Brandon

With the Twins going into full sale mode I figured its time to break out the new standings as we go from trying to be a .500 team back to trying for the nmber 1 pick in the draft. The players on the team are the ones pushing the issue so here we are. We are currently in 8th place and 6 games out for the 1rst pick next draft. 1. Texas 40 - 60 2. Colorado 40 - 60 Tie 3. Chicago C 41 - 57 2.0 4. Houston 42 - 58 2.0 5. Philadelphia 43 - 57 3.0 6. San Diego 43 - 56 3.5 7. Arizona 44 - 57 3.5 8. Minnesota 46 - 54 6.0 We have some ground to make up but surely we can trade enough talent away for future prospects to get a better than 8th pick in next years draft.

results matter and up until a few days ago he got them. I agree that they think he must be hurt. His results are good enough that someone should pick him up for the stretch run as a long man. Unless of course he really is hurt.

Maybe we could trade our cast offs for others draft picks and get more draft picks since we are selling and not likely to get good prospects from what I am reading here.

I feel the same way. I guess the twins are also trading up for better draft position next year. After getting swept by the Rays, I am starting to come around to the trade away everyone. (I don't get those that want to trade Perkins however If we traded him for equal talent in that trade we still loose.)

I'm in the Tweak it now camp. I am not a big fan of a sell of as there are not necesarrily any replacements available for some of the players we could trade and the return is not worth the effort in my mind. I would rather just trade Corriea and bring up May and Meyer. Maybe a reliever or 2 as well. I don't see the value of trading the offensive pieces unless the Twins want to roll with Pinto at Catcher the rest of the season. In that case we could trade Suzuki. I don't see it that way at this time so I wouldn't do that. But I think we should keep Willingham and Morales and let them go as free agents in the offseason.

Almost sounds as if Wimmers = Eades. in terms of stuff. Also I can't help but wonder if the Twins did take advantage and sign Drew at SS and we missed out on Burdi as a result. Playing arm chair GM in retrospect which move would you rather us have made. I was all in the sign Drew camp over the winter. I didn't think we would get someone who could potentially help out next year.

I am in the pro Ryan/ Gardy camp. I have Dougie down as Gardy's future replacement. I think the Twins are moving on the right path towards being relevant again. they made good trades. Revere and Span for May and Meyer, Liriano for Escobar, good draft picks (Buxton, Burdi, Gordon, Stewart, Berrios, and more) good international signings (Sano, Polanco, Arcia, Australian lefty whose name I forgot, Pinto [some of those go to Bill Smith], Scrap heap pick ups Guerrier, Florimon, Colabello and Theilbar) Free agent signings Willingham, Morales, Suzuki, Hughes...Nolasco can still be the league average pitcher we thought he could be as a number 3 starter. There is time for that. So the issue is not enough of that talent has made its way to the majors yet. It takes time to properly fix a broken team and that is happening now and Terry Ryan is doing a hell of a good job at it so I don't think he'll go anywhere or should go unless he wants to.

I am going to guess that Buxton gets promoted on the Monday the 28th. its after any weekend games. I do not know the schedule so if there is an off day around then, that's the day he'll likely be promoted. So what's your guess date he gets promoted to AA?

I imagine Buxton will be ready for his promotion to AA soon as it appears he has knocked off the rust. My guess is another week where he's at then off to AA. The only other promotions that look like they should happen is May to the majors after a few starts and maybe a AAA reliever as several look ready to contribute. Most everyone else has been promoted. Maybe Vargas towards the end of the season to AAA.

Suzuki I would sign to an extension. He does not cost too much and Pinto is the only option semi ready to replace him now. yes Pinto's got the bat but his glove is worse than Suzuki's and I guess his leadership is too as his standing with the pitchers isn't there yet. Morales. I agree that a 1 or 2 year extension is a good idea. He'll need to really heat up in the second half and hit .300 with 15 HR if he wants a 3 year deal from anyone. not sure if I agree on your dollars though as I think it will be closer to a 2 year 18-20 million to sign him. Willingham will be 36 next season. while someone may offer him a 2 year deal, I would be ok with a 1 year extension. no one else is ready to take over LF yet and I would rather have Hicks force the issue next time he's knocking on the door rather than have a hole there with no other options. I would not extend for 2 years. I would also be good with either Torii Hunter or Cuddyer coming back as they are free agents as well. Dozier, depends on extension. I would do a 4 year extension with some options to gain cost control if the deal is right for both sides. but I agree it isn't necessary either. Guerrier, I would be ok with another 1 year extension in the 1 to 2 million range maybe some incentives kicked in but no more. he has never had great peripherals but he does get results. and a good 6th inning pitcher is hard to come by. At that cost he can hold a bullpen slot until the issue is forced. we will have other openings as I agree that Swarzak has not been a great solution. he is passable and that's about it. Deunsing and Burton are going to leave eventually. But doesn't Burton have an option on his contract? I would like to see one or 2 of the young relievers in the minors come up and get a chance. Several have shown they are ready.

That article is someone else's opinion. I remember the Astros signed a player to a 6 year 100,000,000 contract granted he was a marginal OF but could consistently drive in 100 runs a year. I forgot the guys name he played on the Whitesox for years. but he drove in 100 runs a year the first 5 seasons then age caught up to him the last one then he was traded for a prospect and that was considered one of the worst signings of all time and all the player did was play the same as before. Now some think that was a bad contract and it was an overpay IMO but getting the 100 RBIs consistently from a player who was from the area may have been worth it to them. Just like the Mauer contract will likely be worth it to us but he will have a few down years when hurt. It is an overpay for the talent but its also a payment to the Twin Cities and Hennepin county for building the stadium.

Suzuki made a fundamental change in the way he hits. So he is more of an average and doubles hitter. I see no reason he couldn't hit .280 for the next 3 years or so. If Suzuki signs an extension now it shows he wants to be here which is why one should be offered. I don't think we should trade him unless we get a top prospect for him as in an overpay because I think he can help with the development of the pitchers coming up May and Darnell and the Sept call ups of likely several relievers maybe but not likely Meyer. Also I think to take the risk of trading then not being able to sign Suzuki we should receive a premium on that too. We are ultimately better off signing him to an extension and trading Pinto at this point. Pinto is getting too much bad press about his defense that even if he improves he is going to be stuck with the bad reputation for a long while. Pinto is not going to be the DH here. Especially if the Twins sign Morales to an extension. What can we expect for Pinto? So compare trade Suzuki and try to overpay to get him back in the offseason or trade Pinto and sign Suzuki to an extension now.

So if Aiken doesn't sign and isn't declared a Free Agent does he have to wait to go in the next draft? I guess he can go play independent baseball.

Dozier /Suzuki tough to argue but I am going with Dozier. Starting pitcher is Hughes Relief pitcher is Deunsing as he is the pitcher most likely to not give up a run in his outings. Fein is a close 2nd as he has the most Holds on the team as everyone know the hold is the most important reliever stat. And Perkins is a close 3rd for the overrated K's rate which is incredibly high and over rated save total as his ERA is higher than these 2 as well. Rookie is Santana cause Gibson barely is not a rookie this year And Guerrier wins this seasons Play it again award. (I just made it up but feels appropriate since there were several contenders)

I think Carlos Silva walked 8 batters one year in 190 innings or something like that . He has the all time Major League Record I think or close to it.

I am happy with his development so far. He is young, getting rave reviews about his stuff, good control. I am not as concerned with strikeout rates. I think he can go more than 100 innings. Last season Berrios performance down the stretch dictated he was tired. I do not see that from Stewart. Also I think starting next year at Fort Myers is an option. I don't think he's ready for AA by any means but I think a full season at Fort Myers next year will do him some good.

I think they should off a 1 year deal to Ichiro this offseason. If nothing else, lets kick it old school with Hunter. In all seriousness I think we have enough stop gap solutions. Santana and Fuld can handle it for a year or 2 and Hicks will likely get another chance. Buxton is on the way. If we really want Santana at SS then we get a stop gap like the 2 mentioned above.

Options for next season LF and RF: Arcia Hicks (if he's not in CF) probably available here in 2016 Rosario Plouffe (if Sano is up) probably here in 2016 Parmelee Colabello DH: Vargas I think we have enough room to bring back one or even both of Willingham, Morales or we could go old school with Hunter or Cuddyer on a 1 or 2 year deal. I also think that Morales will have a solid second half with us this season. He may need a little more time to warm up but I think he will have a good 2 - 3 months to finish out the season.

I have a slightly contrarian view. I don't think the Twins should trade the veterans unless we have a replacement ready for them. If Pinto is not going to be the starting Catcher then we should keep Suzuki. I am not sure I want Parmelee starting over either Morales and Willingham. Hicks however is different but for now he would take over CF. Corriea does look like he might have someone ready to take his spot. It depends since Nolasco has been so bad and who the 4th starter is going to be between Pino or Deduno but May needs to be called up and if Pino staying the rotation then Corriea needs to be traded. if Pino goes back down then May can come up and we can keep Corriea. apparently Meyer is coming up next year and Berrios could be here next year as well. I don't really see anyone ready to come up to replace the veterans we have. With out ready replacements and without a decent return, our best return on these players is to enjoy watching them strive for a winning season this year. it shows the younger players a winning, competitive atmosphere which is important in their development. For now I am going with likely trade Corriea and maybe Willingham. But the return needs to be better than nothing. A C or preferably C+/B- prospect in both cases. Again I think its better to set the winning example for the next group coming up.

Most of us were upset about the 2nd season in the contract. We knew the Twins were going to be bad last year and thought he was an ok band aid. but the second season felt like the Twins were giving up on this season before last season began. Most of us felt justified when Corriea got off to a bad start this year. He is synonymous with Swarzak IMO. He has out produced his expectations. Though his won-loss record does not reflect it. Also at the time Corriea was signed there were several other pitchers signing 2/15 million contracts that appeared to be much better than Corriea though not great either, Blanton, McCarthy, Kazmir was available, Feldman, Baker, Carlos Villanueza, and Edwin Jackson to name a few. Little did we know just how bad they would be but we thought they were all better than Corriea.

Pressly was actually pretty solid for the Twins last year. He has options and was passed by other prospects.

After his first 4 appearances Burdi is averaging 27.00 strikeouts per 9 innings. If Guerrier pitches on the team through nest season he could move from 8th to 3rd all time in Games Pitched for a Twins career. Hughes has a 9.273 K per BB which is tops in franchise history including the Wasahington days. Next on the list is Silva at 7.889 Burton finally got his era below 5.00. with 3 more scoreless innings he will be at 4.50 and with 8 total more scoreless innings he would be at 4.00.

We should absolutely dump a successful reliever for an outfielder hitting .250 with no power in AA.

I bet Guerrier will be back on the team next year. He's having a great season. I'll admit that Corriea is blocking May and or Meyer so trading him makes sense regardless of being in contention or not once we get Nolasco back.

Who exactly is Willingham and Morales blocking on the roster? Pinto is in AAA to work on catching. Vargas is in AA. which bat is left to call up? if your thinking Herman whats the point of that?