Brandon

Last season we had a vortex of bad things happen to the Twins. C Castro was out out for the year by the end of the first month of the season. 1B Mauer missed just over a month with concussion symptoms 2B Dozier was hurt but kept playing cause everyone else was hurt. SS Polanco missed hakf a season to drug suspension. 3B Sano missed 6 weeks or so to loose weight and start over. OF Buxton missed most of season to headaches, injury, roster mismanagement, performance. Rosario missed a few weeks too. DH Morrison was so bad and we had no choice but to keep playing him cause there was no one else. We had Adrianza, Escobar, and eventually Garver as solid replacements. Cave too. Now we have replacements for the replacements. likely bench: Gonzales Adrianza (DL to start season) Austin or Duda Garver With these guys ready to be called up: Astudillo Cave Torres And there is still Gordon and Rooker who could be available as well at some point this season. That is a lot of flexibility and safety net after the disaster of last season as all thise guys deserve to be on a major league roster at this point. And that is why the bench was constructed this way. Layers of depth for worst possible outcomes. On pitching I think management feels we have this same kind of depth internally and that is why only a high end pitcher will make a difference. (Lets get Kimbral already).

Astudillo will start the season in the minors because he has options. But he will spend time with the team. I see the bench as Gonzales, Adrianza, Garver, and one of Cave, Austin, Torres, Astudillo, or Duda. My best guess is Cave. The real takeaway is we have a really good bench. Several of these guys could start on other teams.

I think the bench shapes up as: Marwin Gonzales Adrianza or Torres (we need a good SS backup) Garver Cave, Austin, Astrudillo, Duda from left to right is more likley to stay vs less likely. (Astrudillo has options so you know he now wont start in April in Minnesota). Anyway you look at it, this is a really good bench. a few of these guys could start on some teams.

I would definitely send down someone with options as injuries can happen anytime and having someone ready who should be up in AAA is better than someone who is just the hot hand at the moment. Honestly I would send ROmero down initially as he can get more used to relieving at AAA. but numerous scenarios can still play out. If Magill is awful in spring training he could get cut. if he is solid he likely stays. Hildenburger could get sent down if his struggles continue. He would have the advantage over Romero going into spring training with all of the time he already has in the majors. There are also injuries and "injuries" that can change the equation too. so it will be fun to watch. like I said its better than watching which AAAA reliever will make the team.

I wonder if the Twins offered 16 million per season with incentives to 19 million if that could get him signed.

There was talk of Madson earlier. I think the Twins probably floated the idea of 1-3 million for the season (just speculating here) and Madson said he would rather retire than sign a below market contract. I do hope the Twins will sign another reliever but it is possible that Magill could have another good season in him. He may even improve. but if not if he is in the last bullpen spot and we do have other options to try out there. Though having more good pitchers is a better idea however.

I know the Twins were interested in Madson, but he wants to be paid nire ir he is willing to retire. Adam Warren or Nick Vincent are probably our next targets.

Right.

It is nice to see legit options instead of relying on the Bautista/ Rondell White/ Crede/ past prime player on last leg of career....although Duda is close to that group but still good if platooned.

It is nice to see legit options instead of relying on the Bautista/ Rondell White/ Crede/ past prime player on last leg of career....although Duda is close to that group but still good if platooned.

Our 2009 international signings have to be one of the best grouos of all time.

Looks like Bill Smith's will have his impact on the Twins as GM felt for another 5 to 7 years with these exentions. Even longer if traded for good prospects down the road....

Remember we also had a real find a few years back in the rule 5 we traded for an A ball pitcher who learned a changeup from one of our coaches and won 3 Cy Youngs....ok 2 but shoulda been 3....(Johan Santana)

Looks like the Twins are trying to corner the market on depth this year. Last year they didn't do as well. We didn't have options or options to replace our depth at the major league level (who replace Adrianza and Escobar on the bench when they were pressed into starting?) for when Polanco was suspended for half the season. or when Castro went down, or Buxton, or Mauer or Sano for that matter. This year we signed the following: 1B Willin Rosario and Lucas Duda IF Ronald Torreyes and Adam Rosales 3B Mike Olt RP Tim Collins, Justin Nicolino, Pat Dean, Justin Ames, Plus all of the minor leaguer's who are ready to move up this year. 1B Tyler Austin, Brent Rooker IF Nick Gordon, C/IF/OF Williams Astudillo OF Micheal Reed, Zack Granite, Lamont Wade RP Adalberto Mejia, Andrew Vazquez, Gabriel Moya, Tyler Duffy, Fernando Romero, SP Stephan Gonzales, (see above for both Adalberto Mejia and Fernando Romero), Chase De Jong, Kohl Stewart, Zack Littell Lewis Thorpe and others to come soon. There is still time for the Twins to sign another reliever before camp opens as there are still lots of relief options out on the market. There is some interesting talent in this group. Duda and Collins have had good success in the past and lots of experience. Torreyes, Rosario, and Rosales have a fair amount of major league experience. Enough that they Twins may be able to squeeze an extra win or two out of our fringe depth this year at a low cost. Some of these guys have opt outs in their contracts but for the ones who stay it gives us the ability to weather injuries much better than least year when half the team went on the DL for most of the year. Its not the splashiest way to get an extra WAR or win, but it is one of the cheapest and more creative ways to do it.

So far in trades we have we traded for Garcia then traded for Littel, Ennsburg. We traded Kintzker for 500k in international bonus and watson. We traded 500k international signing bonus twice for a minor league C, and Pearson OF. We traded a low level minir leaguer for Cave. We traded an A ball SS for Odorizzi. Then we traded Escobar, Dozier, Pressly, Lynn and Duke and our closer for 14 prospects. While i hated selling at the deadline these are good moves for the longterm. And this is a lot of trades for 2 years. Not Dipoto level but still a lot of trades.

So what happens when the 14 prosoects we aquired last summer contribute 20 WAR in 2 or 3 years?....

Hiw fast does Poppen throw? I thiught he was a 91 -94 mph fastball. Am i wrong? He also has good control and k rates. Seems he could be a 3 - 5 starter based on what little i know. Does he have good movement on his pitches? I do see he is league average age or slightly higher each step so far. He is pitching well at AA which should have us asking if he could be a big league starter...

Berrios and Gibson for sure need an extention. Rosario deserves one too. I want to say Sano and Buxton but the reality is they need to earn it first or sign below market value deal which they shouldnt. Unless Kepler breaks out he will be replaced pretty soon here. Taylor Rogers could get an extention. May is a curoius case. Maybe a 2 year extention with an option.

I think Jack Morris was the best signing ever. Molitor was great especially in 1996 but a 10 inning shutout in game 7 of the World Series is about as good as you can get.

Im sure the Twins are interested in Kimbrel in a 1/12 or 3/36 million contract. But if the Twins wont go after a 26 year old Machado cause we are still rebuilding, I dont see why we would sign someone like Kimbrel either.

Sean Poppin has quitely climed his way up the ladder to AA and no one says anything about him as a prospect.

I wonder if the payroll flexibility is more of a hedge against a players strike when the current bargaining agreement is up in a few years. There are more and more signs pointing to a work stoppage and I think teams may be keeping payroll low in anticipation of the strike. (especially lower revenue teams). Note I do think this is moving us even more in the direction of a strike. but it would be more beneficial to ownership if there are no contracts on the books as a work stoppage will dampen the revenue from the game for a few years once it is resolved and also They do not know the parameters of the new conditions that will result from a new players agreement. (There could be more expenses outside of payroll as a result of a new agreement). I mean the Twins are not the only team cutting back on payroll. or the only team looking at short term contracts.

Looks like the grades were correct. There is a B,A,D. Thats right Bad. Now lets get some bullpen help and a Machado.....

In 2018 all teams got an extra 50 million from sale of bamtech.

According to mlbtraderumors.com. we just signed Martin Perez. He used to play for the Rangers and is a lefty starter.