tony&rodney

Perhaps these pitchers may be available and I'm down for any of the four, but what is the cost? Will they be available? I'm interested in what people think is a trade each of these clubs will look at and say "ok".

Right on. Garver could really snap back into prime time and the article excellently identifies the difficulties of last season for Garver. Nothing went right last year and now a fresh start brings a world of possibilities.

I share your optimism for the Twins for this coming season. The roster looks promising and the divisional competition will be the strongest it has been in some time. I always appreciate your articles. One small quibble - there isn't any need nor use to mention excellent baseball people such as Terry Ryan or Bill Smith in any fashion but a positive light. Dave St. Peter and the Pohlads would agree. Change happens. The return of fans to stadiums with the smells, sounds, and sights is a positive turn that brings a smile just thinking about it.

Hopefully everyone understands this is for the 21st century only even though there is wording about franchise history. Right?

".... Perhaps its easier to understand if you personalize it. If your income goes down substantially in 2021, will you spend $10K more than your normal budget?" by mlr Yes. My 10-30k v. Pohlad's 10-30 million, same same and both of us will blow by our budgets when we feel it is prudent to do so. Keep an eye on the future because you took care of the past to live in the now. But should he? I don't know, that's his call. But he can if he wants to and so can I. We planned all along the way. The path is fraught with danger, injuries and poor performance in this case (baseball). Cruz seems like a friendly gamble. I wouldn't sign Marcell Ozuno for $12 million, but I would pay Cruz $14 million. It's just personal preference and whim. Win some and lose some and hope the Twins win in 2021.

The Twins were really, really good from 1962-1970 and benefited from solid trades. Despite the lack of a WS win in that period, I would place those teams above the squads from 1987-1992 or 2001-2010. The current era has a long, long way to go to be considered in the same breath as those three runs of success.

Kyle, the hobble, Schwarber got more. Go figure.

Count me among those who is excited to see Alex Kirilloff hitting line drives and understanding of the shift to youth and a balance of resources across the roster. However, nobody should be surprised in the least if Eddie Rosario outperforms any player on the Twins team in 2021. Rosario is an athlete with considerable skills and still capable of improved performance. I wish him well.

Well, we are at the end of January and all of the winter tribulations will be settled soon enough, just in time to see the speculations begin about the potential in-season trades and pickups of released players. Nelson Cruz will not be signing for $10 million and his performance for the past two years support him. While salary is increasingly directed at future performance, Cruz is a clear example of the fears of age. I don't follow football at all, but isn't there an older quarterback that plays for Tampa who earns a high salary? Baseball has an interesting year ahead of it. So much anxiety by common people over the financials of their team and resource allocation and divergent examples of possibilities: Cleveland, Minnesota, St. Louis, and San Diego all being interesting stories that conflict on many fronts. The Twins need Cruz more than he needs them, and his performance this season on the Twins team will be critical. So, yes, the Twins need to sign up Nelson Cruz to hold serve in the AL Central. What a wonderful thing it would be to see Garver repeat 2019, and have Donaldson return to a full injury-free season at MVP form along with each of Buxton, Kepler, Arraez, Sano, Polanco, and Kepler meeting their considerable potential. Minnesota better sign Cruz for insurance though, just in case.

Eddie Rosario makes Cleveland a better ball club. Cleveland still has Francona at the helm and he has a word or two to say on the lineup. It's as simple as that. The AL Central will be much tougher than in recent years. Two years ago, there were three very weak rosters. not so this year. The separation between teams is less.

The Twins need a hitter. The youngsters are there and Garver could return, but the loss of both Rosario and Cruz would be a difficult hill to climb. There is talent and a successful run in '21 will need all of Garver, Sano, Polanco, Donaldson, Buxton, and Kepler producing at peak form while Jeffers and Arraez repeat their success. I think the AL Central will be much improved this year. So, yes, the team could use Nelson Cruz to return and pick up his team again.

Let's have fun. Twins trade Luis Arraez, Miguel Sano, and Michael Pineda to Colorado for German Marquez, Trevor Story, and Nolan Arrenado plus $20 million. LOL. Wait ... .... those are three of my favorite players to watch: Arraez with his twirls, head shakes, and slashing style; Sano as he squeezes the bat like a sponge and drives the ball so hard and then lumbers around the bases; and Pineda with all of his gyrations that caused another team's announcer, who was unfamiliar with Michael, to repeatedly question why the Twins pitching coach and trainer were not coming out to the mound and checking on him until three batters later someone slipped the dull announcer a note clueing him in to Pineda antics. I would never make that trade and besides now we have a new shortstop with bad ankles and quirks to watch.

You might need to check the years where the Twins won or competed for the World Series or American League championships. The current FO are adored on TD, which is fine, but the Twins still haven't won a postseason game or presented themselves as a serious threat. For now, they are well back. Maybe in 2021?

Last October my first version of the 2021 roster included Simmons, so I am delighted to see his addition to the Twins field. Shortly thereafter, however, my thinking switched away from Simmons. At the time my changed rationale was related to leg injuries. Sano, Arraez, Donaldson, and Polanco have all missed significant time due to leg injuries and their performance suffered when they played through or returned from their bouts. Clearly, the physical health of the infield was a concern for management as they approached decisions this winter. The loss of Rosario and Cruz, with questions about Garver's return, also clouded the direction for player choices. It seemed prudent to look for options if the Twins were concerned about the middle infield going forward, and while I felt a healthy Polanco was fine at shortstop in consideration of his past performance, the idea of adding a shortstop if not convinced of a full-on season by Polanco was understandable. My main worry about Simmons is that the Angels, who have vast quantities of resources, deemed him unworthy to return to their team. Simmons did himself no favors, perhaps, by withdrawing at the end of the year, but he has suffered a series of bad ankle injuries as well. It is quite a gamble to sign a player who has been sidelined repeatedly by ankle injuries when your own team has a multitude of leg problems to consider. As a Twins fan I hope this results in a World Series appearance but it does raise questions about issues we all know nothing about: player health, viewpoint and strategy towards winning, and team budget. I did consider that Twins Daily readers do not believe Simmons presents any high degree of risks based on the comments, but wondered how easily many TD readers dismissed Kluber, a player who also clearly carries some semblance of risk and reward status. Let's hope the shenanigans that apparently are a part of Simmons personality, which I had never heard of until today, are all resolved and flushed away so that baseball is what we see from him. Simmons, potentially, could be quite a signing. Finally, a number of TD folks have rightly identified the offense as the culprit in many past playoff losses (that is, unless one maintains that all playoff games should be managed toward a 1-0 or 2-1 finish ala Black Jack). So how does Minnesota resolve the loss of Rosario and Cruz? Since October, this has been my biggest concern for 2021. While I love the idea of looking forward to the opportunity to see Kirilloff, Rooker, and Larnach smash baseball in major league stadiums, I wonder if their heroics will match Eddie and Nelson this coming summer. So there is likely another signing yet to occur, soon.

Sure. Rosenthal, Soria, and Clippard would cost @$14 million. Oh, and the Twins just signed Happ, hopefully for $2 million. Still time to add players.

Or ... maybe the Twins will sign Happ and Swarzak and Marwin. Are we happy?

Proposing trades is always tricky. The question one needs to ask is whether each team would be open to the trade. A Twins fan might not care about the other team. The trade site is full of holes and everyone is better off going with their own ideas than researching the values contained on the site. There are Twins Daily writers and commenters who want a shortstop. Javy Baez? Well the trade site allows us to walk away with Baez for Nick Gordon, Astudillo, and Smeltzer going to the Cubs. We could throw in Lamonte Wade to make the Cubs feel like they swindled the Twins. I don't think this will work. Does anyone else? Many posters have suggested interesting trades and an early one by Nash Walker was an example that might benefit both teams. Others have concocted trade ideas to mull over as well, including people who later brought up the simulator. So yah, go with the ideas and junk the simulator.

There are many very good players still available. Among free agents below Bauer, we can look at Rosenthal, Hand, Soria (a fav), Yates, Clippard, Walker, Odorizzi, Hill, Paxton, Semien, Simmons, et al. So there are players to sign. There are trades too. Kluber just seemed possible and he is so much fun to watch. The Twins have a core and holes and while there is time to wait, there is also a time to act. That time is up in a month. March is not usually a time to add free agents. I think we all want a team that can compete through/past the first and second rounds of the playoffs. 2019 was a fun season for the Twins and their fans but we have rarely seen a trio of teams as weak as Kansas City, Detroit, and Chicago were that year. In order for the Twins to compete at the top level this coming season there will need to be 3-5 significant additions. Kluber was a personal favorite of mine but now I will wait to see what happens next. There is still time.

Stashak is fun to watch because he throws strikes and keeps hitters off balance just enough. Right now I would say he is our third most reliable/best relief pitcher.

Addison Reed was a good gamble on a mid innings reliever, not to be confused with either Hendriks or Hand. Maybe the Twins like what they have right now, for the prices.

Pineda for $10 or Kluber for $11/12? Those decisions are made elsewhere. I guess the Twins may be looking at opening the year with a budget closer to $110. .... or, as I keep adding, ... Bauer?

I am supportive of the Twins, but have never understood the hype for the current front office, nor do I get the vitriol that has been spewed on an excellent baseball man, Terry Ryan. The decisions are largely financial and we mostly accept that concept. The Twins have not competed in either the World Series or the series to get into the World Series for a long time. There are multiple factors that can account for the drought. Perhaps signing an established relief pitcher would help. Claiming Hand seemed to be one opportunity. The risk was not outlandish. He is now likely to get multiple years at the claiming price. Looking at the options remaining, Rosenthal seems like a solid choice to sign.

Exactly. Thorpe and Smeltzer do their work when all others are off and Dobnak has been a very pleasant surprise until suddenly he gets hit around; a good #5. That leaves Balazovic and Duran. I would like to see them, just as there was curiosity about Berrios a few years ago. Are we waiting for Bauer?

The miss on Kluber makes me think that the Twins budget is closer to $110 million.

A trade for Sonny Gray and / or Luis Castillo, extremely unlikely, or a stab at Joe Musgrove might be all that is left that works. I thought Kluber at $12 million was a no-brainer gamble. I was wrong. Paxton at $6, Walker at $3, or Odorizzi at $8 million are all possible gambles as well. The timing to push the rookies forward may have come. Dobnak, Balazovic, Duran, and Thorpe are all good enough to fill in the last two slots in the rotation. I'm ok with that. A Bauer signing? Are the Falvines quarantined?