DJL44

Tell me your team has a losing record without telling me your team has a losing record.

You're out of state. I was referring to the rural residents of Minnesota who think Minneapolis is perpetually on fire.

Not by much though. Zunino got $6M for this season. Oh no, they spent an extra $5M on the roster. They won't win the wins per dollar pennant this year.

The only pitcher this front office has given a long-term contract to is Randy Dobnak.

I know this is intended as a sarcastic comment but I'm ready for Mike Veeck to run the Twins.

I thought outstate people were too terrified of Minneapolis in broad daylight to get closer than 494/694.

Maybe they could play professional pickleball there after the baseball game. That's getting more popular.

They are positioned to be the team everyone is calling at the July trade deadline.

Another veteran with a higher salary who could help: Manuel Margot of the Rays (there's your RH hitting OF).

This team should not be trading away any more top prospect capital. Don't eat your seed corn. They have money to spend and should be looking to spend it. If they acquire players in trade they should be expensive veterans with little trade value who can help the team in 2023. Some examples: Javy Baez has an opt-out after the 2023 season and is likely to use it after seeing what happened this winter. He might be available pretty cheaply from the Tigers. German Marquez could improve if you get him out of Denver. Kris Bryant would be a great fit for the Twins but I doubt you'll get Colorado to eat that contract already. My favorite way to upgrade the rotation is still to use Jhoan Duran there. If they can make an ace pitcher out of Duran they'll have tripled his value. I think they can upgrade the bullpen pretty cheaply. Relievers don't usually get 3 year deals, let alone 13 year deals. The best relievers are usually failed starting pitchers. Grab 5th-6th starters for nothing and convert them to bullpen guys.

I agree that you may get more out of Vazquez if you play him less often. On the other hand, he just got paid a lot of money by the Twins and you want to use him less often? Their goal should be to get everything out of Vazquez while they can in 2023.

I'm not optimistic about the Twins signing Dansby Swanson. There are more teams in on him (Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, Red Sox) than were interested in Correa. Those teams all have deeper pockets than the Twins.

Fixed

That's only allowed with commissioner approval. You can't be an executive and an employee.

Wil Myers is marginally better at hitting lefties than Kyle Garlick. .815 OPS for Myers, .805 OPS for Garlick in 2022.

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.