Twins Non-Tender Cron and Hildenberger

I am not surprised about Cron, but I'm also not on the bandwagon that it's such a great idea. I liked him. An injury doesn't mean he wasn't worth what we hoped. Hildenberger ran out of magic. A gimmick pitcher his limited.

Help me I think I just reposted the same comment multiple times.

This means Marwin to 3B, which is a pretty good idea. That should improve the defense.

I'm afraid this is going to turn in to yet ANOTHER Sano to 1B debate and that really shouldn't be the case. Not directly. What should be discussed is simply what makes the 2020 Twins best overall.

Of course you don't make a commitment to Cron right now. I have little doubt he'll be sitting there come mid to late January simply because of his surgery and recovery.

IMO, a healthy Cron at 1B and Sano at 3B is the most productive combo we could have. Without Cron, who else do you get? Kendrick? Moreland? Thames?

So Sano maybe moves to 1B and you sign Moose, not because Sano can't play 3B, but simply because that combo may simply be the better and more dangerous option available to you.

That will cost you another $5-6M than keeping Cron, but that cost is not prohibitive in the grand scheme. I still like Cron, but the more I think about his injury and recovery, and I read comments about his injury being "significant", you have to pick a direction and move with it. You can't just sit and wait on this one.

It's not what I would have done, but I'm not upset about it either.

.....IMO, a healthy Cron at 1B and Sano at 3B is the most productive combo we could have. Without Cron, who else do you get? Kendrick? Moreland? Thames?

So Sano maybe moves to 1B and you sign Moose, not because Sano can't play 3B, but simply because that combo may simply be the better and more dangerous option available to you.

Moose goes to Cincy. No reason not to sign Rendon. Or Donaldson. But go for the gold. Rendon is so steady. This front office just might surprise us. Probably not. But maybe. I still can't condition myself to something like this can never happen, regardless of the history.

I think they won't sign top tier pitchers. But second tier, yes. Their MO is to get good pitchers and hope to make them better. May as well get the best offense, with good D. Trade for Chapman? I think that will be a higher price than just $.

I like the non-tender of Cron and Hildenberger.

I think Harper should be non-tendered, too.

Let the "stories" grow somewhere else, and bring a championship to Minnesota.

This is not fantasy baseball, where you can switch Sano to first base and not worry about the lack of his experience in the position.  A team with aspirations to compete deeply into the postseason will need a good fielding first baseman, esp. since the rest of the infield is young.

The Cron move does give the Twins flexibility. They can look for a 3rd baseman OR a 1st baseman in this scenario.

 

Anyone ever thought that the Twins might just go after Greg Bird to play Cron's old part?

Bird could be interesting if the dude could just. stay. healthy.

you can say that again.

Hahahaha I kill me.

For the record, you posted the same comment 11 times. No worries ... not even a TD record.

It happens when I go from my phone - someday I will learn

Bird could be interesting if the dude could just. stay. healthy.

611 ABs, 211 Pct, 725  OPS - I am not interested in Bird.   He has batted below 200 for three years in a row - I consider him a bust

I am not surprised about Cron, but I'm also not on the bandwagon that it's such a great idea. I liked him. An injury doesn't mean he wasn't worth what we hoped. Hildenberger ran out of magic. A gimmick pitcher his limited.

Going to have to disagree on part of this one Mike. I won’t disagree that Hildy was having issues with his control and that he was really struggling. However, just because a pitcher throws sidearm, does not mean that it’s a “gimmick”. At the end of the day, if it works... it works. I do t care who you are or how you throw, if you leave the ball over the plate (which he was doing with alarming regularity last year) it’s going to get crushed at any level.

I like Cron, but this is a perfectly reasonable move. His production is fairly easy to replace, it's one of the easiest positions to fill in MLB, and the Twins have a variety of internal options, plus there's a reasonable question about what his health looks like (you can be ready for spring training without actually being "ready"). I don't think there's going to be a big market for him, so even if the Twins want him back they should be able to do it at a lower number.

Hildenberger sucked this year. And sucked the second half of 2018. He's a marginal player; even fWAR has him as a replacement level guy. I don't think he was cut for $, I think he was dropped for the 40-man spot and that spot is unfortunately more useful than Trevor Hildenberger. It's easy to suggest that he was overworked and that's why he fell off in 2018...but was he, really? 73 appearances and 73 innings isn't some absurd number. (for example, the hated Yankees had 2 relievers make 72 & 73 appearances last year) Maybe the real answer is, he got figured out. That he's just another guy in the 'pen. Hate to say it, but that's probably the reality on Trevor Hildenberger.

I like Adrianza at $1.6M, especially if last year's performance at the plate wasn't a fluke. Positional flexibility, switch-hitter...he's a nice asset as a utility guy.

After seeing what Moose got it's frightening to think what Rendon and Donaldson are going to get. Is the free agent market going to have a bounce back this year? Pohlad better dust off the checkbook!