Dman

I think as a pure hitter Kirilloff has the sweeter swing but for patience and better eye at the plate I give the nod to Larnach. Getting on base more and working to get better pitches to hit lead me to believe Larnach has the overall advantage right now. They are pretty close so could come down to what you prefer in a hitter.

That was pretty funny. Feel free to reply to my posts anytime. I think I have read it three times now. Thanks for the laughs, giggles and snorts!

Most likely Atlanta. Will he take less money to go there?

Given the off-season the FO had so far they have to be banking on the fact that Thorpe is a legitimate starter this year and one that will have decent results. Otherwise why leave the slots open? Out of Smeltzer, Dobnak and Poppen, Thorpe has the best stuff IMO. Really the only thing holding him back is his fastball as it is far too hittable. If he can fix or improve that then I really believe he can be a mid rotation starter. If he can't then I think last years results pretty much define who he is as a pitcher moving forward. I mean even fangraphs acknowledged that he could have number three stuff because his secondaries are good enough. It is the fastball that somehow, someway has to get better. I sure hope the Twins know what they are doing.

If they do lose someone I hope it is Wisler as he can't be sent down as he has no options left. I don't love Harper but he was fairly effective especially early in the year. I assume that is why the Twins are hanging onto him as long as possible. I don't know if Poppens stuff will translate to MLB but would be nice to give him a longer shot than what he got last year. The Twins could also try and work a trade for Raley or Wade to clear a spot. They technically have one too many outfielders on the 40 man IMO. Needing to add Celestino this early kind of hurt and while Wade and Raley are nice 4th outfielder options we have Kirilloff and Larnach not far off in fact they might be ready later this year if things go right. Lot's of possibilities but my first choice would be Wisler.

I agree. They must really believe the farm is going to produce what they need. I sure hope Graterol, Duran and Balazovic turn into something this year or next year could be brutal for us.

I don't see them doing this but who knows. I still think they trade for a starter and I am starting to believe they believe they have the other starters they need in the system already. Why not use Thorpe and Smeltzer as they are likely as good as most other number 5 starters out there. Not sure if they want to depend on Graterol or not but if he comes in looking good this spring he looks like a decent option for a spot. You still have Poppen and Duran that should be able to fill in as well. They must believe those guys provide enough depth or they would have been more desperate to add Ryu than they were. I really think for good or ill they want to use the farm to supplement what they have rather than risk future payroll flexibility. I am sure they would also like to see if they can get a few more extensions done as well. They were right last year when all of us were worried about the pen. They believed in the guys they had and it worked out. Maybe that is the same plan they have for the starters this year?

That is a balanced article and comes to the same conclusion I posted earlier. Things have to go right with the young players for the Sox to win the division but the talent is there and they match up to us even closer than I originally thought. If the Indians or Twins stumble out of the gate Chicago could be tough to catch. Lots of things can happen between April and October and injuries and depth will play a role. The best team will win it in the end. I hope that team is the Twins.

The Sox need a lot of things to break right to win the division this year IMO. They lack depth for starting pitching and their infield. That being said if their pitching and infield hold up this year and Madrigal and Robert perform well then why couldn't they take the division? There lineup which used to be their weakness will be a strength. They have some young pitching with top of the rotation stuff. Their only other big weakness might be their bullpen. Their team has some warts and like I said things need to break right for them to take the division but they are getting close to being an elite team if you ask me.

He started the year off almost unhittable with a low ERA and Good K rate. As the year went on he seemed to wear down. Once back in the pen at the end of the year he did well again. He is not a sure thing by any means but I think you might be selling him short. He also has a chance to be an elite reliever with a few tweeks, He has a ways to go yet but I am very interested to see what he can do for a full season as a reliever. FYI most scouts always had him pegged as reliever from the beginning so thinking of him as a long term starter seemed a bit pie in the sky to me. If he doesn't pan out that makes the Pressly trade more brutal. Have to wait and see yet though.

I agree. If there budget is 130M and they sign Donaldson then there is no room for Ryu. Maybe room for a bounce-back starter or they would need to trade for some one. Otherwise they have to rely on the farm and I don't think that would be a good idea. They must have a plan though. They know they need starting pitching. IN fact everyone in baseball knows they need starting pitching.

I am going to take back some of my snark since the FO is willing to go 4 years for Donaldson. I never thought they would hang in there until the end. I still think the Nats get him but I am happy to see them truly in the hunt. Also if they are going this hard after Donaldson they must have something up their sleeve for pitching then, right? A trade or do they really believe they have guys that can step up in house?

It could be any of them. It probably depends on how much they improve their stuff over the winter. If I had to choose I guess I would put my money on Dobnak. I think he is the most ready of the bunch. My next pick would be Thorpe as he is a lefty with a decent fastball. Unfortunately that fastball has been a little too hittable IMO. Graterol could top all them if he stays healthy and has a good spring. I guess I just don't trust that he will stay healthy and that the Twins will use him to start the year. Last would be Smeltzer but if he can improve the fastball a bit he could be as good as as Thorpe or Dobnack. I really think it could be any one of them or all of them that shine next year depending on if they can improve on what they did last year.

Yeah I think you are right. They only have two 40 man spots left and they need a veteran starter of some kind whether bounce back or whatever and then they have to decide if they want a 1st or 3rd baseman with decent defensive skills. The pen adds will be like this one. The FO doesn't seem like they like to invest a lot of dollars on the pen and if spots are needed for the 40 man the pen guys are the first to be sacrificed. I think they view the pen as their lowest priority IMO. They have put together a decent pen via the farm system so it appears to be working OK. In their defense if you look at it we have a lot of good prospects in the upper levels especially at the AA level with some pitchers that could be fast movers in High A as well. If they want to move our own farm guys up they will need 40 man room later this year for maybe Kirilloff or Larnach or Rooker or maybe Colina who needs to be added next year anyway. Granted there are still guys that can come off the 40 man and if you can upgrade your roster you should but this FO will only do it if they perceive it be a value move. I think they are looking at the farm to provide what they need once again.

I agree they go after certain traits that they believe make a pitcher successful and I am guessing he didn't meet them. Also they have a playoff caliber team now so can't afford to mess with an unknown. If this was 100 loss team they likely would have nothing to lose by signing him but they are not so they must have felt he was not worth the risk.

We would have been better positioned for this draft with last years picks as we needed pitching more than anything else. Hopefully the good arms last into the second round where we have two picks this year. I like it when the Twins get a nice mix of high school and college players because it strengthens the farm from the lower levels on up and allows the team to supplement the system with college players later on. Since we pick so low this year we will be hard pressed to add any real good quality high schoolers especially since there appear to be so few. So lower levels might suffer a bit in 2020. Once again my hope is they focus on pitching early and late but they will likely mix it up and go for guys they think will be fairly safe bets to make it to MLB. I hope they make good choices.

To be honest I didn't like the trade when they made it. I didn't feel that Garcia was a needle mover and granted the price wasn't heavy but I really liked Ynoa. After they traded with the Yankee's I felt they would have been better standing pat. I see your point though. I feel like Littel was a big factor in stabilizing the pen this year. Granted he didn't do it on his own as May and Duffy also emerged but he played a big role as well. Not sure how our season turns out without him in that role but I have to agree with you that we likely don't make it to 101 without him. I still like Ynoa's potential better than Littel but it will take time to see how the value works out. I think you have a good point about the timing of Littel being able to help the team where Ynoa was not yet ready. That puts an up arrow next to Littel right now. This could be a trade that just works out well for both teams based on the timing of being ready to contribute. In fact given Atlanta's bullpen issues last year they might have wished they had gotten Littel from Yankee's instead of Ynoa.

If 4\90 gets it done I think they might have to do it. They should get their moneys worth for at least 2 of the 4 years and with some luck maybe all four. I think this team can handle the 22M AAV easily the next two years and we have young guys coming up so with arb increases etc they should be able to move money around in the third and fourth years. If 4/90 gets it done I think they should do it but that would be my ultimate stretch point. I really thought 3/75 was going to do it. Guess I was wrong.

Nice move! I really like the guys attitude and he was really good for us last year as well.

I really like how fangraphs rates players as it usually is more in line with how I think they should be rated. Larnach over Kirilloff is a bold move but I think warranted. They both have great hit tools and their defensive value is about the same as well. I think Larnach has a more diverse approach at the plate so that puts him ahead for me as well. Nice to see Duran, Graterol and Balazovich all with 50 grades and rated 4,5 and 6. These guys are our future we need them to succeed so seeing them rated highly is very encouraging to me. I was surprised they had Celestino at number 10. I know he came along well with the bat this season and is a good defender but I didn't see him jumping up quite that high. Also surprised to see Miranda at 12. He has really good contact skills but seemed to struggle at high A if you ask me. Also not sure he plays great defense. I would have had him lower but might have to rethink that after they put him this high. Nice to see Sands and Colina at 16 and 17. They both have good potential to be 5th starters or good out of the pen. Maybe more if something clicks. Was happy to see Javier and Rooker moved down the list. Rooker is getting older has K issues and is not a great defender. I think is better placed at 18. I mean his power is legit and power rules but he needs to improve his OBP to move up higher on the list if you ask me. Javier had a terrible year and looked lost at the plate. His defense didn't look much better. He needed to be moved down. I am a little surprised they had Raley so low. I know he is older and has his own K issues but he appears to be a good defender and was off to a good start in AAA last year. Fangraphs has never been real high on Raley as they don't like his swing calling it too stiff but he has gotten decent results thus far. I thought he deserved at least a 40 rating. Also surprised by Ober. He has been dominant throughout his entire minors carreer and they barely have him at 41. I get that he doesn't have a big fastball but he has 4 pitches he can use effectively and his results speak for themselves. He is older and been injured a fair bit so maybe that plays into it, but this feels too low for him IMO. Same thing for Vallimont. Granted I don't know a ton about the guy as we just got him, but his K rate has been good and my understanding is he has a good fastball and good movement on his pitches. I though he would be bottom 20's or upper 30's for sure but they barely have him cracking the top 40. Even with some of the surprises it is still a good list. Nice to see some pitchers moving into the upper spots inside the top 10 with a nice group in the top 20. Here's hoping for some break throughs this coming year.

I agree with you. My first reaction was that the money wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be and if they were in on Bumgarner couldn't they have come up with something slightly better? If Bumgarner didn't really want to come to Minnesota or be a part of an AL team then why are staying in the bidding? This whole thing seems weird to me. I am not a Bumgarner believer so not THAT disappointed we didn't get him but I don't understand why the FO is in on guys they don't really seem to be in on. Is this the same scenario for Josh Donaldson? The FO just wants to hang out with the in crowd but isn't all that serious about stepping up to make a deal? I honestly don't know what they are doing. Maybe they are there hoping the price will drop, lol. At any rate I don't fault the FO on this one as it sounds like he wanted go to Arizona and spurned his own team to do it so good for him. I think he is over rated anyway and we likely dodged a bullet. I just hope our FO has a clue about how to sign a top guy in FA. Given the way things have gone the past few years I have my doubts. If their mentality is give us value or no deal then please just stop pretending to in on guys OK.

I was trying to find more info on Elieser Hernandez and found the following article. It looks like his slider took off and really helped propel him back to the major leagues. The thing is he has been prone to the long ball and he may be just a two pitch pitcher which might ultimately land him in the pen. If the guy could take the next step he might be a mid rotation starter as he has a good fastball and decent control. He could also regress and end up a AAAA player. Hopefully scouts have a better idea of what he most likely becomes. I know a lot of people on here are not big fans of Jake Cave but his OPS was as good as Rosario's last year and he is an above average defender in left field. He would be a good get for the Marlins especially for a Rule V pick that might not end up a starter. Even in a straight up one for one trade I think the Marlins have less risk for a good outcome than the Twins. For the Twins to make this trade they would have to see Hernandez as an upgrade over the current glut of fifth starter material they already have in Graterol, Thorpe, Smeltzer, Poppin, Dobnak, and Maybe Littel. Not to mention the guys on the way in Balazovich, Duran, Colina, Vallimont and Sands and possibly Enlow if he breaks out. That's a lot of guys with 5th starter potential. If they see him as a dominant reliever as his floor then maybe that changes things. The Twins know what they have in Cave and anything they get in return for him better be better than Luis Gill the guy they gave up to get him. I am not sure Hernandez is. On the other hand we have a glut of outfielders with more likely on the way so maybe this is the best they can get and it helps remove an outfielder from the 40 man and gain what appears to be Hernanadez's floor which is a solid reliever. Tough call for me on this one. Maybe that is what makes it a good trade?

I am torn. I do want them to overspend but only for three year deals and that might not get it done. I think they can work in an over pay for three years and not affect the club much especially if ownership is willing to push the budget now that the team is really good. On the flip side I hate to be hindered by an unproductive player and dead money for several years. With a 100 win team sitting there I hate to live on hope with our young pitching but if just a couple of guys out of potentially 7 come through it would sure help us keep this team together longer. It is a tough call for me. I am not sure which way is best to go. However, the FO does need to come through for us this is why they earn the big bucks. They need to be right when they make the tough choices. They cannot stand pat. Be it overpay or trade they need to do something to make this team better. They have the payroll space and the trade capital. They have a good team waiting in the wings they need to make a move. A move that helps this team compete in the playoffs.

Until I read this I was thinking we don't need another number 5 starter with 5 ERA. I checked and you are correct he did have outstanding year in AAA. I don't think any of our young number 5's posted a 1.13 ERA along with his awesome K rate. So he appears to have the stuff but can he get it to translate? He also doesn't have a track record of being overly dominant from level to level throughout his career so he might be just like the number 5's we already have with a little more potential or he might not have the stamina to be a starter and need to move to the pen. It is a more interesting proposition though now that I dig deeper.

I think the Twins have a chance on Donaldson otherwise they wouldn't be mentioned at all. I mean the Twins have to know what the bidding numbers are at this point as the Rangers bowed out knowing that it would likely take 4 years to get him. The Twins haven't bowed out so the money or years must not scare them yet. I am not sure they can get Ryu. I think they will likely need to go 4 years there too and I also think once Bumgarner comes off the board there will be more competition for Ryu as well. Would love to have both but don't see it.