Bring. Him. Home?

It's fun to dream but there really isn't a positional fit (which is what made him available to Miami in the first place) and one has to wonder...for an offensively challenged team like the Marlins, who reportedly are still looking for bats, why are they souring on Arraez already?  He had what will probably turn out to be his career year in 2023.  Why would they move him now?  

When you already have Julien with Lee on the way and Polanco soon to be traded, you can't afford to spend ANY draft capital on something that is duplicative.  It's NOT that Luis is without value or would be loved again if he returned.  We need pitching.  We just don't need a LH hitting, 2B/1B/DH at this time.  

Love the guy, but it's not gonna happen. 

Love him, but it ain't gonna happen.

Question, Cody.  What is your source regarding AK's shoulder?

No. Just. No.

10 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

No. Stop. Please?

I realize it’s the quiet offseason and all but satire is for Friday’s.  I don’t know what it will take for this fan base to ever let anyone get away but we don’t live in that world anymore.  

The Marlins being ok with moving him just makes that trade better and better.  It also further illuminates what some were saying at the time-you don’t build a franchise around a single skill player. No matter how good that skill is.

Then, bring him back to where? Who is losing time for him? We could have weekly articles about how bad we miss Julien or Lee? 

Wait til you hear what Cincy is thinking about CES.

It’s ok for the stove to go cool for a while.  It’s ok for the website to have a few less articles when the temp is below zero.  

Apparently not. But I concur. 

Story is not very accurate. The Marlins brought Arraez thinking that he could be the answer at second base,

This article said they brought him to play first and DH. He played 134 games at second, 12 at first, and 1 at DH. Is this just a lazy writer or AI?  Do your research.

2 hours ago, Cody Pirkl said:

As the season nears, Kiriloff's shoulder injury continues to give him trouble. As quiet as this winter has been, history says there could be some shakeups before Opening Day. 

This is not very clear. It was originally reported that Kirilloff had a bursa sack removed which was considered a very minor procedure. When they cut him open they were very pleased this was all that was necessary. He was expected to be full go this spring. At least that's what I remember. 

I hope we bring him on as a free agent DH as a decorated veteran near the end of his long and illustrious career when our whole roster looks completely different than it does now. This would be after we've won two more World Series and are rebuilding and honestly need something to get excited about.

It should also be pointed out that the original report says “might”.  I assume every team always “might” be willing to listen on any given player.  The Braves might be willing to listen on Acuna if you offer Julien, Lewis, Jenkins, Lee, Duran, and Lopez (while paying his full salary).

To me, this sounds a lot like a new FO signaling they are open for business, but it’s not a fire sale.  As such, I have no idea why the Twins would devote any portion of their limited resources to acquiring a player whom would not have a defensive home, and costs the same with no additional control over a potentially superior player already on roster (Polanco).

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

"When the Twins dealt Arráez last offseason, they were betting on him being a first baseman or DH, as his health had started to limit his range in the field. The Marlins thought of Arráez as at least a part-time second baseman, which is why they thought he was valuable enough to give up Pablo Lopez (plus two prospects) to acquire him. The Marlins followed through on their plan."

The article does not say they brought him in to play first or DH, it says the Twins were betting on him being a 1B or DH and the Marlins thought he could play "at least a part-time second base." So I'd say the writer wasn't lazy and did do at least a little research.

Then why did he play second base like over 95% of the time if they were betting on him being a first baseman or DH? 

Arraez is interesting, but I expect nothing to come about as far as a Twin return. At least not this year anyway.

Kiriloff, now that is concerning. Though tbh not a surprise at all. The guy is one injury after another. Worse than Buxton actually.

2 hours ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

To me, this sounds a lot like a new FO signaling they are open for business, but it’s not a fire sale.  As such, I have no idea why the Twins would devote any portion of their limited resources to acquiring a player whom would not have a defensive home, and costs the same with no additional control over a potentially superior player already on roster (Polanco).

I think it is pretty clear Arraez is a better baseball player than Polanco right now. I'd trade both Kirilloff and Polanco for Arraez and stick him back at 1B where he was good defensively. I'd even add a minor leaguer to sweeten the deal.

Yeah, there’s no place for a player like Arraez on the Twins. I mean, we’d much rather have Kiriloff at 1B.  And having a 0.400 OBP is not good enough to compete with our current DH candidates.  Besides, he strikes out way less often than what we expect from our hitters.  Even though we wouldn’t expect him to play 2B, even as a temporary fill in he’d be way too much of a liability to merit having his bat in the lineup at all. Besides, he’s really only a platoon player at this point. The fact that the fans love him doesn’t matter at all as well.

We really should have a sarcasm font on the TD.

If we could acquire Arraez for a couple of ok prospects (think Schobel types) and throw in one or two Miranda or Larnach types,  we should do it in a nanosecond.  Polanco or Arraez? Please, it’s not even close - on virtually every metric. Kiriloff vs. Arraez? Are you kidding?  Just on likely innings to be played, Arraez might play more than both of them combined. Neither can hold his jock at the plate.

Imagine Julien and Arraez leading off against a right handed starter - the pitcher might be looking at his 21st pitch and at least one man on base before getting to our #3 hitter.

Also, Arraez is a spark plug. He is an igniter.  He shows up in Miami and the Marlins make the playoffs. No correlation there.

I get it’s not going to happen   But to pretend he is not a fit for this team, or there’s no room for him as a Twin, or he’s not a good enough hitter or fielder to play 1B and DH instead of Kiriloff (or Polanco or anyone else we currently are contemplating for those roles) is ridiculous. 

32 minutes ago, darin617 said:

Then why did he play second base like over 95% of the time if they were betting on him being a first baseman or DH? 

"When the Twins dealt Arráez last offseason, they were betting on him being a first baseman or DH, as his health had started to limit his range in the field. The Marlins thought of Arráez as at least a part-time second baseman, which is why they thought he was valuable enough to give up Pablo Lopez (plus two prospects) to acquire him. The Marlins followed through on their plan."

Of course Arraez would be a great add for the Twins, there isn't a team in the league couldn't use his bat. The question is what would he cost? I suspect the Marlins would expect a return bigger than the one they gave to get him & that likely wouldn't work for the Twins.

With Julien's emergence and Lee knocking on the door, plus we still have Polanco and Farmer so currently 2B is more than covered. More of a question about 1B but I wouldn't want the Twins paying what the Marlins would want for Arraez, as good a hitter as he is. If Buxton could prove he's healthy enough to play CF more than DH then it maybe becomes a different matter but I wouldn't want Arraez as an everyday 1B.