Seth Stohs

He'll start in Cedar Rapids... unless they keep him in Extended Spring for a couple of weeks to keep him out of weather.. but he'll spend most of the season with the Kernels.

In my opinion, there isn't much better than reading Patrick Reusse's articles from Ft. Myers before spring training even begins. He spends a lot of his winter down in southwest Florida and often treks over to the Twins complex to see who is working on the back fields and will write articles from down there. This is a fun one on Wander Javier, about how he was skinny when they gave him $4 million to sign. He hasn't played a lot of games, but they have worekd with him on gaining strength. We listed him at 190 in the Prospect Handbook. He insists he is now at 200 pounds. Having watched a little video of a couple of his workouts, he may not be exaggerating. The key... just needs to play at this point. http://www.startribune.com/infield-prospect-wander-javier-now-20-grows-up-right-before-the-twins-very-eyes/504677192/

And a lot more than that...

I think that the Twins Daily readers appreciated what Mike Berardino did as a beat reporter over his time with the Twins... Brandon had him on his podcast on Friday afternoon. Mike talked about his HOF ballot, but if you scroll to the 35:00 mark, Mike gives his thoughts on the Twins payroll. https://zonecoverage.com/2019/twins/midwest-swing-mike-berardino-reveals-hall-of-fame-ballot-weighs-in-on-twins-payroll/

That's why I did want to include the link to the segments on here because that is not at all what he thinks.

I listened to the segment on this topic, and while I think this is a poorly asked Twitter question it isn't quite what they were saying. It wasn't saying that if they add anything more they would be losing money. The discussion fully said that if the 2019 Opening Day payroll is $96 million, everyone should be disappointed. They also said they would like the Twins to add and go above the 50% of revenue mark when they are in a place to win... unlike the 2000s when they wouldn't give up anything to add the one more big piece that might have helped them in the playoffs. We don't know what the Falvine front office would do in that situation yet. Hopefully we find out soon. Here's a link to the show if people want to hear what Mackey said... (starts about the 15:30 mark of hour 1) https://www.skornorth.com/mackey-judd/2019/01/1-18-19-write-that-down-twins-payroll-and-judd-on-the-wild/

Correct... Addison Reed had a much better track record of success when he signed with the Twins last year. A perfect example of bullpen spending via free agency.

The Patriots beat the Vikings like two months ago... I mean, ,1970... that's a long time ago...

I guess thats' just not the reality. The reality is that they have to fill a bunch of minor league rosters too. I'm sure the goal and hope for every player is to get them to the big leagues... that's just not realistic. It's just not.

A few thoughts: 1.) $96 million would be way low. There is little reason for that. But, if people listened to one of the first Reusse Unchained podcasts, he leaked out that he was hearing Falvine wanted payroll under $100 million and kind of wanted to go even lower, so this shouldn't be a complete surprise. 2.) Not questioning Aaron's charts. They're accurate and show exactly what he wants to show. That said, I don't think it's completely fair to completely ignore revenues. I haven't looked for awhile, and we'll see how it looks after the new TV deals go into effect, but since the TWins have been in Target Field, their typical revenues rank 20th to 25th... Not 13-17 which would be the median number. This is a minor thing, but to ask the Twins to be in the upper half of spending when their revenues are well down in the lower half isn't completely fair either. 3.) If the Twins were still in the Metrodome, they would be in a similar situation as the Rays financially. 4.)) The value of the Twins organization has gone way up... per Forbes, the Twins organization is the 22nd highest valued organization in MLB in 2018. 5.) Per the same chart, the Twins total revenues in 2018 were $261 million. I they were at $129 million in salaries in 2018, that was just shy of 50%, or right in the 48-52% goal that the players association would like to see it. Also shows that the Twins were #20 in revenues in 2018. 6.) I would love for them to spend more too sometimes, but it definitely is more important to me that htey make smart baseball decisions for the short term and long term.

This is a weird topic for argument. But, if a player is deemed to have a High-A ceiling and he gets to AAA, does the team not deserve at least some credit (along with the player) for maximizing his potential?

I just think that if the expectation for every player that is signed or acquired by an organization is the big leagues or it's a failure by the organization, that's just not true. It can't' be.

Again, I've pointed out many times that I could name 5-8 players I personally would have DFAd ahead of Curtiss... but that Twins front office decided (based on their analytics and reports) that Curtiss was the guy to be DFAd. OK ,so that's done and we move on. Now that he's DFAd, they may have had a couple of teams reach out to them about acquiring Curtiss via trade so that he doesn't go somewhere else via claim when he is put through waivers. So, its' possible that the Twins had a couple of other offers from teams. Clearly they made the decision that their best offer via trade for Curtiss was Ozoria ,again, based on reports or analysis and probably both. The other option, once we've accepted the fact that Curtiss was the choice to be DFAd, is to just put him through waivers and let him get claimed (the fact that he was traded tells you that at least one team would have claimed him). If they had gone that route, then they would get nothing for Curtiss. So the options are ... 1.) take the best trade offered or 2.) let him go for nothing. They went with option #1. And, I really hope that Curtiss does get an opportunity with the Angels. Not because it may make my take on him look smarter but just because he's a good dude and I like when players succeed.

I think many of us might agree that there were other players/pitchers that they could have DFAd instead of Curtiss... That is all discussed here: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/32065-twins-trade-curtiss-to-angels-for-daniel-ozoria/ But, once we get passed that, realizing that they got someone for a DFAd player is a positive. As others have said, it's kind of a lottery ticket. Most likely, he won't' get to the big leagues. He may not get out of the rookie leagues. But, maybe he grows and figures out how to get to 160-165, and maybe he can be Alexi Casilla. Maybe he could be Matt Tolbert. Maybe he can be Dee Gordon. We''ll know more in 3-4 years.

For a 18-year-old from the Dominican who was 5-9 and 133 pounds when he signed, and who hit .195 in his Stateside debut. If they get him to AAA, that should absolutely be considered a success... Or a guy in rookie ball who was obtained for a just-DFAd player? Reality is that very few minor leaguers reach the big leagues, ,and that percentage drops off when you take out first round picks and huge international signings.

On Tuesday, the Twins announced that they had acquired middle infielder Daniel Ozoria from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In exchange, the Twins sent hard-throwing reliever John Curtiss who had been designated for assignment a day earlier to make room for Blake Parker. Today you can get to know a little more about the newest member of the Minnesota Twins organization.Below you will find a profile for Daniel Ozario in the form that is found in the 2019 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. There is header information with the bio information as well as his 2018 statistics. Tom Froemming wrote up his 2018 recap, as he did throughout the Prospect Handbook. I wrote up the background information and the scouting report as well as the 2019 projection. Have you purchased the 2019 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook yet? If not, why not? There are over 160 of these profiles for the Twins minor leaguers. There are feature stories on the Twins Daily 2018 Minor League Award winners (Alex Kirilloff, Tyler Wells, Andrew Vasquez), and more articles from the likes of Dan Hayes, Chris Blessing, Ted Schwerzler, Cody Christie and Tom Froemming. There is also an article about each of the Twins top five minor league affiliates that are enjoyable. Plus, you get the Top 30 Twins prospect rankings from Cody, Tom, Jeremy Nygaard, and myself. Plus, you can look at my Top 30 Prospect rankings going all the way back to 2015, if only to mock and ridicule me. DANIEL OZORIA • SHORTSTOP BORN: August 24, 2000 HEIGHT: 5-9 • WEIGHT: 150 BATS: Left • THROWS: Right HIGHEST LEVEL: Orem (Pioneer League - Rookie (Advanced) 2018 STATS: .195/.248/.218 (.461), 0 HR, 12 RBI, 26.4 K%, 5.2 BB%, 6/12 SB ACQUIRED: Acquired from the Angels for John Curtiss (1/15/19) Background: Ozoria grew up in the Dominican capital city of Santo Domingo. While he was not big, scouts saw a young player with great baseball instincts and the ability to play shortstop. He was about as young for the 2016 international signing period as possible. At the time, he was about 5-foot-9 and less than 135 pounds. He made his professional debut in 2017 in the Dominican Summer League where he hit .247/.332/.301 (.633) with six doubles and three triples. He participated in the Angels Instructional League in 2017. 2018 Recap: Ozoria spent all but two games of his 2018 season with the Angels' Arizona League team. He was very young for his level. Not once all season did Ozoria face a pitcher who was younger than he was. He was tested, and the numbers show it. The diminutive Dominican tallied just four extra-base hits in 217 plate appearances on the season. In the field, Ozoria made 33 appearances at shortstop, 13 at second base and five at third base. Scouting Report: If you look at his biographical information on most baseball sites, it will still show him at about 135 pounds. In the two years since signing, he has added some size and strength and is now up to about 150 pounds. Clearly he will have to continue to grow and add strength over the coming years, but the skills and the tools are there. Again, Ozaria is a real good defensive player. He’s got good hands, and good range. He’s also got a good arm, though strength should help his arm improve to above average. Right now, Ozoria has a nice, smooth swing that can produce line drives from gap-to-gap. The Twins took a flyer on Ozoria, and they will certainly need to exhibit a lot of patience. Rule 5 eligible: 2021 Free Agent: 2023 Forecast for ‘19: He will start the season at extended spring training and likely stay in Ft. Myers and play for the GCL Twins. More Notes One comp that I have heard is Engelb Vielma. If the Twins can turn a DFAd player (Curtiss) into a guy who gets to the big leagues, the player development would deserve a ton of credit. Best case scenario… he could become a Dee Gordon type of player. That would work, right? I’ve always been told that statistics matter much, much more in the upper levels than the lower levels. In the DSL or the rookie leagues, statistics all need to looked at, but the stats mean less than the tools. So, the fact that he hit .195 in rookie ball as a 17-year-old isn’t something that should scare anyone away. And, just for fun, here is the profile in the Handbook on former Twins pitcher John Curtiss: Again, if you haven’t already, pick up a copy of the 2019 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook today, available in paperback and for immediate PDF download. Click here to view the article

The Twins DFAd John Curtiss and got something for him. They weren't going to get a Top 50 prospect for any team, probably not a Top 80 guy. So I can't imagine anyone would expect more, or expect someone "exciting". If guys signed at 16 get to AAA, that's a HUGE success for a team's player development... and hey, maybe he can be a big league utility player someday. Or, maybe he grows a little more and can become Dee Gordon. For a guy they just DFAd.

Ken Rosenthal tweets that the current offers to Machado are unknown, but his agent says that the 7/$175 offer is not true. Others have also pointed out that the first number is certainly a 2. So, who knows?

After talking to a few people about Daniel Ozoria, here is what I've been able to put together. Weight: approximately 150 now, probably. Tools: Athlete, field, throw and run. Also said to have a good swing, but clearly they know that he will need to gain strength for that to play better. Comp: Engelb Vielma.

And, I will not be surprised if Curtiss proves to be better than Parker the next two years. And I think Parker is fine, but again, I just think that Curtiss could be really good...

I'll have to check to see his weight... though it may not be too far off, but I'm guessing he's gained weight since signing. when we got Twins minor leaguers weights from season's end, there were so many way off, especially the players from the Latin American countries. I think Brusdar Graterol was listed at like 170 and he's actually like 250 now. But yes, just a lotto ticket for a DFA guy. Thought maybe there would be more teams competing for Curtiss and they might get something a little more. But, this guy must be a good glove or something.

Well, they got something for Curtiss... So, that's something.

He was called up in 2015 and then optioned, but he was called up pretty quickly again, probably didn't use an option that year. Was optioned in 2016 and 2018, but he was not optioned in 2017. So, you are correct that it appears that Duffey has one option remaining.

That's fair, and that depends on whether they go with 12 or 13 pitchers. Duffey and Austin are both out of options. They could start the season with 12 pitchers and keep Austin, but at some point within the first month, it's likely they'd go to 13 pitchers and then what? (of course, by then any number of things could happen)