Should the Twins Restock the Garv Sauce?

Good hypothesis and writing. But Nope. We don’t need him. And as you say it’s awkward. We don’t need a DH when we have multiple guys to rotate into it. Same goes for 1B. I think we have the bats. We need arms. 

I think bringing him in would only make sense if we trade Jeffers as part of a package for some pitching or we find a way to get out from under Vazquez's contract. We need to be able to utilize him some games at catcher to free up 1B/DH for the Kirilloffs and Buxtons to maximize having him on the team. I don't see that being possible with both Jeffers and Vazquez on the roster.

9 minutes ago, Thebigalguy said:

Good hypothesis and writing. But Nope. We don’t need him. And as you say it’s awkward. We don’t need a DH when we have multiple guys to rotate into it. Same goes for 1B. I think we have the bats. We need arms. 

Plus, didn't he put blame on Jeffers for some beanball issues as he put off surgery to play against the Twins in a final series a couple of years back

I'm not sure he can even catch 40 games a year now. As a RH platoon 1B/DH he's not a great fit for the roster.

Seems like signing Garver would signal the end of Kiriloff as a Twin. It would appear to me as if Kiriloff can potentially be as productive as Garver with the bat. Unless they felt that Kiriloff is toast due to injury, but how much less is injury a problem for Garver? Kiriloff will make a fraction of what Garver is going to make. I don't see this happening for a team that is looking to cut payroll and I personally would like to see Kiriloff be given another chance at least to see how good he can be. Kiriloff has low trade value at this point to boot. Not happening, imo.

Garver as a power bat? Polanco as a power bat? Who has more career home runs? Season high? Expected? Consistency? RISP?

I never think of Polanco as a power bat but why is he so underrated? I get that the Twins have the depth to hopefully cover him at 2B. I get that he has had some injuries and declined in athleticism, but Jorge is still a very good baseball player. Perhaps Polanco gets used all over the infield and as a sometime DH this year. I'm not sure how Jorge himself feels about having an unclear role in 2024. Garver is not nearly as valuable a player as Polanco and he would be more expensive too. Garver in 2024? No way.

Big fan of Garver & it pained me to see him go. But now bringing him back on a part-time basis at $26MM for two years under these circumstances & the premise of letting go a Polanco, Kepler or Farmer at bargain prices or even paying someone to take Vazquez doesn't make sense. Vazquez was a safety net for Jeffers & Jeffers thrived not being the sole primary catcher, where he bombed in '22. But being the sole primary catcher in '24 if they trade Vazquez, Garver's net would not be strong enough to catch Jeffers if he bombs again.

We should have Julien, Kiriloff, Miranda & Farmer at 1B. We don't need another, especially at FA prices. 

It's a no from me. I don't think we need to bring him back. 

The baseball fit is pretty good: platoon partner for Kirilloff, good DH fit, nice 3rd catcher to have on hand. the money and health make it less good. While the Twins should be able to afford a deal like this, they're probably not going to spend that high, especially not for a 2-year deal, because of their self-imposed payroll limitations. but I do think garver's health issues make it a gamble that they might not be too excited about: we've got several players already with health concerns (Buxton, Kirilloff, Lewis, Gordon, Miranda, Polanco, and even Correa), so adding another just increases the odds against healthy seasons. 

I think this would be a move that might happen if we were maintaining payroll closer to even with 2023, but the predicted decline of $20-30M makes it exceptionally unlikely, even if we are able to drop payroll with a Polanco/Vazquez/Kepler/Farmer deal of some kind.

I think Garver would be a great fit & have said so in other posts, but didn't have any information on what he would cost. For me 10 mil+ per on a multi year deal for someone that would be an insurance/role player doesn't work. We can spend that money on bigger needs.

Injuries. That is glossed over. What has changed that he is not going to be injured yet again. How many years in a row has it been? Why would you sign yet another player with so much time missed by injury unless it is a team friendly deal. Wherever Garver plays the team would have to have a near ready plan B. He is a luxury item for a team 

I think I would lean away,  tends to have a good year followed by a bad year.  

I would love to have Garver back in a DH/3rd catcher type of spot, but we have this CFer and 2nd baseman that may end up in the DH spot. Tough call but I think I'd be forced to pass.

I like Garver and am not opposed to signing him.  I do think a good power bat for the middle of the order is not a bad idea.  I think the Twins do not want to commit more money to 2025 though.  How about JD Martinez on a 1 year contract for the same 12-13 million.  I don't know if he can get 2 years or not at his age.  I would be fine with either.  I am just throwing another option out there.  

But to be clear the main objective for the offseason is to get a playoff caliber starting pitcher.

Hmm.... an interesting idea, but I think that ship has sailed. My hunch is that Garver will want too much money as a free agent, plus the Twins don't have a big need for his services as things stand now. Plus, his injury history would make me think twice too. But when he's healthy, he obviously a strong bat to have in your lineup. 

14 hours ago, old nurse said:

Injuries. That is glossed over. What has changed that he is not going to be injured yet again. How many years in a row has it been? Why would you sign yet another player with so much time missed by injury unless it is a team friendly deal. Wherever Garver plays the team would have to have a near ready plan B. He is a luxury item for a team 

I mean, that's the basic problem here, so I don't think it's glossed over. The Twins likely can't afford to sign a player that isn't going to be available for more than 110 games or so, even with extensive time as a DH at the kind of price that Garver is likely to command. They're dropping some payroll and that makes this unlikely. If we were maintaining roughly last season's payroll, then I'd love to give him the payroll slot taken up by Gallo last season, even with the risk of injury. But the team isn't going to have that kind of money available, and in significantly more constrained payroll the injury risk becomes more problematic as well.