Doc Munson

Who says I aint glad? and YES we would be asking how it impacts other pitchers. We would for instance assume that possibly one of the current top 5 gets moved to the bullpen to boost the bullpen. then of course if there is current junk in the pen they would be gone. talking about how one player might impact other players is not griping about signing "The Good One"!!! It is wondering (excitiedly) how the rest of the team will fill out to build out the best championship contending team possible. again what makes you think this discussion is about whether we would WANT to incorporate him? I think you misread the tome/meaning of this post. You think there weren't discussions in New York about what signing Correa would mean for Brett Baty? and Eduardo Escobar? and what the potential shift of Baty to the OF would do for THAT group? And how it would have sucked to lose a fan favorite in Escobar? Even at the expense of getting a much better player? I WANTED Correa, and I am EXCITED he is here ( I wouldn't have been if it was 10 years). And I am excited to talk... ok ramble incessantly and incomprehensibly... about the myriad of possibilities the Twins could do to field the final lineup. Aint gonna apologies for that. :) GO TWINS!!!

Assuming, he paases OUR physical... lol. Nwo that Correa is signed How do the Twins use him this year? and how does it impact others? Check out the poll attached and let us know. IF you choose "other" please share what you think the Twins should do with him (or others).

Sorry for the quick double post, but just read an article at MLBtraderumors.com that Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes have both reported this. OK, so lets assume this happens.. what is the trickle down? #1 I say we go and also sign Nelson Cruz. pair them up!!! they both love Miranda and want to work with him!! :) But for those already on the team what does it mean? What does it mean for current future infield? We just traded for Kyle Farmer, does this now mean we will look to flip him somewhere? What Kind of SS/IF needy teams remain? and what could we get? For Royce Lewis this means SS is blocked, so he is now an OF candidate when he returns. Brooks Lee, he would also have otherwise most likely made his MLB debut this September, what is HIS new home? Coudl either of them move to 3B? well Miranda is slated for 3B, Could Miranda stay at 1B? What does that do for Kirilloff and Arraez? What does it mean for veteran players? Signing Correa would show we are looking to contend. Do you want to contend with unproven players in OF such as Larnach, Wallner, Kirillof, Austin Martin, even Royce lewis who is out for a but still? or do you want to roll with Kepler? If the Twins make a FININCIAL follow up move then Kepler is gone as his $8.5M may be too much for potential equal numbers from any above... but again POTENTIAL. You also do not trade a controllable young sparkplug batting champ if you are looking to contend, but then again look at the trickle down moves a Correa signing does. if the option would be to put Miranda at 1B and have either Farmer, or eventually Lee man 3B then where does Arraez get his ABs? Are you going to keep him as DH? What does this mean for prospects? We were already in a position where our near MLB prospects and current position players were going to be coming to a crunch. The OF/1B/DH trio where we have the above mentioned Larnach, Wallner, Kiriloff, Austin Martin near ready, Royce Lewis when healthy is a go, Brooks Lee is a quick to the bigs player, not to mention players liek Edouard Julien who coudl be pushing for time. All while have roster spots fill by Kepler, Gallo, Polanco, Gordon, Now Farmer (not including my desire to sign Cruz as DH lol). That is a lot of MLB ready/near MLB ready talent and you hate to let them rot on the vine by keeping them all. SO who goes? iF Correa signs at least 3, maybe 4 of these players will not be with the Twins come opening day. they will be traded for pitching. If Correa was willing to move to 3rd in NY, would he be willing here? IF he is (and he will most likely at SOME point during career) then Id say the thing to do is... Correa pays 3B start with Farmer until Lewis or Lee are ready. Miranda plays 1B. Polanco gets to stay at 2B. This makes Arraez expendable (sadly) and he will be one of the guys with the highest trade value so you move him. Trade both Kiriloff and Kepler, and the OF is Buxton Gallo and Larnach, with Wallner as DH (unless we sign Cruz). You actually call Miami and see if they are interested in a BIG trade where we get multiple of there available pitchers. Say Max Meyer, and Pablo Lopez for Arraez, Kepler and Kiriloff. Anyways... How exactly do you see teh Twins addressing the redundancies if Correa DOES sign??

So as I was thinking about my off teh wall deal to benefit from and help the Mets secure Carlos Correa, I thought of a way that a trade would be legal under current rules (presumably) The end result is still the same. it allows the Mets to offset the risk of the final couple of years of Correa's 12 year $315M contract due to the ankle. Currently there are deals that include PTBNL. Currently the CBA allows for "cash considerations" to come into play to help offset the cost of salaries being moved from one team to the next. SO lets take those two known and accepted trade chips. The Twins trade Max Kepler (With the expectation that the Mets must immediately pick up the team option for him for 2024) along with recently signed Christian Vasquez. The Twins also send the Mets "Cash Considerations" in the amount of $50M. Of course the Twins woudl need a significant return by trading away their starting catcher and RF AND kicking in $50M to basically cover 100% of their salaries. Or at least as far as the trade goes that is why we are kicking in money, and nto to pay the final years of Correa's deal **wink wink**. In return the Twins get Francisco Alvarez, and Player(s)To Be Named Later. lets say at least 2 if not 3 additional PTBNL. That is a straight up trade that is fair and within MLB guidelines... I presume. If we can structure the $50M payout over time, then we pay $1M for each of the next 10 years, and then $20M each in year 11 & year 12. Of course this coincidentally coincides with the final 2 years of Correa's deal, and if it is front loaded the first 2 years of the deal at $33M instead of the $26.25 AAV and then the last 2 years are at $20M. Now the Mets have themselves some insurance against injury. If it CANT be paid out like that, and has to be paid out over the course of the existing contracts, then we simply pay $18.5M this year, $20M next year and $10M the third year, and it is up to the Mets to use those funds to offset Correas deal at the back end. The PTBNL must be chosen within 6 months. the MLB player draft is 7/9-7/11, so we agree in principle on a trade, but do not execute it until just before Spring training to allow for any player the Mets pick in the draft to be eligible to be a PTBNL. SO what kind of haul would we get in this scenario? well lets assume whoever the Mets take in teh 1st round of the draft is a solid propsect. It would look something like... #1 Francisco Alvarez - the top prospect in all of baseball, and potentially secure our catching situation for the next decade. then 3 PTBNL PTBNL #1: Possibly Brett Baty, a MLB ready top prospect. he is a 3B/OF so somewhat redundant to what we already have but quality young depth is nto a bad thing!!! PTBNL #2: Lets assume whoever the Mets take in teh 1st round of teh draft. PTBNL #3: Lots of options, could go with big bats that are also near MLB ready like Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, Or could go super young with a prospect like 17 year old Simon Juan (compared to a young Byron Buxton/George Springer) to "layer arrivals". OR could try a pitching prospect like Blade Tidwell. and while you could say the Twins cannot afford to pay out $50M. But there is a way you can rationalize it. The Twins would have been on the hook for at least $40M, and the whole $50M if we would have picked up Kepler's option for next year at $10M. So if we would have been paying that for Vasquez & Kepler, and we have league minimum players in Alvarez, and one of Baty, Wallner, Larnach, Kiriloff replacing Kepler, all at league minimum, and all being potential upgrades, then it really is a wash. The Mets can afford to move Alvarez, because they still have the #4 catching prospect who is also near MLB ready AND would have Vasquez in place for the short term. And with Correa going to 3rd, Baty also becomes somewhat expendable. There was talk of him moving to OF, but they get very good defender in Kepler who has potential to be a good bat as well. I would say a Correa/Kepler combo would out Produce a Alvarez/Baty combo for a contending team. This is a deal that can get done independently of them signign Correa, but get done with the signing of Correa in mind for the Mets.

Not to be negative, but I was hoping this would have been a touch more creative. Let me recap... Royce Lewis Resolution = Be good Brooks Lee Resolution = Be good Emmanuel Rodriguez Resolution = Be good Connor Prielipp Resolution = Be good Simeon Woods Richardson Resolution = Be good BRILLIANT!!!

Yes, I can agree to that. another LH bat that plays 1st and occasional OF could be redundant. For 100% transparency I am just a big Dominic Smith fan. But yeah we would need to move Kirilloff and Arraez... AND Kepler to make Dom a good fit. Shoudl we move 3 players just to resign 1 similar player? I guess it all depends on what we can get for the three, and the cost of the one. but again since I am a Dom fan I say YES!!!!! hehe. And interesting you bring up Cruz, I was going to include him as well. LOL WHile we want to get away from a a DH only type, and is Cruz's last 1.5 seasons his eventual decline? I dont care!! he is a great hitter that can teach young guys and a great clubhouse presence and would love Boomstick back in this lineup!! :)

This is all of course predicated on Correa staying in New York. Also a couple of these moves are related to each other. #1 Trading redundant players. Not breaking any news here. Kepler and even Arraez have both been mentioned as trade candidates. Especially after the Joey Gallo signing. Yes the Twins could very easily keep Kepler and go with an OF of Kepler, Buxton, Gallo. AND if they feel Kepler will have a strong season with the shift rules changes, then the best move is to keep him and potentially trade him for higher value at the deadline. If he has a strong 1st half then that $10M team option for next year greatly increases his trade value. I am not sure what the trade value is for either Kepler or Arraez, so I am not going to sit here and say.. Lets trade Kepler for Sandy Alcantara to improve our pitching This trade group is also not limited to Kepler, Wallner, Larnach, Kirilloff could all also be slotted into this scenario. We cannot play them all, and there may even be better overall fits out there instead of them (although I like Wallner and Larnach). And this brings me to move #2... #2 Sign Domnic Smith. I still cannot believe he is unsigned. Dom is not a game changer, but he can play GG caliber defense at 1B. and has a very solid bat, with even "great bat" potential. He never got consistent ABs at his natural 1B position with the Mets. He could be signed at a very team friendly deal at this point. If there is decent trade value in Kirilloff, Kepler, any other LH or potential 1B on this squad then trading them and signing Dom is a great move, because not only would we secure Dom cheaply, but also get some return for players he will replace. #3 Call Texas regarding Ezequiel Duran. This again is dependent on what else we do, especially if we trade Arraez. Yes we have Farmer as a potential SS/utility IF kind of guy, but Ezequiel Duran can play MORE positions, is younger/cheaper, and I think an overall superior bat. he is a natural 2B, but can play 3B & SS, and has gotten some time in the OF. with Seager, Simien, Jung on the IF he is blocked. Maybe this is a good swap with Kepler as Texas is still looking for an OF. and while I like Polanco at 2B he is $7.5M this year and $10.5 next. SO this also helps free up cash IF the Twins ever decide to step up and pay in the deep end of the FA pool. AND... While I said these moves assume Correa stays with Mets. These moves make even MORE sense if something weird happens where Mets back out and the Twins can get Correa for something along the lines of the 10 years $285M they offered, although I would do something more like 8 for $250. (Higher AAV but less long-term risk). As these moves would clear $16M this year and $12-20M depending on options next year and replace with equal offensive output in Dom Smith & Duran). Dom's position wouldn't be the same, but bat for bat Smith would be an upgrade over Kepler, and allow one of Larnach, Kirilloff, Wallner to play the 3rd OF spot.

I think it is only fair, after taking a step back, and letting things sink in a bit and let calmer heads prevail to review the Gallo singing after a 2 day "calming down" period. Thoughts on the signing after more deliberate thought process... Same as the original. Bad signing!! But may be not AS bad, and maybe not for all of the same reasons. First we have to ask ourselves... If Gallo singed for a 1 year $3M deal, would this signing look any different? I think a lot of people may even be applauding the signing. I hate to say it, but I may even give it some level of kudos at that price. If we are all honest, why should the money matter? we are not paying it. As long as that remaining $8M gap does not prevent the Twins from signing a player they otherwise would have been able to sign. what do we care? So given that context, I have to walk my original "HORRID" analysis, to.. "OK... Not bad". That evaluation though is based purely on a gamble on a potential decent player that you can either flip or try and resign at a reasonable price if it succeeds. (please no comments on he will leave just like Correa for bigger money elsewhere if he has a huge season. completely different scenarios, and he might, but who cares). When taking in a bigger picture, a roster/team building perspective, combine with historical decision making, I must once again downgrade to "Bad Signing" more so because it just doesn't make sense. I am not in the inner circle, so I do not know what the Grand Plan is. but it is just hard to see one. The only other decent FA out there that could command decent money is Eovaldi in my opinion. the $10M should not preclude the Twins from going after him with REALISTIC offers, not "Twin's Realistic". Wil we look into Eovaldi? not sure, Should we? Probably. But again Gallo's deal should not prevent this, and Gallo is not a pitcher, so lets look at how his signign fits the offense/defense. Yes he is/was a Gold Glover. mainly due to his big arm. and any big league player should be able to play either corner OF spot. My initial reaction tagged him as a RF, but yes he did play some left, and even if he didn't, he should be able to. SO assuming we keep everyone (not a given) he can play LF with Kepler in RF with Buck in CF. Gordon then I presume would be the primary 4th OF? If you were of the ilk that had the OF looking like Gordon, Buxton, Kepler. then this is an upgrade, as Gallo could be an upgrade over Gordon (assuming you are good with record setting K's). If you were of the ilk that would be either Larnach or Wallner in the third OF spot, then the move is still a potential upgrade, but a bit less so. (And again leave out the "but they are on rookie scale contracts!!" as we have already determined the money shouldn't prohibit Twins from signing any remaining FA). SO where is my "Bad" coming from? My overall sense of incompetence from the FO. Now remember you cannot directly control player performance. GAllo could be an MVP candidate, and some will say "SEE!!!", but just like in poker just because you win, doesn't mean you had the winning hand or made the right decisions. You call an All-in to put your stack at risk with a 1 outer and hit it on the river. You win, but that does not make it the right call. What do we lose by signing Gallo? We lose AB's from one or more of the following, Kirilloff, LArnach, Wallner. Each of which are aging prospects. Each of them may onyl be quality AAAA players, along the lnes of a Brent Rooker, but we owe it to our future to see if they can do anything when healthy. is Kirilloff's wrist ok? Or is he an injury wash? Can Larnach contribute over a full healthy season? Is he the hitter he was in May? or the hitter he was in June? Can Wallner replicate his minor league success at the big league level? Where he was a nearly .900 OPS hitter? We most likely cannot get these answers for all of them with Gallo on teh roster taking AB's. and where this comes into play from a team building perspective is we need these answers for future roster development. if 1 or 2 of these guys can be consistent quality MLB contributors, then that means we know we have them as part of our core for the next 4-5 years at cost controlled prices. This means we know #1 we do not have to fill that position in next years FA group, and #2 we now have that much more $ to spend in a fresh new FA class next year. And the cost per contribution gap, assuming one or more of these guys can contribute, would have us keep one of the 3 over paying Gallo. If Gallo has a career year, he may resign here as our "prized FA next year" but he may sign elsewhere. and GAllo could have had his career year with another team, still allowing us AB's for our prospects and we could sign him as FA next year. with a dearth of LH hitting OF, this move SCREAMS of additional moves to come. IS it trading Kepler? is it trading some of the prospects listed above? any follow up moves would be the key to this signing. And finally the "feel" of Gallo on this club, TWins fans have been utterly exasperated over the performance of Miguel Sano over the last few years. He coudl be on fire and carry a club single handedly for weeks, and then without notice suddenly hit .025 and strike out 65% of the time. DFA'ing Sano seemed like a change of philosophy, and then we go and sing Gallo who has significant Sano-like tendencies. Yes big power, and I am told when he is on he is ON!! but also K's at historic levels. All in all, Gallo will not be BAD, he will play a good OF, most likely hit a lot of HR, and K a lot. Also the $11M while an overpay is inconsequential as it does not preclude any other signings. the final judge if this signing will not in my opinion be the results Gallo puts up, but rather what other follow up moves are done by this FO. SO after being an initial "HORRID" to a "Still bad!", through the therapeutic process of writing this, I am going to go with a... "meh". If this was a move that leads to other moves that result in truly impactful move(s), then will change to a positive outlook, if we stand pat then this goes back to "bad", if the follow up moves involve trading for pitchers with KNOWN injuries such as Paddack, then goes back to "HORRID". Ultimately I am realizing, that based on past performance (of the FO not of the players)and decision making, that I just do not trust the FO to make any sort of competent moves. But maybe to test my own theory, in a future post I will look back at all of the signings/trades to grade the decisions. Are they incompetent as they seem? or are they just unlucky?

as an addendum, this stat just scared the heck out of me when it comes to this FO trying to manage a team. Gallo is teh SEVENTH!!!!!! LH hitting OF on the 40 man roster!!! nto 7th LH TOTAL.... 7th OUTFIELDER!!!

I am sure at this point WHOEVER the Twins woudl go and sign a good chunk of us will complain. At least it is a move, but does it really make sense? Gallo does not change the trajectory of the Twins, he could be decent, he could be good, but if he doesnt change the trajectory, is there really a reason to sing him? Don't we already have logjam... or at least a good number of options for OF/DH spots? Larnach, Kirilloff, Kepler, Wallner, We have Garlick (expendable) on the roster, we have players at AAA who are close as well. Since 2015 here are his BA... .204/.040/.209/.206/.253/.181/.199/.160 CAREER .199!!!! He hits less than Miguel Sano, actually strikes out MORE (if you can beleive that) so we pay him $11M. Where does Gallo play? RF is his best position. but we have Kepler. He could be DH, but didnt we want to get away from having a primary DH? If you say, well that makes Kepler expendable yoru nuts!!! We are now paying Gallo MORE then Kepler, Kepler's BAD years are .220, that is a career year for Gallo. I knwo batting average is not the biggest thing, but making contact and getting on base is!! Again, maybe Gallo has another career year at hits 40HR with a .230 avg. and you want to talk about health??? 2019 he played in 70 games, 2020 57, he did get in 153 games in 2021 and then 126 last year. So, no better than what we have (no better than Sano who we DFA), not a position of need, does not have a consistent history of playing 150 games. OF COURSE lets go ahead and pay him $11M!!! The banning the shift aint gonna do anything against K's. ANY sense that this FO has a clue is out the window... throw a low ball offer at Carlos Correa (relative to current market) and OVERPAY for Gallo. BRILLIANT!!! Lets not pay $13M for Noah Syndegaard, lets pay $11M for Joey Gallo. Regardless of the results Gallo does this year, he could be MVP and I will stand 100% by the call that this is a HORRIBLE signing and shows incompetence. Imagine that He was a draft pick and a prospect with the Rangers while Levine was in Texas just continues to show how myopic this FO is. There was obviously scouting that had Levine like him to draft him, is he still stuck on those old scouting reports? does he think he can get the "true potential" out of him? I challenge ANYONE to provide ANY solid, coherent defense that says this signing is anything but horrid. Anyways, LET's GO TWINS!!!

yeah, I doubt they would, it is just fun to theorize. :) BUT... now with teh signing of Rodon they are looking at an estimated payroll of close to $315M. as repeat offenders now hitting the third level penalty they are looking at $40-45M JUST IN PENALTIES, not to mention loss of draft picks and pool money to sign players. If they dump these contracts and save the nearly $80M, they are actually saving about $120M just this year, not to mention all the $ on future years, but yeah, I dont ACTUALLY see it happening

An number of players have in the past negotiated contract extensions prior to waiving their not trade clause. Is EXTENDING a contract different from just adding opt outs to an existing contract? I guess I would say that the slope has already been slippified if they can demand contract extensions to waive a NT clause. But I am by no means even remotely close to an expert.

REad any article, by any national or local NY writer. Yankees are desperately trying to move Donaldson's contract and Hick's contract. they want to shed $ (well, and 2 bad players LOL)

it happens all the time. and it is not a full renegotiation, it is just giving him opt outs, it actually BENEFITS him, so players union woudl not fight anything. players get various kickers or incentives to waive no trade clauses.

No, the sky is definitely not falling, but a an organization it might as well be. the Twins are in the worst place possible an organization could be. in between reload and rebuild. I will try and stay on point and not go down the hole of Correa, but in all honesty it was a huge reality check. As much as the Twins wanted to make it seem like they actually COULD compete with other teams in the FA market, they simply can't... or maybe won't. The Twins 10 year $285M is typical "Twinspeak" for "we were really serious and in on him". I can't necessarily even blame the Twins, BUT with deals made to Judge, Turner and Boagarts. any offer that didnt start with a "3" was not even close to being competitive, and the Twisn knoew that. let alone an AAV of $28.5M?? Given the current market conditions, just simply calling it what it was, it was not a real offer. It was "We are REEEEEEEEEAAAALY interested in you and want to build a franchise around you... if you can do it for a 25% discount". but anyways.... that is over, and the question now is... what is next??? What can the Twins do? pieces have already come off the board. DO we make a run at Dansby? ok possibly, and should be cheaper, but at this put the same 10 yr $285 might not even get it done for gosh sake. the Twins will be in on him, but only for an AAV of about $22M, in other words, in it just enough to not be relevant. There are really few, if any, other position players that could make an impact, so assuming no Dansby, it is Farmer bridging to Lewis/Lee. from an offensive perspective, we are day old mashed potatoes. I am a perrenial optimist on Buxton, so I think he has a full healthy and productive season. but other than Buck?? Lets take a quick peak around the diamond. 1B = Kirilloff? Arraez?? Either way a decent player but nothing to write home about 2B = Polanco . another average to above average 2B, not moving any needles though. 3B = Miranda = OK the kid has potential, but it is just that potential, relying on potential kills. SS = Farmer = a serviceable but milqutoast player. Quick!!! Who did I just say our SS is?? 10:1 you had to look back, see!! RF = Kepler = assuming we keep him. a good defender but a liability at the plate, maybe he can improve with no more shifts, but more likely he benefits from no shifts on another team CF = Buck = You knwo I love him LF = Larnach? Wallner? G-Cinco? all a whole lot of "Meh" C = Jeffers and whats the new guys name? DH = One of the guys listed above frm other positons that may be able to hit 18-23 HR. A great big nothing burger on offense. Pitching you say? Well the only real upgrade out there is Rodon, and we just proved again how we will not dip our toes in the deep end of the pool. and to be honest, I wouldn't either here Two healthy years in a 10 year career do not a 5-6 year high AAV make!! stay away, but even if he is worth the money. He would be the lipstick to this lineups pig. WE actually have an OK rotation, but still could help it. But another signing tells you just how much the Twins will not sign FA pitching. Noah Syndergaard just signed a 1 year deal that could max out at $14.5 with incentives. If there was ever a contract that screamed Twins it would have been this, but they couldn't even get something like this done. SO given where we are at, what is oen to do? PUNT!! DO NOT trade top prospects for "mahle-like" pitching. lets take our lumps and "let teh kids play" Sonny Gray will not be on this team when we contend again. (Heck even if he had 3 more years of control he wouldn't) TRADE HIM Kenta Maeda also on teh last year, wont be here next year... TRADE HIM!! (although maybe at teh deadline, let him hopefully pitch well in teh first half. Max Kepler si getting pricy fo rproduction, we have plenty of redundant players behind him... TRADE HIM!! Again though maybe midseason as the no shift rule hopefully helps his numbers increasing value. I woudl say "insert any other 30+year old player" TRADE HIM, but that is the scary part, we have nobody else we can even trade!!! so 2023 has instant become a "throw all teh prospects against the wall and see what sticks" And the sad thing is if we do NOT trade Gray, Kepler, Maeda, etc. then we will be even FURTHER behind th e8 ball next year when they are both gone... BUT WAIT!!!! maybe... just maybe I stumbled upon the FO plan, we are just saving up all of our cash to make a "serious" run at Shohei next offseason!!!

Sad to say that at $285M the Twins were never really serious. Anything of 10 years or less HAD to start with a 3 given other recent signings or again it is just posturing. Will have to see the specific annuals, but at some point MLB HAS to step in on these deals. given other deals, he was worth easily $35M per year over 10 (although at the same time NOONE is worht that much for baseball) but current climate dictates that. SO why would someone choose a 13 year $350M deal? just to play an extra 3 years??? heck just sign a new 3 year deal at the end of your 10 year for $5M per if all you want to do is play for 13 years. It is clear that years 10-13 are basically "funny money" or "funny years" to manipulate salary caps. No other reason would a player who could get a $35M AAV settle for less than $27M. If all he wanted was that $350M number, if that was the number people had to hit, then heck why not just give him a 20 year deal??? I do nto know why I am so frustrated... I was hoping to see a bigger MONSTER deal, something the Twins were impossible to match or beat beat us. but a $350M 13 year? at $26.9M AAV? Twins coudl have EASILY done that!!! frontloading the first 8 years at $35M each = $280M that leaves $70M over the last 5 or just a $14M average. That is a fair deal. you pay premium for his premium years, and you get the declining years at an appropriate discount. Again shows both that the Twins were never really in it, AND that Correa was never coming back and it was all just BS to keep the door open in case big markets wouldnt pay. The worst part, is nwo what?? All the top pitchign is gone (excpet Rodon) and even though reports are Twins are "seriously in on" Rodon... yeah no. They are "in" on him at $15M AAV. (that being said I woudlnt give a guy who barely strung to gether 2 healthy seasons 6 years at the money he will get. Are we going with Dansby? will be much cheaper, but other teams will pay more. Now the ONLY way we set ourselves up for ANY success in the future, is by essentially spending that money on horrible contracts that come paired with top prospect talent, and either buidl for a new window to open in 2 years, or overpaying in prospect value by flipping soem of the new found prospects for top young pitching. Example is the Yankee situation take on Hicks, Donaldson contracts, and Stanton's, if it means they also send top prospects like Volpe, Domiguez. then trade from our newly refilled middle infield prospect depth to get pitching

Yankees have intriguing prospects. but kepler wouldnt command them. cant add additional player value to Yankees to get better prospects, as we do not have anything that would match their value. would have to take on a bad contract or two (Yanks desperate to move Hicks & Donaldson contracts)... hmmm if only someone had a proposal that would get the twins multiple top prospects while trading Kepler to NY and Twins taking on contracts to do it. LOL.... again I know my proposal would NEVER happen, btu always fun pretending it would.

I know this will sound like "sour grapes" and I do not expect anyone to take a discount "just because". BUT... you can't sit there and whine and say.. "It's just like walking into Dior, you know the price, you just have to pay it, if I want something I just go in and buy it" or something like that. and then on the other hand go ahead and leverage different teams against each other to boost your price. Unless of course his price still just hasn't changed and hasn't been met. Again my frustration isn't about him potentially getting the mx he can get, it is about the hypocrisy of the comments vs the actions. Again the HUGE caveat of maybe his price truly just hasn't been met yet. Anything close to what he is reported to POSSIBLY get, I would not pay. Yes he can be a leader and a great teammate, and yes he is worth a lot, BUT at $400M you have to start thinking about replacement value.

More and more it is looking like the "Nuclear Option" is the only way the Twins will ever improve. With rumors now circulating of Yankees in on Correa as well as other big spenders, and rumors circulating about a $400M contract. the Twins must SPRINT to the door and get out!!! That is very sad, as I was actually thinking the Twins actually get a decent deal done around the $300-320M mark. I had shared an option in previous posts, and it nwo onyl seems even MORE the right way to go. HELP THE YANKEES!!! Joel Sherman is saying he believes the Yankees will release Stanton in a couple of years, that is eating MILLIONS, if this is potentially true, then why no let him go NOW and NOT have to pay millions. Yankees signed Judge, if they want Correa at nearly $400M, AND want Rodon in the rotation, we can still help make this happen, but because it would be waiving the white flag on Correa it would have to be even sweeter for us!!! AS mentioned in other posts, we take on... 1) Stanton and his large remaining contract. but we renegotiate opt outs for him after EVERY year in order for him to waive his NT clause. 2) Donaldson, but the Yankees remain on the hook for any potential $6M mutual option that may get picked up in 2024.. No, I don't want Donaldson, but we flip him for a one f those big nachos in a batting helmet. Someone would take him on, especially if they could get him for FREE next year. Maybe Boston?? Donaldson gets to stick it to the yanks and if he plays for Boston while getting paid by Yanks, that is always fun!! 3) Aaron Hicks and his remaining contract. would be tough sledding being able to flip this deal, and would be on the books in future years at $10M as well. (BUT IF WE CAN GET VALUE ITS DOABLE) That is about $63M Those are the bad contracts we have to eat. Now for good stuff. In order to incentivize us to take on all those years and dollars, and more importantly allowing the Yankees the freedom to go after Correa AND Rodon. , the Twins also get... 1) Luis Severino, and his 1 year of control at $15M. This gives us a potential Ace, yes he has health issues, but we are only committed for 1 year, and if he proves healthy its a steal. PLUS it frees up another $15M for the Yanks bringing the cash clearance to about $78M (EASILY enough for Rodon and Correa!!!) 2) Anthony Volpe... Untouchable you say?? well if you sign Correa then Volpe is redundant. plus we demand big time prospects for clearing teh cap space!! 3) speaking of big time prospects, we also demand Jasson Dominguez. again have to give up big pieces to get big pieces 4) Luis Gil. Gil is a big armed prospect (former Twins prospect) who is MLB ready and would add more depth 5) Final piece is either Roderick Arias or Josh Breaux. Arias is a high ceiling infielder you can never get enough of, and Breaux is an MLB ready young catcher (albeit not LH). What do the Twins give up??? the answer is basically very little. let say Kepler, I mean he is a LH with Yankee Stadium 81 games per year. and then maybe throw in Arraez (like an All-Star batting champ is a throw in). Maybe a prospect going back to make it look more even SO why does this work for both? Simple;; Yankees: It allows the Yankees to clear bad contracts of players they want gone in Hicks and Donaldson, It gets them out of the Stanton contract and he has never really fit in NY. and it allows them the roster and cap space to sign both Correa and Rodon without impacting luxury tax. They are set up for the foreseeable future, and can afford to move prospects who are now blocked, and after all... "prospects are suspects until proven otherwise". The Yankees are currently at an estimated $248M payroll, signing either or both of Correa/Rodon would push them crazily past the highest penalty tier, and as repeat offenders would pay an additional $40+M in penalties, not to mention the loss of bonus pools and draft picks. Why do the Twins do this? OK so lets assume we are able to somehow flip Donaldson, for little to nothing in return. Maybe even sending a marginal prospect away in addition. That is a wash. swapping Arraez & Kepler for Severino is essentially a wash financially after Arraez Arb win. so that means teh Twins are taking on a net $42M dollars which brings the estimated payroll to just $135M which is still $14M below last years payroll!! and what do we get for this payroll? we get a big RH bat we need who would be primary DH but could play some OF (and with the chance he may opt out at any year releasing us from paying him to teh end). We get a crowd favorite back (but for how long would he be a crowd favorite now) who can play backup CF. we get to add a potential dominat arm to the rotaion, AND we get absolute stud prospects in Volpe, Dominguez, Arias, to go with our already good list of prospects. This sets us up to have the next wave of cheap young players to extend a window or use as trade material for the young top pitcher we cannot afford on the FA market. Imagine a lineup in 1.5 years of Volpe, Lewis, Dominguez, Miranda, Buxton, Stanton and if Kirilloff can hit potential and get rid of that wrist, and if Wallner/Larnach can hit. That is a great young lineup!!! yes, this seems crazy, but seriously, if we lose out on Correa, what else you gonna do to make an impact?

Id send him to NYY for Luis Severino

Um, I quit counting at game 27, at which there were a total of 6 games where a Twins starter completed 6 innings. and not one where they completed 7. Maybe all of them came between May 11th and 31st. LOL AND a number of those 5 inning or even 5+, or even 6 full inning starts pitchers were pulled with 60,70,80 pitches. I guess we must just be looking at different box scores?

well I guess great minds think alike. hehe would love to see yours!!

I guess I keep forgetting how poor of a fielder Arraez is.

Have Always Loved Kris Bryant!! maybe between Buxton and Bryant they could get a combined full season of AB's hehe

My immediate response was... HUH???? Trade Urshela to free up a 40 man spot, and then immediately trade a prospect you just protected to secure Farmer? But you have put me at ease a bit. not bad move overall I guess. As long as he was not traded for to take Urshela's place at 3b. This Since it is SOO early in offseason I am not going to try and figure out "what this trade means" in the way of how it impacts other potential signings. There may be others I would have used to take up a 40 man roster spot, but not a bad move. Your article calmed me down on it, nice job. hehe