Seth Stohs

Ryan told Doogie just two days ago at the press conference that they have Meyer planning his offseason to be a reliever, not that there was much question about that role anyway at this point.

Completely agree with this. Fien was fine in the 8th innings for a couple of seasons. If he can pitch 6th and 7th innings, with May, Tonkin, maybe Meyer and Jepsen ahead of him on the depth chart, then not a problem. He can be a place holder while Chargois, Burdi, Reed, others get their final preparation in. The other thing to note is that if he doesn't make it out of spring training and gets let go, the contract isn't guaranteed. So, at $2.5 million, which I think could be up to $0.5M too high, he would then only cost like $400,000. He might also be someone they can trade and get something like a C-level prospect for.

Well, it can't be Pat Dean. I wouldn't think they would DFA Graham. My guess is that it would come from a trade. They could DFA those guys, but there's a decent chance both would be claimed. O'Rourke, John Hicks. Those guys are options for DFA as well. At the same time, Jeremy Nygaard pointed out the other day on Twitter, that they have to decide which is better. Using John Hicks as an example... He is a solid backup, #3 catcher that they can ship up and down from AAA to the big leagues for two years yet. That's probably more valuable on the 40 man roster than anyone they could pick at #17 in the Rule 5. That's kind of what they need to ask themselves.

At one time, the Winter Meetings were solely for minor league teams and leagues. Then MLB decided to coordinate their meetings at the same time and in the same place. It has been a huge event. This year’s Winter Meetings are in Nashville, Tennessee. They officially start on Monday, though most will arrive on Sunday and start having some discussions. So, what is likely on the Twins agenda for the week? Today, we’ll consider what they’ll look to do. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel, USA Today At one time, the Winter Meetings were solely for minor league teams and leagues. Then MLB decided to coordinate their meetings at the same time and in the same place. It has been a huge event. This year’s Winter Meetings are in Nashville, Tennessee. They officially start on Monday, though most will arrive on Sunday and start having some discussions. So, what is likely on the Twins agenda for the week? Today, we’ll consider what they’ll look to do. Before we get into what the Twins checklist of needs is this offseason, here are a couple of quick reminders: 1.) The Winter Meetings host a whole bunch of meetings. That’s what they are for. Minor League leagues and owners will have meetings together. Minor League coordinators may meet together. There are committees. All kinds of meetings. Yes, GMs and agents are there and they meet in between the scheduled meetings, or they have drinks at the bar in the hotel together at the end of the day. 2.) There are going to be a ton of rumors that will come out throughout the week. Probably 95% of them will be based on very little. Team A was talking to GM who has the rights to players C, D, E, and F. So, Team A may be interested in players C, D, E and F. It’s a tough week for fans because of all the rumors. Each one piques your interest and makes you wonder how that player will help the Twins. It’s fun, but it’s hard to know what to believe. At least, until Ken Rosenthal or Jon Heyman call it official. 3.) There is so much going on. Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor will meet with media, probably also be interviewed on MLB Network or other places. The managers all meet together. There will be college graduates in suits passing out resumes to major league and minor league teams, looking for an opportunity to find a career in baseball. There is a lot going on that has nothing to do with player transactions.There will be moves made by teams during the Winter Meetings, but if the Twins come out of the meetings having not signed or traded for anybody, it doesn’t mean they didn’t accomplish anything. They will likely have a lot of meetings with GMs from other teams, looking for trade partners, laying the groundwork for deals that could happen later. The Twins will have meetings with agents as well. Agents will talk to a lot of teams about their players. Those conversations will be brought back to the players who could decide where they want to play next week, the following week or even into January. So, with all that as the background, let’s develop a checklist for the Twins at the Winter Meetings. What are they areas that they should address during the four or five days that they are in Nashville? 1) Although they have said that they will not trade Travor Plouffe, Ryan will certainly be asked about his availability by a number of teams. Of course, he’s likely talked with each of those teams already, but during this week, they’ll be able to continue those discussions, maybe even setting some parameters. And who knows, there could be a trade by the end of the week. 2) Bullpen. Terry Ryan said in his interview with Twins Daily for the Offseason GM Handbook that the bullpen would be very high up on his priority list this offseason. Does that mean signing a Tony Sipp or Antonio Bastardo for three years, or does it mean waiting until a few of those top guys are gone and the second-tier is willing to sign for more reasonable prices. The Twins are certainly going to be having discussions with the agents of some of the better free agent relievers. 3) James Shields rumors seemingly won’t go away. Who knows if there is anything to those rumors, but it would certainly take some creativity. The point of this bullet point is that Terry Ryan and his staff could consider adding a starting pitcher via trade, if it makes sense. 4) The Twins may look to trade Tommy Milone. The assumption is that by himself he wouldn’t land a top-notch prospect. Maybe they could get a couple of B- prospects for him, and that would be OK. Maybe they could package him with a minor leaguer or two and bring back something of relative significance. Right now, candidates for a starting role with the Twins in 2016 include Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson, Tyler Duffey, Trevor May, Tommy Milone, Rick Nolasco, Taylor Rogers and JO Berrios. I would expect them to deal a starter, and right or wrong, Milone makes the most sense. Milone was tendered arbitration on Wednesday. Casey Fien and Eduardo Nunez were as well, and they could be traded as also. 5) The Twins do need to add an outfielder. As of today, the Twins outfield could include Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. Danny Santana is in the picture, as is Oswaldo Arcia. Depending upon Plouffe, Max Kepler could also be an early-season add. If I were the Twins, I wouldn’t sign a big name, high priced outfielder. I can see them adding a Shane Robinson type of outfielder. In other words, a guy who is comfortable playing just once or twice a week. A good defender with speed, who can pinch run when necessary. This is not a high priority, but it should be addressed at some point in the offseason. 6) Rule 5 draft. It’s not the Rule V draft, it’s the Rule 5 draft. The Twins 40-man roster is currently at 40. They could DFA someone to make room so that they could make a pick. They could make a trade before Thursday to reduce the 40-man roster. They could make a pick still. However, it just doesn’t seem real likely, especially since they have the 17th pick. However, the Twins are usually active in the AAA portion of the Rule 5. Last year they added Greg Peavey and lost Matt Tomshaw.Again, it isn’t a requirement to accomplish all of these during the next week, just sometime in the offseason. Timing is a strategy. The fourth outfielder and some of the bullpen moves could likely wait until early January. View full article

It's fine. Depth is good. The contract won't be big. It'll be fine for the 7th inning. Those young guys won't start the season with the team. He's had success in the past. He was hurt last year and late the year before.

This podcast is fascinating to me. I've always enjoyed chatting with Mike Radcliff. He has such a great scouting history in the organization. There is a lot of talk about scouting Byung Ho Park, but they also talk extensively about Miguel Sano's signing. It's fascinating to hear where Radcliff was when they agreed to terms with Sano's agent. Lots on the Miguel Cabrera story that we've heard about how close the Twins were to signing him, and why they didn't even make an offer. Good stuff on Morneau... Is being a GM an ambition for him?

This week, Byung Ho Park came to Minnesota, agreed to a deal, and yesterday met the Twin Cities media in a press conference. Since news broke that the Twins had signed Park to a four year, $12 million contract (with a fifth-year option that could make it 5 years, $18 million) plus incentives, there have been a lot of interesting topics discussed. I think there are also quite a few misconceptions out there that I thought I would touch on briefly today and encourage more discussion. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel, USA Today This week, Byung Ho Park came to Minnesota, agreed to a deal, and yesterday met the Twin Cities media in a press conference. Since news broke that the Twins had signed Park to a four year, $12 million contract (with a fifth-year option that could make it 5 years, $18 million) plus incentives, there have been a lot of interesting topics discussed. I think there are also quite a few misconceptions out there that I thought I would touch on briefly today and encourage more discussion. Here are a few of the misconceptions that I’ve noted in recent days. Expectations Should Be Lowered For Park Based On His Contract Should they be lowered? No. Will some lower them? Certainly. In my opinion, he is the same player whether he signed for $3 million a year, as he did, or would haive signed for $8-10 mllion a year, which was rumored. He is the same player. He will go through the same struggles as he adjusts to life in the States, playing with a new team, playing in a new league. It’s like expecting Joe Mauer would suddenly become an even better player because he signed a huge contract at age 27. Expectations based on contract are hardly ever fair. The Twins Low-Balled Park That was the first reaction of some Twins fans. It was also the reaction of many in Korea who thought he would make more coming to MLB. That showed in yesterday’s press conference when two members of Korean media started with questions about the contract. The reality is that the Twins worked within the current rules set up for players who are posted from Korea. Even Park’s agent, Alan Nero from Octagon, said that they played by the rules. He was a better player than Jung Ho Kang who signed a year earlier after putting up great numbers in Korea, and he got a little bit more than him. Was the contract fair? That could be debated. Is any contract fair when one party is negotiating solely with one other party? But that’s not the Twins fault. If anything is to blame, blame the system. We Have a Good Idea of How Productive Park Will Be Like any player, or especially any free agent, we have no idea how productive Byung Ho Park will be for the Twins in 2016 and beyond. Can we compare his stats in the KBO to the stats of Jung Ho Kang’s numbers in the KBO and then consider Kang’s number in MLB last year and assume that Park’s will be a little better than that? Sure, we can do that. Does it mean anything? Maybe, but probably not. Park could come in and put up the types of numbers that Jose Abreu did in his rookie season for the White Sox two years ago. He could run away with rookie of the year votes. He could become a fixture in the middle of a strong Twins lineup. Who knows? He could hit 40 home runs every year. Or, he could hit .185, strike out 210 times a year, and really struggle in the adjustment. I hope people are already over the misconception that we can compare Park coming to the Twins with Tsuyoshi Nishioka coming to the Twins half a decade ago. However, it is fair to say that Nishioka’s resume in Japan (in the NPB which is generally considered a better, more talented league than the KBO) was almost as impressive as Park’s in Korea. Nishioka was an All-Star, a batting champ, a gold glove winner. He had a ton of accolades. Park has been an MVP, a gold glove winner, a home run champion and more. I think this signing will be great, but clearly, time will tell. The Twins Have To Trade Trevor Plouffe Terry Ryan surprised several people yesterday at the news conference when he flatly said that he would keep the rest of the lineup intact. He said Plouffe would be his third baseman, and Miguel Sano would move to the outfield. Most have been working under an assumption that the Twins would deal Plouffe for pitching (or other talent) and clear the way for Miguel Sano to play third base. There is this thought that Miguel Sano can’t play in the outfield. He’s too big. Not fast enough. Hasn’t played the position in his life. Of those three things, only the last one is probably true. Yes, he weighed in at 268 pounds at the end of the season. Yes, that is a number that he and the Twins will need to watch closely as he moves forward. It’s likely a weight that will hold him back as he ages. But for 2016, he is a great athlete. He can get going. There are many slower outfielders out there. I mean, Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham come to mind. Michael Cuddyer was not any faster than Miguel Sano is, and he was able to handle right field. The phrase “once he gets going” would likely be uttered a lot. His size isn’t the concern at this time. The fact that he hasn’t played in the outfield is a concern, but that is a concern whether he weighs 268 or 208. It will be an adjustment. He is talented and knows the game enough to catch fly balls. That’s the easy part of the position. But positioning, playing the ball off the wall, knowing where to throw, hitting the cut-off man, adjusting for slices, playing the ball hit directly over your head. Those are not easy. However, there have been a lot of infielders that have moved out to the outfield. Chipper Jones moved from third base to left field. Miguel Cabrera came up for the Marlins as a 20 year old in 2013 and played left field, a position he hadn’t played before on a World Series champion team. Last year, the Cubs played Kris Bryant in the outfield in 16 games, and Kyle Schwarber was an outfielder in the playoffs. These guys weren’t great (or even good) outfielders defensively, but it does show that winning teams can make these types of decisions. The best example, from a positive perspective, might be the Royals Alex Gordon. He was a questionable third baseman who was pushed to left field and has become a multiple Gold Glove winner. The idea of a Rosario, Buxton, Hicks outfield was very exciting for Twins fans (and Twins pitchers), but it's likely that two very good outfielders will be in the outfield. Ryan also said that the offense was a problem in 2015, and I think we would all agree, so trading Plouffe isn’t a great plan. I think we can all agree with that. The team does need to score runs and having Plouffe and Sano in a lineup gives it a better chance to do so. Plouffe Won’t Be Traded I have to add this one as well. While I believe that the Twins won’t be actively looking to deal Trevor Plouffe during the Winter Meetings next week, I don’t believe that they won’t listen to anyone who is interested. If a great package of players that can help the Twins win in 2016 and beyond is offered, it could happen. Terry Ryan shouldn’t trade Trevor Plouffe just to make room at third base for Miguel Sano. However, if he gets an offer that he can’t refuse, well, he shouldn’t refuse it. Some have even said that because of the contract that Park signed, and the fact that it was less than assumed, the Twins no longer have to trade Plouffe. The Park and Plouffe contracts are not restraining the Twins if they’re both around. They can still go out and sign a reliever or two and address other needs with both on the roster. The idea of trading Plouffe is about opening up third base for Sano and adding arms, not about money. The Winter Meetings should be interesting for Twins fans. How will it all play out? Well, I guess we’ll find out. View full article

I had forgotten that the only time transactions are announced is if there is actually a transaction. Meaning, if they had signed someone or non-tendered someone, those would have been announced. However, since they just tendered contracts to all six, there was no change in the roster. They don't make an announcement.

100 minutes until the deadline...

I think the second point of the article is to say that things are changing, and that's a good thing. There have been changes in recent years that hopefully will help this situation continue to improve.

One thing that is going on around this time is negotiating. Here is a made-up example of what could be happening. The Twins could contact Casey Fien's representatives and say, "OK, we will offer you $1.5 million for the 2016 season. If you accept it, great. We'll be thrilled and pencil you into the bullpen. If you decline it, we are going to non-tender you." In that case, Fien would become a free agent. So he will need to consider whether he can get $1.5 million (or more) on the free agency market.

Yesterday, I wrote about the six players that the Twins have to make arbitration decisions on today. That deadline is now less than 9 hours away (11 p.m. central time)... I wanted to start this thread to continue discussing those eligible, but also a place where we'll post what the Twins do with the six players. At the Park press conference this morning, Doogie talked to Terry Ryan about this and Ryan told him that he thought they would tender contracts to all six. However, they have now added John Hicks and the roster is at 40. Maybe that might push the Twins into non-tendering one player. They could make trades. They could DFA others. Etc. So, below is a list of the players eligible. When the decisions are made, we'll update them here. Trevor Plouffe - tendered Kevin Jepsen - tendered Tommy Milone - tendered Casey Fien - tendered Eduardo Escobar - tendered Eduardo Nunez - tendered

No, I don't think they would trade Suzuki.

Yeah, I think Darnell is pretty safe.

Yes... the TV feed would do little to help them mechanically. They have video from the dugout areas usually.

The Twins announced that the Twins have claimed 26-year-old catcher John Hicks from the Seattle Mariners. A fourth-round pick by the M's in 2011 out of Virginia, he debuted in 2015 and went 2-32 in 17 games. At AAA Tacoma, he hit .245/.282/.342 (.645) with 15 doubles and 6 homers. He must be really good defensively. This puts the #MNTwins 40-man roster at 40. I wonder if they'll try to sneak him through waivers now?

Yeah, Seattle just didn't want to offer Trumbo arbitration and pay him $8-10 million, or whatever he would get in 2016. This way they get something instead of nothing. Clevenger can be a backup catcher and backup 1B.

This is awesome!! As I was reading that, I kept thinking of names... The whole "pitch to contact" philosophy seemed to come out of the success of Brad Radke, who was tremendous during his career by simply throwing a lot of strikes and a great changeup. So, Rick Anderson and the organization's philosophy on pitching seemed to be based on that success story, rather than saying "that's what worked for him, but it may not work for Pitcher X or Pitcher Y." You look at Paul Molitor, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. They all have very quiet swings, and found a ton of success. But it can't be cookie cutter. I get that those are good guys to emulate and pattern yourself after, but only if it works. Cuddyer kind of took off when he added the leg kick. One of the best ever, Kirby Puckett, took off with the leg kick. Cookie-cutter is never good.

It was an e-mail Q&A, and he does speak English. I wouldn't ask him to do an interview via e-mail in his second language. In person, sure. LA Sports Management represents Rosario... and several other Twins minor leaguers. They helped facilitate the request (and maybe future requests...).

Yeah, good catch. That's definitely not right. Maybe ther'es a way to do it correctly.

Earlier today, I wrote an article on the six players that the Twins have to decide whether or not to tender an offer to by Wednesday night at 11 p.m. Now I'll ask you, if you're the GM of the Twins, would you offer arbitration to? Note, you can vote for all six if you would vote for each of them.

Correct on all counts... And I consider Japan the superior of the two leagues, though that gap may be getting smaller too.

Beresford is a minor league free agent again.