Twins Are Making The Right Moves

Because the Twins have such a balanced minor league system, it hard to sign a veteran without someone saying "but now ... is blocked". With the exception of signing a superstar at top dollar, the Twins are looking at a catcher, an outfielder, and maybe a starting pitcher. With the Suzuki extension they've addressed Catching (Pinto is a good fall back option). A Michael Cuddyer type on no more than a two year deal, and a pitcher who is better than anyone you have in AAA (which might be hard to justify given Meyer there). After that, its all about giving young players time to  play. If Vargas is hitting 280-300 with 7-10 homeruns by the end of the year, Is it worth holding him back for guy on a one year deal? 

James Shields should be seriously pursued in the offseason if they can get a 4-5 year deal.  Jon Niese is still only 27 and is available right now, is theoretically cheaply under control through as late as 2018, and he has cleared waivers with the Mets, projects as a decent #3-type starter.  The Mets have a passel of young, high-upside arms ready to possibly supplant him next year anyway, he might be available for a reasonable price in trade.

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I would be very interested in acquiring a good starter this offseason.  You are right that there are very few holes to fill.  C/1B/2B/3B/DH are locked up.  No team should pay for RP'ers.  Good SS's are almost never available.  That leaves picking up an OF bat and SP'ing. 

 

Despite having options the starting pitching is full of question marks.

Hughes - good

gibson - not great but solid

Nolasco - red flags on this guy until he is healthy and effective for the next 12 months.  I have my doubts.

Milone - is next year's version of Worley/Diamond/Blackburn/Silva/KC/Pavano.  If things are good then he's alright and if he's just a little off then it's a disaster.

May - a good prospect but not a great one

Meyer - a great prospect with injury/durability red flags

 

I almost certainly know that the Twins won't be shopping in the Lester/Scherzer market but Iwakuma (?), Shields and ESantana are out there.  The Twins have 60M committed (plus Plouffe in arb) and almost no holes to fill.  I would go after a potential #1/2 because they have options for #3/4/5 starters and they don't have anywhere else to spend the money.

I think the Twins should go all out on convincing Shields to sign.  I also have proposed that they go after Tomas or Sandoval.  If they could convince Sandoval to join the budding Latin Connection in Minnesota, he can start out at 3rd and move to 1st when Sano arrives.  Mauer can then play a corner OF spot.  As you correctly pointed out, after trading more of the chaff, the Twins will have plenty of money for both of these acquisitons.

Because the players who will fill many of those holes haven't arrived yet. What I meant is that they have few holes to fill externally via FA or trade. For instance, why would they acquire a third baseman when Sano is on the way? Why would they sign a starter when they've already got Meyer/May/Milone/Gibson/Nolsaco lined up?

I don't know......if you could sign a legit MLB LFer, why not? Heck, if they could get a real LF and RF, why not? If they are real players, not old and declining, I don't see the harm in signing them. Having too many players is better than having no players and some prospects that might work out, imo.

I did say "legit MLB LFer", right? I did put that part in there, right? There always seems to be a reason for this team NOT to try to get better, according to some posters. I'd prefer they try to get better. YMMV, you may want to wait 3 more years. Some fans don't.

Because these are the options:

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/league-info/potential-free-agents-for-2015/

I did say "legit MLB LFer", right? I did put that part in there, right? There always seems to be a reason for this team NOT to try to get better, according to some posters. I'd prefer they try to get better. YMMV, you may want to wait 3 more years. Some fans don't.

The list omits Tomas.   Yeah, I know, not a "major league" option, but based on that OF list, he looks to be a better option than any of them.  Good chance that getting him, plus a top-end SP would make next year's season relevant.

Tomas.....not as good a prospect as the guys last year (and the year before, and the year before), that they passed on, because, well, there was no good reason to pass on them. I can't see how anyone thinks they would sign a Cuban. Those guys have been sitting there for a few years now, and they have passed on them over and over, even though they are younger, by far, than MLB free agents.

Besides signing another outfielder I think we're set for next year. We already have 6 starting pitchers for 5 spots. I don't see us spending money on any big name pitchers. We need to give some of the young guys a chance.

Yeah, but the "Ace" spot has been kept open for quite a few years now since Santana left,.. and you may be right that the GM might not see his way to spending, but there's plenty of money now to finally fill that spot, plus an OF or corner Inf.

Besides Scherzer and Lester who are your ace options?

 

Shields is there and will be 33 next season, you really want to give him a 5 year contract?

 

What's the realistic chances they give out over 100M contract to bring in Lester of Scherzer? I would say the chances are slim to none.

Shields for 4-5 years, yes.  Extending him out to 36 or 37 is certainly a risk, but the guy will have a track record of 8 straight years of 200+ innings, averaging 223 innings per year.  His ERA+ over the last 4 years is 125.  There are ways to tweak the contract, such as incentives or front-end loading it, to make it more amenable and less risky to both side's satisfaction.

Cuddeyer? Mr can't stay healthy? Please, no, just no.

Melky, Melky, Melky (assuming Buxton is not up next year and Santana is not in LF).

In all the baseball I have followed since 1961, I have never seen a farm system win a World Series.