Matthew Taylor

The Minnesota Twins trade that was, then wasn’t, then was again, was a trainwreck from the start. The trade process left all of the involved players in limbo as spring training neared. No player, though, was hurt more than Brusdar Graterol.Late in the evening on Tuesday, the Minnesota Twins agreed to terms on a deal to part with their flamethrowing pitcher, Brusdar Graterol, and bring in starting pitcher, Kenta Maeda from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal was stalled, though, after reports came out that the Red Sox had concerns over Graterol’s health. After this report, the 21-year old pitcher was thrust to the forefront of baseball Twitter and has been unfairly criticized every step of the way. Brusdar Graterol ended the 2019 season with much momentum. In his first stint in the big leagues, the Minnesota right-hander was extremely impactful. He put up an effective 3.42 FIP with a 9.31 K/9 in 10 appearances, throwing the ball harder than any Minnesota Twins pitcher in history. He performed so well that he was added to the playoff roster as a game-changing bullpen arm. Graterol showed tremendous promise, and left baseball fans eager to see what the future would hold for him. The perception of Graterol changed greatly, though, after his medical information was talked about publicly. Graterol went from being considered a lights-out pitching prospect to a reliever with a bum elbow. The entire baseball world speculated about his medical information for five full days while the trade was halted, deliberating on whether Graterol could physically hold up on a baseball team or whether he was what fans like to categorize as, “damaged goods”. All of the while, even as he was being criticized nationally, Graterol was working on his craft in Fort Myers, in a Minnesota Twins uniform. In the past week, Graterol was a member of the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox, the Minnesota Twins again, and finally, this afternoon, Graterol got the resolution that he deserved and will be heading to LA to become a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This whole trade process has been incredibly unfortunate for Graterol. No player, even less so a 21-year old, deserves to have his medical information debated across the internet, with no idea what city he’ll be living in, or what team he’ll be playing for when he wakes up the next morning. Graterol has been put through the wringer this past week, and I look forward to rooting for him as he plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. What are your thoughts on how the whole trade process has played out this past week? Will you be rooting for Graterol as he puts on a Dodgers uniform in 2020? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Matthew on Twitter here Click here to view the article

Doogie Tweeted about this. He did mention that he hasn't spoken with Berrios, though, and that is coming from his agent who may have a better handle on the business end of things and be less emotional about it than Berrios.

Earlier today, Jon Heyman reported that Jose Berríos lost his arbitration case and will be paid $4.025M in 2020 as opposed to the $4.4M that he was seeking. Should Twins fans be worried about this impacting Berríos’s long-term future with the Twins?To recap how arbitration works, when an MLB player has more than three years of service time he becomes arbitration eligible. Each offseason, arbitration eligible players and their teams will each submit a salary that they feel the player warrants. This offseason, Berríos submitted a salary of $4.4M and the Twins submitted a salary of $4.025M. The two sides were unable to come to a mutual agreement, so they submitted their cases in front of a panel of arbitrators who ruled in favor of the Minnesota Twins. After hearing about the Twins going to arbitration with Berríos over $375,000, it’s easy to be worried about Minnesota's long-term relationship with their ace. Especially with all of the other factors that have come into play over the past year. If you’ll remember, last season the Twins traded middle reliever, Mike Morin, to the Philadelphia Phillies. While this was seemingly a very small transaction involving a marginal middle reliever, Berríos was clearly upset, sending a (later deleted) tweetabout how the Twins only care about money. Next, the Minnesota Twins made an agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers to trade away Brusdar Graterol for Dodgers’ starting pitcher, Kenta Maeda. While Berríos hasn’t spoken publicly or indicated in any way that he was frustrated with the trade, it’s fair to speculate that he may be frustrated with the organization trading away someone he was close with. In a Star Tribune piece by Chris Hine, Berríos relishes being a mentor to Graterol saying, “It’s amazing, meeting people like him, now I have the opportunity to bring him my experience, my day-by-day. He’s in the same clubhouse now and we’re teammates. I’ve always heard about him. He’s got really good stuff, but I never had the chance to see him pitch. It’s amazing the things he’s doing out there.” While neither of these events seems like a big deal in isolation, when combined with taking Berríos to arbitration over just $375,000 there is valid reason to be concerned. In the arbitration process, teams will tear down the performance of their players in order to convince arbitrators that they should rule in the team’s favor. This can be an awkward process and certainly leave players disenchanted. While there have certainly been cases of players who went to arbitration and went on to sign long-term deals with teams, in Berríos’s case there are reasons to believe that things could be souring and should be some concern over his long-term future with the Minnesota Twins. What do you think about Berríos’s long-term future with the Minnesota Twins? Do you think the events over the past year, culminating with his arbitration case, have put his future with the Twins into doubt? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

I'm a big Matthew Boyd guy. Those strikeout numbers are so enticing and the shift from Rick Anderson to Wes Johnson could work absolute wonders on him. Boyd had an xFIP last year of 3.88 and was clearly impacted by playing for a horrendous Tigers team.

I appreciate the conversation. I'm not denying the fact that Sano, Cruz, Garver and Donaldson still hit really well against RHP. But being elite and being really good are two different things, and with the rotation the Twins have it might require elite offense against RHP to make a run.

I agree with you and mentioned that in the article. The point I'm making is that their 4 best hitters are right handed which could come into play when games matter the most. Sometimes it's the slimmest of margins that can make a difference in games, and handedness could end up being a factor.

I'm not at all saying that there needs to be a solution or anything needs to change. Do think it's worth asking the question and potentially something that could show it's head in 2020, though.

Agree that roster is well balanced and mentioned that in my piece. When your four best batters are right handed and you're relying on all-world offense with no real pitching additions made, things like a platoon split changing your offense from elite to very good could make the difference.

The 2019 Minnesota Twins had one of the best offenses of all time. After adding Josh Donaldson to the mix, the Twins are poised to be even better in 2020. With their four best batters being right-handed, though, it’s worth asking the question: Do the Minnesota Twins have a right-handedness problem?Where the Minnesota Twins most excelled at the plate last season was against left-handed pitching. Against lefties in 2019, the Twins led baseball with an OPS of .872. Against righties, the Twins posted an OPS of .817. While still an excellent number, this was significantly worse than their numbers against lefties. In fact, the 55 point OPS difference between pitcher handedness was the second largest in the American League in 2019, trailing only the Chicago White Sox who were 67 points of OPS better against LHP than RHP. While the Minnesota Twins are pretty evenly split in handedness throughout their lineup (five righties, three lefties, and one switch), what really makes the difference for them in their worse performance against left-handed hitters is that their best hitters are right-handed. According to their OPS numbers, the three best hitters on the 2019 Minnesota Twins were Nelson Cruz, Mitch Garver, and Miguel Sanó. Now after adding in Josh Donaldson, the four best Twins’ hitters will be right-handed. Let’s look a little bit further into the impact that their right-handedness could have on the Twins next season. Download attachment: Screen Shot 2020-02-02 at 4.36.10 PM.png From their platoon splits shown above, it’s clear (according to OPS) that each of the Twins’ top four hitters have performed much better against left-handed pitching than they have against right-handed pitching. This is a common thing for a platoon split as batters will typically perform better against pitchers of the opposite handedness. Moving to the right side of the chart with 2019 numbers, Cruz, Garver and Sanó followed their career trends by hitting worse against RHP than they did against LHP. While they did still hit really well against RHP, this trio didn’t quite hit the all-world numbers that they did against lefties. Donaldson was the unique one of this bunch, who actually hit better against RHP than he did against LHP, only the second time in his career that he hit for a higher OPS against righties than he did against southpaws. Will he be a .917 OPS hitter against righties in 2020 like last year, or will 2019 prove to be an outlier? The other factor that comes into play with the Twins’ right-handedness is the prowess of right-handed pitchers in the American League. In 2019, 11 out of the top 15 starting pitchers in the American League according to fWAR were right-handed, including each of the top seven starters. This extends further to possible playoff matchups for the Twins. In the event that the Twins face the Yankees in the playoffs they would need to go up against Cole, Severino and Tanaka, all right-handers, with James Paxton being their only lefty. Against the Astros? Verlander, Grienke and McCullers are all right-handers as well. While the Minnesota Twins offense is poised to be great, so is the rest of the upper echelon of the American League. Things like platoon splits could be what makes the difference for the Twins in a playoff matchup, and with all of the Twins’ right-handers, this could potentially pose a problem. Do you think the Minnesota Twins have too many right-handed hitters? Do you think this could pose any issues for them in 2020? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Thanks for the additions!

It’s an excellent point and something that was an intended point of the article without explicitly being stated. You could very much argue that these videos are pretty discouraging about Donaldson or, for a fan base that forever complained about the lack of fire in Joe Mauer, it could be something really exciting. I tend to look at this stuff as a positive, but can’t blame anyone who is made nervous by this.

Not missing anything! Just a mistake. Thanks for pointing out..it’s been fixed!

When the Minnesota Twins acquired Josh Donaldson, they acquired the “Bringer of Rain” and the “Bringer of Passion”. Donaldson is known for wearing his emotions on his sleeve and isn’t afraid of getting into any scuffle. Let’s rank Josh Donaldson’s top five altercations of his career.In order to quantify Donaldson’s altercations, I will be awarding extremely arbitrary Bringer of Passion (B.O.P.) points to every scuffle, and ranking them based on which altercations having the highest B.O.P. score. 5. September 20, 2016 - Donaldson vs. Umpire Donaldson gets extremely heated in this altercation with home plate umpire, Chris Conroy. Following his ejection and getting into Conroy’s face, Donaldson does one of my favorite sports fight tactics where he does the “hold me back” and has Edwin Encarnación hold him so that he doesn’t get suspended. Finally, Donaldson gets bonus points for his repeated expletive use. Needing Encarnación to hold him back so he doesn’t get suspended (+5 points)Repeated expletive use (+5 points)10 B.O.P Points 4. June 7, 2014 - Donaldson vs. Manny Machado This Donaldson/Machado altercation is really a good one as it occurs between two superstar players. Machado truly gives a hall-of-fame flopping performance on the play after a completely fair tag by Donaldson and Donaldson reacts beautifully. My favorite part of the altercation is how Donaldson gives Machado a completely sarcastic smile when Machado gets into his face, making Machado look even more ridiculous for how big of a deal he makes from the play. Finally, Donaldson gets bonus points for being involved in a benches-clearing play. Altercation with superstar player, Manny Machado (+5 points)Donaldson’s sarcastic smile as Machado is getting in his face (+5 points)Benches clear (+5 points)15 B.O.P Points 3. June 10, 2019 - Donaldson vs. Joe Musgrove With the Pittsburgh Pirates beginning what looks to be a firesale, talk about Joe Musgrove has picked up. While Musgrove could bring a lot to the Twins’ rotation, the dynamic between him and Donaldson in the clubhouse would be interesting after their scuffle last season. In this altercation, Donaldson earns points from his shove of catcher, Elias Diaz, from his hilariously easy to lip-read, “What are you looking at?”, and the bonus points for the bench clearing. Donaldson shoves catcher (+10 points)Donaldson’s hilariously easy to lip-read, “What are you looking at?” (+10 points)Benches clear (+5 points)25 B.O.P. points 2. October 9, 2015 - Donaldson vs. Keone Kela It’s not often that you see a benches-clearing altercation in the ALDS, nonetheless in extra innings of the ALDS. It’s not exactly clear who initiated the altercation, but when the camera pans to Donaldson and you see him drop three straight F-Bombs, it’s clear that he means business. Additional points awarded to Donaldson for causing the benches to clear..IN EXTRA INNINGS OF THE ALDS!! Altercation in extra innings of the ALDS (+20 points)Three straight F-Bombs on national TV (+10 points)Benches clear (+5 points)35 B.O.P. points 1. April 8, 2014 - Donaldson vs. Glen Perkins As you probably would have guessed, the number one Josh Donaldson altercation is his 2014 scuffle with Glen Perkins. This occurred in Donaldson’s second full season in the big leagues in extra innings of an April game at Target Field. This altercation earns bonus points for occurring against the Minnesota Twins, but additionally the quotes after the game were pretty great. Donaldson said of Perkins, “I hear him barking at me, and I look up and he says something and he gives me like a little finger or whatever. Not the finger; (more) like a little point”. He continues to say, “It was loud because the crowd was going at it, but I could tell he was dropping some f-bombs on me.” Just incredible stuff. The fact that now Donaldson has brought things full circle and has joined the Minnesota Twins, just makes this all the better. Altercation involving the Minnesota Twins (+20 points)Donaldson’s postgame quotes (+20 points)Donaldson joining the Twins 6 years later and making up with Perkins (+50 points)90 B.O.P. points Outside of being an outstanding hitter and fielder, Donaldson ignites excitement through his competitiveness and love of the game. What is your favorite Donaldson altercation from his career? What do you think his grit and passion will add to the Minnesota Twins in 2020? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Now, more than ever before, baseball fans have all of the numbers in the world at their fingertips in order to reflect on what has happened in the past as well as project what will happen in the future. Let’s discuss what the projections say about the Minnesota Twins statistical leaders in 2020.Earlier this week Fangraphs released their annual ZiPS projections for the Minnesota Twins for the 2020 season. ZiPS is a projection system developed by Dan Szymborski which uses growth and decline curves determined by age and past performance to project how a given player will perform the following season. ZiPS is widely regarded as being one of the most accurate projection systems we have in baseball. Download attachment: 2020 zips.png Above you can see the fWAR totals for each Minnesota Twins player in 2020 as projected by ZiPS. As you can see, ZiPS projects Josh Donaldson to lead all Twins position players in 2020 with 4.3 fWAR and José Berríos to lead all pitchers with 3.2 fWAR. Now let’s see how ZiPS projects the statistical leaders for the Twins in 2020. Batting Average: Luis Arráez | .309 Arráez was a revelation for the Minnesota Twins in 2020, joining the club in 2019 at the age of 22 and hitting .334 in 92 games. Regression has to be in order for Venezuelan in 2020 after such an incredible start to his career, right? ZiPS doesn’t seem to think so. According to their projection system, Arráez still figures to be a hitting machine, leading the team in batting average. On-base Percentage: Josh Donaldson | .373 Josh Donaldson does a lot of things well, but one of his best traits is his ability to get on base. In 2019, Josh Donaldson finished in the top-20 in major league baseball with a .379 on-base percentage thanks to his taking of 100 walks. ZiPS projects Donaldson to do much of the same in 2020, which lends itself well to the heart of the Minnesota Twins batting order being able to knock in lots of runs. Home Runs: Miguel Sanó | 35 From August 1 through the end of the 2019 season, Miguel Sanó led the Minnesota Twins with 16 home huns. ZiPS projects Sanó to pick up where he left off and lead the Twins in bombas for the 2020 season with 35. After signing a four-year extension this winter, leading the team in home runs in 2020 would certainly make that deal look like more of a bargain than it already does. ERA (Starter): Rich Hill | 3.59 While Rich Hill won’t join the Minnesota Twins until June, at best, ZiPS projects that he will make a huge impact to the team when he does, leading the team with a 3.59 ERA. ZiPS relies a lot on past performance in making their projections, so this projection isn’t much of a surprise seeing as how Hill hasn’t finished a season with an ERA above 3.70 since 2013. ERA (Reliever): Taylor Rogers | 3.09 Taylor Rogers was undoubtedly the Minnesota Twins best relief pitcher in 2019, and ZiPS projects more of the same in 2020 with him leading all relievers on the team next year with a 3.09 ERA. While the Minnesota Twins bullpen is as deep of a bullpen as you can find in baseball, Rogers is what makes the group go. If he can continue to contribute as he has the past couple of years, great things should be in store for the Twins’ relief corps in 2020. Strikeouts: Jose Berríos | 193 José Berríos set a career high and led the Minnesota Twins with 195 strikeouts in 2019. ZiPS projects Berríos to have another strikeout-filled year in 2020 with 193 punch outs. While ZiPS is projecting his ERA to balloon to a 4.17 next year, if he can put up 193 strikeouts next year, he has Cy Young potential heading into the 2020 season. What do you think of the ZiPS projections discussed above? Do you think Szymborski did a good job predicting who will be the Twins’ statistical leaders in 2020? Leave a comment below and start the conversation. RIP Kobe Bryant MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Yep, you are correct.

With Josh Donaldson in the fold, the Twins’ starting nine is set. Figuring out the bench is a little trickier. Alex Avila, Ehire Adrianza and Marwin Gonzalez are locks, but who will take the final bench spot and be the 26th man?On this week’s Gleeman and the Geek podcast, John and Aaron gave their thoughts on who they think should take the final bench spot. After reading this article, I’d definitely recommend giving this episode a listen if you haven’t already. When it comes to the final spot on the bench, the Minnesota Twins have what I believe to be four options. In this article I will lay out the case for each of these options and opine what I think the Twins should do. Internal Options: 1. Jake Cave The case for: Cave represents continuity as he appeared in 72 games for Minnesota in 2019 after Buxton’s shoulder injury forced Kepler to move to center field and Cave to fill his spot in right field. At the dish, Cave performed better than anyone could’ve asked, posting an .805 OPS in 228 PAs. Compared to 2018, Cave improved his K%, BB%, and chase % in 2019. Cave is only 27 years old and could still have room to improve if given the opportunity. The case against: A big strike against Cave is that he, like Rosario and Kepler, is left handed. His left handedness means that he isn’t much of a pinch hit candidate for the Twins and he wouldn’t be called upon to start unless there was a rest or injury situation. Additionally, Cave does not represent much insurance in the field. Last year Cave consistently misplayed balls off the wall, misjudged dives, and took poor angles. Option 2: Willians Astudillo The case for: Astudillo played six different positions in 2019 and offers the Twins a ton of defensive flexibility including the ability to carry a third catcher. This would mostly come into play on Garver’s off days. Astudillo would allow the Twins to pinch hit Avila’s spot against right-handed pitchers without forcing Garver to put his catcher’s gear on. Astudillo is also an extreme contact hitter who could be called upon to pinch hit in opportunities where the Twins simply need a contact play. The case against: La Tortuga was not good at the plate in 2019, posting a .299 OBP and .678 OPS. Having a third catcher is handy, but Astudillo is no wizard behind the plate, so I can’t see Minnesota putting themselves in too many situations where they will need to call upon Astudillo to catch. External Options: Option 3: Kevin Pillar The case for: Pillar had his best season in the big leagues at the plate in 2019, posting a career best .719 OPS with 21 home runs and 88 RBI. Pillar being a right -hander makes him much more valuable, as he posted a 105 wRC+ in 2019 with a .823 OPS against left-handed pitching. Spending his entire career as a solid center fielder, Pillar would be able to fill in at center field should Buxton get injured in 2020, allowing Kepler to stay in right field where he is a borderline Gold Glover. The case against: Acquiring Pillar would require dropping someone from the 40-man roster, where the Twins don’t have a ton of wiggle room right now. Additionally, being just 31 years old and coming off his best offensive season, it’s not a slam dunk that Pillar would be willing to sign with a team as a fifth outfielder. Option 4: Jarrod Dyson The case for: Jerrod Dyson was an excellent center fielder for Arizona in 2019 when he was worth 5 DRS, 5.3 UZR/150 and six outs above average. Additionally he is a speedster, with what would be the second highest sprint speed on the Twins after Byron Buxton. Dyson represents a guy who could fill in admirably in the field for Buxton in the case of injury and also be called upon as a pinch runner late in games. The case against: Dyson was not good at the plate in 2019, posting just a .633 OPS with a 19 K%. Dyson hasn’t had a season with an OPS over .700 since 2016. While his speed and defense are helpful, he is such a poor hitter that I’m not sure he makes sense as a bench guy, especially as he is also a left handed hitter. Given all of the options my preference would be for the Minnesota Twins to go out and sign Kevin Pillar as their 26th man. Having an above average right-handed bat to occasionally start and pinch hit against left-handed pitching while providing capable center field defense is an enticing proposition for the Twins. If Pillar is not willing to join the Twins, I think they should roll with Cave who hit really well for the Twins last year, is a popular clubhouse guy, and wouldn’t require any 40-man roster moves. Who do you think should take the last spot on the bench and be the 26th man for the Twins in 2020? Leave a comment below and start the conversation. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

25 free agents age 34+ have signed contracts this offseason. 20% of them have signed with the Minnesota Twins.

Good call - I definitely should have mentioned this in my piece. From all the quotes and things I've read, this strategy helped them big time.

On the Twins current roster -- 8 players have been acquired via free agency. 5 of those 8 were 34 years or older. 7 of those 8 players were age 32 or older. The only current member of the Twins who was signed as a FA under the age of 32 is Michael Pineda. The young crop of players have all been home grown talent.