halfchest

Almost forgot about Rosario and Hicks. Just lots of solid guys on the cusp where the right veteran acquisitions might make the difference.

I don't think anyone can blame you. I'm giving him one more year though. I really do feel like this might be the year they put some coin out there. It really made little sense last year to start spending too much on guys. Now we actually have some prospects getting close to debuting either this or next year or just debuted. It's quite realistic that all of Meyer, Gibson, May, Pinto, Sano, Buxton, Tonkin come up and stay up this year. Last year we were hoping Hicks would be good and that Gibson might be ready at some point. This year we have a lot more guys close to contributing. If all goes well we could be in the wildcard hunt with 2 or 3 good starting pitcher acquisitions. A Garza,Arroyo,Gibson,Correia, Deduno/Worley/Diamond starting 5 wouldn't look so bad especially if you figure Meyer and May are ready to come up by midseason.

This would be welcome news for sure. A four year 60 million deal would be perfect for him. Heck I'd even add a fifth if we could get Garza over Nolasco. Again, plenty of room to spend some coin and no major impending free agents/arbitration guys for the next handful of years. I like it, hope all this smoke is from a fire and not just a steaming pile of crap.

Some are suggesting Kazmir only gets one year. I gotta think with his performance he should easily get 2 but I would be surprised to see more than 2 plus an option for him. I just think with what he did some team is gonna give him an extra year just to get him to sign. At the same time, it might be a smart gamble for Kazmir to do a one year deal. If he has another year like he just did, he could be in line for a really nice 3-4 year deal next off season. I like the suggested idea of Arroyo - 2 years, Kazmir - 2 + an option, and Nolasco 4 + an option. Still don't stick the team with anything way too long term. Nolasco at worst should be a solid middle innings guy and with the current and forseeable payroll it won't limit them from future signings.

I can't say I prefer Hughes over Kazmir necessarily but maybe a little insight. Hughes has been healthy at least over the past few years with around 30 starts in 3 of last 4 years. His ERA is close to a full run less away from Yankee Stadium. He's given up almost double the homers in Yankee Stadium than away in close to the same innings over his career. It's been stated before but his fly ball tendencies might play really nice in Target Field. Especially if we've got an outfield of Buxton/Hicks/Rosario/Arcia by the end of 2014. His ERA was also driven up last year due to a high BABIP. He might be a really nice buy low option for the Twins due to these factors. I say go get 'em both on 2-3 year deals. Both should be affordable enough and wouldn't hamstring the organization.

Nice article. You really sold me on some of these guys especially Ubaldo My 2014 preferred rotation Ubaldo Jiminez - You sold me on him Josh Johnson/Kazmir - Homer Bailey - trade anyone but Buxton/Meyer/Sano to get him and extend Kyle Gibson Correia This is a rotation could vault us back into the conversation. With our prospects coming up on the offensive side and Meyer we could be set up to contend for a wild card (best case scenario) and definitely be setting ourselves up for a nice 2015 team.

Sorry didn't finish that last comment. Basically this sinks around 30 million into the rotation for a couple years. That still gives us 10 million to play with this year to add apposition player. Plus you've got the hammer, Correia, and Doumit all coming off the books in 2015 to give us 16 million more to play with that year. No major players are in arb or will be in arb by 2015 so that's not a major concern there. The Twins are in a nice spot payroll and farm system wise. They can risk a little and overpay for a mid rotation arm, trade for a top of the rotation arm and sign an upside guy without hamstringing the franchise financially or selling the farm.

I know some have cited next year as a better crop of free agents. Sure there are a few more guys who you might consider aces like scherzer or bailey but that's a long ways away, it seems like some of those guys always sign extensions before they're let go. I would push for a 1-1-1 model to take a measured approach, to free agency, the farm system and the pitching staff. 1. Sign one decent starting pitcher, don't break the bank. Really any of the above guys makes sense. I'm thinking a 3-4 year deal getting around 10-12 million per year. Hughes, Kazmir, Arroyo. whoever, I suppose you could delve a little higher if they feel they can risk it cashwise. But do a deal like this that will add a little stability. I'd be hoping for a guy with a #3 floor (barring injury). 2. Take a flier - Go after a Josh Johnson or Johan on a 1-2 year deal maybe w/ an option. Gives you a high upside guy that could sit on IR or possibly be the Ace you are looking for for a year or two while our other guys develop. 3. Make a trade. We've got a rich farm system and while I don't want to be giving Tampa their next Rookie of the year for David Price maybe giving Detroit a call on Scherzer, or the Reds on Bailey is a smart move. Gives you a top of the rotation guy and even if we give up 2-3 good prospects we're still sitting w/ a nice farm system and a top 5 pick coming into the system next year. An extension is a must though if you're giving up valuable pieces to get a guy like this. 2014 rotation Kazmir 8-10 million 2-3 years Johnson/Johan 1-2 years Bailey/Scherzer 4-5 year extension at 15-20 per That's a decent 123 and you've then got Gibson/Correia/Deduno/Worley/Diamond/Meyer fighting for the other 2-3 spots. We've got money sunk into the rotation sure cuz

I don't know Pinto seems like something clicked over the last couple years. He's had a .844 OPS in 2012 and .882 OPS in 2013 along with a really nice start in the majors. Will he be a .850 OPS hitter? Probably not. Could he be around .800 though? I think so. I think he wasn't on prospect lists because a year ago he had had one nice season. Well now he built on that with an even more impressive season this year. Nice K/BB ratio and 15 HR pop. Probably should be a top 100 prospect if he doesn't use up his eligibility. I guess in my plan he would be the primary C and DH maybe 30-50 games. I agree with you on Hermann but it is nice that he can at least be a solid emergency option in the outfield, possibly late game defensive replacement type guy.

What value he loses moving to 1B vs C he can at least partially make up for by playing more games which I assume he will. I liked his 2012 where he played about half the games at catcher took a dozen off and split the other half between 1B and DH. I think he can bring some value by being available to play C and probably could learn corner outfield. Let's say the Twins have Hermann and Josmil as the teams catchers with Joe at 1B. Josmil seems to have enough bat to play some DH and could possibly learn 1B as well. Hermann can play some C and is reportedly a solid defender at OF. I honestly haven't seen him enough to judge but reports I've read seem to say he's a good corner outfielder. The point I'm saying does a platoon situation of Mauer as primary 1B playing maybe 20-30 games at C a year along with Pinto and Hermann make sense? I would push for Pinto to learn 1B as well. That way you can avoid callups if a guy has to miss a few days. Three capable catchers that are capable of filling DH and 1B on a semi regular basis could have some value. Oh, and Doumit.

I mean yah Correia maybe, but really, 5 million shouldn't guarantee him anything. He's been better than expected but if someone else earns it there's no reason Alex Meyer, Deduno, May, Worley, etc. wouldn't kick him out of a spot if they show up in the spring. I figure the Twins should plan on maybe two or three rotation spots being filled from the current roster. That's assuming Gibson steps it up and shows he's a big league guy, then one or two from the list you named. I really hope they don't just hand Correia a job because of his contract. With the free money it really makes sense to go after some guys with top end upside because really the only top end upside we have is Gibson and Meyer right now (maybe May) but none of them have proven a thing at the big league level. None of the upcoming free agents will command 5-6 year deals right? So they can be signed for 2-4 year deals and won't cripple this franchise especially when you look at current long term commitments. If they work out, great, if not, well you deal with it and hope you can find a use for them in the bullpen etc. There are no amazing starting pitchers coming up in 2015 so really it does make sense to spend this off season on some lottery tickets. Lots of guys who have done it before and could do it again. Pick up three of them and hope 2 work out. Then fill the rest of the rotation as best you can.

He had a bad ten games and has been solid since. He went 2/45 in those ten and since then has a .700 ops with good d and good base running. I'll also mention that .700 ops is better than either span or revere this year. Now I'll admit I wanted him in aaa for the first half and still think that might have been the right move but I'm happy with how he's been since the first half do April

The big thing I look for him to improve on is his BB rate. He's never hit for a huge average even last year his breakout year he only hit .280 but his OBP has always been at least 100 points higher than his BA since his first year in pro ball. I think he can replicate that with more time. He may never be a star but he'll be a really nice bridge to Buxton and hopefully hit for enough power to justify RF in a couple years and be able to more than adequately fill in at CF and as a result give the Twins more bench flexibility by not needing a weak hitting fourth OF that can play defense.

I just spent a little time on BBREF looking at Hicks and was really encouraged by what I saw. If you throw out his awful 10 game start where he was like 2-45 with 20 Ks(holy crap) he has a .709 OPS which is better than both Revere and Span. If you go further and throw out April he has a .722 OPS and if you throw out April and May he's hit .759 given that's only ten games but still. The point is that he's been slowly getting better as the season went on. When you add in the fact that he skipped AAA and missed three weeks when he was really heating up and has provided great defense throughout I'm more than excited for Mr. Hicks future. I'm already dreaming of the 2015 outfield defensively and offensively of Arcia/Buxton/Hicks. No one is getting an easy hit or taking an extra base on that trio.

A risers and fallers list might be kind of cool, and a surprise pitcher/hitter of the month. Someone who it might not be the best performance but one that kind of came out of nowhere. Gotta start wondering who might get an early season promotion. If some of these guys keep it up through May it's gonna be hard to not promote them, right?

There are a few decent at best names coming out next year for starting pitchers in Haren, Garza (not gonna sign here), Phil Hughes, Gavin Floyd, Ubaldo Jiminez, etc. and I don't see much point in looking to 2015 yet as a lot of those guys will get resigned before free agency hits. It will be interesting to see if they go after one of the better names on that list or not. It kinda makes me think they might just hold onto Willingham since they'll have the payroll room if they want. Assume you've got Hicks and Arcia in 2014 with Parmelee switching to 1B, then you may as well continue to have Willingham play RF unless you can get good enough value for him.

46.25 Million. Right now that is the Twins payroll obligations for next year. Now that doesn't take into account any arb. eligible or minimum players but even with them figured in which includes Worley, Plouffe, Swarzak, and Roenicke as 1st year Arbitration and Duensing and Butera as 2nd year arbitration cases. I can't see any of these guys breaking the bank. Maybe Worley and Plouffe get paid decent but I'm thinking even with all these guys the Twins will be sitting at around 55-60 million in salary before any free agent or trade acquisitions. I don't see the Twins signing an Ace ever. I hate to say it I just don't think they will and I'm not sure they should. Now by an Ace I'm talking a 100 million or more free agent who is an absolute top 20 pitcher in the league when they sign. Guys like Greinke, CC, Cliff Lee, Halladay. However, next year there are a number of guys who could be great upgrades over most of our rotation in the form of Josh Johnson, Dan Haren, TIM LINCECUM!!! (if he ever returns to form). Ubaldo Jiminez, and a few others. While none of these guys are true Aces right now, unless Lincecum rediscovers his past form, they all could be a good #2ish veteran starters that could round out a nice rotation with Diamond, Meyer, Gibson, Worley, and May there to fill the rest of the rotation out. It seems they'll have some moola next year and it will have to go somewhere. Sadly the collection of positional free agents is uninspiring to say the least so it really wouldn't surprise me to see the Twins spend on some pitching next year. Then again, I thought that would happen this past offseason and it just meant pelfrey and Correia.

I was thinking the same thing. I watched both games this weekend and saw him come back from 0-2 and 1-2 counts to draw walks I was like dang. It's a very small sample size but he didn't look scared at the plate like he did in some of the games even a week ago. My thoughts since bringing him up and he struggled those first couple games was well, you gotta give him at least six weeks and see if he can turn it around. Hopefully this week was a sign of things to come from him and he can start getting the barrel on the ball to go along with these walks.

It's not about the 2 million it's about the possible future value. If one of Dozier, Florimon, or Escobar breaks out, and by breakout I mean proves to be a serviceable starter, there's five more years of a mostly cost controlled starter. I think all three are still viable to become serviceable starters. By that I mean they can all be solid to above average defensively and not be lost with the bat. I'm not expecting a ton from any of these guys but say best case scenario these three can fill SS, 2B, and Utility for the next few years that allows for more money to be poured into other areas. I guess what I'm saying is it makes sense to start these guys and give them an extended look to see if they can truly hold their own. I believe the Twins can find one starter and a utility guy out of these three and that alone represents solid value for future hopefully contending Twins teams in 2014 and beyond

Just got back from Florida and Brian started at 2B for the three games I watched. I am obviously no scout or expert, or even a blogger but holy crap did he pass the eye test. Guy was making plays left and right honestly. My Brother in law and father in law were with me and are what you'd probably consider to be casual fans. They were both asking me all kinds of questions about Dozier because of the plays he made. Neither remembered him from last year and I explained yah, he wasn't too memorable. He was a part of multiple double plays over the three games and especially Wednesday night he made at least two or three very good diving plays. Even saw him do the Jeter I'm running the other way and somehow throwing it to first jump throw. Dead on and out. He also go screwed by the ump on a very close play at first for a double play on Saturdays game. Just a ton of fun to watch him. I think at least defensively he and Florimon or Escobar are going to look good defensively this year. If he can swing the bat even a little better than last year and maybe get on base at a .350 clip he could be a great role player for the Twins. What did you think of him Nick when you were down in FL?

I'm going down next week any recommendations? I'm going to the Wednesday and Saturday games and going to try buy cheap scalped tix at the red sox stadium on Friday night. Especially interested in the Cuban food and where can I find practice schedules?

You have to think Rosario, May, and Berrios aren't far off of this list either. Easy top 200 maybe even 150. Pretty exciting time to watch the farm, just have to hope the bulk of them can develop into big leaguers

Gotta like Appel if he's available. I can't imagine the guy holding out and ending up playing Independent Ball for a year. If he does it a second time I can't see any team wasting a high pick on him the following year. That said he'll go for slot at least, I just can't see him being unreasonable like he was this past year. The best thing about him is that he'll likely move fast through the system to join the other guys that should be ready by 2014. We could easily be looking at a 2014 rotation made up of some combo Meyer, May, Gibson, Appel(at some point), Diamond, Hendriks, Worley. That's not including guys like BJ Hermsen and Alex Wimmers who have a shot to be right there with a good year. That's a nice group to have fighting for rotations spots come 2014 and 2015.

I'd like to see them buy low on Romero. Guess I dont' know why he dropped off so harsh this last year but I think depending on the cost he'd be a nice upside guy to take off their hands.

His age is really interesting to me and I think it is overlooked how young he is. He spent his Age 23 season in AAA/Majors and was dominant in AAA plus his second half in the majors wasn't that bad. He had a 4.4 ERA and mediocre peripherals but he dropped his hits per nine and his WHIP significantly while his K and BB rates remained stable. He showed improvement and that's what counts. For comparison our two new shiny pitching prospects May and Meyer will both be 23 and likely spend the bulk of their years in AA this year. While yes they have nicer scouting reports and peripheral numbers they will be a full level to two levels below where Hendriks was at the same age. In addition Hendriks is an international prospect which, correct me if I'm wrong, they generally take longer to develop as well? If that's true it shows how well he's doing despite his age. I'm a believer in him as a nice 3-4 pitcher for years to come. Not likely to be a star but should be a solid contributor to the rotation. I'm excited about having him, Worley, and Diamond to be the guts of this rotation. Now just hoping 2 of Gibson,May, and Meyer can turn into 1-2 type talent.