LA Vikes Fan

To trade or not to trade? That indeed is a question. The answer - depends on who and for what. If we can get an established MLB starter AND extend his contract so we have him 3 years or more, we should absolutely do it even if that pitcher is in his early 30s like Bassitt or Gray, IF we don't have to trade more than 2 "real" prospects. We have Martin, Lewis, Miranda and Larnach (Col. A). Probably isn't enough Room at the Inn for all 4. We have Donaldson, Arraez, Kepler, and Sano (Col. B). Probably is barely enough room for those 4.We have 8-10 "real" SP prospects depending on who's counting (Col. C). The trade? One from Column A or C , and I would say that Winder, SVR, Balazovic, and Duran are off limits and I don't count Ober or Ryan in the "prospect" category any more and would absolutely not trade either one. Add in one or even 2 from Column B and that's what you have to trade. IF that will get you an MLB starter with at least 2-3 years of control (and, if 2, the real possibility of an extension), you make the deal. The one from column A or C changes depending on the return. IF you can't, you don't. My money is on the don't. Twins re-sign Pineda, roll with him at the front of the rotation and maybe sign Duffy, and see what happens. I actually would make a trade for Gray or Bassitt (Montas and Lopez will be too expensive) because I think we can get them for the kind of package I outlined above or maybe that plus an A ball type. Prospects are just that; prospects. Most of them do not pan out. I predict though that we don't make a trade.

I like the article and the reasoning, but don't completely like the suggested approach. I think the move is to re-sign Pineda and trade for one of Bassitt, Montas, Lopez, Gray or Mahle. I like Basstit and Gray the best - veteran guys without long term deals so hopefully the prospect cost won't be to high and won't have to include more than one of the pitchers listed above and won't include Winder, Balzovic, or Sands. I think Montas, Mahle or Lopez will cost 2 or 3 guys on that list and certainly won't be available for hitting prospects. I think you're right on the FO strategy. This year it's trade starter, Pineda, Ober, Bundy and Ryan with at least 30 plus starts available for others due to those 5 being ineffective or on the IL. Next year, 3 young guys, Pineda and Bundy. 2024 - all home grown.

I see your point regarding a 4th OF, although I would like to see Celstino as that guy at some point in 2022, but trading Kepler doesn't give you a chance to entrench Kirilloff at 1B. You still have the same problem regarding Donaldson, Garver and Arraez needing multiple games at the DH spot to keep them healthy and productive while still in the lineup. I think the only way you can entrench Kirilloff is by trading Sano. I would not be against trading Sano but I think the only way to get a decent pitching return is to pair him with a pitching prospect like Winder, SVR, or Balzovic and even then I'm hard pressed to find a trading partner who both has starting pitching you want and would be willing to take on Sano's contract, Oakland, Miami, Tampa, and Cincinnati all seem to be out on that contract. I just think that for next year Sano is the primary 1B and Kirilloff is the primary LF. That's not going to be pretty in the field, although not too ugly, but it is the work around to get 500 plus ABS from Donaldson, Arraez, Sano, Kirilloff and Garver (400 plus for Garver) because it leaves the DH spot open for multiple players.

That's doable but we need the DH spot for Donaldson at least 50-60 games a year. He won't last playing 130 games at 3B. We also need a spot for Arraez' bat, either at 3B or DH- he won't get much playing time at 2B unless Polanco (aka our best player other than Buxton) gets hurt. This is my problem with the idea of moving Kirilloff to a full time 1B spot "because he's better there". That's only a small part of the equation. Unless there is a trade, you have to find a place for Kirilloff, Sano, Donaldson, Garver, and Arraez to each get 500-600 plate appearances next year. You can't do that with a full-time DH because both Donaldson and Arraez can't get there without having days where they can DH. That rules out the possibility of making Sano a full-time DH a la Nelson Cruz. Based on our present roster construction, it seems like the best way to keep all of those bats relatively fresh, healthy, and consistently in the lineup means Kirilloff has to play at least part time in LF. Basically you have Donaldson and Arraez holding down 3B, with a healthy dose of DH duty for Donaldson (60 plus games), and a healthy dose of LF (30-40 games) and DH (30-40) for Arraez. You also want to have some open DH days to give Buxton, Polanco. Garver and Kepler a partial day off, and possibly if you have a guy tearing up AAA we want to get in the lineup like Miranda. In other words, there just is no Room at the Inn (seasonal reference) for Sano to even get 300 at-bats in the DH spot much less the 500 to 600 that he should get if we're going to keep him. Sano has to play at least 100-120 games at 1B if for any get the value out of his bat - really the only reason to keep him around. Kiriloff gets 100-20 games or so in LF assuming he hits, and can play another 30 or 40 at 1B when Sano either sits or is the DH. Bottom line for me is that we don't need to pick up an outside player to play LF, we already have that position filled by Kirilloff. That only changes if we trade or bench Sano, and I don't think were going to pay him $10 million next year to sit on the bench.

I agree, the Donaldson signing has panned out as well or perhaps even better than one could reasonably have expected. He is the classic trade-off when one signs and aging, very good player: good production when he plays but several stretches a year when he simply isn't able to play. I'm hopeful that the Twins found the right way to use him last year by basically playing him about 50% of the time at 3B and about 50% of the time at DH. Hopefully will get another 130 – 145 games from him in 2022 (assuming there are that many games in 2022). Arraez is the obvious heir apparent. He actually fielded the position pretty well and it would be helpful to have his bat in the lineup. He is a defensive liability at 2B and besides, Polanco is our best player and should stay at 2B. Where does that leave the Miranda? I think the Twin should try him in LF next year IF last year's offensive results were not an aberration. He did play some outfield last year at AAA and with Buxton and Kepler in the outfield, we don't need a defensive whiz in LF if that player can hit. He can also fill in at 2B and even 3B to get some playing time. Let's get him some at bats at the MLB level next year so we can see what we have. It will be a little crowded with the Miranda, Kirilloff and Sano all looking for at bats at the same 2 positions (LF and 1B), but there should be 30 to 50 games of DH duty available to make it work.

Thanks for the article. Well thought out and it's got to be tough to put out content in a lockout. Having said that, the choices in our price range - Yuck. No reason not to have Kirilloff play LF with Sano at 1B, Donaldson at 3B and all of them rotating through the DH spot with Arraez. Larnach and Rooker start in AAA and if, and only if, one comes up big there he gets a call up. Same with Contreras. Celestino is the 4th OF. Miranda has played some OF in AAA. If he looks good in ST, he gets a shot. Same for Martin if he looks ready. By the way, we need a spot for Arraez to play. He's not horrible in LF and with Buxton in CF and Kepler in RF we can stand a "not horrible" LF. My point is there's no need to go out and get a mediocre vet to play LF given our internal options, and the good ones are out of our price range. Stand pat on the OF. If we want to spend money on a position player, spend it on a SS. Better result - spend the money on Rondon and/or trade for Montas/Bassitt/Lopez and spend the money on a contract extension .

I'm not in favor of trading Lewis short of a blockbuster return, but the article does point out something important. I start with the idea that the best thing to do is trade from surplus to get the things you need but don't have. Where is the Twins surplus? Good hitting or high potential non SS IFs (Arraez, Miranda, Lewis, Martin), and corner OFs with power potential/longer term CFs (Larnach, Kirilloff, Celestino, Contreras). Areas to shore up? Starting Pitching, Starting Pitching, and SS, in that order. The point is that the team should be trying every avenue to shore up the SP and SS holes. That includes trading Lewis, Arraez, Martin, Miranda, etc. I would like to see a trade with the As for Bassitt and/or Montas and I would be willing to give up 1 or 2 of the 8 players above to accomplish that goal; 3 if we got both pitchers. Actually 3 of any of our Milb players except Winder, Baelazovic, and Sands. Our timing is off. Today's good players will be out or in downward cycles by the time the MiLB replacements are ready. Let's capitalize on our surplus now.

The key question is who can you trade for starting pitching or a closer, since it appears that the FO route isn't going to happen. We basically have everything else pretty well covered once we sign that stopgap SS. To do that, we are going to have to find a trade partner that needs what we have in surplus - non-SS bats - and has pitching to trade. I see that as Miami, Oakland and Cincinnati. Why? Because they're cheap and don't want to pay their talent. I don't see any of them taking a Kepler and Sano package or a Garver plus Kepler or Sano package because they are doing rebuilds and they don't want to pay those guys. We will have to trade highly valued prospects. They will want players on cheaper contracts for at least the next 2-3 years, if not more, and they are likely to want at least one of those prospects to be a starting pitcher. My view is we have tradeable assets but they aren't Kepler, Sano or Garver. Those three are the second part of a muti-player package to entice a trade. The first part is the prospect. We have some redundancy with Miranda, Martin, and Lewis (and, to a lesser extent, Larnach), assuming we don't want to trade Kirilloff. The most likely trade is a package of one of those three prospects with a Kepler, Sano or Garver for a young pitcher or even one of those three prospects plus a WInder, Sands or Enlow. Those are the tradeable assets.

I live in LA. Bundy was the Second Coming in 2020, a number two at the bottom of the bowl in 2021. Worth a shot, particularly on that contract. We've all identified the same problem As one of 3 trades/FA signings where the other 2 are better, not a bad thing to do. As the only one, terrible off season. The off season has a ways to go . We're just going to have to wait this out. No way to make a fair evaluation or decision until February.

I'm fine with the idea of trading Kepler. He's an above average fielding, below average hitting corner OF with some power, that could be an average fielding CF. In short, he's replaceable, The idea of trading Lewis is tough but we need to remember one thing. We have Lewis, Miranda and Martin, al of whom are IFs, probably not SSs, and their ability to play CF just got a little less important since we now think (hope against hope?) that Buxton is the CF for the next 7 years. I think we can trade one of them. Trading one for a high upside controllable SP is not the worst idea I've ever heard. I'd rather keep Lewis and give up Larnach or Miranda, but trading one of Martin, Miranda or Lewis should definitely be a possibility for the right starting pitcher.

Why not do this? We take a shot at a reliever with a 96 mph fastball; cut him if we can't make him more consistent. Who cares about Cave? He gets 300k a year - chump change by MLB standards - and we see if he can somehow come back to where he was in 2018/2019 when he looked like an upgrade over Kepler. And if Cave hits .200 in AAA we lose him. Until then he's insurance in case Celestino isn't ready to be the backup CF/4th OF. All makes sense. All of this is just a reminder that we have to break out of the 24 hour news cycle and give things time to play out. Good idea, but hard to do, I had my pitchfork out when Cave was signed and couldn't understand why the FO wasn't talking to Buxton. Those idiots!! Then it turned out that they were talking to Buxton all along and signed him to a contract that actually seems to make sense for both sides and kept a guy who has shown some promise at the big league level that they could stash in the minors. Now I'm furious that they haven't signed or traded for a FA starting pitcher or closer when we need at least 3 of the former and one of the latter. Those morons! All the good ones are either gone or going to be gone soon! Hmmmm, maybe I should wait a few weeks before I decide whether the FO moves back to the idiot category....

I like the moves but I agree with the first poster that your salary for Knebel is waaaaay too low. He is much more likely to get $7-10m after his performance for the Dodgers. The $5m salary for him you project would be a steal. While I would also prefer Montas or Bassitt over Maneaa, and would be willing to give up more to get Montas, the cost for Montas is going to be very high and Bassitt is 32 years old, 33 in February. So I would switch to a deal with the Reds, trading Larnach, Strotman and Cole Sands for Sonny Gray. I would give them Winder as well if they swap out Mahle for Gray but I don't think that's enough. I think that the only way to get Mahle would be to trade Miranda or Martin in conjunction with a pitcher like Strotman or even Winder and I don't want to do that. Arguably though, we have Lewis, Martin and Miranda as IF coming up with Polanco still relatively young and Buxton hopefully playing CF for the long term. One of those 3 could be made available if we get young, controllable pitching in return - like Mahle. I would do a Mahle for Martin or Mirnada straight up but I don't think that's enough for the Reds. So bottom line, the package for Gray or Miranda (or Martin) for Mahle. I like the rest.

Manaea would be great to get, but ONLY if he can be signed to at least a 2-3 year type deal past 2022. Otherwise, the cost is way too much for a one year mid rotation rental for a team that is unlikely to be a true contender next year. I'd rather pay more in prospects/players if we need to and get Montas, Bassitt, or one of the controllable starters from Miami. I think a good scenario for next year is to turn over the roster a bit, get younger, and be an up and coming team in 2022 who we hope makes the playoffs but isn't a WS contender on their way to true contention in 2022-2025. That means only getting youngerish pitchers with at least 2-3 year contracts or control, and being willing to trade Sano, Kepler, Garver, and Donaldson. Oh yeah, by the way, and SIGNING BUXTON to a longer term deal. I agree that we may be seeing the FO strategy in the Twins' lack of involvement on free agent pitching to date. It looks like either (1) the team is going to try to get pitching in trades and maybe signs a #3/4 type as a FA, or (2) we are going to add Pineda and maybe one other Pineda type and then roll with our own young guys in 2022. I hope it's number 1 but we may be looking at number 2, so to speak.

Excellent idea. I didn’t realize he was that good with the glove. If you’re right and he can field at an above average big league SS level, he is now my first choice. Like you, I think the Twins need to spend all of their money on pitching and sign a one year stopgap shortstop. I like Goodrum much better than Jose Iglesias, who stunk for the Angels last year, Freddie Galvis, wants to go to Philadelphia, and Simmons, who cant hit and just a little too weird for my liking.

Excellent point and one I couldn't really address with my limited knowledge. My thinking is that once the FO decides how many spots they need for free agents, that the next players sent packing are Thorpe, Stashak, Garza, and Smeltzer. Each without a corresponding add so the spots stay open. I think Cave and Astudillo are already all but gone. No one should be surprised when they are DFA'd in the next few weeks. The shock would be if either one is retained on the 40 man roster. Keeping either one on the 40 man would be a very bad decision.

Can someone tell me if I'm doing this right? I went to twinsbaseball.com and they show 38 players on the 40 man roster including the 8 on the 60 day DL. We start there. Next, I would then remove Cave, Astudillo, and Garlick. All easy calls, all possible MiLB contract signers with some team and it could be the Twins if we want them back. Now we're down to 35. The top 5 players on Seth's list are all more important to the Twins both long and short term than those 3 guys. The FO should be able to make this decision in their sleep or over coffee. Now we're back up to 40. So far, no really tough decision to make. NOW, we get to the hard part. Are any of Vallimont, Gore, Hamilton. Palacios, etc. more important to keep than Smeltzer, Thorpe, Rooker, Strotman, Jax, Garza, Dobnak or Barnes? That's the choice. My choice would be to drop Thorpe and Barnes, replace them with Vallimont and Gore. Thereafter, the questions are who might get drafted and would we rather have them than Garza, Smeltzer, or Minaya, and do we need open spots for free agents. It seems logical to me that the best thing to draft/easiest to stash guy for a bad team with a longer term horizon is a pitcher; even better is an injured pitcher. Utility guy comes next. With that mindset, I do 2 things. First, I trade Rooker or Larnach together with Sano or Kepler for a combination of one MLB ready pitcher and younger non-40 man prospect(s). Opens 1 spot. I leave it open for a FA. If I need more spots, I drop Smeltzer, then Garza, and I keep Minaya. If I can't swing a trade, I drop Smeltzer, Garza and Rooker in that order (hoping to re-sign them to MiLB deals), and keep Palacios first, then Hamilton, then Schulfer. Not sure I'd trade Hamilton for Garza or Rooker for Schulfer so I might stop before or right after Hamilton. Take my chances with the rest.

I hear your point about a 7 year deal, but I disagree that to justify the contract Berrios has to pitch like an ace. $20 a year is not the price for an "ace" starter – that is closer to $25 million-$30 million a year. For $20 million a year in today's MLB, you get a solid to strong #2 starter. Not an ace, not even an average#1 starter, you get a good #2 starter. Toronto now has two good #2 starters in Ryu and Berrios, each at $20 million a year, but they don't have that ace unless Robbie Ray comes back and is the same guy he was last year (unlikely on both counts). I actually think that's a very viable strategy and applaud the Blue Jays for their moves. As for the Twins, looks like the strategy is to try to buy time for a year or two with a couple guys like Pineda and hope that the pitching fills out through guys that are presently in the minors or acquired through trades. The problem is the lineup will be gone/aged out by the time the pitching is ready to contend. That's why I think the likely move is to start dropping contracts and players from the lineup for prospects. I'm afraid we are becoming another Cleveland without the pitching pipeline. The 2022 Twins – Get To Know 'Em!

Well, it sure looks like the kind of deal that the Twins that should have been willing and able to make either last year or this off-season. Add into that the fact that Thor has signed a one-year deal with the Angels for $21 million and I think we know the price of pitching this off-season. Any thoughts of Stroman or Ray signing for less than $22 – 25 million a season over at least three or four years, and probably more like five, are gone. Even guys like Jon Gray are going to cost more like $17 million a year, not $14 or 15 million a year. It is a tough day to be a Twins fan. It is becoming more and more clear that the current regime is either badly underestimating the market cost for starting pitching of various types or ownership is unwilling to commit to the market price for pitching. We can all rail about how these guys are "overpaid" or "not worth the money" but frankly that's all irrelevant noise. The market is what the market is. We can either pay the market price and in the case of the Twins, probably a small premium over that due to the weather, last year's bad results, and the lack of ancillary financial opportunities, or we simply won't get anyone. Given that the Twins don't even seem to have been in on what appear to be not overly generous contracts to Rodriguez and Thor, and were not really in on what now appears to be a reasonable price to Berrios before trading him, it is very hard to imagine that the team will belong to pay the necessary freight to sign even a second tier free-agent starting pitcher. I think the next couple of weeks before the current CBA expires and all free-agent activity stops will be fascinating for the Twins. The timetable is now accelerated; they have to make a decision as to whether we want to be competitive in 2022/2023, or tear it all down and go into a full rebuild. I really think it's a binary choice. To me, some middle ground where we sign a couple of number three type starters and proclaim that were ready to go is not only a bad choice, it's effectively a rebuild. Maybe I'm wrong and we are close to a trade for Sonny Gray or Castillo from the Reds, or maybe someone from Miami, but it sure looks like we are out of the free agency sweepstakes almost before it even really began. My prediction (admittedly based upon being irritated by today's news ) - this is the start of the teardown. We won't be able to sign Buxton and he will be traded. Once that happens, we will trade Donaldson rather than pay him $25 million to hit 4th on a sub .500 team. The FO will gush about the "great" prospect return for those two, and move forward with trading either Sano, Garver or Kepler, or perhaps all three, for more prospects. The cycle starts anew. The sad thing is that I could get behind that strategy if the team was honest and said we think we need to tear down and rebuild. What makes this hard to stomach is the public statements about how were going to reload and be competitive in 2022, followed by news that shows we aren't really even making an effort to reload. The good news is I live in Southern California so if Thor works out, maybe the Angels will be fun to watch this year for change.

Interesting. I know Sano is a lousy 1B, but we have no where else to play him if we keep Donaldson. Donaldson needs at least 50-60 games at DH if we want 140 games from him and Sano isn't worth keeping if he's only going to play 80-90 games a year at Dh at a few at 1B. This conundrum plus the need to find a place to give Miranda a chance has me thinking more and more that we should trade one of those two guys. I just think it's really hard to keep both on the team, unless you play Sano at 1B, Donaldson/Arraez/Miranda at 3B/DH and Kirilloff/Arraez in LF. Perhaps not the best approach.

Guys, unless there is a trade we already know who is going to play LF next season - Alex Kirilloff. Think about how the roster is presently constructed. Sano is going to play virtually every day absent injury and he can only play IB or DH. Same for Donaldson, and he can only play 3B or DH, an probably needs to DH at least 40-50% of the time. They want to keep Arraez' bat in the lineup and he can only really play 2B, 3B or DH. Polanco is our best player and he will get 140 games next year at 2B. Kepler is the everyday RF with some platoon from a RH hitter. So where's the room for Kirilloff to be an everyday player on the present roster? Left Field and only Left Field. Obviously, a trade would change everything and potentially open up IB or RF for Kirilloff if Sano or Kepler are traded, or if Donaldson is traded and Sano becomes a full time DH with Arraez and Miranda sharing 3B. At this point, the only trades involving these guys that make sense are either a trade of Sano, Polanco, Arraez or Kepler PLUS young MiLB talent (probably pitching) for young controllable MLB pitching, or a salary dump trade of Donaldson to open up payroll space to sign a free-agent pitcher. The 1st seems unlikely because Sano, Arraez, and Kepler just don't have that much value to anyone other than a hitting starved team like Miami, and they won't trade Polanco's team friendly contract unless there is an unlikely pitching overpay by someone. The 2nd seems unlikely if the team/FO is being honest that they intend to try to contend in 2022. Trading Donaldson would be equivalent to putting out a sign that says "2022 is a development year, hopefully we'll contend by 2023 or more likely 2024." While both scenarios could happen, I think the odds are at least 60/40 that neither will happen and that next year's opening day roster will include Donaldson, Kepler, Sano, Arraez and Polanco, each of whom the team will be looking to get at least 500 to 550 plate appearances. that leaves LF as the ONLY option to get 500+ ABs for Kirilloff. The good news is that a healthy Kirilloff in LF should substantially improve the team's standing in the statistical rankings for that position. I think we can reasonably expect a baseline of .270-.280/ .330-.350/.450+ from him if he stays healthy. I think Celestino is the team's 4th OF and he will get some play in LF. Larnach will at least start the season in AAA and probably doesn't come up to the majors unless there is an injury or we have another lousy season and they want to give him at bats in August or September. I think the team is seen enough of Rooker for the time being and he will either be with someone else if taken in the Rule 5 draft, or he will get another year at AAA to try to boost his standing and hope that Martin, de la Trinidad, Contreras, etc. don't pass him up. So, there just is no room at the Inn for a guy like Canha, Conforto, or for the guy I would like to see come back, Eddie Rosario. Lucas is right that we need improved production from LF. I think we will get it and get it from Alex Kirilloff. I think the Twins should spend all of their free agent money on pitching, pitching, and more pitching, plus a stopgap shortstop, and not on anything else. The good news is is at least they declined the option on Colome. That represents a good start.

I could see signing Gray to a 3-5 year 15-17m a year kind of contract. Not sure if those numbers are high enough, but I think they might be. He would slot in as a #2/3 along with Pineda. This works IF the Twins go out and sign at least a semi-legit #1 like Stroman or Ray, or trade for that guy. Alternatively, sign Jon Gray and Pineda, and trade for Sonny Gray. Yes, that's a rotation of #2/#3 types followed by young kids. It might be more doable and that kind of rotation can get you into the playoffs in the short term. Long term, one of the kids has to develop into Berrios or better. Not sure if we have that pitcher but may be we do....

I agree with the grades and I think we already know 2/3 of next year's OF - Buxton in CF and Kirilloff in LF (Sano isn't tradeable and he has to play 1B so Donaldson can get 80 games a year at DH). Kepler is really the wild card going into next season. I think he is what he is and what you described, a low avg., low OBP, decent power, strong defensive OF. In other words, the perfect 4th OF on a contending team who gets 350-400 ABs a year playing all three OF positions, occasional DH, and LH pinch hitter. The question is whether there's anyone who can be that 3rd OF and take his job. Watch Celestino, he's the one possibility I see. Hit well in AAA after he was sent back, could start as the 4th OF this year and slowly squeeze Max out of the starting lineup to the bench. Larnach is another year away. Rooker is trade bait or AAA home run champion but he isn't an everyday MLB player.

That might have been me but don't let me take someone else's credit. Regardless of from whence it came, the conundrum is clear: we have a lineup that appears capable competing now and for the next 2 – 4 years, paired with a pitching staff that absent outside of multiple free agents or trades is not capable of competing that same time frame. If that's correct, the logical choices seem to be to either trade away our more veteran position players for prospects/controllable pitching with a plan to compete starting in 2003 or 2024, more likely not until 2024, or import pitching so we can compete in 2022 and 2023, and perhaps beyond. Both approaches have pluses and minuses. That's why I think the key issue this off-season will be whether or not we can sign Byron Buxton into a long term deal. He is the key position player to make and keep that lineup competitive. With him, all we really need is good health and some incremental development from guys like Kirilloff and we have a top 10 and perhaps a top 5 offensive team. Add in a strong defensive SS and the defense jumps into the top half and maybe even higher. Without him, the lineup is probably top half at best and without him and without a strong defensive SS, the lineup is mediocre at best defensively. I really think the FO has to pick a path and stick to it. If competing in the short term is the goal, Cody is right. We need to overpay if necessary to sign a top tier starter, plus sign (John Gray) or trade for a #2 like Alcantra (in a trade that does not involve trading Kirilloff, Lewis or Martin, everybody else is available), sign Pineda to be the #3 and then use Ober and Ryan, WInder, Dobnak, etc. as the backend of the rotation. We also need to sign at least a Freddie Galvis type to play short. If that isn't viable or the FO decides the long-term development route is the way to go, then the path is also pretty clear. Trade Buxton in the off-season for pitching, pitching and more pitching. Trade Donaldson and promote Miranda, sign Rogers to an arbitration deal and hope he is healthy enough to trade for big return at the deadline, at least explore the trade market for Sano and Kepler in return for pitching, even if it's prospects, and consider whether trading Polanco gets you enough to approximate his pretty high value. I don't like this latter approach as a fan, but I could at least understand it if you went full bore on development, promoted guys even if they're not quite ready, and pushed the process as quickly as possible . What I can't understand is playing it halfway in between. My vote is to sign Buxton, sign Stroman (overpaying if you must), trade real prospects plus Kepler or Sano for Alcantra, keep Donaldson, and sign Galvis or Iglesias. Let's compete next season, if there is a next season.

Like Graveman, but doubt the Astros will let him go. Knebel.

I think the only way Kirilloff is the everyday 1B next year is if Sano or Donaldson is gone. Think about it. Sano can only play 1B or DH. Donaldson has to DH at least 50-60 games or more if we want 135 games a year out of him and I think that's an absolute necessity to compete. Arraez needs 30 games at DH to save his knees, so that only leaves a max of 70-80 DH games for Sano. He will play every day. I think Sano is your everyday 1B unless either he or Donaldson gets traded and I think that's a low probability. The good news is that Kirilloff can play LF and play it better than Larnach or Rooker. There's no one else pushing for that spot so Kirilloff in LF makes a great deal of sense to me. That's the only way you can get Kirilloff, Donaldson, Sao, and Arraez all in the lineup at the same time.