JD-TWINS

Can’t see the Sox trading both solid MLB players that are young and under control…..2 of there 3 best offensive weapons. Why? Devers to 1B and trade Casas ……I could see that. Can’t imagine they trade their star in Duran.

Run production - offensive capabilities? We have 2-3 guys that can play 3B & Correa is our best option for another 2-3 years at SS? If such a great value, why would the Cardinals want to move him?

It seems to me it’s difficult to get value back for many of our guys on the roster in trades if they are considered only to be traded as an individual. ……….Paddack - Vazquez - Matthews for a young Catcher that’s been in MLB a year plus……as an example. ……….Correa - Miranda - Paddack for T. Casas of Boston? What do you think about offering Vazquez a “refreshed” contract for ‘25 & ‘26? Add $5M and spread the $15M over 2 years. Can then focus on developing a Catcher internally over next 2 summers. Crazy idea??……. another option is to save $2.5M this year and maybe trade him in ‘26 more easily?

His WHIP for RH batters is 1.82…….he has success v. RH batters because he walks an inordinate amount (15 BB in 22 innings) and that inflates his OBP v. RH batters to .407. Also, a .284 batting average isn’t very effective coupled with the walks! Don’t get the “effectiveness v. both sides” point made?

How about Correa - Paddack - Duran - Jeffers………..Devers moves to 1B as you theorize above and the Twins get Casas & young Catcher back from Boston. Twins get answers at 1B & Catcher for future and Jeffers is affordable compliment in Boston and there is no void at Catcher. Duran takes Jansen’s spot and is affordable - moves Chapman to set-up roll, which fits him. They get a #5-#6 starter in Paddack. CC at shortstop…….they keep their young SS as well. Twins save $36M + $7.5M + $3.7M + $4.7M ……$51.9M (their cost to just have Soto, they can afford it) Twins could maybe extend a couple guys early……if they are &10M over budget now, they have $42M to spend. Maybe go after T. Scott for 3 years - Santander for 3 years. Lewis - Lee - Keaschall - Casas (Miranda/Castro) Larnach - Buxton - Wallner - Santander - Kiersey Vazquez - new Catcher from Sox

Didn’t the Mets reject him prior to ‘23?? Can’t see how he got healthy in their eyes.

My comment was to the guy saying he may want to hide from National Media in Minnesota and not play for the Yankees - I was pointing out that he was in the midst of being in a couple big markets previously.

‘23 Correa played hurt for long stretches …., contributing to the 1.5 WAR ……..you’re right, no guarantees of health going forward for him. No real health guarantees with anyone in the game though. It may make sense for the Twins to consider a trade of Correa and another “salary shed guy” (1 of 4 or 5 possible guys) to get back a Catcher and a First Baseman. This could be a hedge against injuries (Buxton - CC - Lewis) and missed games by this trio. Say they include Vazquez with CC and negotiate to eat $4M. Paddack goes in this trade or in another. Those 3 get them $49.5M of freed salary …….at least $43M to spend within the current budget if fixed at $130M……. Roster at a minimum: Lewis/Miranda - Lee/Castro - Castro/Keaschall - New 1B/Miranda as infield. FA - Tanner Scott for 3 yrs at $17.5M FA - Santander for 3 yrs at $24M Should be able to bring back a new 1B & a Catcher in Correa/Vazquez trade. Jeffers and new guy catching. Infield above, 2 catchers with Larnach - Buxton - Wallner - Kiersey - Santander DH of Santander/Larnach/Lewis/Buxton/Miranda Better offense at Catcher - better offense at 1B - big power addition - absolute lights out back end of the Pen!! I just started to really like Correa but this makes sense.

He was ready to sign with The Mets & then The Giants ……..seems he’s good with wherever he’ll be paid. A lot cheaper to live well in the Twins for the next 5 years……better Family situation as well.

Not a bad overview - interesting - I do have some emotionally charged differences of opinion on a few things: Why would anyone trade Larnach to sign Jesse Winker??? He runs faster? Larnach 15 HR in 355 AB’s and a 116 OPS+ Winker 14 HR in 430 AB’s and a 118 OPS+ …….but Winker hit .199 in ‘23 & .219 in ‘22. His OPS+ in last 2 months with Mets was 96. I live in Cinti and watched him be on a heater for 7-8 weeks a season and greatly disappoint the other 2/3 of the season……He costs $1.5M more than Larnach (75% more). Sorry, can’t imagine Team entertains adding Winker in any situation. I can’t get behind Camargo as an option at MLB - he is hardly is acceptable in St Paul Profar had a -1.3 WAR in ‘23. At 32 years old in ‘25, he seems really risky for a 3 year deal as nearly half of his career WAR came in ‘24. He hit 24 HR last year and had 80 HR over the previous 8 years. Maybe he’s “figured it out”? I keep Larnach and pass on the additional $13M that Profar would get, at a minimum. Jax, to me, should remain in the Pen and this would allow him to close games and Team could then trade Duran for position player help and to potentially reduce payroll more……….Festa stays in rotation along with SWR as I can’t imagine Sasaki coming to Twin Cities.

IF the budget is “firm” for ‘25 until franchise can be rescued by another ownership group, they need to trade guys. These guys can be coupled with Duran - Matthews - Henriquez - Julien, whatever is needed to get the proper MLB ready return. Catcher - Catcher or a Catcher that can hit and is young. A potential affordable move instead of signing and paying a potential mediocre depth OF (Grichuk), use Kiersey & Martinez as the depth to start the year. To solve 2 issues with one affordable FA signing, Carlos Santana to Twins for $6.25M. He’s gotta get a raise as his ‘24 upside is obvious to everyone else in the game. Miranda is a reverse split guy and could play 1B most of the time v. RH pitching, shielding Santana from numerous LH AB’s. Santana could be a great late inning defender (regularly) at 1B in tight games or with a lead. Santana could also get most/many of the RH pinch hitting opportunities that went to Margot last year……as a Switch hitter, the defense countering with RH pitcher will be reduced greatly. Santana can start at 1B v. LH pitching and can play long stretches if Miranda gets nicked up. Twins take advantage of his capabilities as a RH hitter and elite defender. Great “fit” in Clubhouse as well!

A veteran Catcher, along with an All-star utility player and a young arm could net a MLB, experienced young Catcher. (Vazquez - Castro - Matthews)………guys leaving can be interchanged but the result (Catcher) coming this way has to be more than just a “prospect”!! I do not believe that $130M is a ceiling that is in place other than as a “worst case scenario” for fan’s sake. I don’t think it’s open ended, but I am in the camp that believes the Team has much more Total Value in a sale if they are currently very competitive! So, I believe that $130 - $143M is in play (still a low $$ number). The Team spent $154M in ‘23………can’t cut your nose off and put the Team up for sale and expect best return. From me for about the 5th time in this off-season, the PEN is fine with the current budget constraints in play. Not SURE Chafin is any better than anyone we already have in system. $$ need to be spent on filling 1B void and need for power/performance upgrade and possibly some depth in OF, but that is lowest priority. Catcher in trade - 1B -OF (2 of 3) can be solved via trade. PEN: Headrick - Funderburk - Moran - Alcala - Sands - Blewett - Henriquez - Tonkin - Varland - Paddack - Jax - Duran……..probably a couple I’m missing……..Canterino or Prielipp or Raya by late August are all possible (not likely but possible). Obviously, a couple of these guys could be traded to help with other roster objectives……to me, Duran in a package could be pretty attractive for a trade partner.

To me, going into age 28 season, Trevor Larnach is the principal left fielder. He had a 116 OPS+ …….with 450 AB’s (355 in ‘24) he projects to 20HR & 75 RBI ………while taking a WAR knockdown while DHing in ‘24, he still had 1.3 WAR for the year. IF, he can stay healthy…..he could be a solid 2.5 WAR guy in LF for another 3-4 years with a probable path to DH with additional steady production. I saw a couple comments about putting him into a potential trade with Paddack or another - don’t understand the desire or thought to move a guy who seems to have matured as a hitter into what the Team hoped for the previous 2-3 seasons??

Is trying to extend Vazquez another year crazy? What if they offered another year and leveled the salary to $7.25M per year? Crazy for both sides? I think trading Jeffers & Castro or Paddack along with a real arm (i.e. Matthews or Duran) could net a decent young Catcher back in trade. Gotta be a way to trade for more than a Catching “prospect” & actually net back someone that can play now & into the future.

Off the topic a bit…… on a MLB post today and parallel to other posts here routinely: ”Twins need right handed bats (per MLB post - “anywhere”) - I don’t agree or understand! As things currently stand…… 2 RH hitting Catchers 3B - SS - 1B all RH hitters CF - RH hitter Probable 2B (Lee or Castro) switch hitter Corner OF spots are LH & that’s it - Martin is nearly a certain 4th OF and hits RH. How important is adding a RH bat??? Team needs a good HITTER at Catcher or 1B or (maybe lastly) at Corner OF. Desperate for a RH hitter - don’t think so.

Hitting a bunch of really hard hit balls into the gaps are signs of a good hitter - an obvious comment. Correa - Wallner & even Miranda, prior to his annual physical injury, showed this capability often. Vazquez did for 6-9 week stretch……didn’t see it from either second basemen!! Lee & Vazquez hitting routine ground balls to the pull side show signs of guys that aren’t confident or aren’t mentally capable/in tune …….they both have shown previously or during ‘24 that they have the physical tools. Hoping a BUNCH of reps in off-season and in the Spring, along with some new coaching angles, get these two somewhere near their potential. Vazquez is near 35 so I’m not nearly concerned as much with his improvement as I am with Lee. .265 OBP is brutal - rookie or not, being 50 points under League average is pretty bad!

I cannot read it either - all black in text areas? Anyway, I agree that adding Suzuki at $15M and feeling he then would “need to play” in front of Larnach or Wallner is a problem. One of those guys will probably need to play RF v. LH pitching (alternate?) with Martin in LF & Buxton in CF. With the health issues that Buxton has had and Kiersey as the “other CF”, it’s tougher & tougher to see trading away Castro.

Nothing personal but I just can’t agree with the let’s let younger guys go or guys that have underperformed in a situation, to see what happens. To me that’s just wish thinking and reckless. Maybe Ozk if it’s a 5th OF once or twice a week. Do those two corner guys deserve some more AB’s v. LH pitching - yes! Can the Team play them together and “see what happens” - seems like a huge roll of the dice. Larnach gets nicked too often, historically, and Wallner had some back issues last year, so having a real offensive option to rotate with these two and add needed depth seems prudent!

So, if the Team decides to stick with the arms they have (maybe trade 2-4 but don’t acquire any) and they stick with Larnach - Martin - Buxton - Kiersey - Wallner ………..they could make some trades/moves that could end desperation at 2B & upgrade offense……..Luis could be part of that scheme. Trade Castro - Paddack - Matthews - Jeffers to San Diego for the young Catcher & Arraez. This would give San Diego a solid 2nd Catching option with a decent bat OR a trade piece to someone else, acquiring Jeffers. Twins acquire Maille of Reds as a FA for $2.5M (or like). Also, SD picks up a present arm option and a probable future arm option. They get Castro to help fill behind losing Kim and Profar, etc. Twins develop young catcher & they add Arraez as a guy that can play 2B if nobody else can hit - maybe a bridge to Keaschall or Lee? Also, he can play 1B daily if Miranda needs a break or is injured. DH maybe 30-40% of the time. Twins free up $18.5M in trade and then spend $14.5 & $2.5 to fill the Catcher spot and pay Luis. Seems Arraez won’t make much more than the arbitration number of $14.5M, ever ……..is he worth 145 games of consistent performance at the plate with right side defense and little L/R weakness v. opposing pitchers. Probably better off keeping Jeffers and moving Vazquez, maybe elsewhere, even if they have to pay $3-$5M of his salary. Basic line-up: Arraez - Lewis - Larnach - Correa - Wallner - Buxton - Miranda - Lee - Catcher I’d prefer they trade for a young 1B that can hit OR similar profile Catcher & stay away from FA but not sure this is realistic?

Tough to see any position guys fitting the 26-man no matter what the upside. Can’t be a short, low average first baseman or some Catcher that needs to be developed - can’t roster a non-contributor or weak link IF trying to contend. The PEN seems filled at this point - a Rule 5 guy would just displace Tonkin or somehow delay using Varland in the Pen. I know the occasional success story makes this option intriguing. To me, the Rule 5 fits a Team that isn’t expecting to be in the playoff mix & they can absorb some weak short-term performances with the future in mind.

Gotta keep Ober! Ryan is too affordable and effective as well - health? Nobody is trading for a guy that’s not healthy. I’d add Matthews - Henriquez - C. Lewis - into the mix with positional guys on list above to get trade partners to take action. These individuals don’t help with salary relief but they make moving $$ guys easier if combined in a trade. Correa isn’t going anywhere. Royce Lewis needs a full season at Target before any thoughts of him being traded are put in motion. One of the Catchers (probably Jeffers) should be moved with another couple pieces (Castro - Matthews) to bring back a young Catcher that can play. Hard to see upside in trading Vazquez and then having to pay 50% of his salary as well. I’m sure there’s a way along with another piece or two to lower or eliminate the $$ outlay, but pretty difficult to assume how it may work.

Camargo hit .212 in St Paul - he had a .290 something OBP…….he makes Vazquez’ offense look like Yogi Berra. He didn’t play because he’s not a great receiver and he can’t hit. Any sensible MLB Manager would not play him unless forced into it due to unfortunate circumstance. The fact that the Twins have no apparent Catcher with upside in their system is hard to imagine. Olivera plays Catcher & OF……doesn’t seem to be a great option either. This is a draft and development issue……nothing to do with the Manager. It’s a shame for sure! I’d try to lump Jeffers in a trade with an arm or two in order to get back a solid young Catcher. Need to find a trade partner that’s competitive and would value the addition of Jeffers along with pitching g help (Paddack - Matthews - whoever)

Trade a Veteran catcher to a contender for a young guy that’s ready to play 60 games in ‘25. IMO, either Vazquez or Jeffers could catch 100 games reasonably well. OR, trade one of our Catchers, plus a couple arms for a reasonably established catcher and keep splitting duties 50/50.

They don’t have any intention of trading Moreno……that’s why you give them 5 players (3 pitchers of differing value - a solid catcher - an All-star Utility guy) & take Montgomery off their hands. They need to be enticed!

I think Ryan may have hit his way out of the DH opportunities after June 15. A non- issue.