Offseason Status Update: Standing Still as Spring Approaches

[jud6312]

4 hours ago, High heat said:

I really can’t blame the FO, you went into the offseason at or over budget and the entire league knows it.  

When the entirety of your post-season press conference centers around the team being over budget, the other teams tend to know you're over budget.

[rv78]

I tend to look at this off-season as a success. Falvey didn't bring in washed up veterans to take playing time away from the young players that are already on the team. The saying usually goes, "addition by subtraction", and less washed up veterans makes for a solid addition.

[TheLeviathan]

We'll have the best rested front office in the league!

[Brandon]

At least we have the Cease rumor to vicariously live through.  Getting him would give us the best rotation in MLB.  That is pretty exciting.  And that’s about it on the transaction side of things. 

[twinfan]

It's too bad the Twins ceiling couldn't be increased by even 10 mil. There are some good players who can be had for 4-6 mil each though they may not be at the top of the heap. I hate when a team signs a good arm for a few mil but we just sit there.

[sweetmusicviola16]

We can continue to do nothing and be a team that competes for the Central. Sometimes win it, sometimes collapse. We can continue to look at the holes and hope they someday get filled. Or we can be proactive. SD is known to want more catching. LAD is still looking for pen arms. We are looking for a long-term solution to our catching.  A three team trade could be worked out that fits the needs of these clubs. The base of it would be Rushing comes to MN along with Brandon Valenzuela from SD. Duran goes to LAD. Jeffers  goes to SD. SD gives up some of their other prospects to even all of it out. This trade might be used to fill our LHRP need as well.

With this move Vazquez could get moved,  without leaving us with Camargo as our backup C. Paddack still gets traded. We now have money to acquire a 1B/COF. Three team trades though can be complicated and I don't know if Falvey/Zoll are in shape to do one with all of the time off they have taken.

[sweetmusicviola16]

If the long-term catching problem isn't addressed this off season, it should be, what will Falvey do next? Based on his mo he will make a drastic overpay for a declining J.T. Realmuto. I can see it now 3 years for about 55 mil. Or he'll have to sign someone along the lines of Tucker Barnhardt. Jeffers has value now. Take advantage of it. Duran has value now. Take advantage of it. Before they walk and we get nothing.

[bean5302]

6 hours ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Since it's been said that the formal sale announcement won't come until the opener at the earliest, I wonder if the agreement could include a small sale price increase to allow the FO to spend more NOW? It could be a spending increase (FA) or taking in more $ in a trade (e,g, Cease).  Not exactly sure how this could work as it would be dependent on where they're at in the negotiation process, but if they are making progress like it sounds, then why wouldn't the new owners want to put a clause in there knowing that they'd be the benefactors of a better season/playoffs?  They'd be spending the current owner's $ now which would be recouped once they close on the deal.  Has this ever been done before?

Prospective owners have no control over the team or how that money is spent. There is no guarantee an agreement will be reached or that whichever bidding candidate will be successful. Furthermore, there is no guarantee the additional spending benefits the product. If the deal falls through for the time being and the team performs well, the team valuation can skyrocket, pricing the bidders out of the market.

Until (if ever) the deal closes, the Pohlads are on the hook for the additional spending, and if the additional spending does not improve the team, it's money they just burned. If the Pohlads thought spending more money would have improved the team's performance, they would have spent the money to increase the potential sale value of the team.

There is no guaranteed reward, but guaranteed risk involved for both parties. The Pohlads want the best sale deal. The buyer wants to pay the least. A few million dollars for roster construction is not relevant.

[Doctor Wu]

As someone wrote, patience is required. And then some! Yes, on paper the Twins have the makings of a good team and a competitive team, but it's also a very fragile roster that doesn't have the necessary depth or top-end weapons to win the division and advance in the playoffs. Hey, healthy permitting and hoping for some bounce-back years from a few of these guys and we might be looking very good by September, and yet I'm not feeling terribly optimistic right now. 

[dxpavelka]

I still think there's one more shoe to drop.  Maybe it's a Cease trade.  And I'll keep saying  that as long as Alonzo remains unsigned and a Scott Boras client, there might be blood in the water for another middle of the night shocker.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

I still think there's one more shoe to drop.  Maybe it's a Cease trade.  And I'll keep saying  that as long as Alonzo remains unsigned and a Scott Boras client, there might be blood in the water for another middle of the night shocker.

Your take is interesting. Do you think Alonso will sign a one year deal for $10-20 million or less? If the Twins were shopping for a free agent first baseman, there were players available for a better price. Christian Walker? The optimism is laudable but it would be far more surprising than the Correa signing.

[NYCTK]

52 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Your take is interesting. Do you think Alonso will sign a one year deal for $10-20 million or less? If the Twins were shopping for a free agent first baseman, there were players available for a better price. Christian Walker? The optimism is laudable but it would be far more surprising than the Correa signing.

Not a chance. If he ultimately settles for a 1 year deal it will probably be an effective 1 year deal with player options, looking in structure like the Bellinger contract. Maybe with more drastic declines in salary.

Something like, perhaps - 

Year 1: $28 M

Year 2: $23 M

Year 3: $18 M

A clean 1 year deal is not likely and would for sure be more than $25 M. 

 

[tony&rodney]

16 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Not a chance. If he ultimately settles for a 1 year deal it will probably be an effective 1 year deal with player options, looking in structure like the Bellinger contract. Maybe with more drastic declines in salary.

Something like, perhaps - 

Year 1: $28 M

Year 2: $23 M

Year 3: $18 M

A clean 1 year deal is not likely and would for sure be more than $25 M. 

 

Well, I was responding to a comment that posits the Twins as a landing for Alonso, which seems way way out there to me. If the Twins were to have had an interest and a willingness to spend Walker was the better bet.

I'm not a fan of Pete Alonso but wondered what type of deal dxpavelka envisioned the Twins might see? Good to read what others think always.

[mickster]

20 hours ago, Brandon said:

At least we have the Cease rumor to vicariously live through.  Getting him would give us the best rotation in MLB.  That is pretty exciting.  And that’s about it on the transaction side of things. 

The cost for Cease will be Wallner, SWR and Vasquez - I say no unless an extension is signed 

[thelanges5]

Pete is still out there. 🐻‍❄️

Give him a little Correa (2022) like deal. Make the team look more attractive for the new owners. 

[dxpavelka]

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Well, I was responding to a comment that posits the Twins as a landing for Alonso, which seems way way out there to me. If the Twins were to have had an interest and a willingness to spend Walker was the better bet.

I'm not a fan of Pete Alonso but wondered what type of deal dxpavelka envisioned the Twins might see? Good to read what others think always.

Something quite similar to the first Correa deal.  A one year deal cleverly disguised as a three year deal.  A price point somewhere around $22 million for that one year.  Over the budget?  Sure.  Assuming we actually know what the budget is.  Boras has been creative before.  Never count anything out.