tony&rodney

Nice. Thing is, I think we read a few of these in the comments about Mauer on Twins Daily. I vote for "If I knew how to contact my children..." for best in class.

Dylan Carlson could be a good idea but I wouldn't trade much for him, maybe Cole Sands. Kyle Lewis is still a guy that could bounce, but he is more of a minor league deal similar to what the Twins gave Garlick last season. Trent Grisham .... forget it.

My take is Falvey didn't need to make any comments. I'm not and have never been on the blame owner/front office wagons. In fact I'm also opposed to those posts and comments that condemn(ed) past ownerships and front offices. MLB is a corporate world. It has been decades since there have been any family business ideals. As a fan I goof around, like most of us, with thinking about this and that which may create an improved team for each following. Why worry about what one has no control over. I made my first offseason roster at $125 million and then boosted it to fit the TD Tool at $150M. I did chuckle at Bonnes' $170 million figure, but also am aware that he and others may know quite a bit more than I do about the inner workings of the Twins. My reaction to $150-170M was .... that's good, more room for additions and less concerns on mistakes ..... but also heavy doubt about the numbers due to the media issues. The entire media deal is troublesome for MLB. I cannot know what will happen but it sure will not be some automatically smooth transfer from one channel to the next. While I follow the updates on what is happening, I can only hope that there is a way for all Twins or other team's fans to have some reasonable way to access watching the games at reasonable prices. We have to at least acknowledge that media money matters to the bottom line and subsequently influences organizational decisions. One thing that does bring in money is consistently high attendance. Finding a path back to drawing three million fans per season plus going on some playoff runs is always good for the budgets.

I like the idea of adding Gurriel Jr. quite a bit and have included it in a number of posts. There are issues with him fitting into the budget right now. The Twins cannot add a guy like Gurriel Jr. until Kepler is traded. They cannot just trade Kepler for nothing to free up money because he is less expensive than the proposed outfield addition and still has value himself. Also, I think the first move will need to be for a pitcher. Dominoes. Hopefully the pieces all get put together correctly, but it is complicated.

The signings of Jovani Moran and Ronny Henriquez is good news and a smart baseball move. I still believe both can have respectable MLB careers. I usually check the transactions pages but haven't for a few weeks. Excellent.

I have thought of Vladdy but cannot for the life of me imagine what Toronto would be thinking. So I leave it go.

Royce Lewis is up to 74, Varland up to 21.4, Gilbert has dropped to 65.9, and Kirby is now 91.1. Meanwhile, Edward Cabrera has risen to 15.8 from 7.8 while our guys Larnach and Winder have fallen to 2 or 3 something. Just last offseason Larnach was over 30. I agree the site is interesting and can be looked over. However, the trades on the site MOSTLY display a severe home team bias in their suggestions. The numbers jump all over the place from month to month in the offseason. Recently, Lewis was in the 40s and Varland was 4.5 I believe. Right now a trade of Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, and Emerson Hancock for Royce Lewis and Griffin Jax favors Seattle. The conversations on trades and the exchanges of ideas are always good. I really enjoy all of your examples and look them over. My point about BTV is that one can pretty much do the same thing by having some knowledge of another team's goal and needs. This is why some (not me) suggest that Jeffers would be an attractive trade piece for Miami or Tampa Bay but not Milwaukee. I hope I don't give anyone stomach acid issues by including Lewis in the first paragraph. The Twins are not mentioned on any national sites as being a good team to fit the needs of another team in trades. This is more a weakness of the writers than reality. Seattle has been mentioned quite a bit on TD. Some have suggested that neither Gilbert nor Kirby are available under any circumstances. If you were running Seattle, would you trade either pitcher for Lewis? When I think about it, I think Seattle would be wise to sign Tim Anderson for around $10M. Then again, I'm also still hoping Falvey finds a way to pry one of those guys to Minnesota.

Is this a call for Vladdy's son?

I built my first roster in October at $120M, shifted when the TD Payroll Blueprint Tool came out to fit that budget of $150M, but have shifted back to a strict limit at $125M. We just don't know though.

Any trade with Miami is a gamble. I don't see them trading Alcantara. Cabrera is still exciting but cannot be counted on and is out of options. Still, he will cost a better return than BTV predicts. Meyer is also a risk and Miami still wants to see if he can pitch to his draft position. Who knows, maybe Miami sends over Cabrera and Meyer if the Twins send back Jeffers, Winder, and Sands (or Jax instead of JW & CS). Bats are hard to come by as well. Would a Jeffers and Jax bring back Yandy Diaz? I'm not liking that too much but Diaz hits. What bats are available as clear upgrades. No player is off the board if it clearly improves the team. Walker Jenkins has a higher ceiling than any Twin since Buxton was chosen, which makes him virtually untouchable. If the Twins can trade Ryan Jeffers for a strong return they need to have those conversations. Sans a high return, Jeffers stays. BTW, i agree that the Twins need to improve their stock of catchers within the system.

Nick, you covered it all. It just doesn't make any sense. I would not have expected the Twins to entertain resigning either Gray or Pagan even if the payroll was going to remain around $150M. The Twins might have brought Maeda back with more financial wiggle room. The dropping of scouts seems weird. Is there something else there? The timing was strange. I cannot see a single benefit from Falvey making his comments. It wasn't necessary.

Correa solidifies the infield. Hopefully he plays 140+ games and improves his numbers at the dish, returning to career averages at least. Big contract, so we hope he stays on the field. Great shortstop because of how consistent he is with his glove. The payroll issue may be short-lived. We have no control over it, so worrying about it becomes like hoping for bad luck. The extra money last year did provide for depth. Going forward the younger, less expensive players will need to pick up their opportunities and perform. The payroll does influence the future of the team in as much as the team will need to get production from their farm. This should mean the team is careful about what prospects are held tightly and not included in any trades. Guys like David Festa and Marco Raya are key to the Twins going forward. While Raya is still be closely limited in his usage and his future MLB starting status unsure, Festa has shown that his stuff plays. He is capable of being a #2-4 SP. The dude just needs the experiences needed to understand how to shape his pitches and command consistently. Learning and muscle memory take time. The Twins also have some interesting bats on the farm, led by three top 50 global prospects: Lee, Rodriguez, and Jenkins. This coming year is very important to see what each can do to show their long term value.

Giolito would provide innings and may see the Twins as a team to boost his stock on a one year deal. the one year could cost though (up to $20M). However, Giolito may also get someone to throw a 4/$50M or better deal his way. Giolito has money already and should be looking to put himself at the top of a post 2024 pile of SP. Maybe the Twins get him for $13M. I always liked both Miley and Montas, but they are not likely to throw as many innings. Their contracts will decide if the Twins can gamble on one of them. I think Varland is a better bet straight up though.

Penn Murfee already signed with Atlanta. Andrew Chafin? MILB deal? Good to find a guy. I'm not too worried about the pen. All of Winder, Sands, and Balazovic have some potential for utility there. Balazovic, though, is out of options.

I don't know Tim Anderson. I'm not thinking Anderson is a fit for the Twins at any price unless the Twins unload 3-4 middle infielders (not happening). Still, I just don't understand any of the vitriol towards Tim Anderson, unless you personally know him or are very close to someone who has stated specifics that back your position. Granted that "stuff" gets published that identifies people as problems: domestic abuse, violence, and other actions that directly harm others. I plead guilty to not knowing that information about Anderson. Whenever I watched him play for the Dirty Sox, he played hard and tried to fire his team up. It must have brutal for him to play for Tony La Russa and then to try to play through an injury for the implosion in Chicago last season. Seattle should sign him.

I don't disagree with you as far as the deal proposed, which sends contracts to the cost conscious Marlins. Edward Cabrera is still held in favor by baseball folks due to his potential. However, he has really struggled with control and is now out of options. Miami has used those options in hopes that Cabrera could improve his control. Thus far it has not worked. Miami may be willing to move Cabrera but will likely want players who have talent and have control in return. I have no idea what Miami wants. I do know what they need and maybe they have an interest in Vazquez. Kepler would be a vast overpay and the Twins need Max imho. I'm not sure the Marlins have any interest in guys like Larnach, Winder, Sands, and Schobel. Hopefully there could be conversations between the clubs. Cabrera is a gamble for any team. Sixto Sanchez has had a rough few years. 2019 was his last year on the mound. Supposedly healthy in 2023, he threw one inning. I read a report that he topped out at 85 on his once 99 mph fastball. I lost the article, so sorry for no link. I did watch a video of his inning, where he hit 86 mph with his fastball according to the announcer. That speed doesn't impress Senior Mens' Leagues. Something went south for poor Sixto. In the video he looks larger than I remember him and he was always a big boy in the mid 200s lbs.

No, it was fair to include him. Not only did they all sign about the same time, but they all got good money which is an indication of their value and the demand for their talents.

Those who have reservations about 1B have justification for their thoughts. Alex Kirilloff and Jose Miranda are definitely questions and AK can be moved to the outfield as well. Miranda was a guy who never missed many games coming up through the farm. It is possible that his injury heals and Jose returns with a very effective bat. Same for AK as far as hope, but it has been a long time since Alex posted all season. So there is a gamble there at 1B. Perhaps 1B waits until a trade occurs. If I was trading with the Twins I would want to pick up Miranda on the cheap for DH/1B/3B. A healthy Miranda keeps a lineup moving.

Most everyone is just assuming that Paddack would be slotted into the starting rotation before Varland. This may depend on whether the Twins manage to acquire someone to put behind or in front of Lopez. Paddack in my view is the #5 SP, because he can be skipped in the rotation when the schedule allows to save innings and protect his arm. The Twins are hoping for 100 effective innings from Paddack. The role for Varland is not in stone. Varland is likely working on a way to shape his pitches more effectively right now and Louie will hope to put himself in the rotation with his performances in Spring Training. Than again, that didn't help last year for Ober, but the guys ahead of Bailey were much more established too.

Ok then, it is settled. The Twins will keep Christian Vazquez and Ryan Jeffers as their catchers, and hope they are even better in 2024 than they were in 2023. Well. ..... that is for sure unless one or the other is traded, get injured, or decides to retire.

I agree because i too have seen him play a ton via video. I cannot definitively state his position because i have not seen him in person a dozen times. I believe that is what I said, "polished". He may have to move to third base at the MLB level and could win a Gold Glove and grade highly there. Lee is no Correa by a long shot at shortstop. He could open Day 1 next year at third base. I too have some concerns about his bat but i think it will be fine from the left side. He gets his bat to the ball mostly. I do wonder if those balls that slipped through the alleys for doubles in the minor leagues will be cut off for singles in the major leagues. One comment postulated who would step in if Correa went down for a prolonged absence. In that case, I would expect to see Lee. Let's hope Correa can play 142+ games and that Farmer is retained for infield depth. Let Lee develop his bat at AAA for now.

So many trade scenarios have been put forth it is hard to keep track of all of them. i believe that mentioning Jeffers was just a note of covering one of the vast array of trade possibilities or anything that results in a stronger Twins club for 2024. I should let the poster respond but it seemed innocuous enough and doesn't likely involve pets or anger, rather merely loose speculation similar to what everyone else does.

Are we talking a disabling injury? That is different than a backup guy who plays 20 games at shortstop. I thought we were looking for short term backups. I like Farmer in his current role. Like I said, the jury is still out on Lee, which is a pretty neutral comment. Also remember that it is the practice to play a ton of guys at shortstop for quite a stretch. Austin Martin was only moved off of shortstop as the organization wanted to see him in different positions because of his proximity to MLB. It is likely that Martin would have seen time last season with the Twins if he hadn't started the year with a bum arm.

There are actually a few options to backup Correa at shortstop. I believe Farmer is solid so I'm not promoting other guys to be put into a regular role. Stuff happens though. Sans Farmer, Willi Castro can play shortstop as a stopgap, which we saw last year. Provided the Twins are able to sign them back, both Anthony Pratto and Michael Helman can hold the position for a bit. Both guys are steady and pretty experienced minor leaguers. Nobody would recommend them for regular duty but they are solid bench players. When I watch Lee i see a guy who is really polished who may lack the foot speed needed to play shortstop at the MLB level. I think he would be an extraordinary third baseman though. I'm not sure he would be as good at second base. Lee is still an open book with a high floor. His being a switch hitter is great , yet he has struggled as a right handed batter. The jury is still out on Brooks Lee.

Soto is a gamble in as much as he is on a one year deal. There will be zero negotiations because he will want to test the market. The cost will be high. Ober, Varland, Kepler, maybe Jeffers, and a few lower rated minor league players might be possible. Actually nobody knows the price, but if the Twins call the Padres immediately they will suggest Lewis and Wallner plus Lee or something stupid like that. Soto is amazing in the batter's box and he usually plays nearly every game. His average season is over the top excellent. Despite all cries opposing the idea, Soto is a possible addition if the Twins are willing to gamble big. I'm sure they won't even engage in talks and I'm not sure it would be a net positive. Still, pending other crazy gambles or challenge trades, there is a 0.0001% chance. Never say never.