Brandon

Also the Twins don’t have much to do on their roster this winter so how many players really need to be let go? Maybe 3 or 4.

Farmer won’t be DFA as he would probably be the top SS in free agency. Surely he is worth a good prospect to someone in a trade.

Matt Shoemaker. The guy was soo bad but he had to be kept because the 6-9 starters were all injured in AAA at the time. or on the positive note JA Happ who also crashed after a few good weeks was traded for half the cost of Taylor our CF this year.

Balazovich should be safe for one more season. You can never have too much pitching. I am more curious about Enlow. What happens to him? is he a minor league free agent?

Falvey declined the interview it’s in the article on MLBtraderumors

So many people are declining the job up front I can see him get offered the job. There is also an opening in Miami too. I hope the Redsox go after Ng. There may be lots of competition for the job in Miami but they may also have the same issue Boston is having since they have a high revolving door there. Why leave a good job for a riskier one?

I think the Twins management figures they will get something from TV but will scale back since they don’t know. And I can’t blame them after the losses from COVID seasons. So a 135 -140 million budget instead of an increase to 160-165 million to continue the playoff push.

Gallo / Luplow platoon! ok for real we should just resign Solano and try Miranda and Julien as well. We get the high floor and low cost and Severino should compete for time too. The Twins have budgetary issues with the TV contracts needing to be worked out so an expensive solution is not going to happen. The nice thing about this offseason is it doesn’t seem like we have too many pressing needs. Outside of getting another starting pitcher who is solid or resigning Gray is the main item, a bullpen arm or two, what to do with the bench meaning do we resign Solano or keep Farmer and what about Taylor? All bench stuff. That’s about it. The options for Kepler and Polanco are obvious pickups. With the budget the question becomes do we trade one or both to cut costs.

Solano gives us a good floor for first base while AK is out and Miranda, Julien, and Severino can get opportunities there if they earn them.

I guess we could look at it as a mega trade: Legumia, Steer, CES, Hajjar, Petty for Gray, Mahle, and Farmer. Wow even as a total and with winning the Farmer and Gray trades the Mahle trade results were so bad that the three trades combined still favor Cincinnati.

We got a playoff series win with Gray. At best Cindy can make this win win for their side but we got best case scenario on our side.

Did anyone see that Levine interviewed for the job in Boston? And that Falvey turned down the request to interview for the position? https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/10/red-sox-interview-three-external-candidates-in-gm-search.html

I think it’s crazy how much of a better trade this one was over the Mahle trade.

Polanco’s bat is slightly better than Killeroff. Polanco is a 25 HR .800 OPS bat. That is fine for first base.

1B is an easy internal fix with many candidates. If Lee can show he can handle 2B or if Polanco stays there then Julian can slide over. If Miranda is healed from his shoulder issues then he could have a go. Or Polanco could give 1B a try and we still have Severino too. Lots of internal options, I’m not worried about 1B at all Grey is a top end starter and likes it here, so I do hope we find a way to keep him here. Luckily we do have a solid rotation already and we do have multiple avenues to add here. Getting a good #2 starter and a solid depth starter like a # 7 starter is all that is needed for now in the rotation. In the bullpen I honestly would like to see Varland there but I’m fine with giving him a shot in the rotation. Depending on team budget I would be fine resigning Pagán (such a nice turnaround story). Or just use Varland in his place. The OF is where things get interesting. CF? Kepler? Wallner or Larnarch or Gordon or ? Here I can see keeping Kepler for stability CF is Castro or Buxton or Gordon. Due to budget, I don’t see the Twins bringing Taylor back. I think they would like to on a 2 year contract. Maybe some of that 2B logjam can play LF?

If the Twins budget drops from 150 million to 125 million due to TV contract situation dropping Polanco and Farmer makes up 17 million of that while trying to find space in the budget for Gray’s salary and it gets difficult. If our team budget went up to 160 million instead this would be a non issue. We keep Polanco at that point. And I’m not saying we necessarily trade him now. It’s just one avenue to restructure team budget if prioritizing pitching.

I didn't include Paddack in the article because he was only available the last week of the season. Of course, he is in the rotation next year. He wasn't unheralded. Just hurt.

I think the expectation of a 3 year contract would be between 400-550 innings. Anything more is bonus. But if he is around the 400 mark, that wouldn’t be surprising either as that would likely mean he spends some time on the DL but not too much that he doesn’t contribute either. He seems a pitcher more susceptible to minor injuries than to TJ surgery. Though time will tell.

I don’t want to get rid of Polanco. It’s the 10 million in his contract and the available replacement in Lee. I prefer to keep both Gray and Polanco but would keep Gray because we don’t have the same level of replacements as we do with Polanco.

If Gray finds he would prefer to be here and is willing to sign a 3 year deal at just under market value. The Twins should try to find a way to sign him. The Twins need to find a starter anyways for depth. If for no other reason. Our current rotation has no contingency. Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Varland, and Paddack. In case of injury we have Festa and Woods-Richardson. That’s a big drop in ready and available talent. The initial starting 5 is solid. The real question is what will the Twins get in TV revenue next season and will that deal come together in time for the Twins to be able to sign a good pitcher. Varland or Paddack could start the season in the pen as a multi inning reliever/ 6th starter in waiting if we are able to resign Gray and that will do wonders for our depth in the rotation. The path to resigning Gray comes down to trading Polanco and the Twins securing revenue from TV and The Twins pre selling lots of tickets after their playoff wins. While there is a TV revenue issue, the Twins did get a nice windfall from their 4 home playoff games with Im sure 160,000 people in attendance for what is likely 20-30k in extra revenue and an extra 5-10 million in profit that can go back into payroll. While at this point it doesn’t seem like we can resign Gray. It’s not too often the Twins find 2 aces that want to be here. I hope they find a way to make it happen. The good news is if we can’t find a way to afford Gray, we can get by with a strong 6th and 7th starter find.

The real question is what is his innings limit range for next season? Will he be in the 110-120 range or 140-160 range? I would think 120 would be his cap. So the real question is what do the Twins do with the other innings? and will the Twins get a new. TV deal soon? They had one of the worst contracts so Ballys had to be making money on them. If the Twins can get that sorted out and soon, Gray may be in play for a return.

I think it's a minor quibble, but Ryan probably could have gone another inning. but also, I am surprised Meada didn't follow him and go 2-3 innings. we could have been 5-6 innings into the game before going to Brock. I think that would be the preferred path.

On our pitching staff we have a rock solid starting 5 or even 6 if you count Mahle. (Lopez, Gray, Ryan, Ober, and Meada) In the pen we have Duran, Jax, Pagan, and Thielbar and then we have the other guys. Who are the other guys? They are the depth starters and relievers used to round out the staff. The other guys include: Varland, Winder, Keuchel, Headrick, Balazovic, Sands, Brock, Deleon, Ortega and Funderburk. These guys combined to make 17 starts and pitch 283.33 innings giving up 135 Earned Runs for a 4.29 ERA with 113 BB and 281 Ks. They combined to go 16 wins and 7 loses and 3 saves. We wouldn't have been able to win the division without their contributions. Much like our bench who managed to hit league around league average and provide value on offense and some on defense. These pitchers held their own in the rotation and bullpen. Some of them will be counted on for bigger roles as early as next season with the hopes that Varland and Funderburk can step up and be major parts of the staff. And Brock made it to that point already in his limited time with the Twins (27 2/3 innings pitched). Will anyone else step-up next season? Who else will step up and be a bigger part of the pen? who will remain as one of the other guys. Someone who helps glue the staff together and contributes in places where needed. And who will join this group of unheralded pitchers to step in where needed if only for a start or a few relief appearances?

Severino cost the Twins 2.5 million to sign. They will protect that investment and give him a chance at some point even if it’s a backup roll. speaking of high signing bonuses will Enlow be protected? I don’t know what his issue was in AAA last year but he pitched well in AA.

I think the Twins have a chance of resigning Gray. Depends on how much he wants. He is durable enough meaning he avoids the serious injuries. If the will go 3 at 70 million the Twins should be in the conversation. At least with Free agency the way it is too heavy with starting pitching helps the Twins in that they can find a starter if they want. There will be options. And the rotation would be my biggest concern going into the offseason with the need for a number 2-3 starter and depth too. Next year we have Lopez, Paddack, Ober, Varland, and……. A good number 2-3 would keep the rotation a strength. Im curious to see the Pagan saga play out. Do we or don’t we resign him. I can see the Twins resigning Solano. Depends on if they want to keep Farmer and Gordon and Castro next season. I think one of the bunch is gone. The biggest reason not to bring him back is so his playing time goes to Lee so Lee can compete for rookie of the year. Doesn’t the team get an incentive pick if the rookie of the year starts the season on the team and plays the whole season? If Gray signs elsewhere for 50 million + we essentially traded a # 20-25 pick. (I forget where Petty was Drafted) for 2 years of Gray and a 31-35 pick. That’s a good deal.