Seth Stohs

Normally I do, but I didn't think this one needed it. My bad.

With the first overall pick in the Rule 5 draft, the Twins selected RHP Miguel Diaz from the Milwaukee Brewers. MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo notes that it is expected that he will be traded to the San Diego Padres. Mike Berardino says the Twins will get RH SP Justin Haley from the Angels. It turns out that both were right. The Cincinnati Reds selected catcher Stuart Turner with their 2nd Rule 5 pick of the MLB draft. Each year, MLB has its Rule 5 draft on the final day of the Winter Meetings. Players eligible for the draft include guys signed at 19 years old or older in 2013, or guys that signed when they were 18 or under in 2012. It costs $100,000 to make a pick, and that player needs to remain with the team that selected him through the 2017 season.Miguel Diaz is a 6-1, 175 pound right-hander went 1-8 for Wisconsin in the Midwest League last year. He had 91 strikeouts in 94+ innings. He is 22 years old. Following the draft, the Twins announced that they had traded the right-hander to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Justin Haley and a Player To Be Named Later or Cash considerations. Haley had been the eight pick in the Rule 5 draft by the Angels. Haley began the day, in the Domican Republic, no less, as a member of the Boston Red Sox organization. He was the Angels Rule 5 pick, but they traded him to San Diego who then traded him to the Twins. Justin Haley is a 25-year-old right-handed starting pitcher. It's rare to find starting pitching available in the Rule 5 draft. Last year for AA Portland, he went 5-4 with a 2.20 ERA in 12 starts. In 61.1 innings he walked 19 and struck out 59. He moved up to AAA Pawtucket where he went 8-6 with a 3.59 ERA. In 85.1 innings, he walked 26 and struck out 67 batters. He's got four pitches, with a low-90s fastball a decent changeup and OK fastball and sliders, according to reports. Here is a look at his fastball/slider combination. Losing Stuart Turner is too bad. The Twins just signed Jason Castro for three years. They have John Ryan Murphy as a backup option, and Mitch Garver has passed Turner on the depth chart as well. Garver was added to the roster. So, it stinks to lose a defensive talent like Turner, but when deciding who to add, and thinking about who they could afford to lose, they likely chose pitching over their #4 catcher. The Twins did not select anyone in the AAA portion of the Rule 5 draft. They also did not lose anyone Click here to view the article

It’s the final day of the Winter Meetings. Things have been very quiet on the Twins front, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way. There were a couple of major moves made on Wednesday, and of course, the Rule 5 draft will take place this morning. The Rule 5 draft is often called the official end of the Winter Meetings, but it has also been a day of moves. It’s like it is the last day where teams and/or agents can meet in person and they want to reach agreements before they fly home. Two years ago, the Twins announced the signing of Ervin Santana moments after the Rule 5 draft. Five years ago, the Twins and Phillies made the Ben Revere for Vance Worley and Trevor May trade.Before we get to the Rule 5 discussion, let’s start with the moves from Wednesday: The Nationals didn’t get Chris Sale, and they couldn’t reach an agreement with the Pirates on Andrew McCutchen. So, they turned their attention to the White Sox. Mid-afternoon, it was announced that the Nationals had acquired outfielder Adam Eaton in exchange for three right-handed pitching prospects. Lucas Giolito was the Nationals top prospect and the top pitching prospect as recently as midseason. Reynaldo Lopez was their #3 prospect. Dane Dunning was their #6 prospect and the team’s first-round pick last June. Adam Eaton is a real solid player, but there is no question that the Chicago White Sox did very well for themselves. Eaton is controlled through the 2021 season which made him very appealing to the Nationals. He also is an elite right fielder, though he will likely play centerfield for the Nationals. The White Sox have certainly changed the outlook of their minor league system. They had one of the worst minor league systems in baseball two days ago. Along with the three pitchers, they acquired baseball’s top prospect, Yoan Moncada, and hard-throwing Michael Kopech plus two more prospects from the Red Sox in the Chris Sale trade a day earlier. The White Sox will likely still be looking to deal 1B Jose Abreu, 3B Todd Frazier, LH SP Jose Quintana, and Closer David Robertson, each likely adding multiple quality prospects. Robertson should bring back a quality return thanks to the crazy closer market this week. It started with All Star Mark Melancon getting a four year, $62 million deal with the Giants. Wade Davis was officially traded to the Cubs on Wednesday morning for outfielder Jorge Soler. There were rumors 24 hours ago about Aroldis Chapman being offered $92 million. Late on Wednesday, he signed a five year, $86 million to return to the Yankees. That leaves Kenley Jansen as the big remaining closer on the free agent market. The Marlins are very much interested, but the Nationals must remain interested too. Of course, Robertson is likely appealing to many teams as well, and frankly, with the White Sox plans for 2017, they don’t need an elite closer. TWINS RUMORS OF THE DAY RULE 5 DISCUSSION Early this morning, the Rule 5 draft will take place. In the past, there were three phases of the Rule 5 draft, the MLB phase, AAA and AA phases. This year, there will be the MLB and the Minor League Rule 5 drafts. Makes sense. In recent years, few players were taken from the AA portion of the draft. The other change is that it will cost a team $100,000 to make a Rule 5 pick. It has been $50,000 for many years. As Nick wrote yesterday, there are at least nine relief pitchers available to teams in the Rule 5 draft today who have hit triple digits with their fastball. Could the Twins be interested in one of them? For the most part, people seem to believe this is a fairly weak group of prospects eligible to be selected. The Twins brass noted yesterday that they are receiving a lot of phone calls and interest in the #1 pick in today’s Rule 5 draft. I would not be surprised at all if the Twins trade that #1 pick. Of course, we won’t know about the trade until after the draft is complete. It’s possible they could trade with a team lower in the draft in exchange for their pick and cash. There could be other trade options. If you’re looking for names that the Twins might take in the Rule 5 draft, here is Baseball America’s list and here are five names (And two more) to watchaccording to Thrylos from his blog other day. It’s hard to predict who the Twins might take with their Rule 5 pick. It’s probably even harder to figure out which Twins players the other organizations might have interest in. However, here are some guys I think have a chance of being selected from the Twins: #1 - Aaron Slegers - The 6-10 right-hander was the Twins 5th round pick in 2013 out of Indiana. He has gradually moved up, one step a year, and he’s always been solid. He isn’t overpowering, but he has good control and a good start pitch-mix that he could certainly be intriguing. #2 - DJ Baxendale - He’s been primarily a starting pitcher in since he was the Twins 10th round pick in 2012 out of Arkansas. However, he kind of stalled at AA. He moved up to AAA and into the Red Wings bullpen where is fastball/slider mix proved to be good. He doesn’t throw very hard. #3 - Yorman Landa - I’m not certain if the hard-throwing right-hander is eligible or not. It was mentioned the other day that Landa had re-signed with the Twins. If he actually already put pen to paper, he would be another triple-digit right-hander available to teams in the Rule 5 draft. #4 - Niko Goodrum - He could have become a free agent, but he chose to sign back with the Twins right after the season. He’s just kind of coming into his own and his raw athleticism turned into some decent numbers in 2016, despite missing the first two months with injury. He could be interesting to teams because he can play three or four positions on the field. #5 - Stuart Turner - We’ve seen the value of defense at catcher in recent years escalate. For his shortcomings with the bat, Turner is very good behind the plate. I still believe that he has the approach at the plate and some pop to eventually hit a little bit. But his defense can make him a solid backup backstop. #6 - Lewis Thorpe - He’s missed the last two seasons after Tommy John surgery, but he was a top prospect before the injury, and he is very talented. And he’s still just 21 years old. He is a question to be able to stick on a roster after so much missed time (and not pitching above Low A), but he has the upside to be very intriguing to teams. We’ll get an article posted as soon as the Twins make their Rule 5 pick, and we’ll update it with any players that they should lose in the drafts. We’ll also update it should the Twins announce any trade regarding their Rule 5 pick. So be sure to check back. Click here to view the article

Ian Desmond to the Rockies.

Crickets... That's the sound coming from Minnesota Twins camp so far at the Winter Meetings in Washington DC. There has been some Brian Dozier talk, though some of that was because he was scheduled to be at the meetings for other reasons. They promoted a couple of guys in the scouting department. They signed Ben Paulsen to a minor league deal. Traditionally, Wednesday is the busiest day at the Winter Meetings. The first few days involve a lot of discussions, and then the GMs (and Chief Baseball Officers) take what they've heard and start to reach agreements, be it with free agents or with other trade partners.While such a quiet Winter Meetings may have been frustrating under the Terry Ryan regime, it is completely understandable under Derek Falvey and Thad Levine. As Nick wrote last night, "The Twins moved quickly on Jason Castro, because doing so was necessary to lock up the coveted catcher, but now there is little need for urgency." They should not feel pushed to rush on a Brian Dozier trade. They are 100% correct in saying that they need to be "inspired" to trade him. They should expect elite, young pitching in return. I agree with their philosophy of taking a broad view of the organization before jumping into too much drastic. That’s why I think they’re wise in keeping a lot of the current front office, shifting some people around, and bringing in new talent when it is available. Likewise, they need to know the ins and outs of their 40-man roster and the entire minor league system. While they certainly had some information on everyone in the organization, they likely have grown their knowledge of their new organization tenfold since taking over. There is talent in the organization. Consider in the last year or two the Twins have called up Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario, Jose Berrios, JT Chargois. Adalberto Mejia was acquired in the Eduardo Nunez deal, and he’s a solid starting pitching prospect who should get more of an opportunity in 2017. Also in the next year or two, we could see players like Mitch Garver, Nick Gordon, Engelb Vielma, Nick Burdi, Jake Reed, Mason Melotakis, Trevor Hildenberger, John Curtiss, Stephen Gonsalves, Kohl Stewart, Felix Jorge, Fernando Romero, Tyler Jay and others. I’m not naive enough to think that they will all pan out. I do know that the more players with the potential of the above names, the more likely that a few of them will pan out and become very good major leaguers and several more will still be able to contribute in a role of some sort. Add to that list a few more prospects with big league potential from a likely Brian Dozier trade, and that’s encouraging. But again, that’s not to say that the Twins should do nothing at all. It’s just important to know that they don’t have to have all of their offseason transactions complete by Thursday. We have heard that the Twins have had discussions regarding Dozier. Yesterday, we learned that they’ve had some discussions regarding Brandon Kintzler. We heard last week that they’ve had some discussions about Kennys Vargas. And, while we haven’t heard it, I would think that some discussions have been had about Hector Santiago. The Winter Meetings are about having those discussions in person. Some deals could be made today or tomorrow, but some discussions with teams or free agents could linger for the next few weeks. And, frankly, there are always still quality players available in January. So, the crickets are chirping, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. BRIAN DOZIER UPDATE TUESDAY RECAP A few things did happen at the Winter Meetings on Tuesday. Here’s a quick rundown: Mike Berardino informed us early in the day on Tuesday that the Twins had re-signed RHP Yorman Landa to a minor league deal. That is almost surprising because why wouldn't they wait until after Thursday's Rule 5 draft to do that. Assuming he's actually signed (and hasn't just agreed to terms) before Thursday morning's Rule 5 draft, he would be eligible to be selected.The big news was, without question the Chris Sale trade to the Boston Red Sox. While there were rumors involving the Nationals earlier in the week, it sounds as if the Red Sox made their offer late last week and let the White Sox see if anyone could top it. Well, offering Yoan Moncada (the #1 prospect in baseball), Michael Kopech (a risk, but a guy who throws 100+ and ‘could’ be a starter) and two other prospects would be tough to beat. Making it better for the White Sox, the Red Sox are still on the hook for the $30 million signing bonus they gave Moncada. For the Red Sox, well, they have a rotation of Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez.The White Sox likely aren’t done, and they will likely maintain contact with the Nationals. Jose Quintana is one of the more underrated starting pitchers in baseball, and the Nationals may be a place for him to go. The White Sox will likely also continue shopping 3B Todd Frazier and RP David Robertson.The Red Sox were actually quite busy on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the acquired reliever Tyler Thornburg from the Brewers for three young players including corner infielder Travis Shaw. Thornburg is another strong bullpen arm ready to set up for Craig Kimbrel. Shaw is the guy who beat out Pablo Sandoval as the Red Sox opening day third baseman. Sandoval ended up having surgery. He returned to the Instructional League this fall, and clearly the Red Sox would like him to be their third baseman and this helps open that up for him.The Red Sox also signed veteran first baseman Mitch Moreland. Moreland has an OPS over 1.000 in his career at Fenway Park. He also is statistically one of the best first basemen in baseball defensively. Makes me wonder if Hanley Ramirez makes the move to DH at this point.After midnight, Bob Nightengale tweeted that the Cubs and Royals have an agreement in place. Wade Davis will go to the World Series champs with OF Jorge Soler heading to the Royals. Davis has just one year left on his contract. Soler is immensely talented, but he’s stuck behind the likes of Ben Zobrist, Kyle Schwarber, Jason Heyward and even Albert Almora in the Cubs talented outfield.A couple of former Twins players found 2017 homes on Tuesday. Carlos Gomez re-signed with the Texas Rangers. He agreed to a one year, $11.5 million deal (pending physical, of course).Wilson Ramos, who would have made a ton of money if not for his late-season knee injury, agreed to terms with the Tampa Bay Rays on a two year deal with $12.5 million guaranteed and incentives that could push the deal to $18.25 million over those two years. Again, it is pending physical, which, based on how his rehab is going, could be complex. He is likely to miss at least the first half of the 2017 season, so my assumption is that his incentives would be simply based on Games Played or Plate Appearances. If he’s healthy and able to play, he’ll make more money. But the Rays minimize their risk somewhat too.Yesterday, we heard that Cleveland was talking to Edwin Encarnacion, probably the best hitter on the market. He’s not a guy I would necessarily want to see in the lineup against the Twins 19 times a season. Tuesday, we learned that they talked to another former Blue Jays hitter as well, Jose Bautista. The thought of him hitting against the Twins 19 games a year, rather than six of seven, is a bit scary.Aroldis Chapman allegedly has a $92 million offer on the table. To me, that would likely be a six year deal, right? The Yankees have said they haven’t offered him that. It’s hard to believe that Miami would have offered him that. So, who could have made that offer? Or, is that a case of an agent leaking something, hoping to boost the deals that Chapman has already been offered. He’s going to get paid, for sure. Kenley Jansen is going to make a ton of money too.Feel free to ask questions, discuss rumors or transactions, and enjoy the day. Click here to view the article

Good stuff in this article from Rhett Bollinger on what Falvey/Levine are doing during hte meetings, getting calls on Ervin Santana, Brandon Kintzler and Kennys Vargas, new scouts, and more.

We have a trade:

From MLB Trade Rumos this morning...

It is interesting that so many hard-throwers are left unprotected, but each team has its reason. Like all Rule 5 picks, the thing to remember is that they were left unprotected for a reason. There will be a few misses, but teams have gotten to the point where they don't miss too often. But there are always a couple. The Twins have a lot of 100+ mph guys now. Chargois, Light, Burdi, Romero, Graterol are all guys that have hit 100. But guys like Quezada, Reed and a few others site in the upper 90s, hitting 97-98 fairly often.

Brian Dozier came to town on Monday. The power-hitting second baseman was in DC at the Winter Meetings for a marketing, promotional event for Under Armour. However, with his name mentioned in all kinds of trade rumors, it certainly brought about reason for more talk. But on Monday it appears it was all talk for the Twins new front office, and throughout baseball. There weren't any major transactions announced on Monday, but there was plenty of talk, and much of it was in the American League Central. As always use this thread to share rumors and transactions throughout the day as you hear new information. Of course, if the Twins do make a transaction, we'll post that in an article as quickly as we can.The Winter Meetings are often a place where there is a lot of talking, but there aren't necessarily a lot of transactions. That was the case Monday, but a lot of the talk centered around the American League Central. Here's the rundown from Monday as we look forward to Tuesday at the Winter Meetings when we expect some of these talks to turn into official transactions. The big talker from Monday was the Chicago White Sox. It appears they are going into full rebuild mold. It looks like they are attempting to follow the plan of the cross-town Cubs. Names like Todd Frazier, Adam Eaton and others could be on the move. However, the Chris Sale rumors really heated up on Monday night. It was reported that the Nationals and White Sox are a long way down the path toward a deal that would involve Chris Sale. The White Sox would likely receive elite pitching prospect Lucas Giolito and top outfield prospect Victor Robles, and maybe more. The Nationals appear resigned to the fact that in two years Bryce Harper will leave for major money as a free agent, so they are going to go for it. A rotation with Max Scherzer, Chris Sale and Stephen Strasburg at the top of it would give the Nationals a real shot. With Mark Melancon signing a four-year, $62 million deal to be the Giants closer on Monday, the market for top closers has been set. Aroldis Chapman is said to be looking for six years (though I can't imagine him getting it). Kenley Jansen is going to also get huge money, likely from either the Marlins or the Dodgers. With that as the backdrop, the White Sox should certainly look to deal their closer, David Robertson. He's signed at a fair price for the next two years, and if the White Sox are selling, they don't really need an elite closer. Also last night, rumors came out that Cleveland was very much in on former Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion. Despite getting to the World Series, Cleveland didn't have many elite hitters. They had several very good hitters, but Encarnacion would give them an elite bat in the middle to team with Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana to give them a very good lineup to go with their very good pitching staff. They would not only be the favorites in the American League Central, but a favorite to return to the World Series. The Royals certainly are making it known that they need to sell off some of their top talent. It appears they are making attempts to deal outfielder Lorenzo Cain. As Brandon Warne often says, Cain can provide young Torii Hunter defense while providing veteran Torii Hunter offensive production. He was hurt some in 2016, and his defense will soon start to go in the other direction so now is the time to deal him. Back to the closer discussion, the Royals are also said to be dangling Wade Davis. Davis was hurt in the second half of 2016, but he could command a huge return. The Cubs are said to be interested. Jorge Soler's name has been mentioned though I would think that the Cubs would have to add at least one, and maybe two, more pieces. DAILY DOZIER UPDATE Dozier appeared on MLB radio, and Derek Falvey was on earlier on Monday. Both were certainly saying the right things, especially when meeting with local Twin Cities media. Dozier made it clear that he would like to be part of the solution in Minnesota. He's invested a lot of time, work and passion into becoming a great player with the Twins. He wants to stay. But at the same time, he is intrigued by the rumors and says he has paid attention. He wants to win. He wants to be loyal. And he understands the business side of the game in which a 100-loss team needs to add as much talent as they can, even if it means difficult decisions. For his part, Falvey is saying the right things too, which isn't easy. He isn't flat-out lying and saying that nothing's going to happen. He talks about the respect that Dozier has earned and deserves, but he does so while clearly getting a lot of interest from teams on the second baseman. There wasn't a lot of new information on Monday. Jon Heyman pointed out that he learned the Yankees have inquired about Dozier. It's good to hear some specific names of other teams, even if just to let the Dodgers think that they need to up their offer if they really want to acquire Dozier. The Yankees added a lot of talent last summer from their trades of Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. Certainly Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge would likely be unavailable. But would pitching prospects like Luis Severino or lefty Justus Sheffield be available? Sheffield is the brother of Jordan Sheffield whose name has been mentioned as a possible return from the Dodgers. James Kaprelian is another pitching prospect of note. Clint Frazier is their top prospect, according to MLB.com. He came to the Yankees in the Andrew Miller deal and played in AAA the second half of the year. The Twins like their talented outfielders from Georgia high schools! An outfield of Kepler, Buxton and Frazier would sure be fun to watch grow! Gleyber Torres came from the Cubs in the Chapman deal. The shortstop was one of the top prospects in the Arizona Fall League and is a top shortstop prospect in the game, ranking even higher than Nick Gordon. A middle infield down the line of Torres and Gordon would sure be nice. They both would start 2017 in AA Chattanooga. This is likely just wishful thinking as I doubt Torres is be available. Let's be honest. Outside of Brian Dozier talk and rumors, things have been very quiet on the Twins front, as it has been throughout baseball through one official day of Winter Meetings will that change on Tuesday? Here's the question for you to discuss and answer in the comments below - along with discussing other rumors of the day - In your opinion, what are the odds that the Twins trade Brian Dozier a.) before the end of the Winter Meetings on Thursday, or b.) this offseason? Discuss below, and take the Twins Daily Twitter survey by clicking below. Click here to view the article

I don't think it would be a 1-1 trade...

Wade Davis certainly could be on the move. There is a rumor that the Royals are very interested in Jorge Soler.

This one is somewhat surprising, but also affects the AL Central:

Jon Heyman basically saying the same thing. Looking pretty likely at this point. Scherzer, Sale, Strasburg... that's not a bad 1-3.

Per Jon Heyman, the Yankees have checked in on Dozier:

Looks like Mark Melancon is signing with the Giants.

Left without comment:

Derek Falvey on MLB Radio this morning:

Today, the Winter Meetings officially begin. There was an awards banquet on Sunday night, but the full slate of meetings begin today. Use this thread as the official Twins Daily rumor mill. If you read or hear some Twins-related rumors, post them in the comments. If you are hearing big player movement, post them here. Obviously if the Twins make any major league moves, we'll post that in its own article, but let's let the discussions begain.The best thing about the Winter Meetings is all the rumors. The worst thing about the Winter Meetings is all the rumors. We're going to hear a lot of conversation, a lot of rumors. Again, GMs will be talking to GMs. GMs will be talking to Agents. GMs and other baseball executives will have media sessions, and fans everywhere will cling onto every single word. It's fun to read all the rumors. First, it's fun to contemplate what it would take for the Twins to get Player X. Second, it is then fun to think about how that player will look in the lineup. Third, the reality is that the teams each will likely make just a few transactions, so there will be many more rumors than there are actual transactions. Here is a tremendous interaction/discussion from MLB Network between Greg Amsinger, Dan O'Dowd, Ken Rosenthal, and Peter Gammons, discussing how teams try to use the media and how media tries to decipher all the information they're being given. Again, the Dodgers remain the leaders, but wouldn't it be fun to have an idea of who those other four or five teams might be? Adding some fun to the discussion, Brian Dozier is scheduled to be at the Winter Meetings on Monday. He is there for a marketing commitment for Under Armour, but the timing is still interesting, of course. Maybe he can finally get some time and meet Derek Falvey and Thad Levine. We'll see what comes of it, if anything. It will also be fun to see what happens around the AL Central. Cleveland is obviously going to be good for awhile. Will they do much? The Royals were up to $135 million last year, and they're projected to be at $148 million. Sources told Ken Rosenthal that their break-even point is between $115-120 million, so they will likely be looking to deal some of their key players. They've got a lot of players in that group that are just starting to make some really good money. So, which will they keep and which will they trade? The Tigers are rumored to be shopping JD Martinez and Ian Kinsler. Miguel Cabrera said he's willing to be traded, but that is unlikely. The White Sox are clearly shopping Chris Sale. Atlanta and Washington are the two teams most mentioned. Dealing Sale would certainly hurt the White Sox short-term, but they could get a huge return for him as he is easily one of the top 10 starting pitchers in baseball. The White Sox have one of the worst farm systems in baseball, so they would add some talent. A few more notes: Yesterday we wondered about Andrew McCutchen going to the Nationals. We just mentioned that Chris Sale has been mentioned with the Nationals. For what it's worth, the Nationals said on Sunday that they feel they have the players to get both.Matt Holliday, who missed most of the 2016 season with injury, signed a one year, $13 million deal with the New York Yankees. Obviously he can hit when healthy. More important, the one year deal isn't prohibitive to the Yankees, who don't want to be paying into the luxury tax.Joe Nathan, who is 42, says that he wants to pitch again in 2017. He pitched just one game in April of 2015 (against the Twins) and needed Tommy John surgery. He signed with the Cubs and pitched in three games for them before they let him go. He signed with the Giants and pitched in seven games for them.Where will Edwin Encarnacion and his stupid imaginary parrot wind up?Which of the Big Three closers will sign first? Mark Melancon, Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen?So there is some stuff to discuss to get things started this morning. Discuss any of these topics and keep checking back as more rumors come and go throughout the day. Click here to view the article

Per Heyman: