tony&rodney

No to an addition of Alonso. I'm thinking that the Twins get some good years at a nice price from Alex Kirilloff. One year of a three true outcomes player, no thanks.

Agree with others that the idea seems like an extreme long shot if not preposterous. However, having watched Emmanuel several dozen times last summer (via milb.com) he does have an extremely quick bat. The knock on him is largely his wandering focus, where he is prone to both swinging wildly at times and just watching pitches right down the middle at other times. The strike zone awareness is excellent. Defense is almost impossible to judge from video but he sure made some nice catches and has a big accurate arm too. Em-Rod needs experience. All that said, Longenhagen is well respected as an evaluator of minor league talent. I wouldn't object at all if Emmanuel Rodriguez made a Michael Harris II or Kirby Puckett jump to MLB.

These were fun to read. The notice of a reduced 2024 payroll was released after the trade suggestions, which most likely makes slim shots at Glasgow, Soto, or Burnes moot. Another note is the news that Jovani Moran needs Tommy John, which meant he was released by the Twins. Moran had decent value before the DFA. Generally, the ideas were fair. Each reader will have their own reactions, some of which will strongly disagree with using certain players. For example, I might not want to give up David Festa in any trades, others may be opposed to including Emmanuel Rodriguez, and still others may become apoplectic if they see Brooks Lee going away in a transaction. It was at least interesting that (I did not see) Royce Lewis was not suggested as a piece to use to acquire a starting pitcher. Thank you for putting this together. It will be interesting to see what transpires this offseason. The Twins could be good even if they just run back the guys they currently roster with just one or two simple additions for less than $10 million, which keeps the roster beneath $130 million.

Good call on the hamstring (Mahle). I was incorrectly remembering a shoulder. FWIW, I didn't think you had mentioned the supposed rift between Rocco and Sonny. I was only referencing that this has been often discussed. My own take is that they got along fine. Yes, i do think Sonny is grateful. Unfortunately, the big contracts talk if the team fits. I loved watching Gray pitch but he will pick a team that works. The Twins just don't go large on pitching contracts.

Well, Solano is 5'-8" and both Buxton and Kirilloff are 6'-2". Polanco is a tad over 5'-11". So it is all whether the Twins want to use Polanco there. Buxton pitched in high school sometimes but has otherwise always played in the outfield. Jorge knows the infield as well as anyone, so if this is a consideration I'm sure he Polanco will be decent there. Personally, I'm hoping Alex Kirilloff hits all year for the Twins as he did for the Saints. The procedure he had should be fully healed with all rehab and strengthening finished before Spring Training. This could be the first time AK begins the year in full health since 2018 when he was returning from Tommy John surgery.

Good post. A couple of things to point out as additions, not arguments. Mahle kept having shoulder issues in the past few years. Then this past Spring, Mahle ripped his elbow up .... TJ surgery. Gray has had some ups and downs and was able to fully focus last offseason on baseball after being heavily involved with labor negotiations the previous offseason. Additionally, Gray added a pitch. I believe you are correct that Sonny Gray was treated well by the Twins and Baldelli. Gray is likely very aware of this and those comments that suggested a rift between pitcher and manager were almost surely way off base. Gray is competitive and merely stated a preference for more innings.. Almost certainly, Sonny Gray is going to be receiving a number of offers for handsome money. I hope the Twins use the QO draft pick to find a keeper. (at least better than the one beautiful walleye versus many annoying northerns I managed last week out on the lake).

I'm not too sure these kind of trades happen because of fear on both sides. Usually, the position player should be more valuable even if the pitcher may be in demand short term. The risks with pitchers is higher on most occasions. I'm not looking for the Twins to trade Lewis and you specifically said that there is no way any of these guys are traded, but my question would be . Is LG or GK for RL a fair trade?

Big money. Various sites had Nola around the $25 million per year average, but for 5 years. The highest prediction for total money that I have seen was $150 million. The $172 million is a big chunk of money above the expected, yet it continues the recent practice of spreading total money over years for a lower average per year. Aaron Nola is a very good pitcher but he didn't exactly tear up the league last summer with a 4.46 ERA. The other numbers are off a little bit too. Let us not quibble, Nola is a premier starting pitcher. The signing indicates that the Phillies wanted to keep their two guys at the top and that the price for top 25-40 starting pitchers is going continue to rise. FWIW, Sonny Gray is looking really hot right now.

Minor league deal for Juan Yepez couldn't hurt. The rest ..... no.

Link: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/phillies-reportedly-sign-aaron-nola-to-seven-year-deal.html

Via mkbtraderumors.com Aaron Nola is off the board at $172 million. Several folks had wanted Nola. Does anyone believe the Twins would be in on a pitcher for $172 million? View full rumor

Wow. That would sure be amazing to see Royce Lewis become a player like those two. It would immediately vault him as the third greatest player in franchise history behind Walter Johnson and Harmon Killebrew. That would be fun.

This is a nice list of names. Only Ryan and Lopez have proven themselves beyond a year. Both pitchers look like guys to plug and play. I agree that the Twins are high on Jenkins, Lewis, and Lee. These guys are just getting their feet wet (Lewis) or yet to reach MLB. We can be really pumped to see them as Twins but the time will tell us of their value. What is impossible to know is whether another team values these guys at a high level and makes an offer that is too good to turn down. We just can't know that now. It seemed crazy (to many) to trade a young controllable batting champ last offseason, but the Twins were not going to move forward without pitching. To me, the unknown is how Falvey and gaggle value the Twins players and what other teams see within the Twins system worth a phone call or text.

This is true, the crunch of time is real. For years I worked, coached, played, and had my own family. Life was crazy. I fit following baseball into a 11pm time slot for an hour at most. I took the kids to minor league games and that sort of thing. Time flies. Retirement does open the gates of indulgence, for sure. I can slip off to watch games live or follow via the internet. Twins Daily has been a solid site for fans. The one thing I try to accomplish is attempt to help folks to understand how difficult it is to play baseball and rise to the top. The work ethic is outstanding. Development takes time. Talent isn't just physical. My view of Rosario is of a guy who has made incremental adjustments and had steady growth. His abilities to maintain at AA and AAA will be watched. The Arizona Fall League was a stretch for him, yet he stayed above water. Too early to make any judgments on Rosario. He does not possess those freakish skills of the young prospects who may become superstars. Few do. The only two players who I have seen a number of times who I feel have a chance to make a leap are Emmanuel Rodriguez and David Festa. E-Rod has a long way to go with the mental part of the game and 2024 will be big for him. Likewise, Festa can be unhittable and then just groove a few pitches or fall into poor sequencing. He is learning and just because he played college doesn't mean that he should be more advanced. His body is just catching up as well. 6'-6" and 185 pounds, but he looks like he weights 130 lbs. Both of these guys seem to have more talent but they still have to learn what to do and then continually focus. It's a tough road for prospects. Noah Miller has a really good glove and plays with confidence in the field. He has not put up any decent looks for a sustained month ot two on offense, but he has definitely looked better over the course of the last year in the batter's box. He could become a fair player with the bat. Again, it is way too early to tell with Miller. I have a hard time getting down on prospects, especially when I remember myself as a teenager and young person.

Sadly, these guys are likely toast. Woodruff has the dreaded shredded shoulder. Mahle can return from TJ but he has suffered from repeated serious troubles with his shoulder. Shoulder injuries turn MLB players into DHs in Men's Leagues ... if they can still swing.

I don't think the Twins trade either straight up (one to one) for the amazing Williams. Reconfigure in another fashion. Getting Williams is remote but i like your thought of adding a really good bullpen arm.

Difficult to know where people are going in this discussion. I wondered how many folks have seen Rosario hit at least a couple of dozen times? I'm fine if this is via milb.com and live is better. If you haven't seen him play in dozens of games, ..... Rosario gets some criticism and he won the league MVP. Noah Miller, who I think could still develop, gets a minor league gold glove and people weigh in that he is the future shortstop for the Twins even if he is just a utility player at Hi-A baseball right now. Either way, I think it is too early to make these judgments. I want to encourage those fans interested in prospects to watch a half dozen minor league games every week to see what is happening down below on the farm. Some of the games are pretty crazy. Forget the stats and watch what these kids can do against their peers.

Shoulder surgery? Pretty much nobody returns from a bum shoulder to once again become a good MLB pitcher. About the only guy that I can remember is Michael Pineda. He had mixed results and did not last long. Perhaps someone else can name other pitchers who had major should surgery and returned as effective MLB pitchers. BTW, this is another reason to stay far away from Mahle. Mahle went down with an elbow last Spring and had Tommy John surgery. Remember though that he was missing games and being pulled due to a bum shoulder injury for several years on and off before his elbow barked.. Serious shoulder injuries are death to pitchers.

I was merely saying that your judgment of Julien as compared with Lee and Lewis was overwhelmingly the opinion of those who write or comment on Twins Daily. I certainly do not mean that as a criticism in any way. My thoughts are that this is totally up in the air and there are different skills presented by each of these players as well as limitations which have yet to be fully unveiled. I think I said, to each his own. My position is that the Twins could benefit from trading for a decent pitcher which MAY include one of these players. More than a few folks have already responded forcefully. One response specifically stated that the floor for Lee was the ceiling for Julien. When I judge upside I'm looking at career achievements. These are impossible to predict. In 1981, Ozzie Smith was traded for Garry Templeton, Smith was seen as someone who would never hit enough despite his glove. Templeton, a superior bat and excellent glove, had had an ugly incident in St. Louis. Change happens. Your belief is well founded and the Twins may agree. It should be interesting to see how this offseason goes and those players develop.

Julien is not going to be a utility player, or 1B, or full time DH. Fair to say, you favor dangling Julien as a player to trade. Maybe you feel he has peaked and has high value that can be combined with another player or two to bring in a strong starting pitcher. Is that close? What is true is that Falvey will need to make those calls.

Tough. So, Lewis gone?

Your assessment of Julien seems to be popular (very) on Twins Daily. I have no idea what Falvey, Baldelli, coaches, and talent scouts feel about Julien. Julien has only been on my screen (via milb.com & Bally) for three years. What sticks out to me is the manner in which Julien controls the pitcher. He has struggled at times, both with the bat and (as so many jump to comment) in the field. This is true. Yet Julien has adjusted and adjusted, constantly. Those lengthy at bats were huge for the Twins this past year. He made the plays in September. His arm still looks wobbly, his footwork cannot be confused with Roberto Alomar, but his lateral movement and concentration to gather himself and read the speed of the game dramatically improved. He has more side to side ability than any of the other options. No, Julien has not become a superior fielder but he has morphed into an average defensive second baseman. He may have peaked offensively as more than a couple dozen on Twins Daily have suggested, but he may be just getting warmed up too. I'm only suggesting that the book is not closed on Julien. I cannot predict the outcome for Julien, Lee, Martin or others. I believe the Twins need a good starting pitcher and that a trade is going to be the best avenue for that end. Selling high is just as likely for any of Lewis, Wallner, Julien, or Lee. That story will unfold in the next few years. Based on the past three years and the steady progress I'm going to choose Julien for second base. To each their own, but if Julien or one of the others in combination with a couple of other players helps to bring in Logan Gilbert, that sure could be a useful exchange.

Totally agree with these sentiments on judgment. The entire steroid era was media driven calls on who was friendly or not to reporters. Bonds and Clemens = grouchy, while Ortiz, McGuire, Soto = fan faves. It is insane that Ortiz is a HOF, but no Bonds. There are some strong trails behind Bauer. Nobody from UCLA has ever had anything but silence or derision for Trevor. Arizona made a decision to trade him and the return was well short of expectation. Cleveland actually was going to release Bauer but Cincy wanted to have him. Finally, if we can believe the report that the Dodgers left Bauer's return to the players to be true, there may be some difficulty with him. According to that article, the players voted unanimously "No". Grain of salt there. I actually have enjoyed Bauer's discussions on baseball videos and he is well spoken and clearly likes baseball. The whole mess the last several years was just sad. I would leave any thoughts on adding Bauer to Falvey and Baldelli. Juan Soto talk is mostly people being judgmental because he has some swagger in his game. I have never seen anything to indicate problems. Soto plays almost every day. A phone call seems warranted. The payroll might restrict the Twins from adding a front line starter or Juan Soto, but there should be paths to adding players. You have proposed some fair trades as have others. Transactions have already been debated so much that the avenues on Twins Daily are exhausted. The Twins lose depth when they trade excellent players from either their veterans or top young guys list. Fill a hole only to expose another position. Any loss of Polanco, Kepler, Vazquez etc. reduces experience, which is generally key for winning teams. Any suggested trade that includes Lewis and Lee lights up the boards with negative reactions. The long term thinking toward Wallner and Julien is unknown. It seems the Twins will need to decide which players to hold and who to push forward as bait for a good starting pitcher. I'm generally done with all that and am just interested to see what happens. In terms of lesser options, I do think that the Twins could easily pry a potentially strong guy from Miami. Edward Cabrera is out of options and has struggled with his control. Of course there is no guarantee that he would be better for the Twins. The Twins would have to overpay (BTV #s) to acquire Cabrera and I'm not sure what that would look like. Maybe two decent guys like Larnach and Winder plus two minor league players that do not need to be put on a 40 person roster. It's a gamble and i would not include top prospects. December should bring some answers because several teams will want to begin organizing their rosters after the Rule 5 Draft. The conversations are a bit like playing musical chairs and I hope the Twins have a chair when the music stops. Like some others, I am not going to get excited with an addition of Archer or Bundy. This might be a year to gamble.

I would like either. But what is the price?