TwinsTerritory

Not necessarily him, but someone like him that has performed well and appears may have another level, is cheap, and (most importantly) is available. Not a lot of guys like that out there.

I should mention that the reason I said A- is because trading for Musgrave was necessary for an A. Still can't believe we wouldn't top the mediocre prospect haul that the Padres sent!

I'm hoping the payroll can be in the $130M range. If so, I would give the Twins an A- for the offseason if they: a. bring back Cruz for 1yr/$12M (include a club option for year two with a buyout if necessary, but don't guarantee 2 years) b. sign either Rosenthal, Colome, or Greene to a 2 year deal in the $6-8M per year range c. bring back Clippard at 1yr/$3M I know people will argue we need a starter (it would be ideal), but looking at the current roster and the likely budget I think we need a big bat and a couple relievers more than we need Odo or Paxton.

I did forget him when typing it up, but it totals $125M with him. Thanks for the catch!

I've enjoyed reading this thread. I'd love to see Cruz come back on a 1 year deal, but I'm intrigued by the idea of taking that money and spending it on the bench and the bullpen. I've been playing around with it and I really like a roster like this. It provides a lot more flexibility and I think this bullpen could be very good. C Mitch Garver 1.9M C Ryan Jeffers 0.6M 1B Miguel Sańo 11M 2B Luis Arráez 0.6M SS Jorge Polanco 4.33M LF Alex Kiriloff 0.6M CF Byron Buxton 5.1M RF Max Kepler 6.5M OF David Dahl 4M OF Brent Rooker 0.6M Utl Enrique Hernandez 7M Utl Ehire Adrianza 1M SP Kenta Maeda 8.15M SP Jose Berrios 6.1M SP Jake Odorizzi 12M SP Michael Pineda 10M SP Lews Thorpe or Randy Dobnak or Devin Smeltzer 0.6M RP Brad Hand 8M RP Archie Bradley 5M RP Taylor Rogers 6M RP Tyler Duffey 2.2M RP Jorge Alcala 0.6M RP Caleb Thielbar 0.65M RP Cody Stashak 0.6M RP Derek Law 0.6M Total Payroll $125M

I was actually on the site last night and knew that it says that my offer for Syndergaard comes up way short. While I think that website is a ton of fun, I question the value of players in some cases. I'm actually excited to see some trades happen and look on their website to see if they're very accurate or not.

If the Twins are going to add a starter, I feel strongly that it needs to be someone that would slot into our top 3 for the playoffs and have control beyond 2019. That's a short list of available pitchers. Relievers on the other hand could be rentals or have team control, I just want a couple guys that are pitching well this year. My two trades happen to be for relievers with team control in 2020. I'm curious to hear other opinions of my trade packages. Fair trade value is so hard to determine. Twins trade Brusdar Graterol, Brent Rooker, Nick Gordon, and Cole Sands to the Mets for Noah Syndergaard. Twins trade Jorge Alcala and Gabriel Maciel to the Giants for Sam Dyson and Tony Watson.

I’d love to see a trade for Sonny Gray and a late inning reliever like Ottavino or Allen. Throw in an extension for Berrios and I’d consider it to be a pretty good off season. If things go well, they’re in the race and if not, you have some decent pieces to sell and a lot of money to spend again next off season. ( My sources tell me that Nolan Arenado has always wanted to play for a smaller market, even colder climate team)

Having your list as a starting point made it much easier to reason through. Couldn't imagine how much more difficult it would be to start from scratch!

I appreciate the time and thought Nick puts into his list. With his top 5 being fairly easy to guess (unless he has a man-crush on Willians), I'll take a shot at my list using his criteria as best I can. 20. Jake Cave, OF--insurance if Buxton/Kepler can't stay healthy or take the next step. 19. Michael Pineda, SP--including him in my top 20 because I see value as a potential top of the order pitcher, extension candidate, or trade candidate 18. Adalberto Mejia, LHP--he throws with his left hand and will probably have a decent MLB career, but not sold it will be with the Twins 17. Stephen Gonsalves, LHP--see Mejia, but with more team control and hopefully a higher ceiling 16. Nick Gordon, SS--I placed him a little higher as I still see a potential above average middle infielder and that has value 15. Wander Javier, SS--Appears to have a higher ceiling than Gordon, but is also a lot farther away 14. Trevor May, RHP--Can he stay healthy and find a role that gives him high value? Last fall was promising 13. Taylor Rogers, LHP--Has been pretty dominate for the past 2 years, excited for the future 12. Mitch Garver, C--if he can stick behind the plate (a fairly big if), his bat could make him an above average catcher and those are hard to find 11. Kyle Gibson, RHP--Hopefully last year was a sign that he has turned a corner and the Twins can lock him up for a few more years 10. Max Kepler, OF--really like him, but there are definitely concerns that his ceiling isn't as high as once hoped 9. Fernando Romero, RHP--has nasty stuff, but the Twins need to find a role that will allow him to show it 8. Miguel Sano, 3B--as seen in the forum, he is probably the most polarizing name on the list. I put him a little higher as I still see that 40 homer potential 7. Brusdar Graterol, RHP--sounds like he has all the tools to be an ace, but he's still a ways away 6. Eddie Rosario, OF--even if we've seen his peak, I'll take an above average corner outfielder for the next few years 5. Jorge Polanco, SS--see my comments above about middle infielders. He probably shouldn't play SS, but that bat will play at 2B 4. Byron Buxton, OF--I'm with Nick here. Even if he never reaches the full potential at the plate, that glove and those legs will keep him playing CF for a long time 3. Alex Kiriloff, OF--Hard to not buy in when every expert seems sold that he's the real deal. 2. Royce Lewis, SS--If the Twins play in a World Series in the next 10 years, it's probably because he is the face of the franchise 1. Jose Berrios, RHP--At the top of the list because he's made it to the show and seems to be getting better each year. I believe he can still become an ace and they are probably the hardest thing for a medium or small market franchise to find.

I wouldn't be willing to tack years on, and maybe that would be the end of the conversation. However, maybe Grienke would look around and see that Arizona has decided to rebuild and he'd waive his no trade clause.

Let's think big and try to win the division! 1. Sign David Robertson to a 2 yr/$22M deal with a $11M vesting option for year 3. Robertson would solidify the back end of the bullpen and if the third year is a vesting option, the Twins would reduce their risk. 2. Trade Nick Gordon, Blayne Enlow, Lamonte Wade and Tyler Austin to the Diamondbacks for Zach Grienke, Eduardo Escobar (and $44.5M to help cover Grienke's salary). I have no idea what the Diamondbacks think they'll get for Grienke or how much money they're willing to eat, but adding Grienke to the top of the rotation with Berrios would solidify the starters and replacing Austin on the roster with Escobar would provide a ton of flexibility that the Twins currently don't have with the Cruz signing. Line-up 1. Eduardo Escobar 3B/SS/2B 2. Jorge Polanco SS 3. Nelson Cruz DH 4. Eddie Rosario LF 5. Miguel Sano 1B/3B 6. Max Kepler RF 7. Jonathan Schoop 2B 8. Byron Buxton CF 9. Jason Castro C Bench Mitch Garver C C.J. Cron 1B Ehire Adrianza IF Jake Cave OF Starting Pitchers 1. Zach Grienke 2. Jose Berrios 3. Kyle Gibson 4. Jake Odorizzi 5. Michael Pineda Bullpen David Robertson Trevor Hildenberger Addison Reed Taylor Rodgers Trevor May Fernando Romero Aldeberto Mejia

It's a bit of driving and time, but I started in the Bay Area and saw Oakland and SF and then drove down to LA for an Angels game, SD, Arizona, and then back to LA for a Dodgers game.

Completely agree with your comment about there being a big group of mediocre ballparks and they are difficult to differentiate between. As I started my list, I put ballparks in 3 groups. I ended up with 8 at the top, 7 on the bottom and 15 in the middle that I would consider mediocre.

Thanks to those that have posted. I enjoy reading the comments. It's always interesting to hear what others think. The comments about the Metrodome are also interesting. While in Toronto, I spoke to a few people and they really like Rogers Centre (although they still prefer to call it Skydome). I believe how you feel about a ballpark can vary greatly based on your experience. If I was at Rogers Centre for a Jose Bautista bat flip in the playoffs, I'm sure it would have been a much different experience than a 5-0 shutout in a lost season.