Two of the Longest-Tenured Twins Could Be Nearing the End In Different Ways

[arby58]

6 hours ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

I personally think Larnach becomes the primary DH but who knows.  Maybe Keaschall takes that for the majority of his games.  

My guess is we’re seeing Larnach’s ceiling. That makes him an appealing trade chip. Emma’s ceiling is way higher, and he has to be on the roster next year (unless, of course, he’s on the IL), as his trade value is down. For all there is to like about Larnach this year, he is not the regular DH on a team looking to do more than scrape into a wildcard spot.

[NYCTK]

19 minutes ago, MapleGroveTwinsFan said:

Not sure I get the logic of going to arb  with  him likely getting 7 million or so or paying him to avoid arb , then turning around and trading him. Why not just spend that money on the type of player they want or need? So far the picking up of the 10 million option on Polanco hasn't worked too well, but lets give it another go? Neither did paying Farmer 6.3 (plus the 250k buyout in 2025) to avoid arbitration. If the Twins don't have a minor league player/prospect that can give them under 5 WAR over the next 6 years the FO should be fired.

This is definitely true for Larnach. The $7M he'd get in arbitration isn't any real discount on what you'd expect him to get in free agency, seeing as how the Twins paid $7M for Bell. 

Ober, I think it's closer to a value call, but similarly think he's not likely to get $7M in free agency, nor should you expect to pay more than $7M for a #5 caliber pitcher. For example, Griffin Canning got $2.5M this year. 

Non-tender both. 

[Riverbrian]

3 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

You might be right but they would still have Lopez / Bradley / Kremer / Prielipp / Abel / Matthews / Rojas / Paredes and maybe Festa.  Abel was very good before going down.  Prielipp looks like he belongs and Rojas is finding his command.  If Rojas improves his command, he has to be in the rotation.  Even if they trade Ryan, they have 4 veterans if Ober stays.  That normally would be good but not when 3 or of these young guys look to have considerably more upside than Ober. 

I think the next off-season will be interesting. 

We will have 7 returning players who will be in their last year. 4 of them in the starting rotation with Ryan, Lopez, Ober and Kramer. Hoffman and Banda in the bullpen and then there is Larnach. 

What will the front office do? I have no idea? Would I do? I have no idea either. 

In it's simplest form... I'm always most interested in players that will be back the following year and would like to get something for players before they walk for nothing.

However, the teams that you are able to trade them to are teams that consider themselves contenders and I assume the Twins will consider themselves contenders in the off-season so therefore not willing to cash them in. 

Starting with the 4 in the rotation. That's a lot of arms coming out of the rotation and I don't think they can move everyone. At this point... Might as well keep Ryan and Lopez and build around them. 

Hoffman and Banda can hang around if we want them. We need capable bullpen arms. 

Larnach... I'll be ready to consider a deal. Last off-season... I wasn't... this off-season... I will be. 

 

[Linus]

I’m viewing this from the perspective of would either of these guys be a part of a serious playoff contender?  In my opinion we need to add 2-3 difference making players to make that happen. Where could that happen?  The logical spots are the two corner infield spots and / or the two corner outfield spots plus DH. Not all these guys have to go but left field sure looks like a spot that could be improved. I see many people constructing lineups for next year that are pretty much the same guys. I just don’t understand why you would largely return a lineup that has been well under 500 the last two seasons and poor defensively as well. 

[MikeNC]

4 hours ago, The Great Hambino said:

I think Keaschall could effectively be that RH bat that also plays in a corner outfield spot against righties.  Martin or an equivalent RH bat could take Keaschall's spot in the field when he's at DH.  That would basically leave you a Martin/Larnach DH platoon, only Martin does the fielding for Keaschall.  That would, I think, maximize the skillsets of all three of those players.  It would also leave the other two outfield spots for, say, Buxton and Jenkins.  If Buxton is out, then Jenkins can slide over to center and you can work Roden/Emma/whomever else in with Martin.  That could be one way to slide the current pieces together while retaining Larnach.

Looking at it this way, Roden and Emma sure start to look redundant.  

On a team LY that suddenly had ALL LH OF and two more such top prospects in AAA it made no sense whatsoever to pick up The Rodent.  I believe he was just a throw in they wanted to get rid of.  He has often looked competely lost at the plate.  I'd rather see one of our prospects learning that way than a guy who has no demostrated upside.

[Jacksson]

What's the difficult decision??  Dump them both for whatever you can get.

[RpR]

2 minutes ago, Jacksson said:

What's the difficult decision??  Dump them both for whatever you can get.

That would be a losers play, that what is difficult.

[tony&rodney]

5 hours ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Who are you considering a #5 type pitcher - Ober?   The Twins should have one of the stronger rotations next year with ample upside.   

The Twins may feel that Ober fits as a #5 pitcher. 

Ryan/Lopez are #1/2, interchangeable and Kremer fits as a #4/5 guy.  There are some decent candidates for #3 or other spots depending on which direction the front office/owners wish to go. Among the viable candidates for the rotation are Prielipp, Abel, Rojas, Matthews,  and maybe someone else like Quick, Paredes, Morris, or Festa. 

What do you think?