clone52

Mauer is a better first basemen defensively. I've never seen Mauer play third base, so who knows what he is like there. Did you see some of the digs Mauer has made, specifically a couple last night on throws Nunez made? I don't think Sano is making those kind of plays at 1B. I don't disagree about Mauer's offense being a problem. However, why would you EVER, EVER put Mauer permanantly at DH when he would clearly be better defensively than whoever we put at 1B? The logic of that is mind boggling? Why would anyone ever think Sano at 1B and Mauer at DH is the way to go? I mean, sure, if we had a gold glove winning 1B waiting in the wings, transition Mauer to DH, but we don't.

If Mauer remains in the lineup, its at first base. The only internal option that might be better defensively is Park. If Mauer and Sano are in the same lineup and Sano is not playing 3B, it should be Mauer at 1B and Sano at DH. The only exception to that is if Mauer needs a day off from the field to rest. The only other possible exception is to give Sano defensive reps if they don't think he can stay at 3rd.

And what do the Twins do if Sano doesn't improve at third? If you go with Polanco, Escobar, Sano and Beresford, you're really hampered if you have injuries or if Sano bombs defensively at 3B. I may be wrong, but I don't think there is really a near major league ready 3B in our system. If you keep Dozier, then you could trade Plouffe and Polanco could slide over to 3rd if Sano is hurt or doesn't pan out defensively. If it were me, I'd try to trade Vargas, let Plouffe (if he even gets healthy) play mostly DH (Sano some DH to). Give Polanco SS (and maybe move him around some). If they can trade Dozier for quality, I wouldn't have a problem with that. Trading Plouffe for nothing (which is all you could get for him) is a terrible idea.

Fair point on Gibson. I'm working on the plan that Milone won't be part of next year's rotation. To give you an example of what I'd want in a Santana trade. I would like the trade straight up for the guy they got for Nunez. I would not like the trade if it was for the guy the Rangers gave to the Braves.

You can't have a bullpen and a rotation full of first and second year players, even when you are just building for the future. You have to have some sort of stability there. In the end, I probably would have traded Milone and Abad for that guy from the Rangers. He's like the IF version of Adam Brett Walker. Probably not going to end up a big leaguer due to his propensity for strikeouts, but if he gets that under control, look out.

But based on that trade, thats the kind of return you can expect. Abad is better than the LHP the Rangers got in the deal, so you could maybe expect a little more. Honestly, if thats the return for Milone and Abad, don't you just keep Abad as a cheap bullpen option for next year?

Interesting. What would Twins fans have thought if that was Milone and Abad for Travis Demerritte?

Thats the thing, to get Profar, Texas would need some high end talent. You've got to give up something to get something. Honestly, I think Santana, Suzuki and Stewart would have got it done (before today's trade). I just suggested adding Nuneze and Abad to the trade for the Rangers needs and getting some additional lower end minor leagues in return.

3 years of a SS. 2017, 2018 and 2019. If Gordon flies through the minors, then Profar can be shifted to 2B (if they trade Dozier), or 3B (if Sano is DH or 1B and Plouffe is gone). It actually gives them extra insurance to trade Plouffe and not really having to worry about what they would do at 3B if Sano doesn't pan out. He has position flexibility. Is it really that much to give up? The Twins have Stewart, Jay, Gonsalves and Jorge all basically at the same level. The Twins are probably never going to get all 4 of them into the rotation, so why not use one of them to pull off a better long term deal. I'm also not suggesting that its 6 Twins players just for Profar. There would be some lower end minor leaguers as part of it as well. What about some sort of deal centered around Kyle Gibson for Jurickson Profar? Both guys are free agents in 2020. Maybe you could even do Ricky Nolasco and Kyle Gibson for Jurickson Profar (plus whatever minor league filler to make it work). I just see that AA Starting Pitching as a point of depth for the Twins. Another point of depth is OF, so if you could package one of the Twins ML trade pieces with Adam Brett Walker to get a much better return, I'd do it to. On maybe a more realistic note, what would people think of a Ervin Santana for Reese Mcguire deal with the Pirates?

Jurickson Profar would be a 3 year guy. He can play all over, but for the Twins, he would be their starting SS, a huge position of need. Not sure he'd be a guy looking to sign an extension that bought out his first FA year but I'm guessing probably not. The Twins could actually help out the Ranges a lot this year and the Rangers have stuff the Twins might want. The Rangers could use SP (lots of injuries) and RP (worst ERA in American League) help. The Rangers have not gotten much production from the Catcher. With Prince Fielder out, they could use some POP at DH and offensive production. If they trade Profar, the definitely need a utility IF and DH help. So what if the Twins offered Santana, Suzuki, Nunez or Escobar, Stewart or another of their top SP prospects and maybe Abad/Kintzler for Profar and a lower end minor leaguer or 2?

What is "market value" for a trade? Its whatever teams are willing to offer you. If Antony gets 10 trade offers for a 23 year old in A ball, thats market value, but Antony shouldn't trade him for that. If you look at the rotation next year, it should be Gibson, Duffey, Berrios and 2 other guys. I think you should dump Nolasco and Milone and fill those last to spots with Santana and May or some other young guy. However, if they get an offer for for a minor league P that would be Top 10 in the minor league system, or a controllable major league catcher, I'd be up for it. Or how about this idea something like this as framework for a deal? Santana, Kohl Stewart + filler for Profar + filler?

In what world is Joe Benson a "known commodity"? Seems like he has more question marks than Sweeney.

Interesting article. However, they don't consider that maybe the #4 and #5 guys come up with more runners on than the #3 guy because the old school says bat your best hitter #3. Here is what I would do if I were the Twins. It won't happen, but I think it should. Buxton, CF Dozier, 2B Park, DH Sano, RF Mauer, 1B Plouffe, 3B Rosario, LF Escobar, SS Suzuki, C The reason I'd do this is that it sounds like the biggest adjustment Park will need to make is seeing more breaking balls. Why not bat him in front of Sano, where he will see the most possible fastballs. Plus, this puts Mauer behind Sano, where he is likely to see runners on. He was a much better hitter with runners on than bases empty. There is no way they start Park in the 3 spot, though. According to that article, the lineup should be this. Joe Mauer, 1B Brian Dozier, 2B Trevor Plouffe, 3B Miguel Sano, RF Eduardo Escobar, SS Eddie Rosario, LF Park, DH Buxton, CF Suzuki, C If Buxton breaks out, swamp him and Mauer or something like that.

Why do you think Hawkins would be available cheap from the Jays? Why would they take him in the Tulo trade unless they wanted to use him to bolster their own bull pen.

Obviously Benoit would be a rental type player, but could be useful this year. Shields should be decent for 3 years and honestly, spending money on Shields would feel a whole lot better than spending money on Nolasco (although you know he'd probably be lights out in San Diego and finish 5th in the 2016 NL Cy Young voting). How about Benoit/Shields/Norris for Nolasco/whatever other prospects are needed.to get the deal done. If they could get Norris in return, I think we'd all feel better about the trade. How about Benoit/Shields/Norris for Nolasco/Fryer/Meyer/Stewart/Kepler? I guess if it were me, I'd go for it, but I'd understand if people didn't want to give up prospects like that. Would the Padres go for that? I don't know what positions they are looking for. I don't think losing Meyer, Stewart and Kepler would be a crippling blow to the future of the organization.

Molitor wasn't looking for the play to be overturned. He was saying that the ump should have asked the 3rd base up before calling it a strike. Later in the game, the ump nearly rung up Sano, but before he did, asked for help from the 1st base ump who correctly said it was a check swing and Sano got a walk. They still lost, but had Molitor not argued the first call, Sano would have been called out later in the game.

I actually think May's improvement started last year. In his final 7 starts for the Twins, his walk rate was just 2.2/9 innings.

It was hard to see them tacking on a $20M+ ace in any scenario. This move just moves the chances of that happening from almost 0 to even closer to 0.

Those are crazy prices to get someone who had an OPS on par with Eduardo Nunez and Chris Colabello last year.

I don't think the Twins should do much in free agency this offseason. I don't think Jon Lester is a good idea. He's probably going to demand a 7 or 8 year deal. Committing that much money on a pitcher into his late 30's is a bad idea. People complain about Mauer's contract. Lester's likely would look much worse a few years down the line. Greinke is got a 6/159 contract (26.5). Hamels has a 7/153 contract (21.8). Cliff Lee has basically a 6/144 (24). Sabathia has an 8/182 (22.8). Felix is 7/175 (25). All of them except Cliff Lee were younger than Lester when they signed those contracts. If they could get Lester for $25/per and only 4years, go for it, but I think its going to take $25/per and 7 or 8 years to do it. Maybe there are other free agent pitchers, but you are likely looking at a risk like Nolasco. Don't worry about CF this year. Perhaps buxton will be ready, or Schafer could fill the void until he is. If you can sign a good defense, decent hitter to play OF, that might be worth it, but nothing more than a 2 year contract. LF looks like a gaping hole right now, so maybe sign a short term fill in. However, they need to decide what is going on with Plouffe/Sano before they really go down that road. They might also consider what they want to do with Mauer/Vargas/Arcia. Could they move Mauer to LF, Vargas to 1B and Arcia to DH? In my opinion, they missed a golden opportunity to trade for David Price. They could have had him for 2014 and 2015, which would have been enough of a bridge to see if their minor league was going to produce quality starting pitchers. I also think they should make some trades for the missing pieces. They have a glut of guys who probably should end up at DH (Arcia, Vargas, Pinto). Could they package one of them with some minor league talent and get a youngish corner outfielder. As for starting pitching, I think they maybe should also look to trades. I know its never going to happen, but if they could get a guy like Garrett Richards, that would be awesome. He would be worth giving up a couple of top prospects.