Brandon

I thought Hughes had a 6+ era last year and Arroyo is 36. MLB traderumors has Hughes down for a 1 year 8 million. The Twins won't overpay much for Vargas. they are throwing all kinds of names down letting pitchers know that they are interested. The Twins are waiting to see what the market will be for each pitcher before they start signing more than likely. MLB Traderumors has that Arroyo has mutual interest in signing with the Twins. Which makes this a realistic possibility as 1 of the 2 or 3 starters they sign this offseason.

I wonder if Parmelee and Colabello would make a good platoon at either 1b or RF next year.

Its a good idea IMO. But your numbers are a little light. probably 10-20 million. Steve Trout will be eligible for arbitration soon and there is already talk he can get 10 million his first time through. so we should expect more than 3 million after arbitration. If Sano were to sign a contract like this he will need to leave some money on the table but not that much. They would probably look at how much he could make if he was to make the team out of spring training and how much he would loose if they wait till June and sign him for fairly close to what he would make market value if he was called up in June. at least that's where I start if I'm Sano.

It looks like this will give Hendriks one last chance to show something when he comes out for the season or Kyle Davies has been mentioned for a September call up and Diamond if he shows improvement and Blackburn.....who should take his place? I think PJ Walters took himself out of any consideration with his performance last night.

I probably should have added Rosario to that question too as he has been consistent all year.

Miguel Sano has been tearing it up in AA the last few weeks as he has raised is average from .180ish to .243 as of today and his OPS has increased 100 points or so too. His power in AA has been constant where he slumped initially on arriving but hitting for average the last several weeks. I doubt he gets called up to the Twins this season as he doesn't need to be added to the 40 man roster. However, Rochester is in a playoff race while New Britain is not. Would it be better for Sano to finish the season in AA or compete for and possibly in the playoffs in AAA? Why or why not?

Miguel Sano has been tearing it up in AA the last few weeks as he has raised is average from .180ish to .243 as of today and his OPS has increased 100 points or so too. His power in AA has been constant where he slumped initially on arriving but hitting for average the last several weeks. I doubt he gets called up to the Twins this season as he doesn't need to be added to the 40 man roster. However, Rochester is in a playoff race while New Britain is not. Would it be better for Sano to finish the season in AA or compete for and possibly in the playoffs in AAA? Why or why not?

for further evidence check out this video from the movie revolver. Embrace the Suck! where is your enemy hiding. He's hiding behind the Suck.

Just think how much better the list will be if the Twins would be aggressive in the international market and sign some more top prospects. Or get the advanced pitcher from Cuba on the FA market.

On May 31rst, Mike Pelfry started the day with a 6.85 Era. On that day he gave up 3 runs in 5.33 innings. Not very promising but it was better than what we were getting out of him. Back then we were clamoring for him to get demoted or designated for assignment. Including that start and everything else since then through today, he has averaged right at 6 innings per start with an era of 3.47. His peripherals have improved too as he has 31 k's in 49.33 innings and he has issued 13 walks with 4 of them on May 31rst the day he turned the corner and has allowed only 48 hits since. I think that makes his WHIP 1.24. That's very solid production for a number 3 starter and what we were hoping for when we signed him. The question now is do we try to sign him this offseason to an extension if he continues to pitch like this or do we trade him and see if we can get a C+/ B- prospect for him with one more solid start. Pelfry does have ties to this area as he grew up in Wichita and would probably be interested in staying here. What could we expect in a trade for Pelfry? and Should we trade him? and what could he expect for his next contract if he continues to pitch like this?

On May 31rst, Mike Pelfry started the day with a 6.85 Era. On that day he gave up 3 runs in 5.33 innings. Not very promising but it was better than what we were getting out of him. Back then we were clamoring for him to get demoted or designated for assignment. Including that start and everything else since then through today, he has averaged right at 6 innings per start with an era of 3.47. His peripherals have improved too as he has 31 k's in 49.33 innings and he has issued 13 walks with 4 of them on May 31rst the day he turned the corner and has allowed only 48 hits since. I think that makes his WHIP 1.24. That's very solid production for a number 3 starter and what we were hoping for when we signed him. The question now is do we try to sign him this offseason to an extension if he continues to pitch like this or do we trade him and see if we can get a C+/ B- prospect for him with one more solid start. Pelfry does have ties to this area as he grew up in Wichita and would probably be interested in staying here. What could we expect in a trade for Pelfry? and Should we trade him? and what could he expect for his next contract if he continues to pitch like this?

I thought he was going to be the next comissioner of baseball. He is a logical choice for that job too.

I like that I expect our #19 prospect Eades to be able to compete for a spot in the Twins rotation as a #3 starter upside guy in the next 2 years.....what does that say about our first 18 prospects?

With all of the hitters starting to come up, Arcia, Hicks, Parmelee, with Sano and Rosario close by and Mauer and Plouffe on top of that maybe the Twins will spend a little on the rotation this offseason to get a top of the rotation pitcher if one is available this offseason. If for no other reason than to help Gibson shoulder the load of hope for a decent pitcher to help front the rotation.

I don't think Plouffe will be available till next season. There's no rush to trade him or Doumit. Our leverage in a trade of these guys is we don't have to move them. Sano isn't ready to be called up and neither is Pinto. Morneau is a toss up. I still do not think they will trade him, in fact I bet he resigns to a 1 year 14 million (or whatever the qualifying offer is next season) This prediction is also most likely to be wrong too as they could let Morneau go and move Plouffe to 1B next season and bring up Sano. Willingham could be traded this year. but I doubt anyone gets moved unless we get an overpay or a top 5-10 prospect. We don't need to reduce payroll and we don't have too many immediate replacements outside of Arcia that is ready right now.

Whitesox are an 83-87 win team. They have a deep enough rotation that they will be a winning team despite being themselves.

Willingham, Morneau, and Doumit will all miss between 3-8 games as long as they are healthy. Mauer will likely miss 15-20 if healthy thats 20-30 games Thome will have a chance to DH. If one player gets hurt there is some more time too. Also Thome did have a higher OPS then Doumit so he could take a few of his ABs too. There is no reason the Twins couldn't sign Thome to have him start 30-50 games at DH and PH in another 40-60. That would give him 180-250 plate appearances and it would make fans happy. If Thome shows his age then we can bring up Colabello. But i think the fans want to see Thome back and the front office owes us that after such a crappy offseason for 2013 season.

Good article. I would like to see Meyer and May up with the Twins as soon as possible to get acclimated to the majors. I was wondering if Pressly makes the top 10 over Meyer as he has the potential to make the team this year and is a rookie.

Players the Twinsshould still consider this offseason: The main objective for any of these signings should be to put more competition intoour weakest areas on the team and give Terry Ryan ammunition to do what he doesbest which is to trade these players for other teams minor-leaguers near the trade deadline. All of these players are available or shouldbe at a low cost, Unless the objective of next season is to lose 90+ games forbetter draft position. These signings at the right price could boost the team a minimual cost and increase the Twins bottom line. Middle IF Alex Gonzalez, SS:or Kelly Johnson, 2B: Ronny Cedeno, SS Freddy Sanchez, 2B Either would address our biggest weakness for very little or at leastprovide competition for the MI. I believe Dozier can be a useful major leaguer, but he should spend part of next season in the minors and these guys can keep him there. 3Bdepth Brandon Inge, 3B A minor league contract with spring invite should be a good opportunity for him. Starting Pitching One more starting pitcher should do the trick. Shawn Marcum if healthy is probably the bestoption or Saunders would be a decent pitcher if his price comes down. As much as I would like to see Gibson up I would prefer to keep him in the minors for the same reason I want to see Hicks start the season in the minors. Garcia could be a swing man if need be. Shaun Marcum, SP: or JoeSaunders SP Freddy Garcia, SP/RP Out Field The Twins are spot on with their OF targets of Sweeney and Posednick who could be a 4th/5th OF spot whenHicks is ready and compete with Mastroianni for the starting job in springtraining. Bullpen. There are numerous bullpen options available so I think wecan easily just find 1 that will add more depth to our pen. Crowd Favorites Then there are the crowd favorites. If we are not going to win lets bring back acouple of fan favorites to keep fans interested at least. Jim Thome, DH:who wouldn’t like to see Thome back in Minnesota. If he is still producing and a contenderwants him we can trade him there but he would bring fans back to the stands. LaTroy Hawkins, RP has own fan club in Minnesota Punto (of course we have to trade for him but he wasour scrapper for so long that we miss making fun of him) Which of these players would you like to see the Twinsconsider signing. Include others thatare still available and why.

Players the Twinsshould still consider this offseason: The main objective for any of these signings should be to put more competition intoour weakest areas on the team and give Terry Ryan ammunition to do what he doesbest which is to trade these players for other teams minor-leaguers near the trade deadline. All of these players are available or shouldbe at a low cost, Unless the objective of next season is to lose 90+ games forbetter draft position. These signings at the right price could boost the team a minimual cost and increase the Twins bottom line. Middle IF Alex Gonzalez, SS:or Kelly Johnson, 2B: Ronny Cedeno, SS Freddy Sanchez, 2B Either would address our biggest weakness for very little or at leastprovide competition for the MI. I believe Dozier can be a useful major leaguer, but he should spend part of next season in the minors and these guys can keep him there. 3Bdepth Brandon Inge, 3B A minor league contract with spring invite should be a good opportunity for him. Starting Pitching One more starting pitcher should do the trick. Shawn Marcum if healthy is probably the bestoption or Saunders would be a decent pitcher if his price comes down. As much as I would like to see Gibson up I would prefer to keep him in the minors for the same reason I want to see Hicks start the season in the minors. Garcia could be a swing man if need be. Shaun Marcum, SP: or JoeSaunders SP Freddy Garcia, SP/RP Out Field The Twins are spot on with their OF targets of Sweeney and Posednick who could be a 4th/5th OF spot whenHicks is ready and compete with Mastroianni for the starting job in springtraining. Bullpen. There are numerous bullpen options available so I think wecan easily just find 1 that will add more depth to our pen. Crowd Favorites Then there are the crowd favorites. If we are not going to win lets bring back acouple of fan favorites to keep fans interested at least. Jim Thome, DH:who wouldn’t like to see Thome back in Minnesota. If he is still producing and a contenderwants him we can trade him there but he would bring fans back to the stands. LaTroy Hawkins, RP has own fan club in Minnesota Punto (of course we have to trade for him but he wasour scrapper for so long that we miss making fun of him) Which of these players would you like to see the Twinsconsider signing. Include others thatare still available and why.

If you have to overpay go with the shorter contract. I think 3 years for Dempster is going to work. I would see if you can get him with 3/33 as that would be the highest bid. that did work on a 3B that rejected our 2 year offer for LA's 3 or 4 year deal at a lower annual average. I forget the guys name though.

After the trading Span the other day we now have 70 million or so in commitments for next year. That should leave around 25 million to sign 3 pitchers. Since the Twins have announed they are unlikely to trade for a pitcher at this point. They can really only look through FA at this point for next season. The Twins have talked to 20 plus pitchers this offseason to guage what it would take to sign them and their interest level in comming to Minnesota. Several more pitchers are now on the market as Lannan, Pelfry, Jurgens, and Karstens were non tendered today. There are several ways to divy up the money and get starting pitching. the Question is whats the best formula for achieving that? there are several pitchers on the market that is going to get anywhere from 10-16 million or possibly more. Some one like Sanchez, Jackson, Dempster, or Haren is only a possiblity if we sign one of the bargain pitchers like the ones listed above or others including Pavano, Liriano, Villanueva, Bedard, Milwood, Lowe, and more or do we focus more on the midlevel SP Marcum, Myers, Blanton, McCarthy, Saunders, and so on, or we could sign one from each group or go the Twins way and see if we can get this done for 15 milion or less. I really hope we get one from each group as a 50 million (or large) contract would cause a lot of excitement in Minnesota. And if we were to get (1 from top tier and 1 form the middle tier) Dempster and Myers or even(2 from middle tier) Blanton and Myers for example, I would be fine with Karsten or Jurgens as our 3rd starting pitcher. What configurations of high dollar and low dollar pitchers do you feel comfortable with? Try not to spend more than 25 million per season. The closer to being between 15 and 20 million you can get the more realistic your guesses will be. There are lots of options as I count at least 40 FA starting Pitchers on www.MLBtraderumors.com we only need 3 of them. Also with that last statement I wanted to point out there there are tons of options out there. So we have time to be competetive for next year.

After the trading Span the other day we now have 70 million or so in commitments for next year. That should leave around 25 million to sign 3 pitchers. Since the Twins have announed they are unlikely to trade for a pitcher at this point. They can really only look through FA at this point for next season. The Twins have talked to 20 plus pitchers this offseason to guage what it would take to sign them and their interest level in comming to Minnesota. Several more pitchers are now on the market as Lannan, Pelfry, Jurgens, and Karstens were non tendered today. There are several ways to divy up the money and get starting pitching. the Question is whats the best formula for achieving that? there are several pitchers on the market that is going to get anywhere from 10-16 million or possibly more. Some one like Sanchez, Jackson, Dempster, or Haren is only a possiblity if we sign one of the bargain pitchers like the ones listed above or others including Pavano, Liriano, Villanueva, Bedard, Milwood, Lowe, and more or do we focus more on the midlevel SP Marcum, Myers, Blanton, McCarthy, Saunders, and so on, or we could sign one from each group or go the Twins way and see if we can get this done for 15 milion or less. I really hope we get one from each group as a 50 million (or large) contract would cause a lot of excitement in Minnesota. And if we were to get (1 from top tier and 1 form the middle tier) Dempster and Myers or even(2 from middle tier) Blanton and Myers for example, I would be fine with Karsten or Jurgens as our 3rd starting pitcher. What configurations of high dollar and low dollar pitchers do you feel comfortable with? Try not to spend more than 25 million per season. The closer to being between 15 and 20 million you can get the more realistic your guesses will be. There are lots of options as I count at least 40 FA starting Pitchers on www.MLBtraderumors.com we only need 3 of them. Also with that last statement I wanted to point out there there are tons of options out there. So we have time to be competetive for next year.

don't think the Twins will do anything with the MI this offseason and those 2 guys will be able to get more IMO. but i think your pitching thoughts are pretty solid.

if you trade a decent enough prospect you can ask LA to pay part of the contract too.