What Does Carlos Correa's Return Mean for the 2023 Twins?

25 minutes ago, strumdatjag said:

Chris Paddack is also in the mix when he returns from Tommy John surgery sometime during the year.   Still, I would like the Twins to acquire an ace.   The squeamish here will balk at Trevor Bauer, but he has the upside to boost this rotation.  Admit this at least, Twins Daily will be a more interesting place to visit if he is added.  
Trevor Bauer is nowhere near the number of second chances that the Twins gave to Steve Howe!!!! 

I'm not totally against the idea but Bauer is not an ace in my eyes.    

21 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Probably not a good idea to question the motives or mental states of others simply because they disagree with you   

I don’t think those who oppose signing Trevor Bauer would look at the definition and disagree - A person easily made to feel disgusted, especially by unpleasant images.   It is clear that some (many) here would  be easily disgusted by the image of Trevor Bauer in a Twins uniform.   But he probably fills their biggest remaining need, and at a dirt cheap price.    He has every reason to be on his best behavior (but I understand - Is he capable of controlling himself?).   I would support signing him for the MLB minimum and then DFA if he acts up or is unproductive. 
There have been athletes with serious, repeated, personal issues who have cleaned up and thrived later in their careers.  Consider Josh Hamilton in baseball, and Jared Allen for our local football team.    This is a risk worth taking, considering the Twins’ shortterm needs - starting pitching and affordability. 

4 minutes ago, strumdatjag said:

I don’t think those who oppose signing Trevor Bauer would look at the definition and disagree - A person easily made to feel disgusted, especially by unpleasant images.   It is clear that some (many) here would  be easily disgusted by the image of Trevor Bauer in a Twins uniform.   But he probably fills their biggest remaining need, and at a dirt cheap price.    He has every reason to be on his best behavior (but I understand - Is he capable of controlling himself?).   I would support signing him for the MLB minimum and then DFA if he acts up or is unproductive. 
There have been athletes with serious, repeated, personal issues who have cleaned up and thrived later in their careers.  Consider Josh Hamilton in baseball, and Jared Allen for our local football team.    This is a risk worth taking, considering the Twins’ shortterm needs - starting pitching and affordability. 

Bauer has been this for years, over and over, with no remorse. He is who he is. 

WOW! I thought this might actually happen until those last minute reports the Mets thought they would work it out. This is a tremendous and completely surprising deal! I expected the deal to be front loaded, but 6yrs and $200M guaranteed was just never expected! And there is control over the last 4yrs for both parties, along with smaller AAV. 

*Just my opinion, I won't give credit to the FO having this fall in their lap. I DO give them credit for staying in contact and working out a good deal for both sides. I also DO give them credit for chasing him in the first place. Again, my opinion, the Twins initial offer WAS very fair based on the market the past few years. The fact that the market went NUTS this year doesn't, IMO, diminish the fact that they dove in to the deep end this year.

WHAT DOES CARLOS CORREA'S RETURN MEAN FOR THE 2023 TWINS?

1] However it turned out, their perception changed simply because they took a plunge in to the deep end, and were winners in the end.

2] The Twins have one of the best SS in all of MLB, and arguably one of the best players overall. SS is set for 6yrs with a great player.

3] The defense is better.

4] The offense is better.

5] Team leadership remains remains from having him. In his ONE YEAR, he was so invested in the team that he knew all the top milb talent. And he openly stated that if brought back, there were other things he wanted to do to work with the team going forward as a leader.

6] The infield depth is better now as Farmer becomes a valuable and versatile piece for 2yrs instead of being a solid but not great starting SS. It even puts less pressure on Gordon as the only viable infield utility player on the roster. (No disrespect toward Arraez being able to fill in).

7] The FUTURE infield, and maybe even OF, depth and versatility improves. Lewis can now take all of his talent to 2B or 3B, or OF, or ALL, and still backup SS. Lee can play 3B, or 2B, and also cover SS. Miranda can cover both infield corners. A healthy AK can play 1B and corner OF. Martin can play across the OF, and possibly still cover 3B and 2B, which he played in college. And I'm not even certain where Julien fits in, but he's a top prospect with the talent to fit in somewhere.

8] While I don't necessarily want to trade any of our young talent to add elsewhere...I love having a ton of abundant talent available...the truth is the Twins have suddenly gained the ability to do so.

So yeah, this move changes a LOT!

NOW, more than ever, the FO can't stop. Go grab Mancini for a RH bat who can play some corner OF and 1B. If the FO has belief in McCutchon, or someone else that's left, FINE. But get a RH bat that the roster needs. Go grab ONE quality RP to INSURE the pen has enough talent and depth. I'd grab Fulmer. But there's a couple really good LH also available. Who do you want? Go get him! I don't know you can get 2, but go grab at least ONE. The best pen you can put together also makes the rotation better. 

I'm deliberately ignoring a trade for a rotation arm because it's beyond THIS topic point. There's still $ available to add a couple pieces without blowing up payroll. A combination of players and prospects MIGHT allow to make a big trade still. If it's smart. But right now, with Correa back in the fold, you can't just sit back and NOT make a couple more obvious additions.

Doc Bauer, I couldn't have said it better.  I would just add two possible trades to take another big step forward for this year and several years to come.  Yes, go get a RH bat.  McCutcheon or Mancini would fill the bill at an affordable cost.  Here are the trade options:

Trade #1  (All values courtesy of Baseball Trade Values).

Marlins Get:  Arraez 26.6 and Larnach 14.6 for a total of 41.2  Twins Get:  Pablo Lopez 38.7 and Sixto Sanchez 1.6 for a total of 40.3.

Or, Trade #2"

Marlins Get:  Polanco 34.8 and Kepler 7.6 for a total value of 42.4.   Twins Get: Pablo Lopez 38.7 and Sixto sanchez 1.6 for a total value of 40.3.

I'm slightly overpaying in each trade because you HAVE TO if you want to add young, talented, controllable pitching.

In each trade the Marlins get bats and we move one LH hitting outfielder.  The Twins get Lopez, a 26 year old who is capable of throwing 180 innings to lead the rotation and Sixto Sanchez, who just a couple years ago was MLB's #6 overall prospect.  Shoulder issues the last two years have cratered his value but the kid has talent and could be a winning lottery ticket.  And Sanchez is just 24 years old.  The Twins deal bats from a surplus and stockpile two, young, talented arms to an already promising stable of young arms.  

Soo glad they resigned cc this along if we can get starting pitcher should put us over the top to win division and break 18 game playoff losing streak. I’m pumped for season to start now!!! Go twins!!!

41 on the 40 when Correa gets added

Pitchers 23 (SP 15 - RP 8) and 18 Position players

This will need to be dealt with by either trade or DFA. 

From a 40 man balance standpoint. We are top heavy in starters. 

15 hours ago, laloesch said:

I'd still really like to see them get a front line starter via trade.  Will be very costly, but they have A LOT of young starting prospects as potential trade bait.

Story just had surgery on his elbow so Boston is looking for 1-2 infielders and/or an outfielder. Maybe boston would trade a SP for Farmer/Kepler/Martin? 

Are the Twins better on January 10 than they were on January 9 due to Correa signing?  Of course not.  The Twins only won 78 games with him with the team all year.  Injuries, yes we had a ton of them.  But let's be honest here.  Most of the debilitating injuries came very late in the season.  So let's not blame the whole season on injuries.  I'm glad Correa is finally ( hopefully) signed and shortstop will be a solid secure position for the Twins for at least the next 6 years.  He's a very good player but relying on injured players to come back health AND have good career years is a huge risk.  If the returning players are good and productive we have a good chance of competing.  If the teams performance the last two years continues in 2023 continues, a 33 million shortstop will have done little good.  While Correa signing is good, it alone doesn't make us a contender.  If more solid moves are not made we can expect another season of mud 70s in wins.  Not even the great Carlos Correa can win it on his own.  I'm really hoping that another move or so is coming in support of Correa.  Go Twins!!!

42 minutes ago, Loosey said:

 Jared Allen is not the same as Trevor Bauer.  Jared Allen was/is extremely well liked in the community and in the locker room.  Jared Allen made some dumb mistakes with alcohol and drinking and driving when he was young.  He figured it out by the start of his 3rd NFL season and it was never an issue again.  When the Vikings took their "chance on him" he was 2 or 3 years removed from any of those issues and had matured a lot by then.  

 

OK - I have another example of taking a chance on someone who many MLB teams would not - Carlos Correa.  There has been little discussion here in recent days about how the fan base of many other teams would not accept Carlos Correa., because of the cheating during his days with the Astros.   Those teams (including the Dodgers) were not in a bidding war for CC.   With Pete Rose as a precedent, the standard rule has been that bad conduct affecting the game baseball directly is viewed more harshly. 
I support signing CC to THIS contract, but Twins fans shouldn’t pat themselves on the back for high morals standards and virtue here either.  

4 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Are the Twins better on January 10 than they were on January 9 due to Correa signing?  Of course not.  The Twins only won 78 games with him with the team all year.  Injuries, yes we had a ton of them.  But let's be honest here.  Most of the debilitating injuries came very late in the season.  So let's not blame the whole season on injuries.  I'm glad Correa is finally ( hopefully) signed and shortstop will be a solid secure position for the Twins for at least the next 6 years.  He's a very good player but relying on injured players to come back health AND have good career years is a huge risk.  If the returning players are good and productive we have a good chance of competing.  If the teams performance the last two years continues in 2023 continues, a 33 million shortstop will have done little good.  While Correa signing is good, it alone doesn't make us a contender.  If more solid moves are not made we can expect another season of mud 70s in wins.  Not even the great Carlos Correa can win it on his own.  I'm really hoping that another move or so is coming in support of Correa.  Go Twins!!!

We are not the same team now as Jan 9th just as we are not the same team when Buxton is injured. We are definitely fighting for 1st place in the central when they are in the lineup every day. All the youngsters are going to benefit from C4 being in the clubhouse for the next 6-10 years. We got waaaay better in wins and as a whole organization on Jan 10th.