RaoulDuke

No chance he gets moved back to the rotation, he is to valuable to this team that is trying to win now.  He was too good last year, too much of a nuclear option to mess with his development going forward.
Just enjoy that we have one of the 5 nastiest relievers in baseball for years to come, and at a time where they have never been more valuable. 

No chance he gets moved back to the rotation, he is to valuable to this team that is trying to win now.  He was too good last year, too much of a nuclear option to mess with his development going forward.
Just enjoy that we have one of the 5 nastiest relievers in baseball for years to come, and at a time where they have never been more valuable. 

Correa is the short stop until he can no longer play there, hopefully in about year 6 or 7 of this contract.
 

Correa is the short stop until he can no longer play there, hopefully in about year 6 or 7 of this contract.
 

Correa is the short stop until he can no longer play there, hopefully in about year 6 or 7 of this contract.
 

Non tendering him seems pretty dumb.   Yes 7 mil for a reliever is a decent chunk in a year they aren't "going for it", but its also doesn't prevent them from signing anyone else and he could be a great trade chip if they don't intend to resign him in FA.
If he needs surgery after an off season of rest sure don't pay him to be hurt, but barring that its an easy tender in my mind.

At the end of the day Polanco and Kepler didn’t sign outlandish contracts if they ended up as utility and 4th OF roles. Sano’s contract is turning out to be an issue. Especially if his career keeps trending to Chris Carter territory. 
 
Buxton and Berrios both signed significant signing bonuses as draft picks and both are confident in gambling on themselves. Berrios due to his durability so far won’t have an issue getting a long term contract in FA. Buxton will end up being the most complex FA negotiation, potentially ever. There hasn’t been a player entering FA with undeniable talent that’s missed 50+% of available games in their career. 

I find it interesting that Polanco/ Kepler/ Sano were the 3 to sign extensions early while Berrios and Buxton declined extension to get to free agency.  The 3 guys that signed after big years have struggled since, and the 2 guys to not sign have only helped their chances at a large contract.  
I wonder if those early contracts are really worth it unless you are locking up a top prospect really early. 
Next core is just starting to get its feet wet, Kiriloff and Larnach look like they will be big middle of the order bats.  Lewis will get here at some point, Duran looks legit, Donaldson/ Cruz money has to go somewhere which will be Buxton/ Berrios/ or free agency.

I find it interesting that Polanco/ Kepler/ Sano were the 3 to sign extensions early while Berrios and Buxton declined extension to get to free agency.  The 3 guys that signed after big years have struggled since, and the 2 guys to not sign have only helped their chances at a large contract.  
I wonder if those early contracts are really worth it unless you are locking up a top prospect really early. 
Next core is just starting to get its feet wet, Kiriloff and Larnach look like they will be big middle of the order bats.  Lewis will get here at some point, Duran looks legit, Donaldson/ Cruz money has to go somewhere which will be Buxton/ Berrios/ or free agency.

I think Archer is the most likely candidate. 
 
Pit is in sell mode meaning they don't really need him and are probably looking for prospects.  Also they could be more inclined to move a rotation piece this late into the off season.  He is more a bounce back guy than star now so he shouldn't cost an absurd amount.
 
For the Twins he represents a cheaper shot at a top of the rotation guy.  He does appear to be the kind of guy Wes Johnson may be able to help.  He still has strikeout stuff with good velocity and a monster slider.  Seems Pits approach of having him throw sinkers and pound the bottom of the zone could be the thing holding him back. 
 
There was a pitcher with stuff but lacking results in Pittsburg very recently that blew up when an analytically savvy club acquired him.  That seemed to work out pretty well...

I think Archer is the most likely candidate. 
 
Pit is in sell mode meaning they don't really need him and are probably looking for prospects.  Also they could be more inclined to move a rotation piece this late into the off season.  He is more a bounce back guy than star now so he shouldn't cost an absurd amount.
 
For the Twins he represents a cheaper shot at a top of the rotation guy.  He does appear to be the kind of guy Wes Johnson may be able to help.  He still has strikeout stuff with good velocity and a monster slider.  Seems Pits approach of having him throw sinkers and pound the bottom of the zone could be the thing holding him back. 
 
There was a pitcher with stuff but lacking results in Pittsburg very recently that blew up when an analytically savvy club acquired him.  That seemed to work out pretty well...

I wonder if the issue on balls in front of him has a lot to do with his weak throws, those are often quick plays that take a strong arm to beat the runner. 
 
He should be an average defender at 2nd, getting a real short stop would also help Sano and his range problems a lot (should he stay at 3rd). 
 
Shifting helps some but Polanco/ Sano is just a terrible pairing defensively, Arraez won't help as he can only really play passable D at 2nd, Adrianza isn't a starter and really isn't that great at short.  Marwin looked good at 3rd to me assuming they miss on Donaldson I would probably start him at 3rd and still move Sano.

The need for pitching regards playoff matchups, this staff is built to win the division behind the good offense.  Come playoff time Odorizzi/ Perez/ Gibson don't match up great as your 2nd starter.  Then pen is the biggest area of concern, they need a closer level righty to pair with Rodgers.

Gibson has had an interesting career to watch progress.  I think the Gardenhire/ Anderson regime messed him up some. 
 
They picked him as a college arm that they thought could move quick, big heavy fastball as the main plus.  The sinker was that regimes holy grail and they focused everything on his.  He became a good prospect and moved quick throwing worm burners. Then the injury, by then they were starving for homegrown pitchers and it was a big blow.  When healthy again they rushed him again on just his sinker.  Gibson looked like just another back of the rotation sinker guy and I always wondered what the hell had made him a 1st round pick or if it had never returned after the surgery.  Gibson made some progress on his own and had 1 decent year
 
Out goes Rick Anderson and in 2015 Gibson starts growing suddenly and has his best year.  He starts throwing a 93 mph 4 seam up in the zone, his slider becomes an out pitch, hes now striking people out and not just endlessly nibbling, suddenly he becomes a good pitcher.  There is obviously way more to why he has broke out but I think being developed poorly was a big part of what was holding him back.
 
Sometimes I wonder what Scott Baker could of done if he was a prospect now/ how much damage did the old twins way do to him. 

There are plenty of middle relief options and possibilities but this team is still severely lacking dominate bull pen arms.  Sign at least one big arm, if not two.  It was straight up embarrassing to compare the pens in the wild card game, and the Twins would have only gotten exposed more had they advanced.