NoCryingInBaseball

My blueprint evolution Constructing Twins off-season blueprint has been an interesting exercise the past couple of years. There have been many needs to fill and the team tried to fill those needs with multiple trades and acquisitions. It is my humble opinion that the Twins limit their FA acquisitions & trades to one big transaction for each year for the next three years. The two obvious positions wind up on most everyone’s blueprint this off season would be corner-outfielder (left field) and staring pitching. I would limit the big move for the 2014-2015 offseason to a left fielder. I’m not saying that staring pitching has less of a need, far from it, this team desperately needs good starting pitching to be competitive, it’s just that a quality FA starter would most likely only consider a team with playoff potential and that will not be the Twins in 2015. 2014-15 My 14-15 offseason would focus (big splash) on a FA acquisition for Left-Field. While I am hopeful that Rosario or Hicks become major league contributor, although I have lost faith in Hicks’s potential comes around, Centerfield remains open until Buxton takes ownership of the role. I would limit the off-season acquisition(s) to outfielders (or infielders in need of extending their careers) by waiting for the high price position players get their contracts and then make a deal with who’s still available. I’m not as interested in adding a lot of arms to the rotation because there seems to be a lot of starters that need major league starts. Sure I would like Scherzer, Shields or Lester, but even if management was willing to spend the large salaries they can demand…they probably wouldn’t come to Minnesota because the team won’t be a playoff team come October. It seems that the front office is looking at Justin Masterson and South Korean Hyeon-Jong Yang, but I’m questioning where all the starting arms will find playing time. 2015-16 The big move for this offseason would be a trade for a young pitching prospect. If Sano is major-league ready and is promoted in mid-summer to fall call up, then Plouffe is tradable. If Hicks or Rosario aren’t competing (or controlling) a position and still possess marketable skills then one of them is also tradable. Maybe Rosario is playing better than Dozier (unlikely) and there is enough outfielders…then Dozier is marketable. The organization should start to have a better understanding of how their starters are doing and which of them should be on the staff for the next couple of years. There could be a log-jam with Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco, Mays, Meyers, Berrios and possibly Kohl Stewart being in the Rotation Sweepstakes. And there may be more starters in the mix by the end of 2015 if the team picks up a starter and they haven’t been traded away starters during the season. Hughes’s contract will expire after the 2016 season, so maybe the Twins trade him or resign him to a contract extension. Trade individually or trade as a package, just get top pitching prospects (top five prospect of an organization) in return. Hopefully no lower than Double A. 2016-17 The disinterested Free Agent pitching dilemma the past few years should no longer be an issue this year, if the prospects have begun to show their respective talent and the team will begin to look like a contender team. Trouble is that is still in need of top talent pitching. I would like to go after a true ace after the 2016 season and Stephen Strasburg would be a free agent that off-season….so why not field a team with Strasburg leading the rotation?

The Twins and free agent catcher Kurt Suzuki are in agreement on a one-year deal, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The deal is pending a physical, which is scheduled to take place later today.

Tomorrow is June and I started thinking about the July trade deadline which means what to do with Morneau? His batting average has returned to a respectable .294, but he lost his homerun power swing with only two for the year. It's his contract year and the prevailing sentiment at the beginning of the year was to let him go because Parmelee's natural position was 1st base and he was a power hitter. Then Parmelee went into a funk and has only recently started showing signs that he might be having more respectable plate appearances. Morneau is making $14 million through this contract and may not be willing to accept a significant cut. So what does the Twins organization do, trade him now for a prospect or try to lock him in with a less amount of salary?

Tomorrow is June and I started thinking about the July trade deadline which means what to do with Morneau? His batting average has returned to a respectable .294, but he lost his homerun power swing with only two for the year. It's his contract year and the prevailing sentiment at the beginning of the year was to let him go because Parmelee's natural position was 1st base and he was a power hitter. Then Parmelee went into a funk and has only recently started showing signs that he might be having more respectable plate appearances. Morneau is making $14 million through this contract and may not be willing to accept a significant cut. So what does the Twins organization do, trade him now for a prospect or try to lock him in with a less amount of salary?

...with an accent.

Ohhh, You meant Boston.

OK, maybe I was a little down after that Kevin Correia signing…sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. Really can’t recall anyone attempting a positive spin on the acquisition. Thing is, Terry Ryan continues to say that the Twins are not done and they need more starters. Now the Twins have acquired Mike Pelfrey who might have a chance of contributing, depending how he comes back from the Tommy John surgery early last year (kind of the same situation that Scott Baker would have been). I noticed that both of these guys were on the list of pitchers the Twins organization were talking with during the winter meetings, so who's left? One good news story-line is that talks broke down with Liriano; but John Lannon is going to the Phillies and Joe Blanton is going to the LA Angels, leaving the names the Twins have offers (or just conversations) out still in play…Joe Saunders, Shaun Marcum, Brett Myers, Jair Jerrjens, and Vinente Padilla. Sure hope to see a signing from a name in the front of the list rather than the end of the list.

OK, maybe I was a little down after that Kevin Correia signing…sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. Really can’t recall anyone attempting a positive spin on the acquisition. Thing is, Terry Ryan continues to say that the Twins are not done and they need more starters. Now the Twins have acquired Mike Pelfrey who might have a chance of contributing, depending how he comes back from the Tommy John surgery early last year (kind of the same situation that Scott Baker would have been). I noticed that both of these guys were on the list of pitchers the Twins organization were talking with during the winter meetings, so who's left? One good news story-line is that talks broke down with Liriano; but John Lannon is going to the Phillies and Joe Blanton is going to the LA Angels, leaving the names the Twins have offers (or just conversations) out still in play…Joe Saunders, Shaun Marcum, Brett Myers, Jair Jerrjens, and Vinente Padilla. Sure hope to see a signing from a name in the front of the list rather than the end of the list.

Now that Zack Greinke has signed a $147 million deal with the LA Dodgers, does the log jam begin to unravel? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/dodgers-to-sign-zack-greinke.html Maybe I’m way off, but are Sanchez, Jackson and Lohse the next dominoes to fall? If they are, does that take teams that seem to be in on all the talks with FA starters off the market? I keep reading LA Angles, Red Sox and Royals (obviously there are others), if they spend their Monopoly Money and leave the arena, are the Twins better positioned for Marcum, Saunders or Myers?

Now that Zack Greinke has signed a $147 million deal with the LA Dodgers, does the log jam begin to unravel? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/dodgers-to-sign-zack-greinke.html Maybe I’m way off, but are Sanchez, Jackson and Lohse the next dominoes to fall? If they are, does that take teams that seem to be in on all the talks with FA starters off the market? I keep reading LA Angles, Red Sox and Royals (obviously there are others), if they spend their Monopoly Money and leave the arena, are the Twins better positioned for Marcum, Saunders or Myers?

Now that Zack Greinke has signed a $147 million deal with the LA Dodgers, does the log jam begin to unravel? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/dodgers-to-sign-zack-greinke.html Maybe I’m way off, but are Sanchez, Jackson and Lohse the next dominoes to fall? If they are, does that take teams that seem to be in on all the talks with FA starters off the market? I keep reading LA Angles, Red Sox and Royals (obviously there are others), if they spend their Monopoly Money and leave the arena, are the Twins better positioned for Marcum, Saunders or Myers?

Now that Zack Greinke has signed a $147 million deal with the LA Dodgers, does the log jam begin to unravel? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/dodgers-to-sign-zack-greinke.html Maybe I’m way off, but are Sanchez, Jackson and Lohse the next dominoes to fall? If they are, does that take teams that seem to be in on all the talks with FA starters off the market? I keep reading LA Angles, Red Sox and Royals (obviously there are others), if they spend their Monopoly Money and leave the arena, are the Twins better positioned for Marcum, Saunders or Myers?

I have Hicks replacing Mastroianni in center by mid-season and Dozier winning the 2nd base starting role. 1) CF Mastroianni ® 2) RF Parmelee (L) 3) C Mauer (L) 4) LF Willingham ® 5) 1B Morneau (L) 6) DH Doumit (S) 7) 3B Plouffe ® 8) SS Florimon (S) 9) 2B Dozier ®

ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported that Jason Marquis will sign with San Diego. Now I can breathe a sign of relief.

ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported that Jason Marquis will sign with San Diego. Now I can breathe a sign of relief.

Whoa, I have been so focused on staring pitching, or the need of help with the starting rotation, that I haven’t considered the “hole” with the position players. The Twins have several position prospects that will either be starting in 2014 or 15. The outfield has Ben Revere, Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia, not to mention Byron Buxton will not be far behind and he seems to have a much higher upside. In the infield, with Eddie Rosario at 2nd, Miguel Sano at 3rd and Chris Parmelee at 1st, it looked like the infield was developing into a decent group…but then the reality post you gave us this morning. The starting rotation still stands out as the greatest need for the organization. Scott Diamond and Kyle Gibson might establish themselves as part of the Twins future team, but other minor leaguers (Liam Hendriks, Alex Wimmers, B.J. Hermsen and Hudson Boyd) can only be listed as questionable starting potential and the reason the organization needs more long-term answers for the rotation. Now I have to start worrying about a short-stop for the Twins to be a solid contending team in a couple years.

I realize that Ryan relies on his generalize and cover-all-the bases type of response to all questions, like “there are a lot of starters we need to look at” or “we need to make sure we put the right people in the right place”, but I too would be interested in more specifics. The biggest question I have is about multi-year contracts for a starting pitcher. Given the reluctance to for a three of four-year contract in the past, does anything change with the Morneau contract going off the books in 2014? Regardless of whether Morneau is traded during the off-season or during the season, there seems little reason to resign him for 2014, which leaves $14 million available that could be part of a SP multi-year deal.

I realize that Ryan relies on his generalize and cover-all-the bases type of response to all questions, like “there are a lot of starters we need to look at” or “we need to make sure we put the right people in the right place”, but I too would be interested in more specifics. The biggest question I have is about multi-year contracts for a starting pitcher. Given the reluctance to for a three of four-year contract in the past, does anything change with the Morneau contract going off the books in 2014? Regardless of whether Morneau is traded during the off-season or during the season, there seems little reason to resign him for 2014, which leaves $14 million available that could be part of a SP multi-year deal.