TheLeviathan

I hate this with every fiber of my being.

I'm a big fan of Corleone.

I don't know how they can't carry 3 given the issues with McCarthy. I love Jacoby,he's probably starting in AZ though. I'm also a "hey, let's take a flier on Zach Wilson" guy but I didn't there were two of us! Doubled in rank! (But I don't think that's the type the Vikings are hunting for)

I can be talked out of Jimmy G for sure, but that's the tier I want to play in. No QB short of a Burrow level guy transforms this team into a SB contender IMO. They have too much work to do rebuilding the roster from the draft losses lately. I considered Tyrod Taylor as another guy. Open to better names though! I hear you on the second point, Flores does seem to mistrust youth. In this scenario there are guys in front of Rodriguez and Smith that could play if they aren't immediately ready. Hunter's role is pretty straight forward. I get that it doesn't feel right to go all defense early but I really think Flores and his group need an injection of youth. Klubnik is 3...Brosmer is the dude who needs to survive waivers, :) The biggest issue with this is that I think there is zero chance Hunter or Rodriguez are available at those slots.

The Twins have been really, really good at being really, really "meh" at 1B since Morneau. "Meh" is the upside of this group.

Alright folks....let's see how ugly this is going to get: Restructures/Releases: (All using Spotrac tool) Jefferson restructure with his signing bonus conversion - save 19 million O'Neill - 3 year 63M extension. New cap hit 9.9M, saves 12 million Hargrave - release - saves 10.5M Kelly - release/retire - saves 3.5M Aaron Jones - release - saves about 7M Darrisaw - restructure like Jefferson - saves about 10M Hockenson - restructure and convert - saves about 9M Total Cap Space: 35M Free Agency: Trade: WR Addison and pick 235 to Buffalo Bills for picks 60 and 126 RB Rico Dowdle 2 years 14M QB Jimmy Garrapolo 1 year 4M WR Jalen Nailor 3 years 33M DT Logan Hall 3 years 25M Eric Wilson 3 years 20M Draft: (PFSN with trades, Consensus Rankings) 18 - Cleveland calls and offers 24, 70, and a 2nd next year for 18 and 82. (Drafts Ty Simpson) 24 - CB Brandon Cisse (Explosive athlete, really young too) 49 - DT Lee Hunter (Nose tackle. Me likey) 60 - S Genesis Smith 70 - LB Jacob Rodriguez 97 - C Jake Slaughter 126 - WR Bryce Lance 156 - QB Cade Klubnik 236 - RB Le'Veon Moss 241 - TE/FB Riley Nowakowski 245 - CB Ephesians Prysock Roster: QB - McCarthy, Garrapolo, Klubnik RB - Dowdle, Mason, Moss, Scott FB - Nowakowski WR - Jefferson, Nailor, Lance, Felton, Price TE - Hockenson, Oliver, Yurosek OL - Darrisaw, Jackson, Slaughter, Fries, O'Neill, Huber, Brandel, Rouse, Jurgens DL - Allen, Redmond, Hunter, Hall, TID, LDR Edge - Greenard, Gink, Turner, Batty LB - Cashman, Wilson, Rodriguez CB - Murphy, Cisse, Rodgers, McGlothern, Prysock S - Metellus, Ward, Jackson, Smith The team has room to add some veteran depth at CB and WR as well if needed. It's not my favorite team every, but we got an extra 2027 2nd and at least some actual, playable young dudes!

Glad to hear it! I just wish we didn't have so many slow footed dudes.

Teddy's ceiling got destroyed by the injury but your pount is valid If Burrow is walking through that door....well alright then. Bye JJ. Short of that? Hard pass on the others as anything but clear backups.

I understand the sentiment, but the same thing was said about Baker, Darnold, Goff, Geno, etc. McCarthy is 22, abandoning him to play some schmuck like Murray or Geno or whomever is foolish IMO. If McCarthy is bad in 2027....then he's bad and we move on. If he's great....great! No big time QB is coming available for the 18th overall pick. Some middling option so we can Wilf our way to 8 wins again is simply not of interest to me. I'm in this to take big swings. I'm not going to get shy just because of an injury and a rough first season.

To be clear...I'm still in on playing him in 2027. He's too young to give up on.

Yeah....like....KOC saw something where he doesn't trust him over the middle at all. No wonder we didn't see as many of Justin Jefferson's famous dig routes.

Article: "The next great bullpen" Photo: "Dudes closer to their first discounted meal at Denny's than their first beer"

I'm holding at least the possibility that now that KOC and B-Flo are basically in charge.....there is a distinct possibility of something crazy going down. We're going to truly find out what KOC thinks of JJ and I'm not convinced that opinion is a positive one. Hence my thought that there is a possibility of a real competitor. I just don't want that.

I absolutely hate these options. I just want to roll with McCarthy another year and see what we have. I would like these three guys as potential backups: 1) Jameis Winston - you wanna play Hail Mary ball KOC? This is your man. He's never heard of a handoff. Or a dumpoff. YOLO life. 2) Jimmy G (familiarity with system, past success) 3) Andy Dalton (Captain Competency)

Teams that pretend to be contenders and hold on to players they shouldn't have things like this happen to them. The list of assets we've let wither on the vine is stunning.

If Zebby and Festa aren't real answers they should be in the bullpen right now.

Littel is a guy I could be talked into if Pablo is hurt, but even then I'm not excited. Giolito only pitched 145 innings, saw his K/9 dip, and his ERA was significantly lower than his peripherals would indicate. "Reclamation"? No, probably not the right framing on my part. Upside play? Also probably no. I'm not interested in the innings going to guys with limited upside. I want ABs and innings going to players who can help us win over the next 5 years. I just can't waste time here advocating for what Tom Pohlad wants. I'll post what I think is the right course of action to get this team back to playing fun, contending baseball. Dumping innings into 30 year olds who sign as ST opens ain't my cup of tea for this team.

You're right that these guys have all debuted, but Zebby is 25. He should be starting in the big leagues or working on being a reliever in the big leagues. Ditto Taj at 24, Abel at 24, Festa at 25, and SWR at 25. These are not green 20 year olds, they're at the age where it's time to pitch in the big leagues. Make or break time. Not sit behind a reclamation project. For me, I could care less what the newest Pohlad they found in the closet has to say about direction. I agree, pick a lane...but to me it's obvious that lane is "play young guys".

They should have dealt Lopez, agreed. Ryan probably too. But I'm not looking to put mediocre dudes in front of young guys. It's time to pitch these guys. Having our prospects debut when they're 26 ala Wallner is just bad asset management IMO. I'm not blocking promising young players for the sake of any of the names mentioned here. This team should be rebuilding.

Well....should they be trying to contend? I know you're speaking to the mixed messaging of the Twins ownership, but Littell or Giolito isn't making them a top 5 rotation. As @Danchat said...what's the point of trading major league relievers with team control for starters with team control only to house all those guys at AAA?

Lopez-Ryan-Ober are locked in. SWR, Zebby, Festa, Abel, Bradley, and Rojas should also get opportunities. Seriously, why is there a bi-weekly "Should we sign a starter?" post?

You can go all the way back to the Ed O'Bannon case IMO. The hubris to think you could just out-lawyer and out-money the judicial system in arguing for what amounts to a form of human slavery/servitude was just stunning. The only choice will basically be a salary cap/anti-trust. I don't even think your first suggestion is feasible given the money involved. We're basically one step from creating a system of education-based minor league sports. I wish there was a reset button.