Physics Guy

I concur, just starting to wonder whether Iglesias is that option. I originally advocated for it, but I wonder if there is a rebuilding team that would be willing to trade a SS that is a step up from Iglesias.

Ranking of relievers on FA market (IMO): Kimbrel Britton Ottavino Familia Doolittle Robertson Miller Herrerra Rondon Allen I'd like to see them sign two from Familia and below. I think the top three will command too much money.

I don't think at this point that anybody is "in the lead".

I don't disagree that it's picking up quite a bunch, but they have less than 50M in salary even with likely arbitration signings. They could legitimately come close to affording that list. I personally would prioritize it as Donaldson, Iglesias, Herera, SP and lastly Pollock. I really like Pollock since he's a RH and can play CF, but realize OF is pretty low priority.

Sign Keuchel or Morton, Herrera, Donaldson, Iglesias and Pollock. SP - Keuchel/Morton, Berrios, Gibson, Odorizzi, Romero/Stewart/Pineda/Gonsalves RP - Herrera, Hildenberger, Rogers, May, Reed, ?,? C - Castro, Garver (Astudillo in AAA) 1B - Sano, Kepler 2B - Polanco SS - Iglesias, Adrianza 3B - Donaldson, Sano OF - Rosario, Buxton, Pollock, Kepler, Cave DH - Rotation of Donaldson, Sano and OF'ers I don't know if this is feasible salary-wise, but I do know that they are shedding a ton of salary this year.

And it sounds like he is from NY so I heard that the Yankees will probably push to sign him.

I think Buxton would be a strong indicator of this.

John, pretty sure you meant Joe Buck. Jack passed back in 2002. As for having Joe Buck's head explode, I'm with you.

Sounds like the optimal situation to me.

I would say that the Twins have said they are willing to let him reach FA and decide during the offseason whether they can afford or want to keep him. This is what a good FO should do. They've left their options open and have multiple possibilities in replacing him if they so choose.

I love that the Twins jumped on the buyer's market that was 2018 free agency. Getting LoMo at 6.5M per year is a steal and offers some veteran protection behind Sano. With that said, I wish the Twins had gone after Todd Frazier instead. Although Morrison significantly outperformed him last year, Frazier has the longer track record of better performance. Frazier is a RH bat that the Twins are lacking and also could rotate with Sano at 3B, potentially keeping him healthy. Two factors ultimately probably didn't encourage the Twins to sign Frazier. First, they were still potentially saving money to sign Darvish. The Morrison signing came after Darvish signed with the Cubs and the Twins traded for Odorizzi. Second, they didn't know Polanco was going to be suspended. Hindsight makes Frazier the better signing, but I'm still quite happy they signed Morrison. Frazier signed for 2yr/$17M, well within our salary constraints.

Trade for Machado right now and put him at SS.

Cobb vs Lynn doesn't much matter now. I just hope Lynn can start 30+ with an ERA under 4. If so, he's a good signing.

Why not? Do you think there is a significant difference between Cobb and Lynn? Cobb put up two seasons prior to TJ surgery with sub-3 ERA and 8K/9 in the AL East. My biggest concern with him is a lack of innings, although he put up about 180 last year.

I prefer Cobb to Lynn, so yes I would offer him that.

I'm going to post this without reading the entire thread. I've taken a couple of days off and am overwhelmed by the number of posts on multiple threads regarding the rotation. I want to comment on a few things that stuck in my mind as I read through part of this thread. I am in agreement with many of the posts that I would like to see the Twins improve the top of the rotation. I am very skeptical at this point that it will happen. As a result, I have to think they will do something to add to the middle of the rotation (better than or equal to Gibson's last half of 2017). McHugh would do that, I believe. I also think Cobb or Lynn could provide that. I would be fine with any of these. For those believing we can't compete without an ace, I ask you to look at the 2015 Royals and 2013 Red Sox. Neither team had a pitcher outperform Santana's 2017. It is possible to win with Santana/Berrios at the front of the rotation. I'm not saying the percentages are high, but it can be done. Removing the 9 starts by Gee, Tepesch, Wilk, Turley and Melville should help. We also had 6 starts by Enns, Slegers and Jorge, but I can live with those.

At his age, that would probably be for the best.

Wanted to include Garver, but chose to only include players who haven't made their major league debut. Garver would have been high on the list, possibly behind a couple of relievers who have had a cup of coffee with the Twins (Busenitz, Curtiss, Chargois).

Eades was probably next on my list. I chose Baxendale just because he has a better track record and his age indicates he needs to debut soon or become a minor league lifer.

Good list Cody. It would be great for Kepler to breakout and find a way to reach .700 OPS vs lefties. Berrios already had a breakout last year and taking another step above that would be great. Hildy also had an excellent "break-in" this past year and improvement above that would really make for a solid back end to the bullpen. My "breakouts" for 2018 would just be for Gibson, Polanco and Buxton to continue what they did the second half of 2017. I also would like to see Mejia get to around a 4.00 ERA and show consistency.

As much trouble as I had coming up with 10 candidates, I'm curious if anybody thinks I left somebody off the list that should be on it.

I see Wade as similar to Granite in that he's able to play all three OF positions and appears to be more of an on-base guy rather than power. He does appear to have more pop than Granite, but not the speed. He's likely a 4th OF, but with a somewhat different set of skills.

I agree, this would be a great option.

2017 was the season Twins fans have been waiting for. Although 2015 did offer a bit of a respite from several dreary seasons, it didn't feel as sustainable as last year's performance did. There are many reasons to think that the Twins may be on the road to a prolonged run at the playoffs. Our regular lineup has an excellent mix of productive veterans as well as young players establishing themselves, ranking right up there with the productive teams of the early 2000's. With this year's free agent signings, the bullpen has significant depth. This should allow them to bring up youngsters when they are ready rather than forcing them in due to need as we saw at times last year. The rotation has the potential to be solid, with the caveat that the Twins sign or trade for someone at least of the Alex Cobb or Lance Lynn ilk. There is great reason for hope in Twins Territory. With that in mind, I want to take a stab at something I attempted prior to the 2013 season. 2012 saw the Twins finish 66-96 and there was going to be plenty of opportunity for players to come up from the minors in 2013. I made an attempt to predict which players were most likely to come up the the big leagues that season. It was my spin on a Top 10 Prospect list, but focused on who could most help in 2013. http://twinsdaily.com/blog/324/entry-2284-prospects-for-2013/ Jump ahead to 2018 and this becomes a much more challenging task. The 2018 Twins have significantly fewer holes that the 2013 squad. It was a challenge to come up with ten players who have a chance to debut and rank them according to their potential to help this year's team. All players on this list would be making their big league debut. #10) DJ Baxendale - RP - Not a sexy pick to contribute to a deep bullpen, but posted sub-3.00 ERA seasons the past two years. I could see the Twins bringing him up as a long reliever during a stretch where the bullpen is overworked. The Twins used 21 pitchers as only relievers last year. #9) Mason Melotakis - RP - Could this be the year he finally breaks through? Melotakis will be 27 this year and while he continues to have relatively high K rates he needs to step up soon or he will be passed up. He is already well down the list of LH options. #8) Zack Littell - SP - Littell makes the list only because the Twins used 15 different starters last year. If it happens again, Littell likely makes his debut. He doesn't have the ceiling that some other prospects in the organization may have, but he has shown continued improvement as he's worked his way through the minors. In 2017 he went 19-1, stuck out 142 in 157 IP and had a 2.12 ERA. He only reached AA for the second half on the season, so a debut would most likely occur after the All-Star Break. #7) LaMonte Wade - OF - Wade is the first non-pitcher on the list, mainly because of the youth and strength of the Twins lineup. I just don't anticipate much opportunity for players to move up this year. If the Twins were to need an OF, Wade would likely be the first option among players who would be making their MLB debut. I could see it happening in the second half of the season. Wade appears to be a similar player to Zach Granite, albeit with more upside. 6) Tyler Kinley - RP - This comes with the assumption that the Twins either decide to keep him on the 25 man roster (doubtful) or are able to work out a trade to keep him. He assumes the position Josh Bard may have had if still with the Twins. I still don't quite get exposing Bard when it is believed Kinley has similar velocity but with less command. 5) Tyler Jay - RP - Jay would most likely be higher on this list, but health has limited his progression through the system. Jay is the first person on this list that I think is likely to get a callup this year. 4) Jake Reed - RP - Reed is my highest rated reliever on the list. He posted a 2.13 ERA in 37 IP between AA and AAA last year. Given the current makeup of the bullpen, I think he would be next in line after Busenitz, Curtis and Chargois (all have already debuted) to get a promotion to the Twins in 2018. Given Chargois' health history, he may only be behind Busenitz and Curtis. 3) Nick Gordon - Infield - Gordon is the only other non-pitcher on the list and would likely fill any needs for an infielder at Target Field. The only other option I could see making a debut this season is Levi Michael and I think we all know what the chances of that are. Gordon has not lit the world on fire thus far in the minors, nor has he been terrible. He just continues to climb up the ranks, spending his entire age-21 season at AA posting a .749 OPS. 2) Fernando Romero - SP - Romero has possibly the highest upside of starters in AA and AAA in the organization. He went 11-9 with a 3.53 ERA and 120 K in 125 IP this past year at Chattanooga. Health seems to be the only thing holding him back. He could use some seasoning a AAA before his debut sometime this season. 1) Stephen Gonsalves - SP - Gonsalves has the most experience of all the prospect starting pitchers and arguably the best production. He has a career ERA of 2.39 and has maintained high K rates throughout the his ascent through the minors. He got a taste of AAA this past season and will likely start there in 2018. He could be the first option for a callup, but might have to wait in line behind Trevor May, Aaron Slegers or Felix Jorge before debuting sometime after June 1. He is also the most likely player on this list to open the season with the Twins if they don't sign another starting pitcher.

Since it doesn't appear we can get appropriate value for Dozier, I would be in favor of trading Polanco if he can be a substantial piece in acquiring a pitcher at least at the Santana level. While I applaud Polanco's work at SS this year, I am still somewhat skeptical that he can remain there. He would be better served at 2B. As long as Dozier is around, Polanco won't be playing 2B. Cash him in for something we need if the feeling is that Gordon will be ready sometime in 2018. Esco and Adrianza, or a FA signing, can handle SS until he is ready.