Minnesota Twins Arbitration Dilemma: Jhoan Durán

Tender arbitration is a no-brainer.  I'm in no hurry to trade him either at this point.

No dilemma, Duran gets paid.

Every player can be traded. The Twins need talent, specifically for defense. Falvey needs to find some transactions to upgrade the team. Duran has been victimized by less than stellar defense, so he would agree. Who gets traded is the work of DK. 

If Falvey non-tenders Duran he should be fired on the spot.

2 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

I hate to pile on, but. . . 

Stay tuned!  Next we have an article that asks this question. . . . 

Is Kirby Pucket really one of the top 25 MN Twins in history?

OR Was Rod Carew actually a good hitter?

Thing is .... nobody needs to read the articles if they are not inclined. It took me 30 seconds to read the article and I was not harmed. Virtually every article on the internet is click bait, the nature of the beast. I think you guys easily understand that as well as me.

Twins Daily has managed to collect (must be a better term) a host of writers pushing out content to Twins/baseball fans. It is pretty decent to have a site to go to that has stuff.

Anyone who wants to put together something can write an article and submit it for publishing on this site or have their own blog.

The offseason is painfully long and Falvey slept all last winter which made for thin discussion. Let us hope this offseason goes better.

I expect that most TWins fans weren't happy with Duran's performance this year.  I suspect the most unhappy person was Duran.

I have had the feeling much of the summer/fall that he was never feeling 100% like his old self.  He missed much of spring training and then the first what, month or two of the season.  He then hurried back and never settled into the fireballer we remember.  Assuming he has a normal winter and spring, I expect the Duran of old in 2025.  And that isn't someone anyone will trade.

He will 100% be tendered.  Even if you do not want to pay him because you are worried about his numbers dropping he will have value in trade. You do not just let a talent like him walk to sign wherever in first year of arb. 

Yeah, not a hard call at all on tendering. Must offer him arbitration. Must.

sadly, we shouldn't be having a serious conversation about whether or not to trade him with multiple years of team control and elite stuff in his arsenal, but the self-imposed payroll limits of the Pohlad Family somehow makes it a legit question. Which is horrible. 

He's an excellent pitcher and while 2024 wasn't as dominant as he's been in the previous 2 seasons, it's much more likely that's a result of the small sample sizes relievers often deal with rather than any serious decline. The bullpen would be substantially weaker without him and while Jax is more than capable of being the "closer", we're much better off having 2 of these guys

I personally wouldn't mind a walk around the other teams in baseball instead of an article for every single player who might or might not get arbitration. I think the focus here sometimes gets too Twins centered.

What players on other teams might get non-tendered (or otherwise squeezed off the roster)? Would the Twins be interested in any of them?

People seem to not understand that this is a series--the writers are going through every arb-eligible player, and dissecting every possibility (of which there are 3--tender, non-tender, tender and trade).  Anyone who thinks the writer is weighing all 3 possibilities equally misses the mark.  Every player should always have each of the three outcomes considered, even if the clear and obvious answer is an immediate no.

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I personally wouldn't mind a walk around the other teams in baseball instead of an article for every single player who might or might not get arbitration. I think the focus here sometimes gets too Twins centered.

What players on other teams might get non-tendered (or otherwise squeezed off the roster)? Would the Twins be interested in any of them?

You think there is too much Twins coverage on a site called Twins Daily?  Do you also think that the Wall Street Journal is too focused on Wall Street?

I don't mind the alleged "click bait."  It's why we come here, to offer our opinion and see what other guys think.  All that's missing is a beer or other adult beverage and eye contact.  Come to think of it...some of you MIGHT be having a beer while reading this.

They will 100% tender him.  That much we all agree on.

But even though Mike Sixel threw it out there about tendering and then trading him, THAT'S the article I would have preferred.  Everybody is tradable, depending on what your getting.

So how would a trade of Duran straight up for Tristin Casas be received??  Jax moves to the closer role and Casas is our 1B for the next 10 years.  I could maybe live with that.  I have no idea how that deal would stack up on BBTV's.  What if you dealt Duran and either SWR or Miranda for Casas and Wilyer Abreu?  You add a Gold Glove nominated OF in Abreu who has some speed and pop and Casas.  I could live with that.  

Boston needs a closer, SP and a replacement 1B for Casas if they trade him.  

Duran, SWR and Miranda for Casas and Abreu?  How do the values of THAT trade stack up?

That's the kind of article I would have preferred.  And frankly, every one of our arbitration guys could or should be considered as a trade chip.  I'm not advocating for trading Duran.  He has been a dominant closer.  But what could we get for him if we traded him.  The Red Sox actually profile as a good match for a possible trade.  Who else does??  

1 hour ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I'm not advocating for trading Duran.  He has been a dominant closer.  But what could we get for him if we traded him.  The Red Sox actually profile as a good match for a possible trade.  Who else does??  

This is more or less where I am with Duran and also several other Twins players/prospects. My main objective for 2025 is for an improved defensive team.

I like Casas but his defense is not that hot, plus I wonder if Duran could be used to sway another team to give up something for our closer. Would Arizona trade Jordan Lawler for Duran plus someone like Topa? I'm also curious to know if Boston would part with Kyle Teel for a return that gives the Red Sox a starting pitcher?

I'll be the first to admit that some of my thoughts may be shaky, either asking for players who rate highly for other teams and/or proposing moving accomplished/promising members of the Twins roster. Falvey needs to make some deals this offseason because he sure didn't move the needle last offseason. I don't believe the Twins can just roll it back with the roster as is.

40 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Falvey needs to make some deals this offseason because he sure didn't move the needle last offseason. I don't believe the Twins can just roll it back with the roster as is.

#1. I don't trust Falvey to make a good deal based off of his needle last year.

#2. Yes, they can roll it back again. Not adding payroll puts them in the position to do the same thing. I'd go so far as to say, they won't add 1 significant Free Agent and they won't trade for a difference maker either, because they can't afford it.... Thanks to the Correa contract.