading moves for prospects, then packaging prospects together for a trade of a major leaguer. 

buying the dip on Goldy might be a good move, but I doubt they spend that big. Probably run it back with Smooth.

great work