Shane Wahl

Removing him from the 40-man isn't a sign that his time is over with the Twins, so the "Liriano trade talk" seems out of place. It's good that the Twins are juggling the 40-man roster in order to add appropriate players . . . 35 on the 40-man roster right now, though Mike Pelfrey, Eric Fryer, BJ Hermsen, and Darin Mastroianni are still on it. It could (should) drop right there to 31. Let's say they add two starting pitchers. That means seven spots for inclusion: Achter (next guy for bullpen help), Kepler (too good), Polanco (too good), Vargas (good enough), Darnell (perhaps next guy for rotation help) and some two of Wimmers, Oliveros, Ibarra, Watts, and Beresford.

Would you guys sign him for 5 years if you knew three of them were going to be quite good and 2 were clunkers (hoping that 2014 was one of those clunkers)?

Career ERA+ for E. Santana is 100! Haha. Actually that is what you might get over the duration of a four or five-year deal. The thing is that two or three of those years might be 115+.

By the way, I am now predicting the Twins sign Phil Hughes and Chris Capuano. I don't mind them as second and third signings. Ervin is probably a wild dream, but he would be nice.

This was pretty good. If there was a way to get Ervin Santana for 4 years, the Twins should really jump on that. It's likely that he is looking at 5/$85 at this point. 2 years and $28 million might get you Hughes. Excellent job overall.

It is not clear why I would go and start an AFL thread, mention how the guys are playing and then be said to be "lashing out" and "bashing" the Twins. I apologize for mentioning the guy who the Twins picked several selections before Wittgren. Anyway, goulik, Meyer and Achter are doing very well. Zach Jones and Trevor May are having some troubles, and all of the hitters are a little in over their heads (no one with a .700 OPS or better right now).

He didn't sign with the Twins and was not likely too do so. I believe he was drafted in the 4th round this year. Buxton is back. In his first plate appearance back, he smacked a homer.

I don't know. Looking briefly at MLB.com top 20 prospects, there seem to be at least several teams with a Landa or Rosario type pitcher in the 17, 18, 19, or 20 spots.

I can too. I am confused by those wanting to trade prospects for certain pitchers when the equivalent pitchers are available for money that is readily available.

Is dead. On a "Sunday Morning" though . . . Easily one of my top 5 favorite musicians of all time.

The exuberant defenders of all-things-Twins are pretty sensitive, seeing "bashing" and "slamming" when it isn't there. It's no wonder there are complaints about one-sidedness in infraction giving.

Are you being serious here? I mention Wittgren and say "the Twins drafted L.J. Mazzilli instead . . . " That is "bashing" the Twins? What is going on around here?

I want nothing more than to just end this thread now.

I will proceed in two parts. The first one is a realistic prediction for how the Twins might navigate in this offseason. The second is what I think I might do if I were actually the GM. First scenario: Trade Ryan Doumit to the Texas Rangers for RH SP Nick Martinez. Justification: unless the Rangers strike gold and land McCann, resign AJ, Soto, Murphy, and Cruz, and refrain from trading anyone else, it looks like a cheap DH/C/RF option with a potentially good enough bat might be something the Rangers need. Nick Martinez ranks around 15-20 in the Rangers system and has a career 3.30 ERA in 327.1 minor league innings, compiling an 8.1/2.7 K/BB rate, reaching AA in 2013 (which is where he would start in 2014). The Twins are in need of some SP support between Gibson, Meyer, and May on one end, and Berrios, Sulbaran, Stewart, Thorpe, etc. on the other end. Martinez would join Baxendale and Duffey in that spot, and is probably better than both. Sign RH SP Phil Hughes to a 3 year, $39 million deal. (13 a year) Sign LH SP Chris Capuano to a 2 year, $15 million deal. (7.5 a year) Starting rotation: Kevin Correia Phil Hughes Chris Capuano Kyle Gibson Scott Diamond/Vance Worley Bullpen: Send Ryan Pressly to Rochester to get back to starting. LR: Swarzak/Diamond/Worley MR: Tonkin/Swarzak MR: Thielbar MR: Burton SU: Duensing SU: Fien CL: Perkins Lineup: vs. RH Dozier, 2B Mauer, 1B Arcia, RF Willingham, DH Plouffe, 3B Hicks, CF Pinto/Herrmann C Presley, LF Florimon, SS (some Escobar action here against righties) vs. LH Hicks, CF Dozier, 2B Mauer, 1B Willingham, DH Plouffe, 3B Pinto, C Arcia, RF Presley, LF Florimon, SS Bench: Herrmann, C/LF/RF Parmelee, 1B/RF Escobar, Util infield Chris Colabello 1B/RF (Deibinson Romero next option in AAA for bench role) Sano should be up fairly quickly. May, Meyer, Rosario, and perhaps Buxton to follow by the All-Star break at the latest for the first two, and September for the second two). Sano joins the team and Trevor Plouffe moves to platoon with Presley, and someone (Colabello, probably) gets optioned. I am then looking to *unload* that bullpen as long as the replacements are doing well in AAA. I am thinking Burton, Fien, Swarzak, and Duensing flipped at the deadline or before. Achter, Watts, Oliveros, and Ibarra could be suitable replacements on the roster, with Tonkin (likely) moving to the setup role for Perkins. Trading Doumit and adding those two free agents would make for a rather modest $76.5 million payroll. * * * The second scenario involves being more proactive, unloading some more payroll before adding much more back. Trades: 1. Josh Willingham and Casey Fien to Baltimore for RHP Parker Bridwell and LHP Lex Rutledge. Justification: The Orioles are going to want one bat and to bolster their bullpen. They do it here for very cheap, especially since I would pay part of Willingham's salary if necessary. Bridwell is young with great stuff. His numbers are very Trevor Mayesque at this point, but he is still figuring it out. He would start in A+ in 2014. Rutledge would start in A+ as well, and might be worth taking a look as a starter again. He was bad early in his career there, and was very good as a reliever in 2013, but he does have a good curveball to go with a decent fastball and that could mean for more experimentation this year, perhaps splitting time and get over 100 innings this year. 2. Kevin Correia and Jared Burton to San Francisco for LHP Ty Blach and RHP Keury Mella. Justification: The Giants want A: a solid starting pitcher, and B: a solid MR/SU man. For $8.75 million, they get both of those things here (or less, I would pay some salary to make this happen). Blach is a LH starter who ranks around 10 or so on Giants' prospect lists. He would start at AA in 2014. Mella is very young and missed a lot of bats in rookie ball. He is a RH starter and would start in A- in 2014. 3. Sam Deduno and Anthony Swarzak to Philadelphia for LF/RF/1B Cameron Perkins and RHP Jeb Stefan. Justification: the Phillies pitching situation is a mess and here is a way for them to improve it for $1.5 or so million. Lannan and Kendrick are not very good, Cloyd needs more time in the minors, and they could try Swarzak out as a starter. Deduno and Swarzak would be 4-5 after Lee, Hamels, and Pettibone. Perkins posted a .790 OPS in A+ in 2013. He's a RH bat with doubles power and plays corner OF and 1B. He would fill an organizational void in the OF in the middle of the system and would immediately be a better option than Danny Ortiz, Angel Morales, etc. moving forward. Stefan pitched fairly well in A-ball in 2013 and would start the system in A+ starting for the Miracle or developing into a setup man. 4. Ryan Doumit to the Texas Rangers for RHP Nick Martinez. Justification: see first scenario. In all of these cases, the Twins should think about paying part of the 2014 salary to lure these teams to make these deals. Let's just say that salary contribution totals $8 million. The guys dealt with substantial contacts totals about $20, so this amounts to a saving of $12 million, dropping payroll to $47.5 million or so. Try to sign: Masahiro Tanaka for a $55 million post and a 6 year, $60 million deal. FAIL (Yankees will win): S Sign Ervin Santana for a 5 year, $85 million deal. Sign Phil Hughes to a 3 year, $39 million deal. Sign Chris Capuano to a one year, $8 million deal (and hope for deadline trade this way) With Santana, Hughes, and Capuano, this adds $38 million, meaning an $85.5 million payroll. Rotation: Santana Hughes Capuano Gibson Diamond/Worley Bullpen: Send Ryan Pressly to AAA to become a starter again. LR: Diamond/Worley, or Hendriks, or Albers MR: Watts MR: Oliveros MR: Thielbar MR: Duensing SU: Tonkin CL: Perkins Lineup: vs. RH Dozier, 2B Mauer, 1B Arcia, DH (but with OF time) Parmelee, RF Plouffe, 3B Hicks, CF Pinto/Herrmann, C Presley, LF Florimon, SS vs. LH Hicks, CF Dozier, 2B Mauer, 1B Plouffe, RF Pinto, C Colabello/Arcia DH Romero, 3B Presley, LF Florimon, SS Bench: Herrmann, C/LF/RF Colabello, 1B/RF Escobar, Util INF Romero, 3B/1B I understand how this lineup looks, and I understand the animosity towards Parmelee and Plouffe, and the craziness that appears to be involving Colabello, Romero, Pinto, and Herrmann in such a meaningful way. Moving Plouffe to RF, however, makes room for Sano to play 3B when he arrives and to have both Sano and Plouffe in the lineup against lefties. Sano would replace either Colabello or Romero on the roster. Rosario and Buxton would follow eventually. I would definitely give time for some Dozier at SS experimentation, but if Rosario is up by mid-season, some combo of 2B-LF, RF, and DH for the remainder of 2014 isn't going to hurt. And by the end of the season this might mean a Rosario-Buxton-Hicks OF. Willingham and Doumit have zero future for the Twins, so I see no reason bothering with them at all this year. Maybe the Plouffes and Parmelees don't have a future either, but this is a maybe . . . and in a rebuild, I will take maybes over definite no-future types. The Mauer-Buxton-Sano core needs its players around it. By season's end, I would expect a rotation of Santana, Hughes, Gibson, Meyer, and May. The Twins would end 2014 with five starting pitchers who have been top 100 prospects.

FYI: for those interested in actually constructing a nicely, orderly blueprint, the payroll is between $59 and $60 million, including everyone currently on the roster and that last million estimate based on Plouffe, Duensing, and Swarzak getting raises to be determined. It's probably going to be about $59.5 million

I like Homer Bailey and I am for exploring some sort of trade scenario, but I am not interested in trading that level of prospect for a pitcher who isn't a markedly better pitcher than several on the damn free agent market who can just be signed.

Stephen Drew has been good in 2006, 2008, 2010, and now 2013. That said, his 2013 season really comes quite close to his overall career totals. But I don't really trust him for three years. A magical one-year overpay and trade at the deadline would be my pipedream. My crackpipedream . . . (edit: his defensive value in 2009 was very good)

Keep in mind that I was jabbering about Wittgren for months before that 2012 draft, so that's why I brought him up in the first place. This wasn't just some guy it was one guy who I thought was going to be fantastic and even picked in round 4!

Yeah I am going to work on a blueprint too. I want nothing to do with trading any legit top prospect this year. No way. I am really not interested in trading for a pitcher with one or more such prospect instead of just buying the same quality pitcher!

Exactly. And I think he could be quite interested in TF, yes.

I would, without a moment's pause, give up the second round pick for Jimenez.

3 years, $45 million.

And by "caring" one might think it implies using every available tool and every available means of evaluating talent. The manager still doesn't understand the value of on base percentage. For the love of god.

Honestly, that interview tells me that Terry Ryan likes to say things that have no meaning. And there is *no one* being held accountable for three 96+ loss seasons in a row. No one. Something's got to give somewhere. And it isn't.

Meanwhile, it is reasonable to expect that Mauer could be elite defensively as a first baseman. Maybe that sounds oxymoronic, but he would appear to be immediately an above average defensive first baseman.