DJL44

This tells me the Twins have been pretty good at developing outfielders and haven't needed to sign a free agent.

There aren't any of those. Wil Myers or bust.

This is an interesting comparison that tells a lot about the current economic structure of baseball. The Twins and Giants probably have a similar median value for the remainder of Correa's career - 35 WAR. What you're seeing is that 1 WAR is worth $8M to the Twins while it's worth $10M to the Giants (and more to the Mets). Neither team thinks Correa is going to be worth a darn at age 40 but the Twins don't pay the luxury tax so there is no incentive to spread out the years like there is for the Giants. The Giants probably would have made this a 20 year contract if MLB would have let them. The Twins will have to pay higher salary per year on shorter years to get top talent because time value of money makes that a more valuable contract for the player (8/285 is more valuable than 10/300 because $1M now is worth more than $2M ten years from now). The Twins cannot afford a rebuild this season. They have a TV contract up for renegotiation. The White Sox are keeping their money in their wallet and the Guardians are beatable. Half of their pitching rotation (Gray, Maeda, Mahle) becomes a free agent next year. They have to try to win this division in 2023. I agree that we are looking at a story of vastly different economic incentives for MLB teams. The large market teams want the playoff windfall so they will pay top dollar for free agents. Some of the small market teams will compete but only if it doesn't cost them much more than the minimum payroll (Guardians, A's). The mid-market teams (Twins, Cardinals) have to develop from within and are willing to pay for arbitration salaries or team friendly contracts signed when the player is under team control but can't afford top free agents.

If his game calling is that good they can have him relay signs to Jeffers from the dugout

Kepler for Domingo German and Wandy Peralta? Stick them both in the bullpen.

Kepler for Kiner-Falefa if Correa signs with the Giants

I noticed during the playoffs that Vazquez has a quiet glove when receiving, especially compared to Maldanado who was pulling his glove the center on every pitch. Vazquez does just about everything behind the plate better than Gary Sanchez so it's a clear upgrade there.

Milwaukee wins this trade

Contreras to the Brewers

I think Vazquez might be holding out to see if the Twins get Correa signed. He wants to play for a contender. If the Twins DON'T sign Correa he is likely to head elsewhere.

Yeah, I don't want to hear anyone bellyaching about Buxton being overpaid. He's paid fairly if he only plays half time. $100M buys 12 WAR on the open market this offseason. I'll bet Buxton delivers at least that much value over the life of the contract.

Putting all their free agent eggs in one basket.

If Narvaez is the answer, I might rather bring back Gary Sanchez.

This article reads like "this is a list of people who recently played for the Twins".

Roster Depreciation Allowance - The ability to amortize sports franchise (greenberglawoffice.com) "Under the American Job Creation Act of 2004, sports owners could depreciate all tangible property acquired in connection with the franchise under IRS Section 168 and amortize all intangible assets such as players’ contracts, sponsorship agreements, luxury suite contracts, and various other intangibles – including the franchise itself – over a fifteen year period under IRS Section 197." "The tax sheltering effects are clearly apparent in reviewing the consolidated statements of operations for the Brooklyn Basketball, LLC, owner of the Brooklyn Nets. Taking the fiscal year of 2006, not only are the players’ salaries totaling $58,896,983.00 deducted from income, but also “depreciation and amortization” are deducted in the amount of $41,032,427.00.[3] The consolidated statements represents an actual cash loss of $27,075,307 (operating loss of $14,439,939 and interest expense of $12,635,368), but a total loss of $68,107,734. At a marginal tax rate of 35%, that constitutes $23,837,706 in tax savings."

For the large market teams they have to take the luxury tax hit as even payments, so it makes some sense to just pay the same amount every season.

The Twins would have to spend at the luxury tax level to lose money. They aren't anywhere near that.

I have to believe there are at least 10 team owners in MLB pissed off at Padres ownership for proving that nearly any team could spend the money to win if they wanted to.

Every team in baseball could spend like the Padres. The Padres are willing to take less profit to try to win a championship. Oakland is making more profit than San Diego by slashing payroll and pocketing revenue sharing checks.

One fun thing about long-term free agent contracts is the team can depreciate them and shelter money from taxes. They get double counted as an expense and an asset.

Excellent. He'll make the whole pitching staff better.

and a leprechaun too

Would rather have Max Kepler with his contract than Cody Bellinger with his new contract.

You can either pay retail for "proven" relief pitching or you can make your own. Ask Los Angeles how "proven" relievers Ryan Tepera and Aaron Loup worked out for them. I'm not thrilled that the Twins are getting outspent 2-1 by the small market Padres but that's the reality.

Vazquez will make the pitching better. It might be the cheapest way to improve the rotation and the bullpen.