tony&rodney

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/pirates-rumors-johan-oviedo-tommy-john-surgery-elbow-injury.html Oviedo may be getting Tommy John soon. All of LAA, PIT, and CIN have stated a desire to add pitching. Each club has specifically said they are not dealing their arms but looking to add. There are tough roads to traverse towards finding pitching. Seattle is about the only team right now and the price will be high. The payment will hurt to any team wanting to acquire pitching. Louie Varland is definitely a work in progress. There is nothing finished about his game but he is still better than most any of the other #5 starting pitchers out there in MLB. Consider that Lance Lynn received more than $10 million and one can see it will be difficult to acquire an arm worth talking about.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/braves-sign-reynaldo-lopez.html The cost of a relief pitcher is dear.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/cardinals-sign-lance-lynn.html View full rumor

Only time will settle any debates about whether Lee or Julien are more suitable for future Twins teams. I would expect that this conversation is going on within the Twins front office. There are good arguments to be made in favor of both players. Who knows maybe the Twins keep both ... and trade Lewis (gulp).

I'm not trading Festa or Kepler for Manoah. Perhaps the price is high but I just say no for either much less both. Let some other team benefit from a rebound from Manoah. I believe Milwaukee might ask for more and I'm not sure the Twins budget works for Burnes. Keller is a good pitcher and that trade seems fair, although I am reticent to trade Wallner. Blackburn? The Twins should shoot higher. You are correct that he could fit in the back of the rotation. The trade favors the Twins seemingly. The trade for Gilbert is interesting. Seattle might be thinking of a different combination of players.

The key is an unknown. Who or what does Seattle want? St. Louis wants a Seattle pitcher but the only guy that interests the Mariners is Jordan Walker. Tough deal. The Twins are in a place where they can play it safe or take a shot. Like last offseason, any high stakes deal will raise eyebrows. I do believe that the price will remain high and possibly even go higher as free agents sign. If a trade is going to happen, earlier is better.

This is the standard comment for most minor league centerfielders who have body types that trend towards bigger. The same comment was made years ago about Mike Trout. Corbin Carroll was raved about but gets moved to a corner for Alek Thomas. All teams use their best guy in center, but not all are equal gloves. Buxton/Kiermaier/Taylor and a few others are exceptional centerfielders. I would guess that Emmanuel can play the position as well as any or all of Gallo, Kepler, Castro, Gordon, and Martin. One thing to keep in mind is that there is a real learning curve for outfielders when they arrive to The Show. The stadiums are bigger and the wind flows along with the lights and crowds take a little time to learn. Once a player gets comfortable the superior lighting and fields actually help them as opposed to some of the conditions faced in the minor leagues. Either way, E-Rod has some learning to experience and the maturation process is important. 2024 is a big year for him because the competition and expertise at both AA and AAA will challenge his physical and mental progression.

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.