nytwinsfan

Really interesting article. Gibson probably makes more sense than Berrios for the Rockies as he is a groundball pitcher while Berrios is more of a flyball pitcher. I would consider Gibson plus another prospect/rookie (say, Polanco or Rosario) plus maybe a B level prospect (Walker or Hu) for Tulo plus some cash, but I doubt they would do that. Honestly, I'd be more interested in trading for a catcher.

Wow, Palacios is a hitting machine. Also, Blankehorn off to a great start at Elizabethton. That's great to see. Seems like they have him playing 3B.

Not sure what is going on either. I admit at the beginning of the season I agreed with letting Santana play SS to see if he could continue to hit almost as well as last season while playing adequate D. That obviously did not work. As of about sometime in May (and continuing to now) I am for putting Escobar back at SS full-time with Nunez as a backup and letting Santana continue to work on his plate discipline in the minors.

Your disregard for Escobar is inexplicable to me, but I agree about being hesitant. No way would the Rockies do that. Not even close. At a minimum it would take Berrios plus something more. Also, as numerous people have noted before, Arcia has more value in a trade to an AL team, for obvious reasons. Just in general I don't think Tulo makes sense as a target and would be disappointed if we mortgaged the future for him. I also think we shouldn't trade Arcia unless we get good value for him, which is unlikely right now.

My vote is for Escobar to be the starting SS the rest of this year. He is an average big league regular, and our needs at Catcher and Relief Pitcher are much more pressing if we are going to make a move. In fact, I'm fine with Escobar at SS until Polanco figures it out in the field or Gordon is ready in 3 years.

Alex Swim guys. I'm telling you. He could be a decent catcher. He's hit consistently well for Avg and Obp at every level, including the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. And he's thrown out 32% of stealers this year at FM, which I think is the same rate Turner threw out at FM. Obviously he's not a top 10 or top 20 prospect, but I think he has as much potential as Garver or Turner, maybe more. I'm still all about trading for a high quality young catcher, but those are costly. If we are just going to trade for another Suzuki, let's not even bother. I think one of the three of Turner, Garver, or Swim will end up being that.

Agreed. In any event, at this point I really don't think just Hicks would get that done, and the Giants don't need a third baseman anymore. Susac would probably take Hicks plus a decent pitching prospect like Gonsalves or something.

True, that's fair. I think we could trade for him this offseason though, when catcher will still be a glaring weakness for us.

Agreed. I thought this thread was about trading for catchers, no? Who suggested trading Plouffe for a relief pitcher (other than Chapman maybe)? I agree that is ridiculous.

Well, because you have a potential (I know, that word) top 5 3B on your team as well, and nobody decent to play catcher. That's what I see. I am pretty sure those of us saying trade Plouffe for a C (this winter btw, not right now) are talking about someone with more than 2 years left of control. I certainly am. I wouldn't trade him for a 1 or 2 year rental.

So you didn't think Buxton should have been the #1 prospect in the Twins system in mid to late 2013? Ok then. If you said it is "rare" that a player in your MiLB system at single A level can or should be your #1 prospect, then I might agree. But this seems kind of like a pointless, arbitrary rule. And I don't think most people think Javier is a top 10 prospect, or even a top 20 prospect really (I assume this is what you are referring to). Maybe a couple do, but that seems kind of like a straw man to me. Finally, why is EVERYONE available if the Twins are contemplating a trade? Again, seems kind of like an arbitrary rule. Maybe you mean Buxton and Sano would hypothetically be available if someone offers a top 10 player in MLB. Sure, ok then. That's not going to happen though. For all practical purposes Buxton and Sano are off limits.

Yup, this. Sano should be at 3B medium to long-term and one or more of Arcia, Vargas, or as of yet unknown free agent should be at DH.

Great list. I mostly agree. The one guy who is conspicuously absent is Alex Swim.

Thanks Bob! Does anyone know how much Palacios signed for? Someone must know. Jeremey?

I think someone should do a separate write-up on Palacios. Kid is raking and there is not that much information available about him on the old Google. I don't even know how much he signed for.

Bring up Arcia! Send down Santana! Escobar and Nunez are enough for short stops. Rosario can play 2B in a pinch and Sano can play 3B whenever if needed.

I'm sure others have addressed/complained about this before, but it would be great if when a post gets bumped from the "recent blogs" section to the front page, the comments come with it. It is just really annoying to have your contribution to the discussion seemingly arbitrarily left behind. I'm not sure what the technical and/or logistical obstacles to that would be, but I would think everyone would agree that it is preferable. Thanks, and nice article Brandon.

I wouldn't make any moves other than maybe a tier two (11-20 range) prospect for a solid lefty reliever (although I think it is worth giving Taylor Rogers a shot first). If we could get a good deal for a solid youngish catcher with some team control left I would trade a higher level prospect or prospects, but I doubt that will be available. I would consider trading Plouffe for a quality catcher/almost ready high-upside catching prospect, moving Sano to 3B, and moving a platoon of Arcia/Hunter to DH, but that won't happen, possibly ever, and definitely not before this offseason.

1. Escobar. Agree with you. 2. Buxton/Hicks. Agree with you. Maybe an occasional Arcia start (in place of Hunter) against righties when he's not on the bench or DH'ing. 3. Pelfrey to the pen, May back to the rotation, with Nolasco somewhere else. 4. Perkins, Pelfrey, Fein, Boyer, Graham . . . yeah, I'd agree and give Achter and Rogers a shot.

Amazing first three.

Trust me, McDaniel understands future ratings and potential way way better than you or me. I am pretty sure those are not ceilings at all, especially for 16 year olds. I'm pretty sure he has explained elsewhere that they are the most likely outcome, and for the total FV (although not for the tools), he discounts some based on age and the concomitant risk (see the last paragraph of this link). Also, those kind of tools for a shortstop are really good. They wouldn't be for a corner outfielder. An average hitting, average power SS (average meaning league average, not position average - an absolutely critical distinction) with plus speed and above average defense is a great asset, and probably a top 100 prospect when he gets to A ball. For instance, McDaniel gives JP Crawford the same tools as Javier, with the exception that JP Crawford has a 55 hit tool rather than a 45+ and a raw power of 50 rather than 50+. Obviously any team would trade the 45+ hit tool and the 50+ power tool of Javier for the 55 hit and the 50 power tool of Crawford, but it just shows you that Javier is not that far away from Crawford, tool wise, and McDaniel ranked Crawford the 10th best prospect in baseball back in February, before a lot of players like Bryant, Buxton, Russell and Correa were called up. It just isn't realistic to expect legitimate SS prospects to have plus plus or even plus hit or power tools. Those with plus plus or plus hit and power tools almost always end up at 3B, 2B or even further down the defensive spectrum. That is why Troy Tulowitzki is Troy Tulowitzki.

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I don't think so. Not unless they trade for more space, which they can do up to almost $ 6 million. I expect them to at least try to do that.

Even if they don't make trades, they can go 5% over without getting really hard penalties (i.e., not being able to sign anyone over $500K next year). But I think Darren Wolfson reported a while back that the Twins were looking to make trades for more space anyway. Here is a primer on the penalties: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/07/2014-15-international-signing-period-primer.html

And "top 10" is a little misleading. Kiley McDaniel puts him in the top 7, and top 4 among 16 or younger players. The three top ones are actually 18 (Bahamas), 19, and 20 (Cuba), which makes them unfair comparisons. http://www.fangraphs.com/scoutboard.aspx?draft=2015int&type=0&pos=all Here are the tools for Javier according to McDaniel: Hit Game Power Raw Power Speed Field Arm 20 / 45+ 20 / 45+ 45+ / 50+ 55 / 60 50 / 55 55 / 55