Dman

I woke up late today and thought I must have still been dreaming. I did not see this deal coming. There is absolutely no precedent for it. With my earlier comments I will be eating crow for weeks. As Jaime put it, in the end they did out Yankee the Yankee's. This deal is brilliant for the Twins on a number of levels. They have one of the best shortstops in the sport motivated to have the best year of his career to play for a longer term contract. They replaced Donaldson with Urshela who will be solid at third base and leave room for Miranda should he force his way onto the team. They are getting Correa in his absolute prime and there should be no dead years at the end of this contract. Second base and utility are covered by Polanco and Arraez. Lewis can still slip into that spot in the future and this buys the Twins time to see where his bat is at. This signing just fixes so many things. It does feel like we are a top of the rotation starter away from a truly competitive team but I am just shocked that the Twins FO was capable of making a move like signing Correa. Way to go FO, way to go.

I think those remaining pitchers are waiting to see who loses out on Montas to see if they can up the dollars teams might be willing to spend to add them to the roster. If the Twins are in on Montas and Pineda would like to pitch for the Twins then he likely has to wait and see if the Twins do manage to get Montas. If they do then my guess is big Mike signs elsewhere if they don't then I assume he will be looking for another multi-year deal. Probably the same for the other pitchers as well. When the Montas trade is done things should start moving real fast for the rest of the free agent pitchers left on the market.

Honestly that satire hits a little bit too close to home for me. While I might not be that over the top just yet. I certainly am plenty agitated.

Hamilton started off well in the minors last year but then regressed significantly in the second half of the season. I still have hope that he can make it as a backup catcher. We will have to wait and see if Cardenas or Winkler can change things but they are a ways a way. I sure hope Jeffers is the real deal as they have pretty much bet the catcher position on him for the next couple of years as best I can tell. There is still time to make changes but time is running out. Catcher is not a position to skimp on IMO. I hope they find more depth before the season starts.

I think Spencer Steer opened some eyes with the power he added to his game. He could be plus defensively at 2nd and 3rd as well so lot's to like there. He definitely deserved to be moved up. His plate discipline seemed to slip a bit after he got moved up to AA but in general his eye at the plate has been good. Will be interesting to see how he does this year. If he keeps that OPS in the mid 800's the Twins are going to have find room for him. I don't know what to think about Raya and they must be going off scouting reports to move him up but it all seem premature to me. He looks good but it has to translate to games as well. Nice to see him move up and hopefully he proves the analysts right. Sabato needed to come down. When a player can't even connect with the ball at the Rookie level he needs to drop. Maybe some reflection in his time off will help him. I hope so but a drop was expected after how his season started. Same for Vallimont. The K's were there but so were the walks. The WHIP and ERA were bad. If he can't find find the strike zone he will be a non-prospect very soon. Personally I think he will clean things up but he has to prove it this year or likely find another team. The Twins can't afford to keep him of the 40 man if he can't produce.

Yeah they look like pretty similar players at least right now. Godoy actually looks better at the dish at this point as well. At least the Twins found someone left handed for that up and down spot. While I don't think Ben will be a "special" hitter and likely not even average at the MLB level most catchers aren't. I do think, however, his bat could end up better than someone like Godoy in time but since that ship has sailed I am actually happy about this move. The FO didn't have to trade to get this guy and the production looks like it will be similar on offense and defense. It makes me feel a little bit better now that Ben II is in place. I hope there are even better moves to come.

I just hate getting fleeced and beaten by the Yankee's all the time. I feel pretty much the same way. They didn't want Sanchez or Urshela anymore and got the better 3rd baseman and catcher in the deal and to top it off took our shortstop as well. I don't see how the FO makes this hurt less but I will wait and see. Right now it isn't sitting well.

He might do better in Minnesota simply because he gets to face a less competitive division. The East with Boston, Tampa and Toronto can make it tough sledding. Granted pitching in the central appears to be picking up as well so might be easier said than done. After a certain point in time hitters are generally who they are and catchers are notoriously streaky because they get injured so much. I kind of think Sanchez is who he is at this point. The Yankees brought in one of the better Catcher coaches (stolen from Minnesota) and it doesn't look like Sanchez improved behind the plate so again what exactly would be the plan to make him better at this point? Maybe Bean or someone else can take a deeper dive and get some stats to tell us if there if much hope for changes for the better.

And remember they sloughed off another 10M or so with the trades they made at the deadline so they never had to spend all that opening day money in the end anyway.

It is risky to be sure. He definitely had a down year last year. Lemehieu wasn't supposed to be any good outside of Coors either and the Yankee's signed him to a big contract after he proved otherwise and he is one of their best hitters. It hard to say what all is happening on home and away splits. I think right field at Target field should play to his pull side for power. He isn't the fastest but his defense has been above average which bodes well. There are several teams out there that want him and he is rumored to have had a 100M dollar contract offer although to your point it was not to play shortstop. He is far from my ideal pick for short but the Twins can't play in the 30M or more 7 to 8 year contracts for elite players so you drop a tier and look at Story on maybe a 4year deal at 25M per year with 30M option for a 5th year and hope you get three good years out of him. Think if the Twins could get him for something like that it would be no worse and likely better than the Donaldson deal. I don't think you have to worry too much though because the Twins are pretty allergic to deals over 20M per year for anything longer than a couple of years. I think they get slightly outbid by another team.

I too felt Donaldson was no longer a fit and Story's OPS and Donaldson aren't that far off and Story is younger and plays a position of need. If they do manage to get Story spending on an up the middle position makes more sense than spending at 3rd where we have several prospects who can play there in the future and as noted Miranda could be ready this year,.

Yeah I don't love Andrus either but given what they got with Simmons they can probably work around him. That 15M next year is gonna hurt though and from what I see he actually has negative trade value right now which tells you just how bad he is. I agree it is a waiting game right now. Story can't sign until Correa does because teams that miss out on Correa could up the ante for Story. Once Correa and Freeman sign things should move pretty fast on the FA side I would think. Have to believe Oakland has a lot offers to choose from on Montas and I doubt the Twins win that one but it is fun to dream.

IMO signing Donaldson after the 2019 season was the Twins kind of going all in for 2020. They had the Bomba squad and 3rd base was a hole that needed filling at that time. Covid 2020 made the season a mess and Josh barley played. He was just fine in 2021 though his numbers were a bit diminished but he was solid at the plate. Moving ahead to 2022 and looking at the farm and even 40 man the Twins are pretty stacked with guys that project to play 2nd and third base (Arraez, Gordon, Miranda, Steer, Jullien, Severino among others. What they don't have is much for shortstop depth. If they can swap Donaldson's contract for Story's that would help more than keeping Donaldson. The strange thing for me that Nick touched on is that the Twins were in such a hurry to unload Donaldsons salary that they way overpaid to unload him. The Yankee's were talking about DFAing Sanchez he was so bad and his inclusion is a salary dump as much as Donaldson was for the Twins. Urshela wasn't needed if they had Donaldson so the Yankee's unload Salary and the Twins gain someone who can play multiple positions but is solid at third. Why the Twins had to give them Rortvedt in this exchange is beyond me because the Yankee's were already getting two significantly better players in the swap as it was and salary difference as it stand is only around 11M. I mean it seems unlikely that Rortevedt will ever hit all that well but the Twins certainly could have used him this year. The other thing is why make this deal if you don't already have a deal for Story in place? Given what I am seeing although Story's market it thin there are no rumors he is close to a deal with the Twins. If Story was the option they were looking for to fill short wouldn't you wait until you had agreement and then make the trade with Yankee's? I have seen other rumors of a possible Montas or Manea trade that involve taking on the Elvis Andrus contract so there are other ways to get there but still just hanging out there with nothing seems like a bad idea IMO. Unless of course you don't care that much about 2022 feeling like you can fall back on 2023 if needed? At any rate Nick is right the FO no longer see's Donaldson as a fit and was wiling to make the team worse at least short term with the hope and a prayer that the market or trades work out in their favor in the end. If not then apparently it is on to next year.

Yeah they have to be in on story or none of this makes sense.

Personally I like what Reds did in this deal In Green and now Petty they are adding high velocity arms with solid secondary's that could be ace level pitcher's in the future. I am a little surprised that they had to even throw in a no name relief pitcher to even this deal out but if I had to guess this is likely the best offer the Red's were going to get for Gray so if they needed a throw in they likely were happy to do so. Gray looks like he could be in decline and this is likely the best time to trade him especially if Cincinnati is unlikely to compete the next few years. If the Red's could've gotten a better deal they would have.

Yeah I know it might be harsh but I agree with your analysis. Maybe Gray has another great year in him hard to say but it looks to me like he is regressing so I don't see that much difference from him and someone you could buy on the market. I get that Petty is a looong ways a way and he could end up like Kohl Stewart. Although given the analysis I have seen I doubt it. Given where the team is at, this move just doesn't make sense to me. It feels more like an unforced error than anything else. Why give up the potential of a hard throwing starter for an in decline starter for a team that even if it reaches the playoffs is likely one and done. Save these trades (assets) for when the team is player or two away and go for something that will make a bigger impact. For me this trade is a risk not worth taking.

And if he turns into the next Max Sherzer or even the next Ynoa and Gray craters the next two years and or the Twins still don't make the playoffs then the story ends up different. I think Gray is a fine pitcher I would just have preferred the Twins to buy a guy rather than trade a potential asset.

I guess I am in the minority as I don't see Gray as much of needle mover over Pineda or Cueto who could be had for money and no prospect loss. If they were going to make a big move why not go for Montas instead of Gray? I mean the Yankee's tried to unload Gray almost as soon as they got him a while back not seeing him as a playoff pitcher or really a pitcher who could survive the division. This isn't even a Lance Lynn move like the White Sox made IMO. So color me disappointed on this one. Sure, yeah they found a competent starter but I don't think they needed to pay that price to get something similar on the market.

Personally I don't think any of them will make it but I say that every year and someone seems to end up making it. So if I had to pick out of the list you currently have it would be Ian Hamilton. His 13/9 K9 shows he has the stuff to miss bats but the 1.45 WHIP means he has trouble with his control. If he can get the walks down and looks good this spring I could the Twins adding him to the 40 man. The control will have to be there though.

While his size does makes it seem like he ends up in the pen he does have the stuff to be a starter. I get the knocks on him that his slider and change might not be "good enough" just yet but when you look at the WHIP he must have some decent stuff and pretty good control because his WHIP is only 1.10 and he has a good K rate for a starter. Also he is young for AA at 21 so one would think he might need a bit more time to refine his stuff. Henriquez and SWR give the Twins some higher level, younger arms, with starter potential as other than Balazovich (23,YO) I think the rest of the guys are 24 or 25 already. So it is nice that he is younger and I think there is a good chance development can lift him a little higher yet. The Twins love tweaking sliders and several pitchers have developed solid changeup's in the system. I think there is a good chance they can improve Henriquez's pitches the only question in my mind is will the arm hold up as a starter as innings increase. Should be fun to watch the Twins affiliates rotations at all levels this year as they are dripping with talent top to bottom.

I thought so as well but was surprised to see him on the 40 man. I think 16 year olds get five years before needing to be added. His 5 years appear to be up given this article.

That is a nice summary. I guess my number one question is how many more young arms can they really afford to add to the 40 man? Henriquez is yet one more young unproven arm that is taking up roster space. My second question is who on the pitching side can they get that will really make a difference at this point? Pineda and Odo types are more filler than playoff pitchers. The Twins literally need one or two of their young pitchers to step up and be elite. Something we have rarely seen in the past. There still is time to make moves but pitching still looks to be the hope and a prayer plan right now to me.

I think Garver has a solid 800 OPS bat and while he may be limited to 1st base or DH in short order that swing will play for a long time yet. I guess this is what happens when you have nothing at short. They had to balance the roster even if it was at a high cost. If the Twins didn't see Garver as a catcher for much longer then they had a log jam forming at 1st base and DH. I don't like that it was Garver who they decided to move but the move does at least give us something at short and balance the roster a bit. This is great deal for the Rangers IMO. They get an elite power bat that can play 1st or catcher and can be a good DH as well. This might be the Rangers plan B for not being able to get Freeman or Olson as Garvers production isn't that far off from either player. Playing him at first should also help eliminate injuries. This is a good win now move for the Rangers. Sounds like Henriquez is an intriguing arm as well. Fangraphs says "If Henriquez's breaking ball quality and/or consistency improves, then he's a candidate to move into the top 100. If it doesn't, then he's still a likely impact member of a staff who I'd slot in a multi-inning relief role." So there is potential there as the Twins still need arms. If he does end up working out then getting a good fit at short for at least two years and a pitcher that they would control for 6 years there is a chance for this trade to be a win but my money is still on Garver's bat, certainly short term anyway.

I am interested to see what they end up doing. He said they talked about the trade market and I wonder what that would look like for them given they seem to prefer not to extend pitchers. Well this next week should be interesting and with a couple of 40 man spots opening from Maeda and Enlow and money available they should be able to make pretty much any big move they want to.

I know we have had this debate a few times before but the shot clock in basketball was initially supposed to be bad for the sport with players rushing shots etc but IMO the shot clock literally saved Basketballs pace of play with Zone defenses slowing games to a standstill it was getting brutal to watch. Pace of play generally adds to the excitement and keeps fans more involved IMO. Not that a pitch clock would have that much influence on a baseball game but it does help keep the pace play moving. From what I understand as pitchers get used to the clock in the minors it isn't a real issue for them anymore and most seem to like keeping the game moving so for guys that are used to it I don't see it as much of an issue anymore. Just as there is strategy by slowing down the pace of play there will be just as much strategy keeping things moving with limited time. I look forward to the pitch clock and given how few issues there have been in the minors don't see it being a big deal in the majors either.