rv78

About 99 out of 100 players could be a cheaper more productive version of Joey Gallo.

If you've got others on the team that can hit, your SS does not have to be a prolific hitter to win Championships. Smalley and Gagne weren't considered such and the Twins won 2 titles with them at SS. If the Twins can keep their nucleus of young talent in Lewis, Julien, Jeffers, Wallner, and Kirilloff around for the next 5-6 years and they add in guys like Lee, Jenkins, and Rodriguez and they all produce like we hope they will, their SS can be a bit less of a hitter like Miller as long as he can flash the glove. The Twins even got to the playoffs this year with their SS hitting a measley .230.

TopGunn I think you are underestimating the value of both Castillo and Alcantara. Both are their teams #1 pitcher and both are currently playoff caliber teams. I can't see them trading those guys away. I know this FO does not like to sign Free Agent pitchers thus making the way of a trade more likely so any trade likely to happen will be with a non-playoff contending team. Unfortunately I also don't envision any non-playoff type team wanting to add a Polanco or Kepler so there's that to equate into the situation as well. The best option for the Twins is to trade both Polanco and Kepler for prospects and trim payroll, then add the best Free Agent pitcher you can with the dollars that would have went to Polanco and Kepler. There are 6 of them that would work. You'd still have $10-$15M to spend on CF before getting close to the desired payroll limit of $135-$140M.

Not sure why anyone thinks we are short outfielders when there are 7 guys, Wallner, Larnach, Kirilloff, Castro, Gordon, possible Buxton, and possible Martin available to play there. At some point in time you have to give the youngsters a real shot at significant playing time to prove themselves, not a couple of games a week here and there giving others a rest. I suggested adding Jung-Hoo Lee, a good fit for CF and the top of the lineup to set the table to go along with Julien. That would make 8 candidates to play in the outfield. If eight isn't enough they've got problems. The time to sell high on Kepler is now, even if he only brings prospects in return.

I definitely think they should trade both of them. With the emergence of Julien, and Lee on the way, 2B is covered, so the time is right to trade Polanco. As for Kepler, I liked him in 2019 but he's been a major disappointment since, until the 2nd half of this year. That's three and a half years of crud and a half a year of wow. There has never been a better time to use the old adage of "sell high" on a player that is at the end of his time for a team. The Twins payroll with both Polanco and Kepler traded for prospects would drop to about $99M. I'd give arbitration to Farmer and Miranda which raises it to $106M. With the addition of those 2 and Kirilloff I've got 1st base covered as well. Still skeptical? resign Solano for $3M. If Jung-Hoo Lee would sign for $9M he would man CF, you could move Buxton to a corner spot if he can play defense again with Wallner/Castro/Larnach/Martin. Payroll is now $118M. I still have roughly $20M to use on a #2 Starter for the rotation and anyone of these, ERod, Montgomery, Nola, Gray, Stroman, Yamamoto would be my choices to pursue, and the payroll is still around $140M. If that's still too high, I let Farmer walk and go with Gordon instead saving $5M there.

I realize Vazquez had an off year offensively but do we really want to trade him away and take the risk of having Camargo be our main catcher should something happen to Jeffers? I don't think that's a trade that is even remotely being considered. Biggest cost cutting candidate has got to be Polanco due to the depth at 2B in the organization. I'm all for giving Martin a chance in CF. One of the last places they need to be spending more money at is CF. Buxton's $15M is enough. If he can't play CF then roll with the best cheapest option and that would be Martin or some other rookie.

On the contrary. He seems to be exactly the type of hitter they want.

The Twins already have their Ohtani, he's called Buck Correa at a cost of $48.4M. Last year he had 181 Hits, 35HR and 107 RBI.

Go back to last year and insert comments from there. The Buxton articles have become redundant. I really wish he'd just go away. How many World Series would've the Twins won if Kirby Puckett would have been injured as much as Buxton? ZERO. Buck may be able to play half of the games in a season and if he can't play defense he's a DH making him a half-of-the-time player even when he plays a game. So, for 1/4 of the production of a full-time player thay are paying him over $15M. That would equate to paying a full-time player $60M. I guess the Twins already have their Ohtani money spent.

Point is, they are wasting money on players that don't perform. Correa is one of them. He's been given an ALL-Star type contract. In his 9 years he's been there twice. He's been touted as a great defensive SS yet he's only won a Gold Glove once. How many seasons has he had 200 hits or 30HR's or 100RBI's? Not one! He's paid like a superstar and isn't close. Buxton is just as bad if not worse. He's only played 1 full season in his 9 year career. Again, 1 Gold Glove, only 1 All-Star appearance. And these 2 guys are the foundation that they are trying to build around. I'd gladly take the money from both and use it on players that can play, play everyday and produce every year. It is money wasted and the only way they can prove me wrong is if they both play at a high level for the entire season. Good Luck with that. I did forget 1 thing that Correa was good at... hitting into a league leading number of double plays.

With all of the chatter about spending to win now or trading away the veterans for more porspects I know one thing is certain. The spending for veterans that the Twins brought in last off-season did little to help the Twins win in 2023. Gallo ($11M) hit .177. Correa ($33.3M) hit .230. Vazquez ($10M) hit .223. Taylor ($4.5M) hit .220. Solano ($2M) hit .282. Castro ($1.8M) hit .257. Farmer ($5.585M) hit .256. Ironically the guys that cost the least produced better than the ones that cost the most. It doesn't take a genius to see why they struggled to score runs most of the season. SPENDING for veterans DOESN'T guarantee any more success than not spending. To spout-off endlessly that the Twins just need to spend money to win a Championship won't make it happen. They need to spend it on the right players, players that produce consistantly year after year. Unfortunately, they are NOT doing that and this year proved it. Even more frightening is that they have close to $50M tied up in 2 players that are not consistant producers. That is going to be a heavy burden for the next 5 years.

It's always nice to have a dream after drinking your daily dose of Twins Kool-Aid.

To me it is very simple. When the Twins signed Cruz they needed a DH. Now they don't. Unless they move Kirilloff to the OF and sign Turner to play 1B it doesn't happen. Kirilloff doesn't go to the OF unless they trade Kepler or move Kepler to CF. I still think Polanco is the odd man out with the emergence of Julien. Or if Polanco stays, Julien might get traded for starting pitching albeit another "Arraez surprise type of trade" no one sees coming. Afterall, Polanco is still tied to the Twins through 2025 and by then Brooks Lee will be ready to play 2B possibly making Julien expendable to this FO that only wishes for HR and Strikeouts.

I truely expect this FO to make a trade that no one sees coming. We all expect Polanco or Kepler or both to be traded, when in fact it will likely be someone else. No one saw Arraez leaving after a batting title but it happened. We all agree that the infield has a lot of depth to use as trade bait. Pick a player you don't want to see leave and that is who it probably will be.

I have said this from the beginning of the Buxton and Correa contracts. Both huge over-pays that most others here said they were worth every penny. Those 2 contracts will all but force the FO to consider any offer for Kepler and Polanco this year which would cut $20M in payroll if they are both traded. The 2 that need to be traded are Buxton and Correa but they both have no trade clause contracts so the FO will pay that price for the next 5 years. I wonder when it was, the last time, 2 players, I mean one and a half players, led their team to a WS title.

I'm not in favor of bringing in any old guys to block the young players from getting their chance. They did that last year bringing in Gallo instead of just going with Wallner right out of the gate. If Buxton can't be counted on, which he can't, then you've got to look for a long-term solution, not a 1 year fix. Yes Jung-hoo Lee would be a possible answer but with no major league experience is he really any better of a choice than giving Martin a shot? And then at what cost? On the flip side to that thought, I guess if you can throw $11M away on a Joey Gallo then a few million more than that, if that is what it takes, to Jung-hoo might be worth the risk.

Pretty sure even if he retires he'll still get paid in full. The only thing he WON'T get is any incentives that are also part of his contract, such as reaching a certain number of plate appearances, winning the MVP Award, and if I remember there were a few others......... Of course he likely won't get those even if he doesn't retire because he can't stay on the field long enough for them to kick in..

Yippee! Another guy swinging for the fences and hitting a robust .215.

We know his knee was bad in 2022. It was bad last off-season. It was bad during the entire 2023 season and it is still bad. We also know that no matter what they do to try to fix it, there is no guarantee it will stay fixed. They tried that last year. No? Unfortunately the FO married themselves to the most injury prone over-hyped player in Twins history for 7 years when they extended his contract with a no trade clause in 2021. They cannot rid themselves of the problem even if he retires as I assume his contract would still have to be paid in full. That means he'll hobble thru 5 more seasons with the Twins. Another less than brilliant move by the smartest guys in the room.

Outside of the Solano signing for 2023 I'd give all 3 seasons an "F". His offense won a lot of games for the Twins in 2023. On the flip side, Correa hasn't done anything to prove his monster contract is/was worthy. Opting out in 2022 proved he could care less for the Twins organization and he's only interested in himself. Now saddled with his burdensome contract the FO will need to tread water trying to bring in other players plus keep their upcoming young studs from leaving.

Even if it was another Joey Gallo? My wishes are not related to dollars but instead talent. A trait this FO seems to over-look when signing expensive veterans.

As I said elsewhere. I don't think the Twins will sign any of these 3. A possible Maeda reunion and a flyer on Giolito is exactly this FO's way of adding pitching if it isn't by trade. I'd like to see Rodriguez get signed by the Twins and dollar wise he makes sense if they can get it done for $20M or less. Problem is it may take a 4 or 5 year deal and the Twins don't hand out those kind of deals to Free Agents. I have been critical of 3 deals done by this FO in the past few years and 2 of them now tie this FO from really improving this team. Extending Buxton and still having to roster another CF to play for him was a costly mistake. Signing Correa was the 2nd mistake when there are so many other options this team could have used and with SS being covered by the likes of Lewis, Lee going forward, an expensive long-term contract to a Correa wasn't required. The 3rd was a waste of $11M to Gallo which had to be the worst decision ever made by this FO. Talk of Buxtons contract of $15M isn't a burden or out of line to what he brings to the table but having to add a replacement in CF and that players contract too is really his true cost. Add all of those together, $50+ million per year. See that a guy like Taylor helped the Twins to the playoffs, not Buxton. See that a Lewis or Farmer or both could have provided just as much as a Correa at SS for a ton less money. if anyone thinks that Buxton and Correa were the reasons why this club made the playoffs they are smoking wacky-weed and drinking hooch.

Only problem with your idea is that this FO won't spend that kind of money for a front line starting pitcher. As I said, they never have and doubt they ever will. Giolito is a perfect fit for what they do, he'll come at a major discount and if he turns his career around back to his once former self they'll look like geniuses. Which is what they care about since they are the smartest guys in the room..

My guess is if they don't trade and these 2 guys are still available, they'll resign Maeda and add Giolito. They'd be the two cheapest options FA wise. I don't see them changing their previous course and becoming big spenders on pitching in Free Agency. They've never done it before, they won't start now. Package Polanco or Kepler or both and either Miranda or Larnach with maybe another Celestino/ChrisWilliams/KeirseyJr type player if it's a trade.

A bad pick decision doesn't need to be compounded by giving him a 40 man roster spot decision. If the FO learned anything this year.... Guys that strikeout like Joey Gallo are a waste of a roster spot.