Brandon

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.

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.

Also i agree with SF Twins Fan. Keep Polanco at SS, Sano to 1B, Machado at 3B, Schoop at 2B.

I think we can atleast make an offer to drive up his price. 8 or 9 years with up to 250 million with opt outs...

As a twinsfan i want players to have 10 years service time before they become free agents.

What about Jeffers at C or DH and Rooker at 1B?

I say keep him at SS unless or until Buxton proves if he can hit or not. If not then Lewis can be his replacement.

I think May can close too. But I think Reed has over 100 career saves. He can handle it. The question is do we need one more arm for the pen and where will that arm come from? We could call Chicago and ask about our former closer Kintzler. Chicago may eat 1 or 2 million just so they can have the savings from his 5 million salary next year and he may not cost anything in terms of prospect capital to get. Not Elite but can do the job along with the other arms in our pen. Reed May Rogers Hildenberger Parker Kintzler with 2 spots for Romero, McGill, Vasquez, Moya, and a whole lot of others.

I doubt the Twins have spent much more than 5-6 million in each of the last 2 seasons on upgrading the front office. Scouts don't make much money. minor league coaches don't either. maybe 40-60 k tops. I bet the front office ads make between 50-200 k on the top end. The technology could be costly. But I doubt the Twins have spent more than 5-6 million total which is around 3 million per season. Even if they did spend more on the technology, Its mostly a 1 time expense so in future seasons it may not affect the payroll as much. The upgrades on the stadiums can be costly depending on what is done. I know they spent money in Fort Myers, but I don't think they spent in AA. maybe some in AAA or in the Dominican Republic. That's what i don't know or am able to estimate. But that would have to be what is holding spending back. and if so great because its a 1 time expense. Also our local TV and radio deals are terrible compared to what the rest of the teams are getting. If only the local TV and radio weren't so greedy, they could give Jim Pohlad more money so he can spend 52% of it on player salaries.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

He is a good mid relief pitcher. We need some of them. He is likely better than McGill. Probably costs around 2.5 to 3.5 million this year with arbitration next year. Im good with this. Now get us a closer and maybe a depth starter and call it an offseason.

Does anyone know who was removed from the 40 man roster to accommodate Cruz's signing?

Lets sign Keuchel and move Romero to the pen and call it an offseason. No? Then I see why a move to the pen looks good but lets keep him in the rotation and see if he can be a number 3 starter.

Moustakas won't sign here to be a back up.