cjm0926

I did this same thing a week ago on here for a 2025 Roster everything here is the exact same that I put except I put Sabato at DH instead of Sano.

Gausman and Ray signed for $22 and $23 million. They both have shown ace stuff the past few years. Many teams believe Stroman would be a good #2, not an ace. Also, with him being towards the end of the high end pitching free agents, many teams have found their guy, causing less competition. Also with Stroman talking a lot on social media recently that could drive some teams away. I think a deal of $20 million AAV is very close to what he gets, whether it is 3-5 years

Yea I will agree, I did undershoot Knebel. When you said Bassit is 32, that made it seem like you dont want him due to that. Sonny Gray is also 32, maybe it was just a misunderstanding on my part, but I don't understand that. I wouldnt want to trade our higher end young talent, like Larnach, or likely future rotation pieces, like Winder and Sands, for a year or two of a pitcher. It all just depends on what the other team wants I guess. I would much rather trade for Manaea out of all you mentioned, due to certain factors, but that is just me.

Sorry didn't even notice that. I forgot to change the Sano salary that is put in at 1B($9.25), to Kirilloffs salary ($0.6)

I may have undershot the salary for Knebel for a bit but I do not think he will get $10 million. If he was a workhorse then certainly, but he only pitched 25.2 innings last year. I could be wrong, I just don't see it happening. Maybe 7-8 million though. Kepler is certainly capable of playing center field. In his career he has logged over 1100 innings there. He also has a perfect fielding percentage, and 3 DRS. He isn't Byron Buxton in center field but can certainly hold his own. He would certainly be their best option to this point.

Some of you may have read my article I wrote about 3 weeks ago with my plans for the 2022 offseason. If you want to check it out, the link is here I had us signing Stroman, Story, trading for Luis Severino (Which I still think would be a great idea), and trading for Zac Gallen. Obviously that wasn't going to happen and surely won't happen now. I decided to come up with a bit more of a realistic offseason we could possibly have. With free agents now signing it affects who we can go after. As a matter of fact, Alex Cobb to the Giants came out as a was writing this article. The Twins future seems much more bright with the Buxton extension. It was looking like we would go into a full rebuild not more than 3 days ago. Without further ado, the blueprint. Edit: Kirilloff salary should be $0.6 Million, bringing team total to $125.45 Million There are a few new names in this blueprint, but there is a solid chunk of guys that will be returning. I made a few trades, and signed a few free agents. The free agents include one of the top starting pitchers, Marcus Stroman. I sign Marcus to a 4 year, $80 million contract. For the other free agents I sign a starting pitcher, 2 bullpen arms, and a shortstop. The other starting pitcher is one we are familiar with in Twins territory, Michael Pineda. He will eat quality innings for the team. He is not a top of the rotation starter, and has some injury issues, but it seems like you can always rely on Big Mike to keep you in the ballgame. It is not an exciting move, but one that could pay off. I sign him to a 2 year, $16 million deal. Next, I sign 2 bullpen arms. They are both low risk, moderate to high reward. The first one is Brad Hand, he is signed to a 1 year, $2.5 million deal. I then sign Corey Knebel to a 1 year, $5 million deal. They are 2 guys that are veterans and have had success, so it is pretty self explanatory. Lastly, at shortstop, I sign Jose Iglesias to a 1 year, $3 million deal. He is merely a stopgap for Royce Lewis, or whoever will take the reigns at shortstop in the near future. Now onto the trades. For the trades I make a trade with the Yankees, and the Athletics. The Athletics have publicly said they are looking to reduce payroll drastically this offseason. They have 3 good starting pitchers many teams will be interested in. I choose Sean Manaea. He costs the least in terms of trade value, since he is a free agent next offseason and is the most expensive of the 3. During Manaea's career, he has posted a 107 ERA+, making him a decently above league average pitcher during that time. For the trade, I would make it a bit more interesting , taking more salary off of Oaklands hands. I am including Stephen Piscotty in the trade. He is under contract through this year as well with a club option next year. He is set to make $7.25 million this year, which could help with the trade package for Manaea. For Piscotty and Manaea, I am sending Oakland Emmanuel Rodriguez, an 18 year old outfielder, and Drew Strotman. You may be thinking screw Piscotty, we only want Manaea, but I have a reason of getting him due to another trade I will make. If Manaea plays well during the season, we would extend him for 2-3 more years, to gain certainty in the rotation. For my second and last trade, I trade with the dark side. I give up Max Kepler and Mitch Garver for top SS prospect, Oswald Peraza. The Yankees are looking for catching help and don't have a centerfielder. Mitch Garver provides a big upgrade to Gary Sanchez for the Yankees. The reason I am trading Garver is because he is getting to that age where he will likely not catch for much longer. 1B/DH and catchers values differ immensely. I also trade Kepler to man CF in the Bronx. As much as I hate to say it, I think Kepler could blossom playing for Yankees, with the short porch in right. In return, we get Oswald Peraza. The Yankees currently have 2 good shortstop prospects, Peraza and Anthony Volpe. The Yankees and all of baseball value Volpe way more, and rightfully so. I think Volpe is virtually untouchable, so I go after Peraza. Peraza is 10 months older than Volpe, but has posted good results in AAA, although it was a small sample size. Volpe hasn't been above A-ball yet. The rest of the lineup is pretty straightforward. In the infield we have Jeffers at catcher, Kirilloff at 1B, Polanco at 2B, Iglesias at SS which I have explained above, and Donaldson at 3B. 3B could be shared by 3 different guys, the other two being Arraez and Miranda. There is a high chance that either Donaldson or Arraez spend time on the IL so that could be a chance for Miranda to claim his spot on the Twins for the long term. In the outfield I have Larnach in left. It may still be a bit premature but I think Larnach will figure something out and become a beast with his bat. I centerfield we have Byron Buxton. It is so nice to say that knowing we will also have him for the next 7 years, even if he is injury prone. In right we have the man we got from Oakland, Stephen Piscotty. That is not an exciting addition but if he can be at least average, I would be ok, especially since it is only 1 year. On the bench we have Celestino as the 4th OF. At the moment Jake Cave is slotted in as the 4th OF, which many fans don't like to see and I am sure they would agree with me putting Celestino there. For Utility we have Arraez, who as I mentioned could also be the 3B, and Nick Gordon. Gordon provides tons of defensive value, playing CF and SS, among other positions. He can be a 4th OF and also spend time at SS with Jose Iglesias. Since we traded Garver away, the backup catcher is defensive wizard, Ben Rortvedt. On the pitching side of things, we have Marcus Stroman as the ace, Manaea as the 2, Pineda the 3rd starter, and Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober manning the 4 and 5 slots. It obviously isn't a world beating rotation, but it is a lot better than it looks at this moment. Is has moderate upside and not a lot of risk. In the bullpen we have some solid options. For more of the low leverage innings, we have guys like Hand, Moran, Thielbar, and Minaya. For some of the more high leverage innings we have Knebel, Rogers, Duffey, and Alcala. Obviously things could change with performance and injuries. Bullpens are far from a given, as they have some of the most drastic changes from year to year. But overall, this pitching staff will not wow you, but could impress you during the season. Overall I believe this is a solid lineup that could win you 80 or so games depending on how you play your cards. Obviously the Twins are not World Series contenders in 2022, and are playing more for when some of our current top prospects graduate to re-enforce the team. This way makes us competitive, with a chance to possibly do something, without selling the farm. A lot of things could happen during the 2022 season with the Twins. In 2021, after Acuna got hurt for the Braves, their season looked like it was ending, but they ended up winning a world series. I am not saying to expect anything like that for the Twins in 2022, but don't completely rule them out.

It definetly is a longshot, but they have a big hole in CF which Kepler could fill well, and they could pursue a FA pitcher. It all depends on what the Dark Side thinks would fit best.

I know the fans love Severino and think he is a #2 which is pretty optimistic, but it all depends what Cashman and the front office think. If they pursue someone else and think Kepler would be a great fit in CF for the next 2-3 years, I think it could go through.

Kepler is under control for 22 and 23, with a team option for 24, so it is not like you are giving away many more years of him for Severino, it is pretty equal. Severino is a high risk, high reward player. Twins could surprise some people in 2022, they played above .500 in the 2nd half without Berrios or Maeda for a good chunk of the season. Im not saying they will set the world on fire, but there is reason to believe they could push for a wild card spot. Obviously all of that depends on who we sign or trade for to fill out our rotation though.

Although I do love the creative thinking, I do not think the Yankees would move Volpe. It appears they have really cooled off on signing Seager after being gung-ho right away. I am guessing they will address other areas and sign a stopgap for shortstop. They have checked in on Simmons. They have another top SS prospect in Oswald Peraza. He is about 10 months older than Volpe and has posted good stats in AAA. Volpe hasn't played above A ball yet. Peraza also has a much lower expected value at 25.5. I think Kepler, Jeffers, and maybe a a solid young arm, maybe Canterino, could get Peraza and Severino.

While yes he is injury prone, I don't think New York would give a huge discount on him because when he was healthy, he was their guy and could regain some of that. As far as shortstop, there were some early rumblings about them and seager, but they have seemed to calm down as they have 2 very good SS prospects within a year or 2 of the majors. I don't think they will sign a top 5 shortstop unless it is for a 1 or 2 year deal which is unlikely.

As some of you may have already noticed, I like to think outside the box. I could have written an article about an A’s starter we should target or a Marlins starter we should get, but I came up with Luis Severino. It is unlikely the Twins would swing a trade with the dark side for Severino, but here is why it could be exciting. Luis Severino was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the New York Yankees in late 2011. He signed for a bonus of $225,000. The Colorado Rockies were originally going to sign Severino for that price, but the Yankees matched the price and Severino signed with the Yankees since he liked them growing up. Severino has been with the Yankees ever since then, making his debut on August 5th, 2015, at only 21 years old. He made that start due to former Twin, Michael Pineda, getting injured in the previous days. In his debut, he threw 5 strong innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 earned run, and punched out 7 Red Sox. Severino continued to pitch well in 2015, ending the year with 61.1 IP, and a 2.89 ERA. He also had a 141 ERA+ (100 being league average), but had a 4.37 FIP. 2016 was a year to forget for Luis, pitching to a 5.83 ERA in 71 innings. He was well below league average, posting a 74 ERA+. The funny thing is that in his dominant 2015 showing he posted a 4.37 FIP, but in his awful 2016 showing he only posted a slightly worse 4.48 FIP. He bounced back extremely well in 2017, being named to his first All-Star team and was 3rd in AL Cy Young voting. He pitched to a 2.98 ERA, 152 ERA+, and a much better 3.08 FIP in 193.1 Innings. He had continued success in 2018, pitching to a 3.39 ERA, 124 ERA+, and an even better 2.95 FIP in 191.1 innings. During the 2019 offseason, Severino inked a 4 year, $40 Million extension with the Yankees. The deal includes a club option for a 5th year, being in 2023. Then, the injury bug bit Luis Severino hard. Right before the season he was diagnosed with Rotator Cuff Inflammation, which knocked him out to start the season. He then suffered a Grade 2 Lat Strain which knocked him out for an additional 6 weeks. Severino did not appear in any rehab games until September. He made a few starts in the minors and was brought back up for 2 late September starts, the first being September 17th, against the Los Angeles Angels. He pitched 12 dominant innings in 2019, featuring a 1.50 ERA and a 304 ERA+. He made 2 starts during the 2019 Postseason, one being against our beloved Twins, the other against the Astros in the ALCS. During the 2020 offseason it was revealed that he would have to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a partially torn UCL and they would also have to remove some bone chips. Severino was set to return in mid-2021 but was set back multiple times. First, he suffered a groin injury during a June rehab start, and then in August he was again set back for “not feeling right.” He eventually made his much awaited return for the Yankees. He pitched 4 games out of the bullpen in late September. He pitched a total of 6 innings and did not give up an earned run. There is no doubt that when Severino is on, he is as electric as anyone. Severino was once one of the game's most exciting young arms, lighting up the radar gun on a regular basis. Now he is forgotten by many. He strikes out hitters at a high clip and walks have never been a serious issue. During his breakout 2017 campaign, he ranked in the 89th percentile for K rate, sitting at 29.4%. He also ranked in the 81st percentile for BB rate, being at only 6.5%. There are not any recent advanced stats to compare it to, due to such small sample size in the past few years. One thing I will compare though is his average fastball velocity. During his 2017 and 2018 seasons his heater averaged 97.5 and 97.6 MPH respectively. But during the 2021 season his fastball only averaged 95.4 MPH. It has obviously declined over the past few seasons, but that could go back up with stretching him back out into being a starter. The funny thing is that he used to gain velocity during the games. He would tick up 1 or 2 MPH on average throughout his innings. One encouraging sign is during 2019 and 2021, he struck out hitters over 35% in both years. That is likely due to a small sample size but even with a little decline it would still be elite. Below is his Baseball Savant profile for his 2017 season. Luis Severino has an athletic build being 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds. He is a great athlete, and it doesn't seem like injuries changed that a ton. With Severino, you are getting a 4 pitch starter. He throws his fastball the majority of the time. His secondary pitch is his slider. As we all know, the slider is a pitch this front office really likes. His close-second best off-speed pitch is his changeup, and it can get very nasty. His last pitch is a cutter, which he throws rarely. His changeup is rather fast, topping out in the low 90's. He even throws his slider a bit slower than the changeup, averaging in the mid to high 80's. He has a good fastball that can run up in the upper 90's, reaching 100 MPH at times, which is rather crazy for a starter. Severino has the ceiling of an ace, but a floor of spending a season on the injured list. Worst case scenario is if he stays healthy is he can be a good bullpen arm. I would definitely be willing to take the risk. Luis Severino is still on his 4 year, $40 Million contract I mentioned above. 2022 will be the 4th year and he will earn $11 Million. There is also a club option for 2023 for $15 Million. If Luis shows what he can do during the 2022 season, there is no doubt any team would pick up the 2023 option. But if he still has the injury bug, the team isn’t on the hook for any later than 2022. A trade for Severino all depends on the Yankees. There is a very solid chance they wouldn’t even listen to offers for him, due to what he could regain. They made him untouchable as a prospect while they were trying to make deadline acquisitions for the postseason. There is also a chance that they would want to get Major League talent for him to boost their current team and be willing to send him away. The Yankees current rotation is headlined by Gerrit Cole, and after that there is nothing too certain. They have major league guys like Jameson Taillon, Jordan Montgomery, Domingo German, Luis Gil (The guy we traded for Jake Cave), and Nestor Cortes. All of those guys have had major league success, just many haven’t sustained it. They also have a few pitching prospects nearing the majors. A package that I could see happening for Severino could be Max Kepler and maybe another lower end prospect. Last year during the trade deadline, the Yankees showed interest in Kepler, but to no avail. Baseball Trade Values lists Severino at 11.4, and Kepler at 23.6 which seems way too generous. The Yankees do have a need for outfielders though. Currently on their roster they only have Aaron Judge, Joey Gallo, and Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees do not have any top outfield prospects besides Jasson Dominguez, who is still 3 or more years away from the show. Giancarlo Stanton isn’t much of an outfielder anymore and will likely be a full time DH. Judge is capable of playing centerfield but Max Kepler could be a defensive upgrade. Max’s bat could really play at Yankee stadium, with the short porch in right. It would be tough for many fans to see Max go, but if it could bring a high upside arm like this, I would be all for it, even though there is high risk. Severino is currently 27 and will be 28 by Opening Day, which is still fairly young by pitching standards. He has obviously been injured a lot during the past few seasons, but did show he could be a workhorse, pitching almost 200 innings 2 seasons in a row. He will certainly be limited on his innings in 2021, just to what extent? The Twins will likely have to rely on a bounceback candidate if they want to seriously contend. Severino is as much of a candidate as anyone, just prying him away may be tricky. I think he could be an amazing buy low pickup for the Twins, and he has 2 years of possible team control left. Obviously, this has a low chance of happening, but let me know what you think about it. Thanks for reading!

Yea it definitely could be exciting. I don't know of many guys in the system that are lefties. That could certainly be helped through free agency, I just didn't include any in the post. Steer and Julien could certainly be good major leaguers, I just didn't include them for some reason.

That was definitely something I thought about when I was writing this. For some prospects I was thinking that it would be better if we traded them, but it would be more of a guessing game if I included that. I think there is a small chance that Rooker could figure something out and become a very solid player, and for Sabato, he is looking like a career DH or fringe first baseman. Hopefully he finds something out too.

There are a lot of if, and's, or buts for the future. A lot could and will change before 2025. I think Kirilloff will be a very good first baseman for years to come. I am not saying he will become Mauer, but the Twins shelled out over $20 Million a year for him, so saying if Kirilloff does become the guy, there is a chance we could keep him for a long time.

Appreciate it. Prospects are for sure a gamble, but at one time Mike Trout was just a prospect.

Haha not necessarily, just thought it would be fun to see how a team could look then with our current farm system.

That is what I said in the article. If our surplus of catching can help build a world series caliber team, but create a weakness at catcher, I think it would be worth it

Recently I was thinking about the future of the Twins past this offseason and was wondering what a future roster would look like. Everybody is so wrapped up in this year's offseason, and rightfully so, that they are willing to sell off the farm to try and jump back into contention with a loaded White Sox team in our division. Personally, I would like to be competitive in 2022, but wouldn’t expect to be World Series contenders without ruining our future. With that being said, I was bored and I drew up an idea for a possible 2025 lineup for the Twins. The kicker though, was no free agent additions. It is too easy to pencil in certain guys that we COULD sign. I went with all home grown talent on this one. I also didn’t set a 26-man limit, moreso just an open roster, to allow more creativity. Without further ado, the 2025 lineup . Starting Lineup (Age on 2025 Opening Day in parentheses) C - Ryan Jeffers (27) 1B - Alex Kirilloff (27) 2B - Jorge Polanco (31) 3B - Jose Miranda (26) SS - Royce Lewis (25) LF - Austin Martin (26) CF - Byron Buxton (31) RF - Trevor Larnach (28) DH - Aaron Sabato (25) Bench Backup Catcher - Ben Rortvedt (27) Utility - Luis Arraez (27), or Keoni Cavaco (23) 4th Outfielder - Gilberto Celestino (26), Emmanuel Rodriguez (22) ETA 2024, Misael Urbina (22) ETA 2023 Other Options - Matt Wallner (27), Brent Rooker (30) This plan really relies on many prospects to live up to a good chunk of their potential, which doesn’t always happen. Hopefully by 2025 many of these guys will have 1-3 years of Major League time though and will be ready. To start it off at catcher, I have Ryan Jeffers. I would assume the Twins could platoon Jeffers and Rortvedt, not making one of them too much more of a Catcher #1 than the other. I think they could both be above average catchers, Jeffers due to the bat, and Rortvedt from the defense. Next, I have Kirilloff manning first base. I think he will be a huge piece for the Twins for the next many years, he could also spend a little time in the outfield if needed, or DH, and give some time at 1B to Sabato. Jorge Polanco is at 2B, there are a couple option years for Polanco around $10 Million leading to 2025, but if he plays anywhere near he did this year, it should be a no brainer. At 3B I have Jose Miranda. I could see where Arraez could take over 3B and Miranda become utility, or visa-versa. They could even split time and the other be a utility man. At SS I have Royce Lewis. I think he is the SS of the future. He can provide good defense, and with a few tweaks his bat could really play. In left field I have Austin Martin. I felt like he could stick at SS for a while, but after some recent research, my opinion really swayed. I think Martin could become a superstar left fielder though. He can provide above average defense and has a super high ceiling with the bat. For centerfield, it all relies on the Twins retaining Buxton. I am speaking for all of Twins Territory when I say this, EXTEND BUXTON!!!! In right field I have Trevor Larnach, his defense is poor, but his bat could really play. Hopefully when we extend Buxton, that can help make Larnach’s defense look better for years to come. Lastly, at DH I have Sabato. DH could very likely be a revolving door where everyone cycles through, or, if Sabato can show something he could be the primary DH. Sabato has light-tower power, and a good eye at the plate. He had a rough start to his professional career but things seemed to be looking up towards the end. On the bench I have Rortvedt as the backup catcher. That is very interchangeable though. For Utility, I have Luis Arraez and Keoni Cavaco. You could change Arraez and Miranda, whichever one continues to perform gets 3B. Cavaco has underperformed but has skills to be a solid Major Leaguer. For the 4th Outfielder I have Celestino, Rodriguez, and Urbina. Celestino should be Major League ready in 2022. I am showing optimism for Rodriguez and Urbina. They both may be too young to take on a 4th Outfielder role in 2025, but it could happen. They will set up nicely for the future though. You could take one or even two of the three on your bench. Lastly I have Rooker and Wallner. I truly don’t know how they fit. They both profile similarly, high strikeout rate but light-tower power. Wallner does provide slightly better defense though. Either would be a below average defensive corner outfielder and/or a power hitting DH. Rotation Jordan Balazovic (26) Simeon Woods-Richardson (24) Blayne Enlow (26) Cole Sands (27) Josh Winder (28) Bailey Ober (29) Joe Ryan (28) There is plenty that could go right here, but also plenty that could go wrong. The Twins have lots of guys that profile as back of the rotation guys. The only 2 on this list with big league experience are Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober. Balazovic and SWR have the most potential to pitch at the top of a big league rotation. Enlow was profiled as a 2-3 in the past, but has been out due to Tommy John surgery, so we will see how he returns. Although there are all these scouting reports, only time will tell. Heck, Jacob DeGrom, the best pitcher on the planet, was drafted as a shortstop out of college. Some guys could find something out and become the ace of a staff, and some guys could flat out forget how to pitch, only time will tell. Although there are all of these potential arms, it is highly unlikely the Twins roll with all home grown talent, but for the sake of this article, I will. Lastly, I didn’t set a 5-man rotation because I felt that was too restricting. Rather, I added guys that have serious potential to stay in a big league rotation and could be sorted out any which way. Bullpen Jorge Alcala (29) Jhoan Duran (27) Drew Strotman (28) Louie Varland (27) Chris Vallimont (28) Matt Canterino (27) Jovani Moran (27) As you may notice, this bullpen is made up of mostly current minor league starters. One thing that all of these guys have in common (minus Alcala), is that they are currently mostly successful starters but aren’t projected to be great starters in the majors, but they have great stuff. Great stuff is crucial to becoming a great bullpen arm. A bullpen is so unpredictable (*cough cough Alex Colome*), so there are really a lot of routes a team could take. This plan is a super big shot in the dark, because 2025 is 3 full seasons away, and a lot of things could change. It is a given that the bullpen will have some free agents in it. These guys listed haven’t seen an inning in the Majors besides Alcala. I think Alcala or Duran could become the closer due to their great stuff and high velocity. I just included some guys that could become good bullpen pieces for the future, like the rotation, in no certain order. Making a roster for 3 seasons down the road is really just a shot in the dark, but I had fun doing it. A lot of guys' contracts expire before then so you have to rely on the prospects a lot. I also didn’t include a few guys who will be under team control past 2025. Those guys include Dobnak, Gordon, Jax, etc. These guys could very likely stick, I just don’t see it happening due to the upcoming wave of prospects. If you see anything you could change, drop a comment, would love to hear some feedback!

Didn't even realize he had been released. I will add to the other comments and say that I actually don't mind this idea. I think that it would be a good idea to have him or a similar player, and/ or Nick Gordon splitting at time until one of our minor leaguers are ready (Martin, Lewis, etc.)

Its certainly a random target, but it all depends what the Diamondbacks want and if they would even trade him. I also am guessing the asking price would be high, just don't know what package it would take. The only reason I could see the Diamondbacks trade him away now is because they won't be in contention for likely the next 5 years due to their stacked division, and every year that passes Gallen loses 1 year of team control, making him less valuable.

That is kind of what I am thinking as well, but never say never. But if the D-backs did start/are listening to offers, he would be a main target of mine. I guess its just the offseason and I am bored, haha.

I was recently thinking about how everybody wants the Twins to trade with Miami for pitching, and rightfully so, but I tried to think outside the box and I came up with Zac Gallen as a possible trade target. Zac Gallen played his college ball at the University of North Carolina. He was then drafted in the 3rd Round of the 2016 Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Then, in late 2019, he was sent along with another possible Twins trade target, Sandy Alcantara, to Miami for Marcell Ozuna. About a year and a half later, Gallen made his Major League debut on June 20, 2019, for the Miami Marlins. A little more than a month later, he was shipped off to Arizona for Jazz Chisholm. He is currently 26 years old and will not turn 27 until August. Zac Gallen finds himself coming off a career worst year in his first full 162 game season. He pitched a solid chunk of the 2019 season, and as everyone knows, the 2020 season was only 60 games, so not a huge showing. In 2021, Gallen pitched to the tune of a 4.30 ERA with a 4.25 FIP. His ERA+ for the year was 99 (100 is league average) which places him as about a league average pitcher for that year. Before 2021, Gallen had never posted an ERA+ below 150, which is pretty insane, albeit only in 2 short years. He also had 3 stints on the 10 day IL in 2021, but before that I couldn't find any injury history, which is a very good thing. He still was able to pitch 121.1 innings in 2021. Also, Gallen posted a 2.3 WAR in 2021. Gallen had a very good K rate in 2021, 26.6% to be exact, which places him in the 70th percentile. But coming with that is a below average walk rate, which in 2021 was 9.4%, which is better than previous years but still not very good. That placed him in the 36th percentile. If you are one for advanced stats, I will post his 2020 and 2021 Baseball Savant profiles below. Obviously 2021 looks very bleak besides a few stats, but I think it was just a "down" year, which still made him at worst an MLB average starter. I think the 2020 stats are more of a true showing for Gallen. With Gallen you are getting a 5/6 pitch starter. Gallen's main pitch is his fastball, which makes sense, it averaged 93.4 MPH in 2021. His second pitch is his changeup, which he threw 16.7% of the time, and his third pitch is a curve, which he threw 12.5% of the time. His other pitches are a slider and cutter, which he threw 8.5% and 8.3% of the time. Baseball savant also says he has a sinker, but threw it 0.4% of the time in 2021, so it could have been a few game thing or just a misreading. Gallen is a fairly high strikeout pitcher, 25-30% throughout his career, but also walks his fair share, between 8-12% throughout his career, although it is trending downwards. Gallen had good success in his first 2 years, not having an ERA above 3 until this year. He also finished top 10 in NL Cy Young voting in 2020, at 9th place. Now onto Gallen's current situation. Gallen is currently pre-arbitration, so he will be making near the league minimum. He is under team control through 25, with arbitration from 2023-25. He will be very affordable to say the least. He is playing on a Diamondbacks team that is nowhere near contention, playing in the most stacked division in baseball, the NL West. The Dodgers aren't going anywhere soon, but the Padres underperformed in 2021, and the Giants could lose some key pieces in free agency, and the Rockies, well, they're the Rockies. So the Diamondbacks could be willing to trade Gallen for younger talent, likely a top prospect or two in the Twins system. Gallen's name was also brought up a little near last years trade deadline, although not to the Twins, making a trade slightly more plausible. I cannot think of a specific package the Twins could send over for Gallen. Baseball Trade Values ranks Gallen at a 47.7 value, being Arizona's most valuable trade chip. To put that into perspective, the Twins highest trade chip according to the website is Alex Kirilloff, at 33.6. The Diamondbacks don't have tons of gaping holes like you would expect a 52-110 team to have. Obviously they need pitching help, but It wouldn't make a lot of sense for the Twins to trade young pitching for more young pitchers. They do not need a catcher, which is a position we have a talent surplus at. The Diamondbacks have lots of passable veterans filling in at positions, like David Peralta, Josh Rojas and Cristian Walker. Their best position player without a doubt is Ketel Marte, patrolling centerfield. The Twins could possibly Trade Larnach to help with the D-Backs corner outfield situation. Larnach is a young, cheap outfielder with tons of potential. I am almost positive the Diamondbacks would want some pitching back in a deal, possibly requiring a young arm like Woods-Richardson, Canterino, or Balazovic to name a few. They could also go the route of trying to get a top prospect like what they traded for Gallen. Royce Lewis and Austin Martin fit that bill, especially if the Twins sign a shortstop for the long term in free agency. I have not called the Diamondbacks front office so there is no way I could know exactly what they want or even if they would still trade Gallen so these are all just guesses. Although it is very unlikely, I had fun doing research on a future star in Zac Gallen. I truly believe he could become an ace in the future, with the floor of a #3 starter. This offseason brings a bunch of questions for many teams, including the Twins, so obviously we all want to solve them. Would you guys rather jump into contention now at the cost of some very good prospects, or wait it out and have a few bad years and try and make a run with the incoming crop? Drop a comment and let me know, thank you for reading!

Thank you, guess I didnt pay enough attention to the diamondbacks needs so that is my fault. I just feel like we will have to sell the farm to get alcantara from Miami with many other teams definetly interested. I feel like Gallen is a more under the radar guy with top of the rotation upside who could be had for a much smaller package (although not the one I put together haha).

I feel like the Stroman offer was very realistic. Ill admit, Story was a bit low but if some of the other shortstops sign before him, that kind of dries up his market a bit, and the Twins possibly could swoop in. The Gallen trade was kind of random, ill agree. I didn't realize Kelly was under control for so much longer, and for Varsho, they played him in the outfield this year more than at catcher. But I will admit, it was kind of far fetched, but interesting.