twinkiesfan11

BA Posted their first 2021-2022 International Signings big board this morning. The Twins are linked to the player expected to land the 15th largest signing bonus. He’s a center fielder born in Puerto Rico and living in the Dominican Republic. He profiles as one of the top power speed players in the class. Really cool video on him below.

If the Darvish, Snell, Lindor, Arrenado trades are any indication of what it would take to acquire a high salary player in this uncertain, reduced revenue market I’d definitely be calling on Price. I can’t imagine it would take anyone in the top 20 prospects to acquire and could probably get the Dodgers to eat some salary as well.

One more veteran would sure be nice for stability. Would love to see Clippard back.

At this point as much as Nelson Cruz has been beloved by teammates, the front office and fans it just doesn't feel like a great fit anymore. He's been a stud the past two years and is entitled to expect one final big pay day but I couldn't fault the Twins either for drawing a line at one year at $12 million (totally speculating) for a 41 year old bat only player. I'm admittedly developing too much of a crush over his 2017 and 2020 outlier seasons but to me Marcell Ozuna just feels like a slam dunk fit and I wouldn't hesitate to give him a 3 or 4 year contract. He's over 10 years younger than Cruz, still capable of playing some LF and holy hell his statcast numbers are sexy. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/marcell-ozuna-542303?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

Donaldson has a history of calf issues, Simmons has had ankle issues for two years, Polanco has two years of ankle issues and Arraez has balky knees. Recent history with this group indicates that there will likely be DL stints and plenty of scheduled rest, the depth will be very useful. There will be plenty of at bats to go around, no way would I even consider trading Arraez or Polanco without a crazy return.

My thoughts: Departures: - Non-tender Rosario: Not worth the cost in the COVID financial environment and there are three internal options ready for an MLB opportunity (Kirilloff, Rooker, Larnach). - Allow Gonzalez, Avila, Hill all walk in FA : Time to move on From Gonzalez, I believe a Garver/Jeffers timeshare is the way to go in 2021 and a combination of Astudillo, Telis and maybe another AAA C should be plenty of depth, Hill was solid when healthy but can't be counted on. - Buy out Romo: One soft-tossing RH in the pen is enough (more on that later), his antics got old this season and he got roughed up a bit late in the season. Retaining: - Odorizzi: On a 1-year make good contract. - May: On a 2-3 year contract. - Rogers: Relievers tend to be up and down, I'm betting he'll bounce back. - Clippard: Very solid veteran to keep around - Thielbar: Looks legit, nice 2nd LH - Adrianza: He's a good end of the bench insurance policy Up in the Air: - Cruz: On a 1-year contract or a 1+ team option only. With the NL leaning toward no DH in 2021 his number of suiters should be somewhat limited again. If he won't accept I would pivot attention immediately to Starling Marte or George Springer. Honestly I like the idea of the DH slot being more of a rotating slot than committed to one defensively limited player anyway. Either of these two would provide high level offensive output with the ability to play CF if/(when) Buxton is injured. - Cave: Just not sure I see a fit. Holes: - 5th Starter: I feel with Maeda, Berrios, Pineda and Odorizzi the Twins can afford to address this slot either internally with one of Dobnak, Thorpe, Smeltzer, Duran, Chalmers, etc or with another trade for someone honestly none of us could predict (Maeda as an example). - Utility: I personally don't feel this is a position to invest big dollars to fill. It felt like teams were much more aggressive in 2020 promoting their top prospects. I'd honestly rather see the Twins just bite the bullet and commit to Royce Lewis as the starting SS on opening day. Lewis can also handle CF and 3B, Polanco can rotate between 2B and SS, Sano is certainly capable of playing some 3B sporadically, Kirilloff can play COF and 1B, etc. Rather than have a roster spot committed to an expensive veteran utility player (Hernandez, Profar, etc) I would rely on the versatility of the players on the roster.

Royce is very raw, the Twins have been fairly aggressive with him and oblique injuries tend to haunt. It just feels like he’s primed to make everyone forget about his 2019 struggles in short order. Guys with this kind of athleticism who have at least shown flashes of dominance are special prospects. The fact that he’s reportedly great in the clubhouse, shows leadership traits and has a lot of charisma for the fans is also worth mentioning. He has hit for average in stretches, his power rates among the best in the system, his speed is special and he has the potential to stick at shortstop or could be a plus CF or 3B. He’s absolutely the top prospect for the Twins and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him reclaim a spot in the top 10 of national top 100 rankings by mid season.

https://twitter.com/jimcallismlb/status/1227029116152668167?s=21 Not a top prospect but sounds intriguing

Feels a bit like the Twins got the short end of the deal by adding the comp pick and Raley on top of the originally agreed upon deal but I’ll reserve judgement until the identity of the “low level minor leaguer” is revealed. Hard to grasp as a fan how $10 million cash enhances the on field performance/experience but don’t really care either.

I don’t love this. Maeda is a very solid pitcher but really hate to see Brusdar go.

How many of the scouts and player development people from the past 20 seasons still work in the organization? Derek Falvey, Wes Johnson, Josh Kalk, Pete Maki and Justin Willard are all frequently mentioned as highly respected within the industry for pitching development. Several teams couldn't wait to take Jeremy Hefner off the Twins hands this offseason. I'm sure there are others who are doing excellent jobs that don't get mentioned in the press. I think you can count placing 2-3 pitchers (none of which were high draft picks or major international signings) in most of the major publications top 100 prospect lists and the dramatic improvement of the 2019 bullpen as positive development stories.

Now that Starling Marte has finally been traded is now the time to make a push for Chris Archer? The Marte trade (Pirates receiving two well regarded but VERY young prospects) would seem to be a clear indication that the Pirates are headed for a full tear-down and rebuild so absolutely no reason to hang on to Chris Archer. Archer is about the same age as Marte, both have two remaining years on similar sized contracts and histories of uneven performances. Safe to assume similar trade value? Would Something like Celestino and Enlow do the trick?

Would be a nice capper to the offseason to add an upside play on a non guaranteed contract. It seems like a good opportunity for him to join an organization that has 1) a need, 2) is a winner and 3) has developed good reputation for pitcher development.

Seems like a great candidate to put Josh Donaldson's reported desire to share his knowledge and experience to help develop some of his new young teammates. Donaldson is a big proponent of the leg kick and launch angle.

He seems to be pretty highly regarded by all of the major publications. The common themes seem to be ideal pitchers frame, plus velocity, improving command and curveball and that "splinker" is a filthy pitch. He's exciting

A big consideration in this discussion is 40 man roster space as the Twins already have to make a difficult decision to cut someone to make room for Donaldson. I personally don’t see anyone on this list worthy of a guaranteed contract/40 man slot unless Walker or Salazar are healthy which they must not be or they would have surely been signed by now. That being said, I think they should absolutely be making some offers for minor league deals with invitations to spring training with opt out dates and performance incentives. Might as well target the highest upside pitchers in this group (Walker, Salazar, Sanchez). Never hurts to try to catch lightning in a bottle and they’ll have another roster spot available at the start of spring training when Rich Hill can be transferred to the IL.

Of course they want to be World Series champions. My argument is that it would be better to follow the Giants, Royals and Astros (minus the cheating) models of getting there with mostly homegrown talent on rookie or reasonable contracts so they can contend for multiple years. It feels like a lot of Twins fans want to see Falvey follow the Dombrowski model, empty the prospect cupboard and overpay in free agency, whatever it takes to win now. Even if they chose that course of action and actually won I have a feeling those same fans would be the first ones complaining when the bottom falls out and we’re back to tank mode. As a long time Twins and Wolves fan I’m tired of tank mode and glad that this FO seems to have a much more long-term focused approach.

The point is to not end up like the Red Sox, Cubs or Tigers as recent examples. Yes the Cubs and Red Sox won WS titles but the lasting effect of emptying their farm systems and blowing wads of money on expensive aging free agents and trade acquisitions catches up eventually. A combination of a barren farm system and zero payroll flexibility is what leads to prolonged rebuilding periods which is no fun for anyone. I’d much rather see the Twins remain competitive, nimble enough to make a big move when it counts but always with an eye to the future. Much more along the lines of the Cardinals for example. I could get behind a trade involving Lewis or any of the top prospects for a better fit/longer term solution. I just don’t think Betts and Price make sense for the Twins given the reported asking price and contract situations.

No way I’d be in favor of giving up Lewis in a trade for one year of Mookie Betts and three years of David Price’s contract. Highly doubt Betts resigns here and not sure I’d even want them to at the cost which will almost certainly be in the Rendon range or higher. Offense is not and will not be the problem here for several years. They should save their ammo for a better fit and longer term solution.

I don't think this take makes as much sense as you think it does. The lineup choked against the Yankees every bit as much as the pitching staff. Should they blow up the Bombasquad too? Drop all the hitters that put up historically good numbers and dominated opposing pitching all season just because they choked during one series? I mean, otherwise they're doing the same thing and expecting different results right? Most of the pitchers on this staff are still on the upswing in their careers. Getting their asses handed to them by a very intimidating and formidable Yankees team was no fun but I'm sure it was a valuable learning experience. Just because it happened in 2019 doesn't mean it's a given to happen again. All of the "number 1" or "number 2" free agent starting pitchers this offseason wanted to go elsewhere. People forget that retaining Odorizzi and Pineda qualify as very good moves. Bailey and Hill were very solid and savvy additions given what was left in the free agent market. The only remaining option is a trade and to get a "number 1" or "number 2" starter in a trade right now they're going to have to gut the farm system. I'd rather see them roll with what they have for now and If it's clear by the trade deadline that they need to make a rotation upgrade they can do it then.

He's clearly ready to be a difference maker now but needs to continue to build up innings. Wes Johnson said he's bullpen bound but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be used as a traditional single inning reliever. There are lots of ways they could deploy him as a multi-inning opener or reliever on somewhat of a rotation that could be mutually beneficial to the team and to his development. Maybe the Twins just feel that the best place for an arm this valuable but to date fragile is with the big league club where he'll get the best coaching, training, mentorship and nutrition the Twins can provide. As a fan I can't wait to watch him make hitters look foolish all summer instead of just reading about it in the minor league forum game recaps.

More mad if the Twins were found to be one of the cheaters...although if they were doing it prior to 2019 it clearly didn’t pay off very well for them...

Love Marwin but would be fine with that, punishment should apply to all players and personnel that participated or were aware and looked the other way. I don’t feel MLB came down nearly hard enough, every team and player in the league should be scared ****less to attempt or continue this type of behavior.

50 game ban for every player who served more than 120 games on the major league roster of the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Astros. It would turn them into a AAA team long enough to eliminate them from playoff contention and there would be no 1st or 2nd round picks to show for the lost season. This would have been fair in my opinion and can guarantee no team would risk this type of cheating again.

Pass