tony&rodney

Baez might flourish in a make it one year deal with the Twins. Mondesi would be good but cost more in trade than is being discussed currently. DeJong is an option but is still owed @$17 million for next two years. While i always liked Inglesias, he looks more like a utility option at this point and I believe Arrianza is better signing if we are looking for veteran fill ins. Galvis may be a solid option. It is annoying to type repeatedly, but it sure seems like the Twins almost need to solve the Buxton situation before signing free agents. I am hoping for a few quick trades, even if the Twins overpay and if the Royals would trade Mondesi to our team - that would be really sweet.

Well, this really depends on the direction the Twins are taking this offseason. If the team is handing the pitching over to their prospects until they learn "on the job", then we expect 100 losses for a couple of years and Donaldson doesn't make sense for 2022. That makes sense. However, if the Twins intend to run with the White Sox or even reach .500 baseball in 2022, the scenario changes and Donaldson is a key feature of the team. In an attempt to be competitive, the Twins would not consider any trade of JD unless it is sure to make the team better in 2022. Josh Donaldson is still good at the plate and in the field and there should be plenty of DH opportunities as well to get him off his feet while keeping his bat in the lineup. Falvey will look at the two choices above. I expect Donaldson back next year, although I have no idea what plans the Twins have in mind.

The Royals would ask for Ryan, I believe. Mondesi, when right, is a game changer. He is not on Buxton's level but they share traits and the Royals still love the skills that Mondesi brings to their team. That said, the Royals are flush with Lopez and Witt at shortstop and there may be a trade possible between these teams. The unbalanced schedules really reduces trades between teams in the same division. Good idea to post.

There certainly will be opportunities and Falvey should attempt to strike early. Will he though or will he wait? The Buxton contract and a few trades will be necessary to convince any free agents of note to consider Minnesota as a destination unless the money the Twins offer blows a player away and that has never happened. We should know the Twins direction by the end of November.

Carlos Correa postgame stated that tonight was a great game for baseball fans. I agree - amazing skills.

Yes, but how interested? Ian Anderson interested? C. J. Abrams interested?

I'm just hoping to see well played games and good umpiring with crazy fans screaming.

The three pitchers you suggest would all make for decent #3 starters and they would go well with the two pitchers the Twins trade for this offseason. I'm good to see the Twins sign one of the three for the right price.

The strike three pitch to Wade was crazy. For a split second i thought the umpire might have missed the pitch because he was set up on the inside corner. Poor Flores gets rung up on a crap call after starting the at bat 0-17 versus Scherzer. Great game by both teams.

What a great game. The umpires have been really good this postseason until ...... what was he thinking at that moment/tough mistake. The Dodgers are really good. The four teams i wanted to win are OUT. and, our Twins were done in May. Oh well, a ton of great baseball ahead of us. Scherzer - wow. He throws 96-100 and closes out the giants on breaking balls.

This is an interesting thought, but the Royals do view Mondesi somewhat similarly to how the Twins view Buxton.

Celestino had to be crushed at his brutal initiation to MLB. As noted, he was pushed to that tough experience after very little prior exposure to high level pitching. What is really impressive is how resilient Celestino was when he played for the Saints. He had an excellent finish to the year and baseball is all about confidence, adjustments, and dealing with failure to proceed to success. The Twins are likely quite pleased with his progress.

Thank you for the interesting interview. Varland, like all young pitchers, will need to improve command and control of all of his pitches to continue moving forward with success. The huge season he just had gives him a leg up because his stuff played and he built confidence that his work will pay off in the games. Confidence can be a huge boost to an athlete and getting accolades acknowledges that a player has been on top of their game. I hope he can be just as good in AA and AAA next season. The ice fishing comment cracked me up.

We shouldn't get carried away discussing Eddie Rosario. There were dollar reasons for the Twins to turn in another direction, in my opinion, and Eddie was my favorite Twin. The post was just, I think, pointing out that our former player was enjoying a fun offseason with Atlanta and he has the potential to be a part of an exciting NL Championship Series. Good luck to Eddie. The difficult 2021 Twins season is water under the dam and it seems pointless to look back too much, but better to look forward to an exciting 2022.

I might be wrong or confused but while I agree that it made sense to move on from Rosario last offseason, it is pretty natural to be pleased that Eddie is contributing to his current team. I'm not obsessed with Rosario and it doesn't seem others were obsessed. At least I hope not because baseball is a tough business and teams need to bring in new players while the ones we watched are released, traded, or moved on from like Rosario.

Yes, I agree the A's are not interested in a catcher. They want infielders and sluggers. I'm not sure what to add to Arraez and Rooker, but would give Duffey, maybe Dobnak and a minor leaguer like Steer or Cavaco. The idea we agree on - add pitching. I looked at the trade value site months ago but while it has some value the GM's almost certainly have totally different views on players. Garver is the perfect example. While I really think Jeffers will improve, Garver is clearly a better player for now and the next two to three years. The Twins could strike early with a few trades like what we hope to see and even overpay if necessary to complete the deals. Buxton's contract, however, is a key and may put a hold on things. I'm afraid if the Twins need to trade Byron that they might find it difficult to return the value they need from losing his talent. The Twins would need to allow teams an opportunity to talk contract with BB to increase his value. Hopefully the Twins are on this right now because getting resolution is not too important for the player but is crucial for the team.

No, at least we shouldn't. I'm not thinking that. I enjoy watching him hit though and Atlanta is still playing and Eddie had a nice hit for them. Maybe just some nostalgic rooting for a former Twin.

The decision to pay big bucks for a free agent is arguably more difficult for a team on a budget below $160 million. The Twins do have significant dollars into Donaldson and must settle their Buxton conundrum. However, I will suggest that making a few aggressive trades for pitchers like Sandy Alcantara, who we will need to overpay for, creates some room to delve into the shortstop market. While Donaldson, Buxton, Correa, Kepler, Sano, Polanco, and Rogers tip out at near $105 million, the Twins could field a team at less than $150 million with some savvy trades. Signing a shortstop can be done and there is not a true shortstop in sight at this point. If the Twins cannot sign Byron Buxton, perhaps a trade could return a shortstop. We shall see, but I'm good with a good shortstop.

We are picking teams ... you can pick Simmons, I'll take Correa. We can just agree that our preferences are different.

This all depends on the Buxton situation, so we can all relax until then. Hopefully, the Twins can still make some trades though.

The $27 million per year on Seager sounds close but the years might escalate to six, seven, eight. Correa and Seager are elite players. The Twins must solve the Buxton contract situation before November because it determines where the budget and team go this offseason. I'm down for Correa at 7/$210 in the right roster build.

Garver is the best of the three and I would hazard a guess that other teams put a higher value on Garver than Jeffers. The hope is that the Twins are better next year, at least above .500 and hopefully in a dead heat for the AL Central lead. In order to improve the team needs starting pitching. Miami and Oakland seem to be two possible trade partners and I'm looking at Alcantar and Meyers from Miami and Montas or Bassitt from Oakland. The question is what do the other teams need and want. Garver, Larnach, Sands, + for Alcantara and Meyers? If the Twins can settle the Buxton contract, then Celestino or others to sweeten the deal? Miami fans are suggesting Lopez for Abrams and Campusino from San Diego. It all gets a little crazy as we play with who would benefit our Twins and what players would be attractive to another team from the Twins roster. Garver is a good player and worth keeping, but at some point the Twins need to attempt to gain a pitcher. If Miami prefers Jeffers, who I believe will improve next year and beyond, then substitute Jeffers in the trade. Lastly, Rortvedt is the best defensive catcher of the three and he can make some adjustments at the plate. He is a mighty strong dude and seems to want to crush everything. A little experience, manage the swing, and he can become a decent hitter, in my opinion.

Story would be a good "get", but Correa is the best shortstop. I loved Simmons as a shortstop ... three years ago. There is no comparison between Simmons of 2021 and Correa of 2021, defensively. Simmons had a terrific career -it is over for him. The Twins need to make a decision whether to go after a shortstop or not.

Twins Daily argued Eddie Rosario endlessly. The question now is how to leverage the players and prospects we have to improve for next year. I was opposed to moving Rosario because of his instincts and fire, although he would have stretched the budget and was certainly prone to mistakes, in addition to an expected decline in performance. Would moving some combination of Kirilloff, Rooker, and Larnach last winter have returned a haul. Looking forward, the Twins need to decide what prospects are worth more as trade bait than waiting for their development or lack thereof. To the post - yes, it was wonderful to see Rosario hit. He will get his shots against the right handers in the next round.

chpettit19 has solid arguments regarding how the Twins could move towards their next roster. It seems, to most people, that a resolution to a contract for Byron Buxton takes precedence over the offseason and this seems both necessary and unfortunate at the same time. Unless the Twins meet Buxton's price there won't be a quick decision and this may slow down the other moves needed to rectify an unbalanced roster. Another factor is the budget. A $100 million roster will look quite a bit different than a $135-145 million team. At some point the Twins need to push Duran, Winder, Balazovic, SWR, and Canterino forward, although I do agree their developments have been handled well thus far. We can hope that these pitchers fill in next year where Thorpe and others were to help this past season. The Twins can make two or three trades for decent starting pitchers and sign a free agent, maybe even Pineda, as well as find a solid reliever. The trick will be in finding a trading partner. The Twins need a shortstop and while I do not expect they will be in on the top players (Correa, Seager, Semien, Baez, Story), they can if they choose. This is where I agree, sign a shorstop with Polanco and Buxtonthe Twins are strong in the middle. To support a big signing the Twins need good pitchers and this is where the trades come into play. I'm dangling Garver (because he is desirable), Arraez, Larnach, Sano, Kepler, Rooker, Duffey, and even perhaps a promising prospect such as Lewis, Martin, Miranda, and Celestino. In no way I am suggesting trading nearly all of these players but want to discover what teams have an interest in our players to return some starting pitching. The free agent pitchers will not be as good of a value as a Correa. There are many variables and pieces to move around to fit within a fair budget - say @$140 million.