Cory Engelhardt

MLB Trade Rumors listed Juan Nicasio as going to the Twins. I think I like the guys you mentioned even a little more than Nicasio, but hopefully the Twins can be aggressive this offseason in adding to their MLB roster, as well as their front office.

I know he hasn't shown a penchant for strikeouts yet, but I would put Stewart in the must keep territory for one more offseason at the very least, just to be able to say for certain that Falvey et al can't get him turned around. I'd even do it over Jake Reed, as there are a number of minor league options for relievers, and with the Twins inability to develop starting pitching, I'd rather keep guys that have a potential to start over guys that don't.

I REALLY loved your blueprint Seth. This would be a really fun offseason if all of this could take place, especially your bullpen additions and the extensions for a lot of the younger core. LOVE IT!

Hopefully May can be healthy and hold down a starting rotation spot. Frankly, even when all pitchers are healthy most teams use 8 starters in a year anyway. May will have a chance to start, and if he is healthy he will take it.

It's Lewis to me, and that's with a bullet. 1) Lewis 2) Gordon 3) Romero 4) Gonsalves 5) The field

I really like this thought. The Twins absolutely need pitching help and would be smart to look into the market to see what would be available if they were open to trading one of their younger position players. If they are deciding to extend (or at least play out 2018 and possibly offer the QO) to Brian Dozier, then looking to move Polanco makes a lot of sense, depending on the return.

What do you think about Zack Granite? Is he a given to stay on the 25 man next year? I just, if I were in charge, it's tough to write his name in pen when he doesn't have a logical platoon partner and isn't a better defender than arguably any of the current outfielders provided they stay healthy.

I at least want to have the conversation and see how much gutting needs to take place. If you are comfortable with the potential return, then go for it. For Lamet specifically, what would you deem a reasonable offer? Gonsalves/Gordon/Kiriloff?

I love the Lamet idea! That would be expensive but he could be amazing. How much would a Lamet/Brad Hand package cost? Probably doesn’t hurt that Lavine and Preller know each other well.

I LOVE the idea of Kris Davis. And I agree that I don't think Oakland wants to start paying him big bucks through arbitration. May at least ask what it would take to make a deal happen. And, hopefully, Miguel Sano is back and healthy and playing a league average 3rd base for years.

Just curious; is walk rate that pitchers can get better at? If the Twins were to sign someone like Chatwood (his numbers outside of Coors, other than walks, do look promising, and I fully believe the Twins outfield defense would help his overall numbers) is there any real hope that his walk rate would decline as well? That many walks, to me, screams a lot of 5 inning starts.

Couldn't one of them slide over to 3rd if Dozier is resigned too?

I think you do have to consider the idea of an extension. Dozier has been really amazing, and the part of baseball when it comes to salary is you ALWAYS pay for the production that has already happened, rather than the potential production ahead, at least with 2nd contracts (in my opinion.) Dozier still has at least a few good years ahead of him. I believe that more after this year than I did even after the 42 homerun season a year ago, mostly because he started to show power to all fields rather than just as a pull hitter. I also like how you pointed out that Dozier didn't get great offers for trade after this past offseason. I do believe that if 2-3 teams had been in the market for a 2nd baseman a trade would have been made. But if the Dodgers were the only team talking trade last offseason, the deal/offer that was necessary to move Dozier never was put on the table. And a good-enough offer with only 1 year left for Dozier isn't going to be there this offseason. If you are trading him now, you are basically selling him for less than his value to the Twins for 2018. And Gordon certainly isn't ready to start the year with the MLB club is he? I would rip up his 2018 contract and offer a 3 year extension with an option spanning the years of 2018, 2019, 2020 and the option year of 2021 that would trigger with games played. I would offer him a higher salary (18, 18, 17 and an option year for 15 million) and hope that he takes it. If he does, GREAT! If his agent comes back and demands 4 years with an option (so, 6 more years potentially) I would have a hard time agreeing to that, but the salary would be lower per year more than likely, (say 14, 15, 15, 14 and option year or 13) and the option year would probably not have a huge buyout number. That said, if the agent comes out and demands a 5 year deal for 18-20 per season, (which he has earned if you are paying for past production) I probably do go into 2018 being the last year of his deal and plan to offer him the QO after this upcoming season. Then he has another year if he agrees to the QO, or the Twins get a draft pick for him. We'll see. Thanks for the write-up Seth. Much appreciated!

Can't argue with the best pitcher of the year in 2017. That said, I had high hopes coming into this year for Trevor May, as well as Gibson, to be able to help in the rotation. Gibson was really good (better than Santana to some extent) for the August and September push. Hopefully the rotation as a whole is better 2018 ongoing.

Buxton I would absolutely. I would bring it up with Kepler as well. Rosario is a probable, but it would depend on the years and dollars. Sano, I think, I would put him in the absolutely yes crowd if I see how he looks in spring training after he has (or has not) had the surgery. Berrios too, maybe right?

Seth, you mentioned that the Twins bunted as much or more than any team in baseball. Is there a source somewhere to show how much the Twins did bunt as a team, either sacrifice or otherwise, to compare to the rest of baseball? I'm curious if it really did happen more than other teams do. I'd almost have to imagine national league teams bunt more often with the pitcher hitting, but I don't know how to find that data. Thanks!

Moya, he is your 2nd lefty. And this is a great writeup once again. Thanks!

Small sample size, but since July 1st (32 plate appearances) Joe Mauer has hit 308/438/346 for a 784 OPS against lefties. Yes, small sample size obviously, but his defense is so good anyway (and Vargas or Garver is so far below average at this point) that I think for now you need to have Mauer in the lineup as often as possible. That said, if they Twins were facing Sale/Duffy etc, I'd sit him.

It's fun to have a super fast reaction after a player's first ever appearance in the majors. I think you would be perfect on most national sports talk stations.

Tom, just wanted to say, I LOVE the work you did with this recap and your other game recaps. Keep up the awesome job! The graphs and charts showing lineup construction and bullpen usage is really interesting as well. Thanks!

Oh man, smack talk on the MLB GM waiver wire message board would be a fun read, wouldn't it?

Brandon, How does the process work, officially? Does Lavine (or whoever is in charge of seeing the list of players on waivers) get a spreadsheet/email/text to go through daily/twice daily and can sign off on anyone at once? Is it over the phone? Are there smoke signals? How does the team with the third priority find out that the first and 2nd team haven't claimed a player, and so on? With so many players in MLB, this seems like a pretty daunting task to go through all the players on waivers, quickly, go through your team's payroll and what you are looking for, and decide if it can work. Maybe is there an app for that?

For me, Thorpe, Stewart and Dereck Rodriguez are given to be added, even if it means losing a AA reliever. The Twins need starting pitching, and that is the hardest to find bar none. If any of these guys don't make it as a starter, then you can put them in the bullpen at that point.

I don't think Paulino can be traded while he is serving his 80 game suspension

Agreed. Absolutely give away a 26 year old before you give away a good prospect catcher the year after he was drafted. Have you seen what Rortvedt has done since early May? He is the catcher of the future.