EGFTShaw

Well he was a rookie who put up a 3.55ERA I think he has the mindset to get better and will get better. #1? Way way to much expectation for a guy going into his 2nd year. But I’ll go in record barring injury he will be our #2 guy regardless of who we sign in the offseason great pickup for 2 months of Nelson Cruz

Herein lies a crucial item for Joe to look into. TV revenue. The Twins TV contract is pathetic.

Good point. I forgot that tidbit about MLB.

I'd argue 2 other premier SS available at a lessor cost. TT and the Slide Machine have been quoted at anywhere from $260M to $320M for 8 to 10 years. XB and DS are the two that could come at a definitive lower cost.

In my opinion it should not. I am a fan of C4 AND this proposal, but he is getting the $$s. No to a NT clause And I still would like to see a Mutual Option put in there.

Nothing gets the comments going like spending $$$s.... LOL I like it. May tweak it in a couple of ways. The 2nd opt out make it mutual, I think this is after 7 years. Increase the Front Loading by $1M than Mad Max and overall contract to be $1M more than the Corey "Night Moves" Seager's contract. Boras would love this. Remember, he could always be traded if the Twins eat a bit of the contract. I'm still on board with C4 aging along Cal Ripken Jr, so this contract would be good. A bit of an overpay perhaps at the beginning, but as non-traditional player in the FA market, it is what the Twins may have to do. Regardless of the rest of MLB, this would new and very creative for the Twins. On the note of year-to-year spending budget, $170M is going to be the new $140M in a year or three.

Also, after the Murphy trade, a Toronto trade may need to happen before the movement begins.

Gauntlet has been thrown!!! ??? ???

Nice assessment, but I disagree with your overall conclusion. health is paramount. Some injuries are not knowable in advance. but you have to trust there is growth. The gamble last year on the pitching was in Bundy, Paddock and Archer and not the young pitchers. it is refreshing to have a solid core of in-house pitching. I still want a Top Dog on our staff. the lineup I am mostly happy with except SS. Let’s go around the horn 1B: Arraez (hitting machine) & at minimum avg to plus fielder 2B:Polanco seriously seems to oscillate Almost great years with down years. 2022 was a down year. SS: C4, C5 whatever it takes (Mr Mom) I want C4. After that I am open a bit. 3B: Jose “Read Me My Rights” Miranda. He can hit. I remember Gary Gaetti struggling his first year at 3rd and became a good hot corner fielder LF: AK,or Larnarch (health concerns at the moment on both. I hope AK fully recovers. Beautiful swing CF: BB, but we need a good backup. If nothing changes on the roster then Kepler with Wallner filling in at RF RF: Kepler/Wallner c: Jeffers AND ?? DH: AK, Larnrach, Wallner, Arraez, SUte: Farmer could we use a RH bat. Definitely could we use a platoon at C to spell Jeffers if he doesn’t improve his splits. Also definitely but I am not down on young guys a LOT hinges on C4. He brings the intangibles along with his skill & production. We can fill in the field aspects but the leadership is another story MY WISH LIST: C4, one of DeGrom/Verlander/Rodon,solid RH Bat if Royce is unable to join us and a better catching duo it could put us in the $170M for payroll but it would be offset sone by ticket & merch sales Non player addition, the #2 marketing guy at Barcelona or Man Utd, to start marketing us beyond the middle of the country in a 2020 report, Barcelona topped €800M in marketing no way the Twins do that but an increase of $40M covers the difference between our normal salary and this once in a lifetime chance The Kids Are Alright

I am as Old School on the term Ace as you are on the Blue Light Special... Hello K-Mart Shoppers, over in the Sporting Goods department today, we have on sale for the next 60 minutes, a Blue Light Special on MLB FA Starting Pitchers, DeGrom, Verlander, Rodon and much much more. As always, we would like to thank you for shopping at K(ame)Apart and have a wonderful day. ACE to me is reserved for Johan type performance. Absolutely not required to win, but when you talk Ace, this is what it should mean. That one pitcher that on any given day will hit DDigits in Ks while no hitting the opponent while on the mound. I think No Hitters are going to be few and far between given the current MLB philosophy on pitchers going beyond inning number 6. PS - yes I am THAT old to know about Blue Light Specials...LOL/SIGH

Good info with pitchers, you just never know No one, and I mean No One, guessed that Verlander would win the Cy Young this year. people laughed at the Nats contract with Mad Max (what the hell were the Tigers smoking to have these two on staff. Again no one knew how good they would be), but that contract was worth every penny to the Nats. I’m nervous as hell about signing Rodon. He produced this year & is a lefty. I think we have the depth if quality starters (no shut down Ace) to handle blips by Rodon but to be honest I’d rather over pay for DeGrom or JV because the history is just a bit better. id rather spend $160M on DeGrom over less years with player option after 2 and mutual option after 3. Heck I’d bump that to $1M more AAV than Mad Max’s contract because Boras

I thought the same about his runner up for a God Glove. Over! Whats our vector Victor?

So we sort of upgraded by move Miranda off 1st Farmer is a good fielder according to metrics. I want him as the Super Ute not starting SS. I want C4 very badly. ?? Polanco honestly seems to cycle every other year. So look for an uptick this year. if we can’t get C4, then I think we look to the next best SS and if they are close lean to the better defender. when healthy, I think we have hitters and more in the pipeline. Arraez was good enough at first, again according to what I have heard. that leaves Catcher. I hope the coaches improve Jeffers defensive skills. 2nd catcher is a mystery. Murphy will cost too much I think. Toronto has 3 but at what cost?

I read the article and had 2 reactions. First - like most comments so far, he’s a starter until he proves otherwise second - unless you have your head buried in the sand so far it pops in Australia, of course you have contingency plans. NOTE: and yes sone pro sport executives/owners have viewed Australia often from the US. ? NOTE 2: most TJ recovering pitchers are adequate in post year one & back to normal post year two.

Only comment is your ETA dates...2021, 2022.. :)

@DocBauer you asked...I missed my deadline... LOL

Going Paul Bunyon Big (dreaming) bec I don't want to be a AAAA Team C4 8yrs $320M (front load if possible. I still like his odds of aging well when I look back at CPjr. WARs are almost identical; stats are very similar as is the body types.) Rodon 4yrs $120M or 5 yrs $125M (NOTE: The Athletic projects a 5yr, $160M contract) Trade Kepler and Urshela(Done). I'd look to Miami to trade Kepler. We are NOT getting Lopez for Kepler, but we might get one of their pitching prospects and they have done an excellent job identifying pitching talent. Jose "Read me my Rights" Miranda gets 3rd base. Matt "Up Against The" Wallner gets RF Backup C goes to Andrew Bechtold just because I am NOT sold on any options, I can see available, and he can play 3rd base. I don't want to trade for Murphy from Oak. Maybe one of the Cs from Toronto but I heard they are asking for a premium. Remember Farmer played exclusively Catcher for the LAD. Once E. Julien is ready, think about trading Polanco. (Polanco is bi-annual fantasy pick. Up one year, down the next...LOL) Maeda takes the SP and Ober drops to RP. Final 2 RP are Henrique and Winder. Caveats: 1) Does not take into account injuries, but assumes all players listed will be 100% healthy for Spring Training. This is a BIG Caveat and is why it is listed first. Especially when thinking of AK and KM 2) I completely understand the Twins, (and owners), have NEVER even contemplated this before. 3) I realize that the money spent on C4 and Rodon could easily be spread amongst loads of other average players, but I do NOT want and team full of average players. I want players who want to be called on when the team needs them. 4) Assume as well that, the contracts of C4 and Rodon could possibly be traded if things go south. If the Rangers could trade A-Rod (and his PEDs) then Twins can trade C4. Yes, it may mean paying a portion of the salary. WS Champs, '23 or Burst C: Ryan Jeffers ($0.70M) 1B: Luis Arraez ($4.50M) 2B: Jorge Polanco ($7.50M) 3B: Jose Miranda ($0.7M) SS: Carlos Correa ($40M) LF: Alex Kirilloff ($0.70M) CF: Byron Buxton ($15.00M) RF: Matt Wallner ($0.7M) DH: Jose Miranda ($0.70M) 4th OF: Kyle Garlick ($0.70M) Utility: Nick Gordon ($0.70M) Utility: Kyle Farmer ($5M) Backup C: Andrew Bechtold ($0.7M) SP1: Carlos Rodon ($30M) SP2: Sonny Gray ($12M) SP3: Tyler Mahle ($8M) SP4: Joe Ryan ($0.70M) SP5: Kenta Maeda ($9M) RP: Jhoan Duran ($0.70M) RP: Jorge Lopez ($3.00M) RP: Griffin Jax ($0.70M) RP: Jorge Alcala ($1.0M) RP: Caleb Thielbar ($2.00M) RP: Bailey Ober ($0.7M) RP: Josh Winder ($0.70M) RP: Ronnie Henriquez ($0.70M) Payroll is 4.63% over budget

Keith's reports are usually pretty good. Although I do remember him questioning the Jose Berrios drafting. But this was based on his size primarily. He developed very nicely even though he had a rough year with the Jays this past year.

It goes to show what your scouting and development teams can produce if you have good people.

This weekend ???

I am on record for saying C4 above all other FA SSs. I am also on record for saying TT after C4 if only for the chance to somehow market his slides. ? After that, I think I would like to look at the options Doc Gast came up via trades. I am not sure that XB or DS move the needle enough to warrant the deal.

There are very FEW true ACE pitchers in MLB. Long gone are Johan, Pedro, etc.. Rodon would be our "Ace" but he shows he can do this game after game, win a CY or two I am not sure. Right now, I would put Mad Max, Darth Verlander and a Healthy "Hans Gruber" DeGrom in that category. There are other very good pitchers who may obtain this designation, Otani, Brewer1&Brewer2, Cole. So, although I want this shutdown pitcher, I am not sure he is gettable. Initially I was cool to Rodon, but I have been warming up to him for 2 reasons. 1) He's a lefty #1 pitcher. (I differentiate between Ace and #1). 2) There is a dearth of options out there. I am not trading Brooks Lee to the Brew Crew or anyone else unless it gets me Otani. (In what universe would THAT happen) So, sign Carlos*2, trade Max (someone will fix his swing and get a big gain out of it), to get a RH OF. I am not opposed to bringing in Jansen and having Duron, Lopez and Jansen in my BP.

This fact, that we know what Correa brings to the team and what he is like as a teammate, put him far and away at the top of the SS FA list. I am not sure the other SS bring enough to warrant the deal, although somehow marketing TT's slide for extra revenue is an idea... ;)

I am not sure on the track record. We here about the bad contracts always and the REALLY great contracts. But the contracts that are mutually good fly under the radar as they aren't newsworthy. My instinct is that the mutual options are a relatively, (less than a decade) new thing. I only recall player or club options.

I am JUST TIRED of retreads and reclamation projects. I get the point that this has been the Twins MO for decades if not forever. Griffin would squeeze the players so much they bled before going to another team that at least appreciated them. Pohlads have been better, but marginally so until last year. I also know you need role players that can produce and everyone is not going to be an All Star. With such a clean slate right now, I want to see them go big, Paul Bunyon Big, or fuhgeddaboudit and go home. This King Kong Bundy experiments for either pitchers or positional players need to stop.