tcarlic

Not when every other team except one has at least 1 in the column that matters.

Get out of here. You know that you don't make an out on the bases when you're the go ahead run.

Really? Is two out of the first six really that much better. Lighten up, dude.

Arcia will be traded. I don't think Molitor likes him too much. Outfield opening day will be Rosario, Hicks, and Hunter; unfortunately Hunter is retained --at a much lower rate. Buxton to AAA for a minute, but I guess why send him down when they brought him up early this year; although, out of necessity. I reallllly like the Rosario, Buxton, Hicks outfield. I think all the Twins pitchers and Molitor does as well. I don't see how you can bring Hunter back, unless he is the fourth/fifth outfielder/DH guy. Plouffe stays. He's a solid player; 'nuff said. What do we do with Mauer? He can't stay at 1b. If he hits .270, he needs to send out a bunch more dingers. If he hits .320, he doesn't need to hit more dingers. One or the other, but they can't have him doing .270 and 9 long ones. I don't have a clue what to do with Mauer, but I'd rather have him in the lineup than not in the lineup. Can't see him hitting 3rd too much longer with Sano in the lineup. Nolasco is not going anywhere unless the Twins take a bad contract and similar player off of the other team. I'd prefer a position player rather than a pitcher. Melvin Upton from the Padres? I could stomach his results better than Nolasco's; like 100 times stomach it more. Just shut Hughes down until he figures out what is preventing him from hitting 93 mph on the gun. Like posters have said previously on this board, if he can't get passed 91, he doesn't have the movement for that. Insurance is kicked in when a player is on the DL correct?. The Twins need Hughes to be better than he was this year. He doesn't have to be what he was in '14, but he needs to be better than '15. Santana should be alright with a full season of starts. He's a good #3. Rotation of Santana, Gibson, Hughes (if healthy), Duffey, and Milone is do-able until Berrios gets called up. If Hughes is hurt, stretch May out to start; however, May can be dominant in the 'pen with that 96 mph heater and dirty curve. May, Jepsen, Perkins is a solid start. Will Meyer get his act together? Can some of the college throwers become pitchers and harness their natural ability? Dozier needs to learn to hit the ball to the opposite field. I hope he looks long and hard at his second half stats. Really, really long and hard. Escobar should be the Twins starting shortstop unless Polanco hits .500 in spring training. Wait... scratch that, Escobar has EARNED the right to be the starting shortstop with his play in the major leagues in '14 and '15. Sano continues to mash. What catchers are available in trade? Who are some prospects? Take a chance on Matt Wieters? He's a free agent, right? I like Suzuki as a backup. He's a professional and a leader. Perhaps extend him to serve as a backup and maybe an eventual coach? I like this team going into next year. We have above average defense, a potentially above average lineup for a high ceiling and an average lineup as the floor, average starting pitching, potential above average bullpen with some help from inside and outside the organization, and a solid coaching staff. A good mix of veterans to supervise the young players. A well of prospects that can be used to entice teams to pull the trigger on trades. Of course, majority of these guys could implode and then we're back to the drawing board.

Maybe Mientkiewicz gets a promotion?

I'm sure this is sarcasm on your part. How is losing Guerrier a risk? They have nothing to lose by having him opt out.

What pisses me off and saddens me about this situation is that if they knew it was partially torn in October (and rest RARELY working) why not have him have surgery then with the possibility of being back in July and definitely August and September? Antony sounds like an idiot in that interview on MLB.com. Eight months would not have lost him the 2014 season! Waiting until March does lose his season! ******* idiots! I know people complain about the coaching staff, but the medical staff needs to go IMO. They are hands-down the worst in the league. Enough is enough. /rant

The main prerogative would be to get autographs, watch drills - see minor league and major league players participate. Games aren't necessarily the main objective. I've done that and it was fun, but I want a more "personal" experience. I am a teacher and would have the 2nd or 3rd week in February off.

In your opinion when is the best time to experience ST? I have been once during the middle of March and am thinking of trying to make it down next year.

Dude has never won an MVP. Below average defense. Put him on the Royals and he'd be a nobody. Definitely one of the most overrated players of all-time. Bravo, OP!!

Well, let's look at this on the other side. What if he waited and didn't make a move and these dude's signed somewhere else. Without signing these guys, we'd look like the Orioles. I used to like that organization, but the way the conduct business shows the fanbase that they really don't care about the team. TR listened to the fans, well we can think that, when signing these three guys pretty quickly. Keep it coming next year!

Hopefully this is happening this year, right?

Send him to Mr. Meyoghi (sp obviously hahaha) to learn the art of focus; although, his yoga should help with this.

Read that yesterday. Good to see that he is at least on someone's national radar.

Did this list come out yet?

Baseball America and MLB.com had him in the top 5.

I was posting in reference to what has been said on these boards; not in this thread. I agree Michael has been a bust - I was just mentioning SS prospects off the top of my head. Polanco is really the only legit player of that group - I agree. But in 2 years, the Twins are ready to compete and if the experiment of Polanco does not work at SS this year, perhaps you move to the FA market then or try to make a trade. Why would you sign a 3b or CF with Sano and Buxton a year away. Arcia is 22 years old. Let him play. He will strike out, but will hit for power (2b, HR). There's really not too much left out there. I don't know man, I just think it's not worth it to spend money on those types of players, when realistically you might get a little better performance, but what will that add up to? 25 runs? 50 runs? 100 runs? The Twins need speed. Not too many burners on that list (Casilla anyone?) maybe Sizemore or Guterriez. I'd be ok with their signing. Speaking of the pitchers - If signing Arroyo or Garza happens it is not that big of a deal to lose Albers, Diamond, or Deduno IMO. My post was just in response to the title and was a rant; nothing personal.

This is really smart. Why not just sign Garza and Arroyo?

The Phillies are apparently willing to trade Hamels, but not eat any of his salary (mlbtraderumors). Hamels makes a ton of money, 22.5 million/year, but is a legit ace. Would you trade for him? What do you think it would take to get him? Maybe start with Kepler or Berrios and add in a couple C to B- prospects? I think it would be easier on the prospect front to trade for him due to the fact that the money is the biggest commitment.

If they did sign him, you would think he would split time with Pinto. Navarro's other seasons have not been too hot; he's played in only 225 and he's been with a different team every year since 2010. Sounds like a back-up/platoon catcher to me.

I signed both these guys FWIW

Those Santana numbers were taken from mlbtraderumors.com Remember, this "projection" did not take into account any trades. Just FA signings and in-house call-ups. I also didn't really explain my thinking beyond 2015. I think these are the type of deals that should be made for FA's. We'd all be lying if we said that we wouldn't make Minnesota pay a little more for our service if we were a FA. This team has stunk the last couple years and honestly 2014 doesn't look much better. 2015 might be a wash as well if these prospects don't pan out half of what we expect. Santana is a proven commodity; something the Twins do not have. If you have to pay a little more, in a year when you can afford too, then I think you have to get it done. The Cabrera signing is the one that I look back at and tell myself, "that's stupid." But then when I think about it, the more I think signing a SS is the way to go. The Twins lack this more than SP, in my opinion. They have some solid 2b guys, but no one who profiles as a SS. Cabrera would only be 29 at the signing. While his bat has taken a step back, his defense is still pretty solid and is still a top SS in the AL. I personally hope the figures I gave are off as I have zero experience signing players or negotiating for players. Cabrera does give the Twins the security of having a solid SS something they have not had since Hardy and Guzman before that.

Thanks a lot everyone! It was more fun than anything to do. As far as the salaries go for league minimum and stuff like that - I was too sure on what the case would be a couple years down the road. Santana - I thought he would be a good pickup. Bailey - Shooting high in $

So this is without any trades. Obviously there would be trades, but I didn't want to go through the effort of looking up other players. This is also assuming that the players we are counting on manage to at least test the majors. These are the rosters that I would leave ST with. With salaries, I kind of just shot in the dark and took a guess. Let me know what you think. 2014 SP - E. Santana (31) (4y. 75 mil) SP - P. Hughes (28) (2y. 20 mil) SP - K. Correia (33) (1y. 5.5 mil) SP - K. Gibson (25) (.500 mil) SP - S. Diamond (27)/A. Albers (28)/V. Worley (26)/S. Deduno (30)/L. Hendriks (24) (.600 mil) RHP - J. Burton (32) (1y. 3.25 mil+option) RHP - A. Swarzak (28) (ARB1 1.2 mil) RHP - C. Fien (29) (.525 mil) RHP - M. Tonkin (23) (.500 mil) LHP - B. Duensing (30) (ARB2 2 mil) LHP - C. Thielbar (26) (.505 mil) CL - G. Perkins (30) (2y. 8 mil+option) C - J. Mauer (30) (5y. 115 mil) 1b - C. Parmalee (25) 2b - B. Dozier (26) (.530 mil) 3b - T. Plouffe (27) (Super2 1.5 mil) SS - P. Florimon (26) (.515 mil) CF - A. Hicks (24) (.500 mil) LF - J. Willingham (34) (1y. 7 mil) RF - O. Arica (22) (.505 mil) DH - R. Doumit (32) (1y. 3.5 mil) C - C. Herrmann (25) (.500 mil) 4OF - A. Pressly (28) (.500 mil) UTL - E. Escobar (24) (.500 mil) UTL - C. Colabello (29) (.500 mil) total- 84,875,000 million -Sign E. Santana and P. Hughes -Trade B. Dozier at trade deadline and bring up Rosario from AAA -Let Sano dictate call-up from AAA -Let Buxton dictate call-up from AA -Last chance for C. Colabello -Trade/Let J. Willingham walk -Trade/Let R. Doumit walk -Rotate pitchers in 5th spot -Last chance for P. Florimon -Give A. Hicks another chance -Split J. Mauer at 1b and C 2015 SP - E. Santana (32) (3y. 56.25 mil) SP - H. Bailey (29) (4y. 80 mil) SP - K. Gibson (26) (.750 mil) SP - A. Meyer (26) (.500 mil) SP - P. Hughes (29) (1y. 10 mil) RHP - M. Tonkin (24) (.535 mil) RHP - T. May (25) (.500 mil) RHP - C. Fien (30) (1.5 mil) RHP - Z. Jones (25) (.500 mil) LHP - A. Albers (28)/P. Hernandez (25) (.500 mil) LM - R. Pressly (25) (1.0 mil) CL - G. Perkins (31) (1y. 4 mil+option) C - J. Pinto (25) (.500 mil) 1b - J. Mauer (31) (4y. 92 mil) 2b - E. Rosario (23) (.500 mil) 3b - M. Sano (21) (.500 mil) SS - A. Cabrera (29) (4y. 65 mil) CF - B. Buxton (21) (.500 mil) LF - A. Hicks (25) (.750 mil) RF - O. Arcia (23) (1.5 mil) DH - C. Parmelee (26) (1.5 mil) C - C. Herrmann (26) (.750 mil) 4OF - A. Pressly (29) (.750 mil) UTL - E. Escobar (25) (.750 mil) OF/IF - T. Plouffe (28) (ARB2 3.0 mil) total - 108,780,000 million -Sign H. Bailey and A, Cabrera -Move J. Mauer to 1b -Let K. Correia walk 2016 SP - E. Santana (33) (2y. 37.5 mil) SP - H. Bailey (30) (3y. 60 mil) SP - A. Meyer (27) (1.5 mil) SP - K. Gibson (27) (1.5 mil) SP - J. Berrios (22) (.500 mil) RHP - M. Tonkin (25) (.750 mil) RHP - T. May (26) (.750 mil) RHP - Z. Jones (26) (.750 mil) RHP - R. Eades (25) (.500 mil) LHP - L. Thorpe (21) (.500 mil) LM - R. Pressley (26) (ARB1 1.750 mil) CL - G. Perkins (32) (1y. 5 mil) C - J. Pinto (26) (.750 mil) 1b - J. Mauer (32) (3y. 69 mil) 2b - E. Rosario (24) (1.5 mil) 3b - M. Sano (22) (1.5 mil) SS - A. Cabrera (30) (3y. 48.75 mil) CF - B. Buxton (22) (1.5 mil) LF - A. Hicks (26) (1.5 mil) RF - O. Arcia (24) (ARB1 3.5 mil) DH - A. Brent Walker (25) (.500 mil) C - C. Herrmann (27)/S. Turner (25) (1.5 mil)/(.500 mil) UTL - J. Polanco (23) (.500 mil) UTL - D. Santana (26) (.500) OF/IF - M. Kepler (23) (.500 mil) total - 104,250,000 million 2017 SP - H. Bailey (31) (2y. 40 mil) SP - E. Santana (34) (1y. 18.75 mil) SP - A. Meyer (28) (ARB1 4.5 mil) SP - K. Gibson (28) (ARB1 3.8 mil) SP - J.Berrios (23)/L. Thorpe (22)/K. Stewart (23) (1.0 mil)/(.750 mil)/(.500 mil) RHP - T. May (27) (ARB1 1.5 mil) RHP - Z. Jones (27) (ARB1 1.5 mil) RHP - R. Eades (26) (.750 mil) LHP - S. Gonsalves (23) (.500 mil) LHP - M. Melotakis (26) (.500 mil) LM - F. Jorge (23) (.500 mil) CL - M. Tonkin (26) (1.5 mil) C - J. Pinto (27) (ARB1 3.0 mil) 1b - J. Mauer (33) (2y. 46 mil) 2b - E. Rosario (25) (ARB1 3.0 mil) 3b - M. Sano (23) (ARB1 4.0 mil) SS - A. Cabrera (31) (2y. 32.5 mil) CF - B. Buxton (23) (ARB1 5.5 mil) LF - A. Hicks (27) (ARB1 3.0) RF - O. Arcia (25) (ARB2 4.5 mil) DH - A. Brent Walker (26) (.750 mil) C - S. Turner (26) (.750 mil) 4OF - M. Kepler (24) (.750 mil) UTL - J.Ploanco (24)/D. Santana (27) (.750 mil) IF/OF - T. Harrison (25) (.500 mil) total - 120,550,000 million 2018 SP - H. Bailey (32) (1y. 20 mil) SP - A. Meyer (29) (ARB2 7.5 mil) SP - K. Stewart (24) (.750 mil) SP - J. Berrios (24) (1.75 mil) SP - L. Thorpe (23) (1.5 mil) RHP - F. Jorge (24) (.750 mil) RHP - R. Eades (27) (1.25 mil) RHP - T. May (28) (ARB2 2.5 mil) RHP - Z. Jones (28) (ARB2 2.5 mil) LHP - S. Gonsalves (24) (1.0 mil) LHP - M. Melotakis (27) (1.0 mil) CL - M. Tonkin (27) (ARB1 3.0) C - S. Turner (27) (1.5 mil) 1b - J. Mauer (34) (1y. 23 mil) 2b - E. Rosario (26) (ARB2 6.0 mil) 3b - M. Sano (24) (ARB2 10.0 mil) SS - A. Cabrera (32) (1y. 16.25 mil) CF - B. Buxton (24) (ARB2 11.0 mil) LF - M. Kepler (25) (1.5 mil) RF - O. Arcia (28) (ARB3 10.0) DH - A. Brent Walker (26) (1.5 mil) C - FA (1.0 mil) UTL - J. Polanco (25) (1.0 mil) 4OF - FA (2.0 mil) IF/OF - T. Harrison (26) (.750 mil) total - 126,300,000 million

Yet, Hunter is a player who no one will remember in 15 years, whereas Mauer is a potential first ballot hof'er