stringer bell

Didn't Luis Arraez take the Twins to arbitration too? I think Arraez ruffled the feathers of Miami refusing to settle for the second year in a row. Honestly, I don't know if a trade was certain as soon as Gordon didn't settle, but I don't think it helps job security. If the Twins don't get a starter before the season starts or a right handed hitter who is good enough to get 500 or more plate appearances, I'm ready for the Twins to compete with what they have.

This is a great opportunity and perhaps endorsement for Austin Martin. Reusse's column today indicates that Martin should be good to excellent in center field. I don't know if he is ready for the Big Show, but it is time to find out. If the Twins can get a hitter that starts 130 games, yeah bring it on. If not, let's go with Martin spelling Buxton and maybe getting some starts in left field.

Good luck Nick Gordon! He proved he was a major league player in 2022 and he'll get a lot more at-bats in Miami and he's a Florida guy (Orlando, not Miami). I've thought the Twins were overbalanced for with right handers in the bullpen, so getting Okert looks like a good idea. As far as adding a right handed bat, if the Twins don't get a starter and/or legitimate center fielder, they should just go with Martin.

TV--While the details are not known, the Twins have re-upped with Diamond/Bally for another (and final season). I am one that has been able to watch every Twins game, which is the main reason I have the "Sports Pack" on DirecTV. The reported amount on the television contract is 85% of what the Twins received in 2023, a reduction of perhaps $8M. The prospects for a better number in 2025 are not great unless the Twis profit greatly from streaming. While I am relieved the Twins will be available on TV and I don't have to do anything to see a great majority of their games, it seems to me the long-term outlook is still plenty cloudy. Rights fees are going to fall, perhaps precipitously, and the cost to subscribers on cable is almost certain to jump. How much, a no-blackout streaming contract would generate is open to questions from all sides? How much will the teams get? How much will the streamer charge to subscribe? What are fans going to pay and will they be willing to pay what is charged? It has entered my mind that if things go sideways, overall revenue will drop sharply to the point that players salaries will go down. IMHO, the cost for medium talent is out of hand--give Shohei and Judge their money, but don't pay obscene amounts to okay to good players. Arbitration season contracts bear this out, as well. Injuries--Probably fifteen (maybe more) teams can credibly say today (within days of Spring Training) if they have good health, they will make the post season. I would say that includes the Twins. In 2022, the Twins used the IL second most in MLB. Last year, they were sixth. The difference for the Twins from 2022 to 2023 is that they had major league players available when other players went down. They were six or seven deep in competent starting pitchers and had major league ready players available for position player injuries. Bailey Ober and Louie Varland filled in well and guys like Donovan Solano, Kyle Farmer and Michael A Taylor met or exceeded expectations and got plenty of playing time. Royce Lewis, Matt Wallner and Edouard Julien got their chances as well and cemented themselves into the Twins' 2024 plans. This year, the Twins have added on veteran, Carlos Santana, to the position player mix, but Solano and Taylor are gone and Jorge Polanco was traded. Reinforcements would come from the same system that produced Lewis, Wallner and Julien. Last year, Polanco and Kirilloff started the season on the IL, this year there is no such carryover, but there is less proven depth to cover absences due to injuries, especially the starting pitching rotation. On the subject of injuries, I've seen TD posters question the recoveries of Byron Buxton, Alex Kirilloff, Jose Miranda and newcomer Anthony DeSlafani. and Josh Staumont. Who knows? Maybe none of them will be ready, but there's no evidence either way that they won't be healthy on Wednesday. We shall see. Personally, I doubt the recovery of DeSclafani the most. Bullpen--In contrast to the position player possibilities and the starting rotation, the Twins have added a bunch of veteran relief arms, most of them with options. Josh Staumont, Jay Jackson, Justin Topa and Zack Weiss were added to the bullpen and all are over 30, all under team control for multiple years and all but Jackson have options. They have additional pitchers with big league experience on minor league contracts. I'd say they have redundancy in the bullpen. They shouldn't have much hesitancy to option any of these guys and someone should be effective. The floor of the bullpen has been lifted considerably. Carlos Santana--Yeah, he's 38 and he hasn't been a truly above-average hitter for five years, but he had 23 homers and 86 RBI last year. I can't see a huge falloff in 2024 from this guy. He's historically better against left handed pitching and his floor with the 2024 Twins is as a platoon partner for Alex Kirilloff. Injuries will probably give him plenty of at-bats against right handers. It is an open question if another, younger option might be a better fit. If Santana crashes and burns, I would hope the Twins can cashier him rather than keep him on the roster all season.

I am trying to look at this thing and I’m squinting through management glasses. Is it possible they’re reducing payroll this year so that they can retain all their young players in 2025? It appears they budgeted as if they would get $0 for local TV. Now with perhaps $45M, they should have some money to spend.

We have a rather offhand mention that he had not begun throwing (as of ??) and many here are already putting him on the 60-day IL prepping for TJ surgery. The most recent thing I’ve read (from BBRef) is that only Staumont is a possible 60-day assignment, which would indicate that DeSclafani will be participating in Spring Training. Given his injury in 2023, I am skeptical that non-surgical treatment will get him all the way back, but the Twins must have thoroughly examined his medical records. I don’t think it is worth it to speculate, especially with Spring Training on the horizon, when there will be concrete answers.

The report referred to Gordon as a switch hitter and assumed he would be on the Twins' Opening Day roster. One part is incorrect and the other is premature (IMHO).

With ST just a few days away, I guess we’ll soon find out where DeSclafani is medically. mlbtraderumors.com had a list of possible 60-day IL assignments and didn’t include DeSclafani, but did list Staumont.

It doesn't happen often that a player is better and healthier in his thirties than his twenties, but we can dream. I'm reasonably optimistic that the knee won't be a major issue going forward, but he's had just about every other injury as well. Another long-term issue seemed to be his hip. I don't know if that has been resolved.

Good luck Matt Canterino! It would be great if he and Paddack could replace Gray and Maeda (asking for a lot I know). I suppose just about every team has a wild card like him who could drastically improve their pitching staff. An aside: Reusse may be old and curmudgeonly, but he still is a great writer, especially about baseball. I used to listen to his show on the radio and enjoyed that too.

Gray has had a good career, but I don’t think he’s elite. I think he will allow more long balls and strand a lower percentage of base runners. When most TD posters say “replace Sonny Gray”, they mean replace his contribution from last year—a tall order.

IMHO the problem for Sands is he doesn't have an even average fastball and doesn't have good enough command on his breaking pitches, which are pretty good. If he can make adjustments to make his fastball more effective or get better command with his other pitches, he could be pretty good. He has gotten some really awkward swings off his breaking ball at times, but if he's continually behind in the count, and he's not hitting his spots, he's in big trouble.

Former Twin Brant Alyea passed away on February 4. Alyea started his stint with the Twins with a bang and hit a bunch of homers when Jim Perry pitched during the 1970 season.

That's the beauty of having a guy who is equally comfortable in the infield and outfield. If the opportunity is on the dirt or on the grass, he's capable or more than that. I would anticipate he plays more infield if Farmer is traded, which I think is still a possibility. Having Castro is a great buffer for the roster, if an infielder goes down, he's more of an infielder, if an outfielder goes down, then he's more of an outfielder.

It would appear that Willi will start the year as the super-utility guy on the Twins' bench. I want to say that I enjoyed his play immensely last. I picked him to be the "Squire of Ft. Myers", which he basically won by default and then he went on to be a positive with the bat, on the bases and in the field. I thought Castro should have been considered for the utility Gold Glove, only committing two errors for the whole season and providing several highlight reel plays. He hadn't played much third base until last year, but he was very good at the hot corner. He was solid in left and decent in center. In the few times he played middle infield he was solid. Castro's hitting picked up last year, particularly from the left side and he took a giant step as a base runner. Considering that he had never stolen more than nine bases in any previous season, nabbing 33 bags was a surprise. What wouldn't be a surprise is that Willi regresses to the mean somewhat in 2024. He had good luck with BABiP without substantially increasing exit velocity of hard hit rate. IMHO he also had a lot of good fortune with his aggressive base running which would also be an area where he is likely to regress. One area where Castro didn't improve was hitting right handed. In his career going into last year he had neutral platoon splits, but last year he was far better as a left handed hitter (.803 OPS LH vs. .636 RH). It would figure that those splits would normalize. Cesar Tovar, Ben Zobrist, Tony Phillips and DJ LeMahieu are examples of guys who became "Tenth regulars"--guys who didn't have a set position, but would be in the lineup almost every day. If Castro's advances last year are real and not just a one-season blip, Willi could join that group. Because of his switch hitting ability, versatility and speed, I'm really hoping he can take that step.

I doubt a marquee starter will be acquired. If the Twins add a starter at this point, I would expect it’s a below the radar type probably from a non-contender. Miami made the post season last year and I doubt they will give away pitching unless they get quite a haul. That wouldn’t be Kyle Farmer. It would be Lewis or Lee. I’m sure they’d like Jeffers, but that would create a huge hole for the Twins. Count me among those believing that the Twins should add a starter, but doubtful they will do so.

From over 700 plate appearances, we know quite a bit about Nick Gordon. He is about average against right handed pitching and can play three positions acceptably (LF, CF and 2B). Everything for Martin is projection, but he does profile to get on base more, be more of a threat on the bases and hit left handed pitching better. He would figure to play the same positions where Nick Gordon is trusted and might be a better defender. If all of those projections pan out, Martin is a far better fit for the 2024 Twins, but none of this is proven. As far as making the Opening Day roster, I think there's a really good chance the Twins will go with the more proven player, especially since Gordon is out of options, but if Martin meets the projections and the pedigree he won't be in St. Paul too long.

Remember that the 60-day list means 60 days from Opening Day, so putting a guy on the 60-day means he is out until about June 1. Pitchers who had TJ would be in this group, like Paddack was last year, but there isn't going to be two or three moves per team.

I know we're all committed to the deeper stats like exit velocity and launch angle, but 23 homers would have been second on the Twins last year and 86 RBI was 20 more than a Twin has accumulated in a season since 2021. If Santana is 90% of what he was in '23, he'll help this club.

I disagree with you @DocBauer, or maybe with the degree of your disapproval. Danny Coulombe is the definition of a journeyman pitcher. No one offered him a major league deal in 2023 and it was far from a sure thing that some team would sign him to a major league deal at the end of Spring Training. The Orioles got him and he performed admirably, but in the same situation, I think the FO should go with younger guys with options to fill out their bullpen. Remember, Coulombe would cost the team both a 40-man and an active roster spot. The same is true for Hoffman, but I'm a little less forgiving for him because he is younger and seemed then to have more upside. I think you mean 2021. 2020 was the 60-game COVID season, whereas the Twins finished in last place in 2021, To your earlier point, several of those 2021--Coulombe, Derek Law and Ian Gibault--have emerged as pretty good relievers. One doesn't know from year to year. In 2022 the Twins employed Ian Hamilton, Coulombe again and Yennier Canó and they all thrived in 2023. Pretty much a crapshoot.

Luke Farrell signed a minor league deal with the Nationals. He had a brief stint with the Twins in 2021. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/nationals-sign-luke-farrell-to-minor-league-deal.html

The club gave Balazovic his chance. The results were pretty good early, but the longer he was on the team, the less effective he was.

Gary Sanchez signed with the Brewers. One year major league deal with a mutual option. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/brewers-to-sign-gary-sanchez.html

I loved what Paddack showed during the post season. It gives me hope for the coming season in his new/old role of starting. I’ll say it again, it’s been almost two years since his TJ. Shouldn’t that give him a better chance to throw more innings and be more effective?

If Jordy Blaze is claimed, he has to be on a major league roster and can’t be optioned, that raises the bar for a claim considerably. Duarte and Bubba have options, so making space pertains only to the 40-man. I would expect a couple more teams will take that chance.