Report From The Fort: "B" Player Gets "A" Grade

I like this FO much better than the previous one. They seemed to make more or less the best of what they had in front of them. I mostly discount the Darvish issue as something that won't change. No matter that all FA lists are relative, we are not going to ever sign the top dogs while JP owns the Twins.

 

This left them to do what they could with the next tier. I agree they deserve a high mark. What I wonder about is whether this is a repeatable philosophy, or operating theory. Or was it the result of a weird year for the FA market due to things like the luxury tax issue, an odd mix of talent, and which teams were actively competing for FA's? Since I don't ever expect the Twins to sign the big fish, if they can continue this type of flexible and semi aggressive thinking, I think they have a good chance to be a competitive franchise moving forward. What happens at the trade deadline will be another benchmark. And it will be interesting to see if the FA market returns to "normal" next year, how they play in the same pool as the Sharks.

The 2018 money it would have been taken to acquire Darvish has now been spent. 

 

 

Darvish - 22M

 

 

Odorizzi - 6.3M

Sanchez - 2.5M

Morrison - 5.5M

Lynn - 12M

 

 

Total 26.3M 

 

 

 

It doesn't matter if these moves work out or not. It doesn't even matter if I agree with the moves. For the record I'm good with them. 

 

The front office is showing the willingness to spend and the ability to be creative and the desire to improve the team.

IIRC, Sanchez' contract is not guaranteed. With the acquisition of Odorizzi and now Lynn the likelihood of him being on the 25-man coming out of ST is nil. He'll wind up receiving little of his $2.5M so that brings the expenditures to less than $24M. I agree that the course Falvine followed is a better bang for the bucks.

I like what all these "lesser" signings bring to the field.  Team chemistry already seems like it has the potential to be special--their are some real characters on the team.  I watched a Lance Lynn post-game interview mashup, which was funny.  Listening to Dozier mic'd up was excellent--if I were on the team, I think I'd miss the guy if he left.  

 

Good chemistry is the chicken to the egg, so I'm not suggesting it is responsible for winning, but having a bunch of hungry vets + hungry youth seems like a good combination.

Sorry for liking every post I'm a little giddy

I give them an A as well.   I don't really think Rodney is the guy and would rather have Cobb but otherwise I am pretty happy.   Yet, I am not convinced the past front office would not have made these moves because lets face it, some of these appear to have fallen in our laps and the behavior of the other teams has not been anywhere near normal.   We have gotten bargains which is what the prior group was always trying to get.     They upped their ante back in the day with Pavano and Thome and others when trying to contend much like this group has.   I could easily see them making every one of these moves.    I think it is more a perfect storm.   Any other year Lynn, Reed and Morrison would not have been available at these prices or this late.    Twins would likely have made the Odorizzi move as well though this is probably the move for which I will give the current guys the most credit.    They found a target and made an offer.    That is to their credit.   In the past the Twins would not have gotten Darvish either.    Maybe its savvy and maybe its luck.   Either way I will give them an A for being savvy and/or lucky.

With a limited amount of games I can watch I would pick based on the pitcher I wanted to see. What am I going to do now?

 

This is fair. I had them at C+/B- for the offseason after Odorizzi, and B after Morrison, and this definitely pushes them higher. I feel like I should stop short of a solid A until they Hughes decision is cleared up at the end of spring training. It's a tricky situation with the potential to nudge the grade either way.

Why is Hughes part of your off-season evaluation? His salary is sunk cost.

This team should be better than last year in both starting players and depth, and playing in a worse division. Take ‘em one game at a time.

 

What’s the over under on wins?

Edited March 11, 2018 by scottz

Dont forget in an offseason of buying we still came away with 3 top 30 prospects too. That brings the total to 6 since last July at minimal cost. I think this gets overlooked because we usually aquire prospects because of selling.

 

As far as Hughes goes the optimal way to deal with him is to make him earn his time again like everyone else. For now he competes for the 5th starter. If he looses he competes for bullpen long relief. Then we can try disable list/ demotion to minors and eventually release/ buyout if Hughes is willing. I suspect the Twins will not release him this year. If anything they will want to see where he is next year and may give him a month or so as mop up man before releasing him. I may be wrong but something along thise lines would be the most conservative thing to do with him.

I don’t think this offseason could’ve gone much better. The Twins never making a push to go for it was really starting to wear down my fandom. Now I’m only slightly crazy for telling my friends we can win the WS.

For every season, there are the off-season moves and then the in-season moves . . . I think the off-season has given the Twins a solid starting point for the year, particularly considering the weakness of the AL Central. It didn't make the Twins clear World Series contenders, but I don't think they were in a position to reach that point (even if they signed Darvish) during the off-season alone.

 

They'll need young players to continue developing for that to become realistic . . . and if that does transpire, a deadline move or two to enhance the post-season roster.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised that the payroll has creeped up; it's still below average, of course, but given their lack of long-term commitments, the Twins should have reasonable flexibility for several years.

 

 

I think the FO has the goal of creating an organization that supports a major league team that can legitimately contend in the postseason every year. That's a nearly unattainable goal even for a high-revenue team but it's what we should aspire to. It all comes down to scouting (which directs drafting, trading, and free agent signings) and player development.

 

Sanchez gets somthing between 400 and 500k

Not bad for 3ish weeks of work

Very positive off-season, although it was looking pretty ugly a few weeks back.  They definitely have a deeper and more veteran pitching staff which will make a difference. With Santana's injury and the Sano fiasco I think this would have quite possibly ended up being a below .500 team this year.  Adding Odirizzi, Lynn, Reed, Duke, Rodney, and Morrison probably make this team a wild-card favorite than can complete for the division if Cleveland slips up.  I'd predict them about 87-75 now.  

I would much rather have Lynn, Odiorizzi, and Morrison on the deals they have instead of Darvish and his deal. Much more flexibility going forward.

 

In my lifetime, I'm not sure I have ever seen a Twins FO be praised so profusely. Very refreshing.

I recall those years not so long ago when the "aces" we were replying on to compete   were guys like Carl Pavano and Kevin Correia. Pause to shudder. This season is cause for MUCH more optimism!

I like the offseason moves. I think we have depth to withstand injuries.  I think we have the talent to compete.  Here's what I'd love to see yet this spring - trade Vargas for something.  I don't care what, but if you can get something for him, kudos to the FO.

I like the offseason moves. I think we have depth to withstand injuries.  I think we have the talent to compete.  Here's what I'd love to see yet this spring - trade Vargas for something.  I don't care what, but if you can get something for him, kudos to the FO.

If Falvine had known a few months ago that we'd get Morrison they'd have traded him then. The best we're going to do now is get a low-level prospect from a team that really wants him because every GM in baseball knows he'll be available in two weeks. The only question is which team will pick him up. Or if he goes to Japan to mash big time for a year or two. Edited March 13, 2018 by Nine of twelve

 

In a world where guys like Morrison go for $6m, Vargas has no value. None.

The only value he has is to a mid level team that is looking for a 1B/DH upgrade or backup plan.  If they don't want to risk someone else picking him up before him, then they may offer a low level prospect.  That is the only hope of getting anything for him.  That's why I say if they can get anything for him, kudos to them.