ThejacKmp

Grossman can play a passable left field. The Twins stand to get eaten up by lefties if they're starting two lefties in the OF and at least one at DH/1B every time they face one. Doesn't even get into that Granite should be playing every day at AAA. If Buxton goes down, as he is won't to do, the Twins should have a replacement ready.

Agreed. Granite is redundant. He does nothing that someone else on the team doesn't do better. Grossman provides something that the Twins don't have (switch-hitting, OBP, right handed PH for a lefty-leaning outfit). If the best new thing Granite brings is the ability to steal a base as a pinch runner, then he belongs in AAA.

Versus LHP: Brian Dozier 2B, Robbie Grossman LF, Sano 1B, Byron Buxton CF, , Eduardo Escobar DH, Eddie Rosario RF, Mitch Garver C, Adrianza 3B. Mauer and Morrison should be getting time off against lefties pretty consistently. I imagine you'll see guys like Escobar, Dozier, Grossman or Adrianza trying on the 1B mitt this spring if Sano looks DL/suspension bound.

I don't think it's platoon, it's about giving guys a day off sometimes. Kepler and Rosario can be sat against tough lefties and Grossman makes WAY more sense than the redundancy that is Granite/Wade. Those guys should be in AAA in case there's a longer term DL issue. The Twins 4th OF is not a defensive replacement. He's a once-or-twice-a-week starter and a bench bat. A switch-hitting OBP guy should take that over a LH bat every day.

Granite gives the Twins things they already have. OF defense is not a problem. LH batting is not a problem. Speed on the base paths is nice but your middle infield backups can provide that. Grossman gives them OBP and a right handed bat to spell Rosario and Kepler in the OF and to be the right handed half of a DH platoon with Morrison early in the year. If they get rid of Grossman (no options) for Granite (who has option) then they are not being smart.

Burdi is the only one of those I really regret. Rosario seems like a LOOGY at best. Palka is redundant for the Twins organization, which has tons of lefties. Turley and Vielma are organizational filler. Bard and Charges could be okay I guess but they seem like fringe MLB bullpen guys.

Granite makes no sense. Wade either. They hit lefty and the twins need a right handed bat. their defense is pretty useless because the twins don't use the 4th of for defensive replacement purposes. And Grossman has no options.

What twins outfielder needs a defensive replacement? Grossman is clearly on over granite - hits righty and has no options. That's just common sense. The twins 4th of is not a defensive replacement.

I miss Mauer the catcher. Take that Brent Gardner!

This is off topic but interesting to think about that word. A juggernaut is a huge, powerful and overpowering force. The only baseball position player I can remember who hit that level would be Barry Bonds. Trout, Harper and Pujols all came pretty close but only Bonds physically altered the game that way. Pitcher gets more interesting. A pitcher has so much more control over an individual game. I think you could find some juggernaut stretches - Kershaw, Arrieta, Verlander, Gooden etc. Other sports juggernaut works better for. LeBron and MJ definitely hit that level regularly. Football QBs certainly seem that way sometimes - Brees, Brady, Manning, Rogers get the ball late and you just know they're driving the field.

There are 11 Hall of Famers who never played in a postseason game, led by Ernie Banks. Was he not good because he never made the playoffs? Basketball is a fair sport to judge a player by playoffs because one player can drag a team to the playoffs (see Westbrook last year). Baseball is a team game - one player can't drag a team to the playoffs. The Twins with Mauer have never underachieved in the playoffs - they've never been a huge favorite that fell apart. They've lost some close games over the years and that's tough but that's baseball. Joe Mauer is a top 3 MN Twin of all time with Killebrew and Carew. You can argue #1 convincingly but I go with Killebrew.

Would love to see arrieta if they can keep it to three or maybe even four years. Don't mind bigger money on a shorter deal. Wouldn't mind a player opt out after two years. He still has gas in the tank and the market seems to not like him for whatever reason.

I think getting rid of arbitration would mean that players hit free agency at three years instead of six. That would help them immensely.

Yeah, it would take the owners doing something like letting players hit free agency earlier. One thing I've always thought would be interesting is a 6 years or 29 years old thing. That way teams would be incentivized to push players to the majors a bit faster and for the guys who make it to 27 like Garver, they have a shot at a contract.

If I'm the players I never push for a cap. That's the one thing baseball has going for it over football and basketball unions - no cap. Bryce Harper is one big year from a $500 million deal next year. Manny Machado is going to zoom up there too. That's going to reset that market and push elite salaries higher. This will make those average contracts bigger too. The players union should never ok a cap. Maybe if they got rid of arbitration? It would take something crazy on the early end of player's careers.

If there is no collusion then teams are getting smart and are relying on younger guys who give better bang for the buck. That's their choice to make but the player's union should then be pushing for players to hit arbitration and free agency sooner -- "if you're not going to pay players later in their career, then the revenue needs to shift younger." They'll need to show a trend that this is happening (average career shorter, average free agent contract shorter/cheaper) but there will be a reaction. My guess is this will be at the center of the next labor discussions.

Joe should be higher than puckett. Similar ops+ and he did it while playing Catcher the first half of his career. And if you go with what he meant to the franchise, Joe is a big part of why we have TArget Field and are linked to darvish types financially.

Disagree but I also think Bert being in is a travesty. Small hall!

Lets get arrieta!

Ha. Looking back that was a little morbid. But yeah, everyday people don't think about their legacy with their job that much. They do their best day-to-day. Athletes, actors and politicians think legacy.

1.) No one cares about legacy in 99% of professions. There isn't a correlation to most other professions (maybe acting and politics?) 2.) I don't have enough money for me and my kids to never work again. Going out on top isn't an option, I go out when the ticker fails.

Disagree wholeheartedly. 1.) What team offers PT and a better chance at a ring? Not a lot of contenders looking for a first baseman who doesn't have pop and is more of a defense/intangibles guy. 2.) Joe does have kids and is settled in MN/FL. That's why I think the only place he would consider going is Tampa. He has a house near there and his kids aren't in school yet. But is Tampa a better spot than the Twins? Assuming the Twins make an offer, it's hard to see Tampa being the team that trumps that or the Rays being a better contender than the Twins. 3.) Joe grew up a Twins fan and has a chance to be a lifelong Twin with his number retired, in the HOF and in the argument for best Twin of all time. I think that means more than you'd think. Plus his family and his wife's family is in the cities, it's hard to move away from that. Joe's a big family guy. 4.) The only thing I could see changing it would be if the new Twins management starts wanting to push him out. Joe's not going to take crap at this point. That could happen but I think there's not a strong reason for it to happen (assuming he doesn't fall off big time next year). He's not going to cost much and he has a skill the Twins need at a position (LH 1B) that they don't have other options (Rooker can play elsewhere, Sano can play DH if 3B isn't working, no big prospects coming, hard to see the Twins signing a free agent 1B). Plus, he still puts butts in seats and jerseys on backs. The intangibles of fan love are not going to bigger anywhere else than MN. I think the front office won't want to piss off the larger section of the fan base that loves Joe, especially since there's likely not a good baseball reason to do so until 2021.

And that World Series MVP.

Sano has a place to play. It's third base. And DH. The Twins don't have an obvious DH and they don't have an up-and-coming third baseman. Escobar can play there but he's not an everyday third baseman and he's not a long-term piece. Yeah you can move Polanco there when Gordon/Lewis come up but that assumes that you keep Dozier (not a given, not sure the Twins will/should pay what the market would for him -- he's going to get 4 or 5 years and the Twins have a ton of middle infield depth coming up in Gordon, Lewis, Arraez and Palacios) and that development happens quickly -- Gordon and Lewis may take more time than we hope to be ready. I see no reason from a depth POV that Joe won't have a spot with the Twins in 2019. Rooker may still be working through the minors and even if he's not, he can be a 4th OF/DH/RH 1B. Sano will still be playing 3B unless the Twins keep Dozier and Gordon is ready. Even in that case, you just move Sano to DH/RH 1B. 2020 is more interesting because you'd assume/hope that Gordon and Lewis are up and Diaz is pushing the top of the minors but even then, it's hard to see the Twins not being able to keep Joe as a LH 1B and bench bat. I don't think he'll be a guy to throw a stink and demand PT every day. And if he's hitting .350 and forces you to play him more at the expense of youth in a pennant race, that's not a bad place to be.

The better question is would the Pohlads spend the money?