tony&rodney

I see what San Diego did yesterday and find it really hard to know what is viable for a trade. Can the Twins trade something like Enlow, Gordon, Cavaco, Holland, Thorpe, Rortveldt, and Urbina for Luis Castillo? I'm just throwing our a crazy idea. I can't put my finger on the market.

The reserve clause anti-trust exception hurts baseball. There is nothing wrong with profit though. The post asks what is left? Lots. Now is as good a time as any to sign a player or become active in the trade market. I really think the Twins want to see Kluber throw for fifteen minutes before they move forward on to other free agents. The trade market is fluid depending on what NL Central teams are thinking. The one player that should be offered a contract by the Twins is Liam Hendriks. The other additions will all be frosting.

Now we turn to offers for other pitchers. Are Castillo, Sonny Gray, and Marquez available at a price? How much? Hansel Robles just took Clippard's money. Next?

Something tells me that San Diego have had ongoing talks with Chicago and there was overlap that created an opportunity to get Snell and Darvish on the same day. Snell was costly while Darvish was a bargain. The Padres have designs on playing significant baseball next October and bringing in two pitchers like Snell and Darvish improves their odds of success. When the Cubs agreed to take Davies, the money suddenly made sense too. I'm a baseball fan whose only allegiance is to the Twins, but San Diego created some excitement for their fans. An unrelated question occurs - how much larger is the market in San Diego than the Twin Cities?

Agree with Vanimal46 .. not a good look for the Cubs. I wasn't hoping for the Twins to trade for Darvish because the salary would be tough for our team to fit, but the Cubs .... Sure hope baseball isn't heading for lockouts and such. We could use a calm 2021.

Ted. I don't think you were necessarily wrong. The Cubs though? Who knew? Real tough day on the North Side of Chicago.

The Darvish trade is going to take forever to analyze and the Cubs are hard to figure. Talent evaluations are pretty crude, but the Twins rough equivalents are Javier, Holland, Urbina, and Soularie - all players with skills at lower levels. My quick take is that Tampa did well and that the Cubs must know something about either Darvish or those lower level prospects. That trade is strange. Yes, a couple of these players were highly sought in the international signing market, but sending off Darvish at this time doesn't make any sense. The Cubs have nearly the same financial resources as New York or LA.

Yes. Thank you. But i know that and I'm asking whether we need to give the Durans or others a shot or is it necessary to trade or sign a strong SP because we let our guys take more time? Balazovic, Duran, Colina, and Chalmers signed in 2015/2016. Some teams will bring their top college arms to the main team after one or two years. I'm not second guessing as much as suggesting that if the top pitching prospects are not deemed ready, the Twins need to sign or trade for a player. Dobnak or Thorpe are fine in the fifth slot. Someone needs to fill in higher. The core of the team is built to win now.

DocBauer, you are getting our hopes up with those numbers near $135 million, sending me back to my wish list: Hendriks, Clippard, and some mix and match of signings or trades for Kluber, Richards, Cruz, Marte, Adrianza, Realmuto, Gray, Marquez, Castillo, Semien, or others that add to your number. $45 million to spend.

Wow. Good for San Diego. Davies is about Pineda and then four handsome rookies, none as highly rated as our legendary Wander Javier or even Keoni Cavaco. Where are you Dusty? Apparently, clubs love the Padres youngsters. Are our young prospects, below the top five or six, valued by any teams? MLB has the Twins with 21 players ranked as 45 overall or higher, the Padres 16. That includes those traded by San Diego today. The trades today make it difficult to predict a Twins trade.

A question that keeps coming back is why our pitching prospects need more time to develop than other team's pitchers? Cleveland, San Diego, and others allow their 22-24 year olds to step up. The Twins have a host of arms sitting at 23-25 as prospects. Wouldn't it be nice to see a couple get the ball this coming summer? Or do we trade?

Excellent starting pitching is the boss, that's for sure. Tough decisions ... The Padres just handed off a couple of decent prospects and are pushing to add Darvish as well. The Cubs could use help at 2B, OF, and pitching. What is the trade? Castillo and Gray might be available if a team takes Castillanos. The Twins feel close. Or do they wait and hope for big contributions this coming summer from their youth?

This is exactly the sticking point for the Twins and Polanco. If his ankles heal completely, a reasonable expectation, then he is their shortstop. If the ankle issues persist, the Twins have their DH for next season. The Twins also need to be somewhat concerned about Arraez and his knees and they are already looking for ways to reduce Donaldson's calf injuries. All three healthy and hitting 1-2-3 in the lineup, the Twins are set. Injuries are tough to predict and the consequences can be severe (Mauer, Morneau). Leg injuries do heal however.

.... and that is on their investment of $5 million .... so a pretty decent return. But absolutely none of us could have purchased the Twins, even for cash. As John Prine says, That's The Way The World Goes Round. Thus, we dream of Hendriks, Realmuto, and sugar plums; it's all good and keeps me content.

from NY Times - Aug. 16, 1984 "... Pohlad purchased Calvin Griffith's 52-percent share of the Twins for an estimated total of $32 million, marking the end of an era for Griffith, the last big-league owner to make his living solely on baseball ...." "... Pohlad bought an additional 42 percent of the club's stock from H. Gabriel Murphy through the Tampa Bay Baseball Group, an organization of businessmen who agreed to sell Pohlad, for a reported $11.5 million, the shares they purchased from Murphy last April." According to Forbes - In 2020, the franchise had an estimated value of 1.3 billion U.S. dollars. The Twins original investment was $5 million down, the remainder financed. MLB is an invite only club. Why do we care? The history of communities funding the costs for stadiums across the United States is well documented. The economic system of our country has a long history of such expenditures. Nobody needs to support the Pohlads, They are doing just fine. Nobody needs to attack the Pohlads. It is pointless. What Odorizzi is looking for is some semblance of a contract which will either set him up to pitch for a team that both pays him well and gives him the support to be successful, or he would look to sign a multi-year contract for a substantial figure, say about $40-50 million. The Twins have to decide whether Odorizzi is going to be one of their major signings this offseason. In the meantime, the team is poking around trades and potential fits like Kluber. All of baseball is held back by the specter of a reduced schedule, a change in public policy to allow for full stadiums, continued improvements in the Covid world, and general owner-player peace. Meanwhile, winter hot stove arguments should continue and we can all keep the dreams alive for next season. Odorizzi, like us, is waiting for some solutions to the current situation.

Ehire Adrianza is available. The consensus on this site seems to be a reduced budget, which makes EA a good fit. Cruz, SP, and RP are all more important decisions if the dollars are tight.

No. Jorge Polanco is the shortstop. Unless... unless, there is bad news concerning his most recent injury and recovery.

If this glowing report is to be true - let it happen already then. Dobnak, Duran, and Balazovic to the rotation backed up by Thorpe and Smeltzer. Berrios, Maeda, and Pineda can lead the way. The savings can then be spent on adding Liam Hendriks and bringing Tyler Clippard back for help in the bullpen. Naturally, we will want Realmuto to help these young guns out and he fits in our new budget too. Just a few moves and the Twins are set and near the $120 million roster so many seem to prefer as well.

I wonder if there will be special discounts on free agents today?

Reasons to like Realmuto: the shortages across baseball at catcher, he is quite athletic, hits well, strong defense behind the plate, a good eye and limits his strikeouts. The more we look at improving the team, the more athleticism and positional flexibility makes sense. Various players would rotate through the DH position. Signing Realmuto is putting the neck out for the Twins.

While I cannot disagree with this sentiment, it is important to note that professional sports is a closed club and has its own beat. We do not know how the Twins will proceed at this point and I haven't read any speculation from anyone that is a clear direction for the Twins regarding their roster construction for next year. One person's rational thinking of business models is no more indicative of the 2021 Twins budget than any other idea. The Pohlad's do a good job of holding their cards, as is their right.

Every article that postulates additions to the Twins roster for next season will inevitably run into budget restraints of one sort or another. Realism for us is not necessarily realism for the Twins. Before anyone ever gets too invested in a position consider the likely options: 1) Covid 19 requires an adjustment of the budget to the 90- $100 million range; 2) a middle ground leaves salary allotments to near $115 million; and 3) a return or replay of the expected 2020 expenditures to a $140-150 million range. Thus, when a fan looks to build a team for next year, just write out three teams. There is certainly room to add both Liam Hendriks and Brad Hand in scenario three. Likewise, neither can be added if the monies handed out are less than $100 million. However the winter progresses, there are some excellent opportunities to consider. The Twins have a strong base and some touted young players ready for their chance to shine and the time seems ripe to add pieces this offseason.

Sure. Hand and Duffey to set up for Rogers and Hendriks is a tough bullpen. Let's do it.

Are we aware of some permanent deficiency with Polanco at shortstop or were the players and coaches wrong to pick him in 2019 for the starting position in the All Star Game? Until some new knowledge is brought forth, I am hoping that Polanco will be fully recovered from ankle surgery and a pain to every pitcher at the plate. Somehow, and I'm not understanding this, Polanco has become vastly under-appreciated here in Twins territory. This reminds me of how many fans viewed Greg Gagne decades ago. I did love how hard Nick Punto played every day, but can we please stop wishing for a similar player and be stoked to have an actual shortstop like Jorge Polanco.

Realmuto might be a smart free agent signing. Add Liam Hendriks and Tyler Clippard as well and one trade for a pitcher and the Twins are in a sound position for next season. A rotation of Berrios, Maeda, the trade, Pineda, and Hill/Duran/Dobnak/Balazovic. The bullpen is strong with: Hendriks, Rogers, Duffey, Clippard, Alcala, Stashak, Thielbar and a young guy not starting held here for middle relief. Finally, the lineup looks really strong with Sano, Realmuto, Kirilloff, Arraez, Donaldson, Polanco, Larnach/Rooker, Buxton, and Kepler supported ably by Jeffers, Adrianza, and Cave. This comes in at around $130 million and allows Baldelli to look smart when he looks stoically out at his forces. There are so many free agent options that are very appealing this offseason and the Twins can really move forward with just three or four signings. Trades might be trickier. It is nearly 2021 and I am willing to think positive for next year. I'm super hopeful that management sees opportunity in the options available. Finally, despite 2020 being very tough, a budget similar to last March makes sense.