IndianaTwin

For the record, Kansas City was 12-1 against Chicago and Detroit 10-3, so it's not like the Twins gained much on them by beating up on Chicago. Two of the wins over Detroit came on the last two days of the season, when Detroit is setting itself up for the playoffs and Chicago had something to play for in avoiding loss No. 122. And one could argue that Cleveland wasn't really that good, because they lost five times to one of the the worst teams in major league history. Every team in the league besides Tampa Bay, Oakland and Los Angeles improved their record because they played the White Sox multiple times. (And all but Atlanta, Colorado, St. Louis and Washington in the National League. I'm actually surprised that Chicago won seven series over the course of the year.)

I'll combine a response. I read the statement as saying that they can go about $5M above where they are now. I agree with Tony & Rodney that there is fluidity. Budgets in an organization of this size in an industry with this level of volatility will ALWAYS have some wiggle room. You're always looking for value. It's an extreme example, but when Correa became available at what was perceived as a bargain, they went for it. I joked about the Polar Bear above, but if his agent called and said that he was available for some ridiculously low number, they would find a way to make it work. Then, add the wiggle room that may have been added if arb-eligible guys did indeed come in lower than expected and we're starting to generate a few bucks. I also agree with Tony & Rodney's read on how Falvey may be thinking about the current roster. I'm not sure if this is what you were saying, but you seem to be suggesting that Falvey seems to have a lot of confidence in the current roster. If so, that's my read as well. (And I agree with that, though they haven't asked me). I'll nuance my agreement with Tony & Rodney's next statement in saying that when I looked this afternoon, I didn't also see anybody that I like better than the parallel person already on the roster. There were a handful that I could see as additions (i.e., depth) to the mix, however. Without digging too deep, Bader is one that comes to mind as an MAT-type addition from a few years ago that could be helpful. There are a few relievers that could be a worthy additional arm to add to the mix. I think (and hope) they won't spend $5M just to spend it, but if they find a guy that they can pay $5M and reasonably hope to get $8M in value, go for it. Finally, at this point, I think any trades are most likely to be talent-for-talent at the major league level (and reasonably cost-neutral), trading from an area that feels a little deeper to bolster another area that seems a little shallow. Arraez for Lopez would be the prime example from the past. Because Paddack has been one of the easy targets, I'll use him as the current example. If they truly believe in their rookie starting pitchers, I could see them trading Paddack for some team's similarly priced (or even slightly higher priced) RH batting outfielder.

No, it's about $15M more than "we originally thought Derek Falvey had to play with," at least if we were accepting the narrative that "there won't be a further cut" means "we're going to spend what we did last year, so we have to cut $10M from the projection -- adios Vazquez, Paddack or Castro." Some of us weren't accepting that narrative, but unfortunately, that's virtually the only message we heard on TD all winter. I said in another post that Falvey tends to operate below the radar, so if there's speculation on Cease, it seems unlikely to happen. I also see that this one only links him to the Cubs and Mets: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/the-opener-moniak-yates-cease.html And now that the Padres signed a catcher, their interest in Vazquez goes away. I don't have a good handle on what's left, but I see a Solano/Taylor/Santana-type signing, a veteran presence who can play 1B or play CF. Less likely is a lefty reliever. (Oh, but it's a Friday evening -- please let me wake up to the out of the blue surprise that the Polar Bear is a Twin, kinda like happened a couple years ago on a Saturday morning with Correa.)

By leaving their wallet at home, at least they didn't pay for a bad Margot. I mean, Merlot.

Not according to dictionary.com, but it appears that one can make at least 100 words by unscrambling the letters: https://unscramblex.com/anagram/neasky

It would give plenty of fodder for TD, with the prompting of additional "We have too many LH hitting outfielders" articles and comments.

Is the goal to reduce San Diego’s budget? Because that’s adding $11.5M to the Twins.

If by "close to payroll neutral," you mean "take on at least $10M," sure.

I think it's doubtful the Twins will work out something with the Padres on Cease. Not because they can't, but because Falvey has always operated below the radar. Perhaps there have been some, but I don't remember any of his biggest moves having been in the rumor mill. If it's rumored, it's doubtful. And I'm okay with that approach.

My son got me a "Relax, I have a spreadsheet for that" refrigerator magnet, so yeah -- thanks for this. It's also helpful to know the rules for covering such deferrals. To make sure I'm understanding the columns, the cash flow of the payout to Ohtani is in the first and third columns, right? In March 2023, Forbes put the Dodgers' franchise value at $4.8 billion. I don't know how much a franchise grows in value, but if it's 3 percent per year for 12 years, that puts the value at about $6.8 billion when Ohtani starts to get his big checks. One wonders about the possibility of him getting into the ownership structure at that point. (Of course, that doesn't take taxes into account. Who knows where brackets will be then, but at the current top 37 percent federal and 12.3 percent California taxes, his current pay would have him in a marginal bracket hitting 50 percent on the portion for his home games and the road games in California.)

And with a headline that was clickbaity in a helpful way.

We'd find something.

Agree on the beauty of this stadium. It's definitely top five for me. As turf stadiums went, it was decent when it opened, but with each significant remodel, it's gotten better. In my mind, it will be a huge loss if it gets replaced. Royal/Kauffman holds a particular place in my heart, which I wrote about this winter. When I visited last summer, a fan relations employee went out of his way to make it a great experience. If you'd like to read it, it's the "And so concludes my Golden Anniversary" in the Blog section.* If you visit town, be sure to also visit the Negro League Baseball Museum. Then walk up the street to Arthur Bryant's for barbecue. I know there's other places in town that have their aficionados, and I like some of those as well,** but to truly experience the 18th & Vine District, it's the obvious choice.*** *I guess to be clear, I should say that's it's there whether or not you'd like to read it. That's really a silly thing we say, now that I think about it. **Gates and Sons, LC's, Woodyard, Joe's, Que 39, Jack Stack. ***There may or may not be a bottle of Arthur Bryant's Original sauce and another of their Rich and Spicy in my fridge right now.

Is there a 75 percent like button?

Though talking about the Twins HOF, you actually kinda summarized why I’m more of a Big Hall Guy for Cooperstown. After visiting a couple of times, I asked myself, to use a current example, “Does it diminish Mariano Rivera’s legacy to have Billy Wagner in the Hall?” No, we all know that Mariano was a capital S-STUD, whether there’s five relievers in the Hall or 15. But will Billy Wagner being there pump up an Astros fan and bring a new level of enjoyment to the game for that? Well, I remember how loud I yelled when Tony-O was named. So, yeah, let’s err on the side of grace. It’s a game, after all. Let’s celebrate what’s awesome about it, including this short guy who could blow the ball past just about anybody. And like you, I give “points” to guys for the things that don’t “count.” It’s the Hall of FAME. Not the Hall of Best Players. For example, given the numbers, I think Tommy John is a borderline case. Being a Big Hall Guy, I’d probably vote for him. But contribution to the game? Think of how the game has changed from him being the Guinea pig and going under the knife. Dang. With some of the cool stuff they have on display there, they should have one of Dr. Jobe’s scalpels. Shoot — when John dies, they should harvest a tendon. Okay, maybe not. But still, I think John deserves in. Or Curt Flood. His stats would be on the extreme edge, better than just a few other CFs who have been selected. But talk about a career-ending injury (to the soul). Every player who has signed a contract since Andy Messersmith should be sending Flood a Christmas card. I think he deserves inclusion, and his role in breaking the reserve clause should be on his plaque. So back to the Twins. Yes to Koskie. ————————- I’ll differ with you on the Inner Center thing, however. Not a fan of that. I think it just leads to the same tendency to denigrate. Sure, we can all agree on Willie Mays being in, since he’s first in WAR among CFs, but is the edge of the Inner Circle at Mickey Mantle (4th) or Joe DiMaggio (7th) or … Just not sure that’s worth it. Let everyone have their own mental Inner Circle if they want.

(Addendum to previous.) And to anticipate what could easily be a future debate, the current next two after Koskie are Roy Smalley and, um, Max Kepler.

I don’t have a list of Twins HOF guys, but what I can say is that Koskie is 14th in WAR among position players whose time in the franchise was primarily in Minnesota rather than Washington. I know there are some non-players among the HOFers, but that would suggest that it’s not out of line for Koskie to be the 41st member. The guys immediately above him are Dozier, Morneau (Buxton), Tovar and Hunter, before a big jump up to Bob Allison, etc. I don’t know if Dozier is in, but the other guys almost certainly are.

And if the arb-eligible players show enough this year to eat up most of that $31.4 in increased salaries, that's a good problem to have.

As you imply, wouldn't all teams' payroll limits be "self-imposed"? Because ain't nobody else putting limits on the Dodgers' spending!

No. 😏😏😏

I don't recall -- was Vazquez leading off the relay?

So you're saying there's conversation about sending Vazquez and money (let's say $3M) to the Padres and taking on Cease's $13.75M? That would mean taking on $6.75M in extra salary and we ALL know (because it's been beaten to death on TD all winter) that the FO said last September that they aren't going to reduce salary any further, which of course means that it will be the same as last year's $130ishM, Wouldn't that also mean that a bunch of us on TD were working from a lack of full information in making our definitive statements about what the team MUST do and who they have to trade to get down to that point? (Was I clear enough on the sarcasm, or do I need to add the /s symbol?)

You thought that was bad? What about the time they had Correa anchoring the 4x100 relay team?

"Quiet" does not equal "unsure." In particular, "quiet in public" does not equal "unsure." And at this point, "unsure" isn't necessarily even a weakness. If anything, it's a strength to not be making decisions without being able to test them in spring training, etc. Based on Rocco's willingess to go visit Lewis at home around the winter meetings, do we actually think that they haven't been in constant communication? I'm guessing he has access to Zoom and has a phone plan with unlimited minutes/texting. I'll take @JD-TWINS's helpful comment a step further and say they shouldn't be hashing and rehashing these things through the media.

Agreed. I was mainly noting that sportsbooks are supposed to communicate suspicious activity, but as you note, there’s nothing illegal (to my understanding) about professional athletes betting on their games. It also doesn’t seem like there’s any real motivation for them to do.