DocBauer

Somebody slap me upside the head! Can't believe I forgot Martin. Thank you for the correction.

Agree it's a nice "problem" to have in regard to too many good options. I also agree that I think DH will primarily go through the various INF options. But with Buxton, Wallner, and the likes of Emma and Jenkins...possibly Rosario...arriving over the next couple of years, that OF is going to get pretty crowded as well. You figure 4 true OF, 4 true INF, a pair of Catchers, and let's say Castro continues to stick as a super utility player. That's 11. I'd say there's a reasonable chance a 5th true OF is kept so Castro is less tied down to any specific area of the club, and can literally play anywhere but catcher. That's 1 spot left to fill. Could that be Miranda? Like you, I'm starting to have a hard time seeing a spot for him, even if he's 100% and re-discovers his 2021-2022 self. He might fit as a 1B/3B/PH/DH and get semi-regular playing time. But it's also possible Severino fills that role. It's also possible what the Twins will want is another super utility guy to replace Farmer, who's probably done after this year, to pair with Castro. I'm thinking Schobel or Keaschall might be that 13th guy. Wow! Just tantalizing!

Thought about this a lot, regarding who plays where. I think Lee would make an excellent 3B. But Lewis is settling in there quite nicely, so I think Lee ends up at 2B, backs up SS...probably along with Lewis...and maybe plays a little 3B too. Julien should end up splitting time between 2B/1B/DH. I think come 2025 there is a CHANCE Lewis moves to LF, Lee takes over 3B, Julien stays at 2B full time, Wallner obviously moves to RF. Repeat, I think there's a CHANCE of it happening, but I'm skeptical. What's also a little interesting to me is do they replace Farmer with someone next year? I mean, if Lee and Lewis can both play SS, and Castro can play all across the INF, and you still have Julien as an occasional 2B, do they need another utility player? If so, would that be someone like Helman, Prato, Schobel, or even Keaschal? Just my mind wandering.

And you're not wrong. It's actually a sorta league wide issue that doesn't just affect the Twins. But that's all we seem to focus on. But Bellinger is a bit of a HOT BUTTON as well as a group of others because they are mostly under the "Boras umbrella". And while he's still projected to go back to the Cubs, they are being defiant about contract demands. Things will shake out eventually. But there is no collusion going on. Many teams are trying to reign back payroll. My goodness, the Padres lost a deal that would have paid them through 2032 but lost it. The Rangers lost their deal that was supposed to pay them something like $85,Ml. It's not just the Twins. This means the Twins can sign a decent, quality RH bat to fill the roster, and almost have their choice, on a 1yr deal for $5-8M. As far as the rest of the top FA list still available, I think most will end up signing for less than wanted. I wouldn't be shocked if a couple signed for 1yr, 2yr, with an opt out. I think that gives the Twins a RH OF bat to deepen the lineup. I'm not sure it adds to the to the rotation unless they sign someone like Rhyu on a cheap deal. It would make sense based on opportunity and the new TV 1yr deal. Why not? I'm still expecting nothing more than RH OF and a milb SP with hope and an out clause. But MAYBE they sign someone like Rhyu on the cheap because Desclafani isn't ready yet?

No apologies needed. I thought I might be right about that. Surprised Alcala still has 3 options. Good for the Twins, potentially bad for him. Just still have a gut feeling the change he showed late in 2021 will play yet again and he'll become someone the Twins depend on.

Hey gang, haven't hung out here for a couple of years now simply because of Zimmer's last year, the transition to the new staff and FO, and just time split in other areas of life. Forgive me for not reading every page of the current thread. As a 58yo man who's been living and dying...sometimes crying in my youth...I remain a devout, if frustrated, Vikings fanatic. But I'm here again because I think this offseason is important for the Vikings future like we haven't seen for a while. Apologies presented, here I am. The whole competitive rebuild option went out the window when Cousins was hurt. I think that's a fair statement. ONE LAST CHANCE with a new defensive coordinator, and offensive talent, this team had a shot. I LOVE the "balance" the NFL cap and minimum offers to keep the ENTIRETY of EVERY TEAM revelavat year to year. Something that I'm hoping MLB will follow one day, and may be forced to, but that's a different discussion unto itself. No matter how BRILLIANT the Vikings have been about contracts and kicking the can down the road, EVENTUALLY you hit that "T" intersection where you have to make a choice. And that's where the Vikings are right now. The Vikings have a QB situation with Cousins, who wants to stay, but won't come cheap, apparently. They also have, probably, the best WR in the NFL. And they have one of the best pash rushers in all of the league in Hunter. And with cap room of about 28M...and i still can't quite figure out how all of this works, lol...they need to re-sign Cousins, Jefferson, and Hunter. Hmmm...just not going to happen. Sorry, but Kwesi has NOT impressed me as a GM. He's not only continued the "kick the can down the road" mantra. But he's also failed as a GM when it comes to the draft. I'm 100% OK with trading down to acquire more picks. Especially if you have a deep draft and a lot of needs. Let's look at his first 2 drafts: Cine was a good pick, but an injury might never make him what we hoped for. Booth was an injury reach who MIGHT turn out. Evans actually looks better. Ingram was better his 2nd year, but not exactly a stud at this point. Asamoh so far has been a tease. CHANDLER might be a steal. Lowe showed potential as a young OT, but we traded him for a 6th round pick for what reason? Nailor is a flier who can't stay on the field. Muse shows some potential as a receiver TE. This last draft: Addison looks like a potential stud. Blackmon might be a quality CB. What did Ward do? Roy did nothing other than maybe show a little upside. Hall is about what you'd expect from a rookie QB and I'm holding out some hope for him. McBride was BARELY a practice squad RB. KUDOS for Wright as a FA punter, massive kudos for Pace as a FA LB find. And I understand it can take a year or two for a draftee to make their mark. But other than some "maybe's" who show some potential, when 1 first round pick and a rookie FA are the biggest difference makers you've brought on so far, something is wrong. It's time, Kwesi in charge or not, isn't it time for a rebuild instead of this "rebuild on the fly"? Either decide to max out for a QB you truly believe is the next STUD, OR, believe a QB who you truly like is hiding under the umbrella of rhetoric who is really good. Remember, Mahomes was the 2nd QB drafted in his class as the 10th pick. But if this QB draft is as deep as it appears to be, you might trade back. Hell, you might even get one in the 2nd round based on projections. But the Wilf's need to decide after this offseason and draft if Kwesi is brilliant, or a mistake. And that's the truth. Because this team is AT a T stop where they need to choose a direction.

Question. If Staumont isn't quite ready, but is close, would he have to use that option? Coming out of ST, couldn't he be put instead on the normal IL and then get a rehab assignment? I don't recall the exact parameters, but I want to say he could continue to work at Ft Myers and then get 10-14 days to work in the minors to get ramped up? His option would remain intact at that point, yes?

For the most part, I like the Twins rotation a lot. But Squirrel is right that the Twins don't need to replace Gray in 2024, they need to replace what Gray did in 2023. But how do they do that? And I'm just talking regular season for the moment, not "who starts game 2 of a playoff series". We have a whole season to play before we get there. Ryan threw like an All Star for about 2/3 of a season before his groin injury. Should have shut it down, get better, and got back up instead of struggling through it. Health and more experience, he might raise his game a bit more. I'm still not sure we've seen the best of Ober, still growing in experience. He tired a bit late, got a rest, and looked good again. I don't hold his 1st and only playoff appearance against him. Paddack, more or less, is a replacement for Gray or Maeda, just depending on how you look at things. It appears he's increased velocity, but it won't be to the levels we saw in 2023 when he was coming out of the pen. He has a great change. Even in early 2022 after coming over in the trade, the Twins had tweaked his breaking ball and were very encouraged before his arm gave out. The question is mitigating his IP over an entire season so he's got life at the end. A skip or two and a IL stint to rest might do the trick. Personally, I have more faith than some in Varland. Everyone seems to focus on his final numbers last season, and last 3 starts, and notnhis first 12 when he looked like a bona-fide, solid SP with some upside. I think upside remains, and you could do a hell of a lot worse for the end of the rotation. DeScalfini scares me! Is he ready? Can he come close to his 2021 self? His early 2023 was quite good. But is just awaiting a TJ surgery? He's a wild card I don't like. Beyond those 6, the "problem" is more depth. Can SWR actually take the next step? How soon might Festa actually be ready to take the ball? Is Headrick anything other than a pen arm waiting to happen? I think Ohl might surprise the hell out of everyone and be a depth option after a little AAA time. You win many different ways. A better, deeper pen is one of those ways. A better producing offense is one of those ways. POTENTIALLY, both of those have a check mark in the positive column right now, though I'm still advocating for another veteran RH bat unless the Twins really, truly believe Martin is ready NOW. You don't just replace Gray individually unless you make a MAJOR acquisition. But you can do it collectively. Young arms, (not old, but still a little inexperienced) like Ryan, Ober, and Varland get a little better. Paddack is what the FO and we fans think/hope he might be even with the IP factor. You have to hope Disco has SOMETHING solid to offer. And if not day one, you're hoping a month or two in to the season the arms at AAA are ready to at least "help" and be at least solid. I haven't ready anything from Morosi, or anyone else, that the Twins are still looking for rotation help. If they are, I could be convinced on Ryu, but not sure about anyone else. I could be sold on a solid 1yr deal for him, telling me DeScalfini might not be ready yet. I have championed, and maintain, that despite some potential help at AAA, the smart thing would be a split milb deal, probably with an out clause, for someone like Odorizzi or Cueto, etc, to see if they've still got it and can come back. Cheap, low to virtually no risk, and potential help. The rotation, no matter what, might take at least a small downturn in 2024. But it doesn't have to be major if a couple things go right. And a better pen and offense also help offset that downturn.

You might be right about Funderburk. But we know these things tend to work themselves out in the long run. Personally, with an 8 man pen, I'm not so sure having 3 LH arms in the pen isn't a really good thing to have, even with the 3 man faced or end an inning rule. Might provide even more flexibility. I think Funderburk has proven himself in milb, and looked ready in his SSS last year with the Twins. But things get even tighter if and when Staumont is ready to go. But again, these things tend to work out. I also think Hendricks is in the Saints rotation for now. He can, hopefully, be part of the Twins rotation depth, plus be brought up for the pen at any time. There's some AAAA guys the Twins picked up for the Saints rotation I know nothing about. Nut that's typical. Honestly, they might just be reserve depth pieces. But the Saints pen could be pretty flush with options to bring up, both on and off the 40 man, depending on a couple guys still pending as to whether or not they pass through waivers. Reference an earlier post I made from Jensen, Bowman, Duarte, Enriquez, Winder, Sands, etc.

Behind Buxton I don't know if we are as thin as it first appears. You've got Castro to fill in. Then you've got Martin to come up...assuming he isn't on the opening roster, and Kepler can slide over to finish a game here and there. After that you've got Helman and Keirsey at AAA who you'd have to add to the 40 man, but while unproven, Helman is a RH Castro super utility type, and if Keirsey can translate to AAA the way he came on at AA, he's a fine CF with speed and a little pop. At this point in the market, I don't think any of the OF just sitting there are going to get more than a 1yr and $5-8M max. Taylor is a natural CF who can give great defense in the corners, run, and pop a few XBH. Duvall and Pham and even Grichuk aren't just throw away players. They all had positive WAR in 2023. Taylor's the only one I want playing CF on anything but a temp fill in basis. But the other 3 provide a RH bat with some power to give Wallner/Kepler a day off against LHP, and maybe PH. I'd probably grab Taylor. But the other 3 vets provide value still for the corners.

I don't see any burnt bridges myself. The Twins stuck by Gordon and brought him back when he could have been a possible DFA. The Twins also have a really good history of settling on deals with eligible players before ever getting to Arbitration. I think the deal happened now simply as both sides were waiting for the hearing to be complete. I think the roster is just about right, and we all know the 40 man is fluid during the season with a DFA or two as necessary, and the 60 man when someone has a long term injury. But simple logic and roster prudence tells me the Twins have the need and opportunity to add one more piece to the roster yet. And that's a RH hitting OF to help deepen and balance the player side of things. Once again, there are a few guys available. The most obvious ones...not a heavy $ cost or long term deal...would be the speed and defense of Taylor as a 4th OF, like he was supposed to be last season, or a Duvall/Pham who are corner OF with HR power and decent defense. Not exciting, but either direction adds someone who sit Wallner/Kepler against a LHSP, and Taylor can obviously help brilliantly in CF again. I think we're talking a 1yr for $5-7M per. The Twins can do that, and need to do that. It's possible they just really believe Martin is ready to go right now, and they are confident he will be able to play 4 games out of 6 in a normal week in various capacities. Now ME, despite re-establishing himself with a great AFL and a really nice 1/3 of the season in AAA...including a tremendous August...I'm not ready to give him that job yet. And I think the Twins would like him to be playing every day for the first couple of months in AAA.

The plan appears to be Desclafini in the rotation and Varland stretched out as the 6th starter waiting first opportunity. For that reason, I didn't list him currently in the pen. I also didn't list Canterino at this time as he needs to probably throw a little bit, and the Twins have said they are going to use him as a rotation arm to begin with.

I liked some of what I saw in Headrick in 2023, at least initially. And he did so basically straight from AA, though he obviously spent a good deal of the season in AAA ultimately. I still think he might have a future in the pen. But for now, I think the plan is for him to remain stretched out in the Saint's rotation? I think...barring someone else stepping forward...that he'd be the 4th LH available to the Twins at the moment.

Just doing a quick review, for myself if nothing else: POTENTIAL ROSTER: Duran, Jax, Stewart, Topa, Thielbar, Okert, Jackson, Funderburk PROBABLY THERE IF 100%: Staumont 40 MAN DEPTH: Alcala, Sands, Winder, Weiss (for now) REASONABLE NON 40 MAN DEPTH: BOWMAN (ML experience), DUARTE (if he passes through), JENSEN, HENRIQUEZ. Did I miss anyone?

Beyond them is Helman, Keirsey, and Bubba Thompson should he clear waivers and stick with the Twins. Prato might be an option, but he's been used almost exclusively as a LF. None of them on the 40 man. But we've seen in the past there are DFA possibilities and 60 day injuries that usually free someone up if you really need the room. Personally, I'd think Helman would be a good bet for the next man up considering what he's done at AAA and his super utility potential. Maybe Thompson next? Elite speed and ML experience. But he's barely hit in milb and not hit at all at the ML level. If Keirsey can replicate close to what he did at AA in 2023, he could be the #1 "next guy" if they have to go beyond Martin and Castro.

Top 5? Yeah, think you probably nailed it. Jenkins might debut in 2025, but decent chance he's still a rookie to begin the 2026 season. He'd be what, 21yo? But a few that might push that top 5? Noah Miller....agree the bat has some potential, isn't there yet, but if it comes along, great prospect! Danny DeAndre...if he can stick at SS, his offensive potential is above average for a SS. Could be top 5 in 2026. Yasser Mercedes...one of the best IL signings of recent years. CF ability and 5 tool talent. Poor stateside debut and injury following a tremendous 2022 in the DSL. But if things start to click in 2024, very possibly top 5 for 2026. Soooo want to include Luke Keaschall as a possible add. High A to begin this year, and maybe finish in AA. 2025 sees him at least finishing the season in AAA. So maybe he's already on the roster for 2026? Maybe he's just outside the top 5? Or maybe he's traded. Let's go ahead and include him as a "fringy" top 5 possible.

W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 12 9 .571 3.70 228 2 30 0 0 0 194.1 148 86 80 27 80 7 220 16 1 6 813 116 4.20 1.173 6.9 1.3 3.7 10.2 Sorry it's a little off, but that's his ML career line. I'd take that any day, all day, for a 2nd LH arm in the pen.

Love the pen depth, and there are some non-roster guys that might help as well. But I think Weiss is the next name off that list for an OF. Not sure who else you'd release at this point.

Wow. I saw Gordon getting moved, but this actually more than I expected. Okert has a great career BA/against, great WHIP, and over 10 K per IP. Over 50 IP each of the last two years. The Twins needed another LH pen arm besides Headrick with Moran out foe the season and anybody else sitting at AA or lower. Personally, I'd be tempted to keep 3 port side guys in the pen. 3 of 8 sounds like a good plan to me. And I think Funderburk is ready, is good, and should have a spot. But these things do tend to work themselves out. Love the pen depth. Best opening day pen and best depth I can remember in years! IMO, this move is followed by a RH OF still sitting and waiting. I just don't know if it's the speed and defense of Taylor or a corner power bat like Duvall or Pham, etc. $5-7M on a 1yr probably gets something done? This team is starting to come together. And the depth most everywhere is excellent.

Unfortunately, you might be right about the CBA having an effect. Whether the players like it or not, and whether some owners like it or not, the move toward streaming is not going away, or slowing down. It's the new reality. Cable companies will still exist for their other product, and "cable tv" as we know it might still exist in it's own streaming form as just another option. But UNTIL it happens, it's just impossible to predict how much money will be available year one of say...oh, maybe 2/3 of the league initially, more later. Odds are, Amazon, Apple, whoever, is not going to pony up enough $B's first year to guarantee every team under it's umbrella $60M in guaranteed revenues. It might get there, and get better and better over time, but it won't happen over night. And again, players might not like it, and some owners won't either, but it's going to eventually lead to a more regulated/even spread of MLB finances. In other words, a drop in $, gradual raises over time as it grows, and the very real potential of a more balanced share of $ and maybe even a cap and floor situation. It's the just the nature of the beast, and it's not going to change. As to a solution, I believe it IS going to be a streaming giant, possibly a couple in some sort of split/share. MLB will probably keep it's own APP as well so that radio and TV options are available to those not sitting at home to watch the games. Ideally, every team would still be allowed to have a limited partnership with a local TV network for a select number of games to be televised over the air so all locals would have at least SOME limited access to their local team with a subscription. Say a game a week, or a couple a month. The streaming companies shouldn't object as it may drive up subscriptions as local residents watch, enjoy, and want more. And we're only talking a few games, so there really is no large revenue loss. BTW, anyone else ever stop to realize that a streaming company gathering in subscription $ for MLB games will also probably have advertising as well? That's why I say, it's going to grow. It's just a question of how fast and how much $ do the teams get initially? The Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, etc, of the ML world might be he biggest sticking point going forward.

You are correct. They did receive the $30 BAM money last year. Totally get that. And I'm sure it helped get the payroll to $155+. But I think part of the point being made is that they signed Vazquez to 3yrs, extended Lopez, and re-signed Correa to his multi-year deal knowing the TV deal was going to be a question mark and the $30 BAM money was a 1 shot deal. So it would appear they aren't opposed to spending, and 2023 wasn't a one shot deal.

I don't think 2023 was a one off. I think they saw an opportunity with Correa that they just couldn't pass up. Remember, he was actually offered more guaranteed money by the Twins than he ultimately signed for. I think they understood the young talent they had on hand that had arrived, was ready to arrive, and that is in the system. They knew Gray and Maeda were coming off the books, that Polanco and Kepler would soon, so I don't believe they felt financially handcuffed in any way, so even with an expiring TV coming up and some unknowns, they trusted in what they had, made the Correa move, and then extended Lopez as well. So while I wish they had taken more risk this offseason and just bet on a decent deal happening for 2024 in order to enhance the roster more, they certainly did make a few aggressive moves before 2023.

Mobile phone companies now sell internet, and internet companies sell mobile. Cable TV is dying a quick and horrible death and streaming is growing, evolving, adding content, dropping content, merging, and always raising prices. Yeah, it's going to take a few years for all of this to sort itself out. Just another example of how bizarre the MLB situation has become in regard to broadcast rights and expiring deals.

Certainly not going to make excuses or apologize for ownership and the 2024 budget. I believe they should have been daring, take a risk, and hoped they'd get a deal like the one they just got. Buuuuuuut.....here's the problem with being frustrated with the Twins. Of course they knew the deal with Bally was going to expire. And from what I understand, part of them was excited about that as the deal with Bally/Diamond Sports, restricted the Twins from selling streaming rights. And you can understand that from Bally's perspective as they didn't want the competition. Now, the whole idea of blacking out multiple nearby states from watching the Twins on the MLB app is completely beyond me. But where should the Twins have gone instead of back to Bally for 2024? And I'm just asking out loud to everyone, including myself. Cable TV is dying, and quickly. To my immediate knowledge, there is no independent cable TV channel in the Cities that A} Wants the Twins for 162 games a year, and B} Could offer anything remotely acceptable to the Twins and ownership. MLB has national deals in place that benefit the league. And the MLB app is pretty fantastic...again, no explanation for the ridiculous blackouts. But just because the Twins knew this deal was ending doesn't mean there was an easy, ready, and obvious move to channel X who would cough up $50M per year, give or take. And even if there was someone who could/would offer up $30M and the Twins could sell streaming rights to company Y, TV station X might not take too kindly for them doing that. What would SEEM to make the most sense is the rumored idea of MLB taking over control of as many team's broadcast rights as possible, and partner with companies like Amazon, who just stuck their toe in to everything with their recent deal with Diamond. That idea works best the more teams you have. MLB is already control the broadcasts of a handful of teams. In 2025, the Twins will again have an expiring deal, as will other teams, and MLB might have a better, larger product to offer to Amazon, or anyone else, in a streaming deal. Unfortunately, such a deal might take a few years to produce the kind of financial fruit wanted as it would take time for more and more teams to come on board. Further, there's going to be a handful of teams like the Dodgers or Yankees that might not ever leave their own, local deals. But cable will continue to die for them as well. I think, ideally, the solution is all, or as many teams as possible on a streaming deal that will almost certainly grow over time, while still having the MLB app as an option, and HOPEFULLY, the freedom for a small local deal available to all teams so that local TV can have the right/ability to broadcast a few "free games" over the air on weekends and holidays and the such so that, even on a very limited basis, local fans can still watch a few games on the year without subscribing to any service. But it's really not as easy as "Hello channel 10, we'd like you to bump all of your other programming for 162 Twins games a year. Oh, by the way, we need about $55M from you to do so." And that's what's so frustrating and confusing. It's about as big a mess as the whole revenue sharing, income disparity that exists in baseball.

I would like to think that Staumont is NOT a 60 day candidate because he's either ready, or expected to be really soon, so they don't want him on the 60 day and unavailable for that long. I'd like to think the Twins checked him out thoroughly and believe he's ready or relatively close to it. (crossing fingers)