Major League Ready

I want to see them sold at this point as much as anyone. However, I don't think the Pohlad's are going to be convinced to sell in a hurry so that a "saavy buyer" can cash in on a valuation that is on the verge of a very substantial increase. I would be more inclined to believe their desire to sell diminished when they figured out the league was headed for more revenue sharing. I think they are bad owners but I don't think they are stupid.

I don't see it happening until the CBA is completed. There looks to be a real push for significantly more revenue sharing. Of course, this would significantly increase the value of the teams that are on the receiving end of that sharing. If you are a seller, waiting it out could mean a much bigger payday.

My first post had a typo. If you look back, the premise of that post was if they "invest in a 1B". I meant to say Culpepper goes to 2B.

I was thinking about this myself. They could leave Clemmen at 2B and invest in a 1B. Clemmens moves to super utility when Houston comes up and Culpepper goes to 1B. That's probably what they do if they are big believers in Houston.

My understanding is that it includes player benefits. That make perfect sense. Every business includes the cost of benefits in personnel cost. It also provides consistency for the floor regardless of if compensation is increased via salary or benefits. It's roughly $23M/team so the payroll minimum would be $148M.

Trading a good prospect for yet another SP that would become a free agent in 2027 might be the dumbest thing they could possibly do.

They might also have Kreidler or Ross as a bench player. They could have a roster with 7 guys that can play better OF than Larnach. If they can trade him before the arbitration deadline, great but I sure am not worried about Larnach leaving a hole in the roster.

That's what the Twins have been doing for the last decade and it's not worked out so good. They have plenty OF depth and one key acquisition at 1B or 2B would allow them to move Lewis. What would be really great would be if Keaschall could play quite a bit at 1B. That would allow them to hide Keaschall's defense. Getting a good 2B and putting Keaschall at 1B/Of and Clemmens at 1B/OF gives this team way more ceiling IMO. We also gain ceiling by moving on from Ober. One of the young guys has to be better if we are going to improve this team.

I would much rather they reconstruct the roster. Bring in a 2B via trade or free agency. Put Keaschall at 1B/OF and let Clemmons play pretty much every day as a super utility or DH. They should have Roden doing 1B drills this off-season too.

The average cost paid per WAR is not the same as value. Nobody is paying Bailey Ober $14.4M. Just as nobody would pay $24M/year for Brooks Lee. A lot of free agents drastically underperform which makes the average WAR per dollar spent much lower than expected.

It's time to shake it up. Players like Larnach, Lewis and Ober time will not get it done. They have refused to make the changes others have spoke of and the result is clear. Let's not continue down the same path to mediocrity.

I think you have to make a distinction in type of trade. Trading prospects for an established player is strategically very different than trading for unproven players in whatever form such a trade is made. I have only looked at the players that produce 1.5 WAR or greater so I can't speak to all the players and trades your reference here. However, among those productive players, none of them were acquired after producing a season of 1.5 WAR or greater. In other words, all of those players that were acquired in trade were prospects in some form. The off-season discussions on acquiring players via trade is generally focused on acquiring established players to immediately impact the roster. Our discussion here has been improving the 2027 roster. So, when Gman stated, " I think there are very few teams that build a contender from trades", he is right if he meant this in the context of acquiring established players.

Why would they need to keep Larnach / Lewis / Ober? They have Ryan / Lopez / Bradley / Kremer / Prielipp / Matthews / Rojas and possibly Festa. They have Buxton / Jenkins / Keaschall / Rodriquez / Roden / Martin for OF. If they sign a 1B or 2B FA, Clemmens could be used in the OF if needed. Lewis is easily replaced by a free agent. Clemmens and Keaschall could also contribute at 1B. They would be a better team if the used the money from Larnach / Ober and Lewis to sign louis Arraez or Brandon Lowe at 2B. I could even see filing 1B with France and putting Clemmens at 2B until Houston makes his way up and Culpepper goes to 2B. At that point, Clemmens moves to a super utility role. These combinations are definitely better than having Lewis at 1B and Larnach in the OF, especially defensively. I will take my chances with Preilipp or Matthews outperforming Ober as a SP. Could he up the velocity out of the pen and be good for a couple innings in relief. Maybe. That's a reasonable question.

Rotowire says Spring Training.

Those 3 would account for almost $20M. Spend that money on one good player or 2 RPs.