Big City

Now that we've traded Span and Revere, what do we do next? The assumption is that we haven't signed any pitching so, let's get started there but I say, not so fast my friends. I'd say our biggest organizational need at this point has now shifted to SS. If we were to start the season today, the Twins could have a rotation that would look like this: #1 Diamond #2 Worley #3 Hendricks #4 Gibson #5 May/Deduno/DeVries/Hermsen/Blackburn Now you look at the Twins 2014 projected rotation and you start to see fewer holes: #1 Worley #2 Diamond #3 Gibson #4 May #5 Meyer/Hendricks/Hermsen/DeVries Based on that, do we really need to go out and sign 3 or even 2 SP's? Would it even be wise to sign 1 to a long-term deal? I'd say no. After trading Span and Revere I think TR's addressed a huge organizational concern and set up the Twins to sign one, maybe two starting pitchers to short-term contracts to bridge the gap. Shaun Marcum would be a perfect candidate on a 2-year deal and what about Brett Myers on a 2-3 year deal. With Myers, he could be stretched out to start the season in the rotation until Gibson is ready to take over. At that point Myers can be shifted back to the bullpen where the Twins have another need. Finally, getting to the SS position. If the Twins seriously hope to contend or even compete in 2013 they need to address their middle infield. By signing Stephen Drew to a 3-year $33 million we may be able to guarantee his services. Signing Drew would shift Carroll to 2nd and demote Florimon, Escobar, and/or Dozier to AAA where they belong. This could also create the opportunity/option to trade Willingham and move Plouffe to LF if Sano is ready for the call in 2014. It would also create the opportunity/option to trade Carroll when/if Rosario is also ready for his call in 2014. With these moves I've suggested the Twins could be highly competitive in 2013: CF Mastrionni/Hicks SS Drew C Mauer LF Willingham 1B Morneau DH Doumit RF Parmalee 3B Plouffe 2B Carroll SP Marcum SP Worley SP Diamond SP Myers SP Hendricks In 2014, having traded Morneau, Willingham, Carroll, and Marcum (with those trades, I'd suggest targeting a top SS, C, and SP prospect): CF Hicks SS Drew C Mauer 1B Parmalee DH Doumit LF Plouffe RF Arcia 3B Sano 2B Rosario SP Worley SP Diamond SP Gibson SP May SP Meyer

That dollar figure tells me there's more background to this story than any of us know because he's been projected to earn at least $10 million per season for that amount of years. Maybe he preferred to stay of the West Coast but the Angels, Dodgers, Padres, or A's weren't interested? In my opinion, this deal is perfect from the Twins standpoint. I was never a big fan of McCarthy's because of his injury history, the average annual salary doesn't inflate the market on comparable SP's, and this takes the Diamondbacks out of the market for a SP. Here's now hoping the Brewers sign Dempster, the Rangers sign Greinke, and the Dodgers sign Lohse. That would leave Anibal Sanchez and Edwin Jackson (my two favorite SP's on the market not named Greinke) and the Twins, Tigers, Royals, and maybe the Blue Jays, Angels, and Red Sox to compete with. Other pitchers still available we might target are Marcum, Villanueva, and Saunders. I'm not totally punting 2013 even after trading Span and Revere. Although outstanding defensively, Span and Revere brought little to no pop to our lineup. Replace them with Hicks and Parmalee and you could argue our lineup could be better. Now insert Anibal Sanchez, Worley, Diamond, Saunders, Hendricks/Gibson/Deduno/Blackburn and we have a solid not stellar starting rotation. If at the trade deadline we're out of playoff contention we could trade Morneau, Carroll, and Willingham for some good prospects.

If the Sox offered up Middlebrooks, Lavarnway, Boegarts, Barnes and Webster you'd have to listen, right???

Edwin Jackson 4-years $48 million Ryan Dempster 3-years $33 million Francisco Liriano 1-year $2 million

CF Revere C Mauer LF Willingham 1B Morneau 3B Youkillis DH Doumit RF Parmalee 2B Carroll SS Florimon Bench: Plouffe Mastrionni Escobar Butera (until mid-season when he's waived and Hermann gets the call) A lot of what the lineup might look like will depend on Morneau and how he's swinging the bat. If he's rekindled his stroke than I see him batting 4th if not, then they might think about moving him to #5, Mauer to #3, and Willingham to #4, with Carroll sliding to #2. I also slotted Youkillis as our 3B. What's TR talking about that the Twins are looking for a 3B? Is this his way of lighting a fire under Plouffe this off-season or are we seriously in the market for an upgrade?

My 3 would be: Edwin Jackson $14mil 4-years Ryan Dempster$11mil 3-years Joe Blanton $8mil 2-years A total of $33 mill annually so I went over but not by much.

· In an interview with 1500 ESPN Twin Cities radio (via Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN), Twins assistant GM Rob Antony said his team will likely pursue free agents over trades at the Winter Meetings. "We probably don't have a lot of pieces that we do have to trade for starting pitching [with Denard Span now gone]," Antony said. "We'll probably be a little more aggressive and spend our time at the winter meetings talking to agents rather than clubs." Does anyone have any idea which SP's the Twins have circled as potential targets? With the subtraction of Span we now are about $25 million under payroll from last season. TR's been quoted as saying we need top starting pitchers so, which 3 top SP's could we sign for around $25 annually?

Wow, surprising it's not a more MLB ready SP like Delgado or Leake, neither of whom I was all that excited about. Good to see we just added our future potential #1. God bless Span, he's a great guy and a really good baseball player and he'll definitely be missed but this was best for all parties. I'm shocked this move didn't happen at the Winter Meetings but maybe TR has something else cooking for Willingham and/or Morneau. Still 3-4 spots left to fill in the rotation, what's going to happen next???

I'd trade both Mauer and Morneau to the Red Sox for: Ryan Lavaranway Will Middlebrooks Xander Bogaerts and 1 or 2 of: Matt Barnes Allen Webster Anthony Ranaudo If the Twins made this move, I think they'd have to trade Span and Willingham in order to build a team that could blossom together. Maybe package them to Atlanta for Delgado and Teheran or to the Mariners for Hultzen and Paxton. With all of these moves, our 2014 roster would look something like this: CF Revere LF Hicks 3B Middlebrooks 1B Parmalee DH Sano RF Arcia SS Bogaerts C Lavaranway 2B Rosario SP Hultzen SP Gibson SP Paxton SP Diamond SP Barnes

Trade Willingham to the Mariners for Danny Hultzen, Span to the Braves for Randal Delgado, and Morneau to the Red Sox for Allen Webster. We'd then have a pile of money to sign Cody Ross to replace Willingham and a solid SP like Sanchez or Jackson to top off the rotation.

Yes to Medlan, Minor, or Hanson. Yes, to Delgado if they included another pitcher prospect like Gilmartin or Graham. I think Ryan's just leveraging Span more by demanding a RH bat in return so, since the Braves can't provide it they'll have to settle on Span. This is a deal that needs to get done though, even if we do trade Willingham. What about signing Cody Ross to replace Willingham?

Comparing Sano to Harper is tough for me to make because Harper physically looks the same today then he did when he was drafted. Sano on the other hand came into our organization much younger than Harper and has physically matured from being a medium sized SS to a taller beefier version of himself. That's why I don't see the rush to promote him through the ranks and sacrifice his value by playing him as a DH, 1B, or RF. According to scouts, his coordination even in the AFL has improved giving him positive defensive reviews. I'd give Sano another year or two to physically develop and improve his 3B defense in the minors especially consdering he's on the same trajectory to be promoted with Rosario and Arcia. A 2014 IF consisting of Mauer, Parmalee, Rosario and Sano with Arcia, Revere and Hicks in the OF is my manifest destiny.