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If we could get Grey for low level prospect I would be all for it. Not worth giving up much for 1 year on a guy that may not be worth much. Yes, sometimes a new team can find the secret to unlock them, or even just being the 4th or 5th starter will be enough. Story I am very low on for the price. His defense is good, but his offense away from Coors is about what Polonco has done. Why pay big money, and prospects for just a defense upgrade? Also, how many more years do you expect Story to stay at short, even if you do sign long term? I mean, most SS need to get moved around age 30, and the ones that do not get moved, in part, is due to their overvalue at the position based on history. Marquez I know little about and would defer to others on his value. He sounds like he may be a good get. CO has never been a team to sell off their guys though for cheap. I think because they know their pitchers have more value than what they tend to appear to have, and their hitters have lower value and it is hard for teams to really come to understanding of value. Much of it is optics based on overall stats that are affect too much by Coors.

I am always willing to bring in anyone that can help on minor league deals. No commitment, but you may get lucky with a gem.

Yes, that is very true.

I expect many teams to be slow on this until we get closer to season. Teams and players alike are playing the game of chicken on contracts. Many non-compeitive teams will be looking to dump money and will sell for pennies on the dollar, and many FA are getting crap offers to a normal off season and are holding out for better. What I expect to happen is once few guys sign dominos will start to fall very quickly. Every off season needs someone to set the market, this one everyone is afraid to set the market, not just for themselves, but for everyone else. If big name player takes less than players expect the other players will be upset. If Teams set it for more than teams looking to spend teams will be upset.

The only way I do this deal is under 2 situations. First, he will agree to long term deal then the cost of prospects is mitigated. Second, the cost of prospects is minimal and none of the top guys leave for a rental. I am all for rental guys, but only if you are not giving up years of service time on top prospects for it. I am not concerned too much about his 2020 numbers as many guys had issues during 2020. I just hate giving up top prospects for rentals. However, if the price is right, no guy should be a flat out no.

I have said this all along, this off season will be like no other before. So many teams will be waiting to see if players will take pennies on the dollar, and they will also see if teams will take pennies on the dollar to cut payroll. Players in trades seem to be getting much less than expected, in my opinion. Snell surprised me the most, as Rays already get no fans so their payroll should be similar. kind of a joke but kind of serious. Teams willing to take huge losses may go all in and take on ton of payroll, but teams worried about the bottom line will still look to dump payroll or save where ever they can.

I think a lot of FA will be signing 1 to 2 year deals. They may not want to but will need to settle for it. For him he will may want to sign the 1 year deal try to have another good offensive season away from Oakland and then try to get long term deal when fans can sit in seats again. This actually would bode well for Twins if they think Lewis can be long term SS. They have buy low short term deal with little risk. If he crushes they throw the QO on him get a pick, if he is ehhh they let him walk. If he is below mehh, depending on other moves they fill his spot internally.

The fact that he, and many top FA have not signed yet, show players and teams are most likely far apart. I many players will sign late because both sides are holding out. One the teams need to know the chance they have butts in the seats, and players want to get their fair pay. I believe right now teams are getting feelers for what players want and who else may be bidding for services. I think many players are trying to hold out and force bigger deals and not take pennies on the dollar deal for a single season. However, I think eventually the players will take the pennies on the dollar deal, unless they really want to stand on principle and make no money. The owners have most of the power. They can fill the rosters with cheap talent, or they can go out and spend on FA. This year though teams will not want to spend so much on a FA, for a couple of reasons. Lack of other teams willing to, and lack of own funds. Some teams will be keeping payroll as low as possible. So they will not go out and spend 10 mil on a single season for a guy, even if he is "worth it" in a normal year. If no one is bidding on a players services, why should they bid against themselves? The alternative is someone else, and the player sits out the year. Some players will choose to hold out, like they have in the past, and maybe this will be good year to do it. However, some will say well a few million for 1 year is better than no money at all. Right now I think teams and players are playing the game of chicken and we will see who will swerve first closer to training camps.

First, in terms of trades I would not be willing to give up top prospect for a 1 year rental. If we can get a long term deal figured out prior to trade, then I would feel different. Second, I have little interest in Story. He is a good defender, but on offense he is very overrated. His numbers away from Coors Field are same as Polonco career numbers. So on offense he is Polonco, but better on defense. However, I do not feel he is worth giving up prospects and huge signing, when we have Lewis in wings. Not saying Lewis a lock, but Story will not put up the offense we want when he is not hitting half his games at Coors Field. Lindor I would be willing to take and sign long term as he has hit and carried a bad Cleveland offense for years. Lindor 1 year younger, and his home road splits not nearly as crazy of a difference. Only 100 lower OPS, but actually more HR. The home road normally will happen, with the different batting eye, but Story has a 270 OPS difference, 180 slugging 34 less HR in nearly same AB. Every number is worse by large margins for Story. I will be very upset if Twins give up a top prospect for Story, because he will not be what we want on offense. If we were just looking to sign Story, I would feel a little different, but to give huge money and top prospects to get him, no thanks. Unless we are convinced Lewis cannot play SS long term, I see no point in giving up top talent for either on a rental. If we do not think Lewis can stay at SS then we do need a long term answer because after Lewis we are very thin on SS prospects for near future.

With youth of Jeffers, barring any injury it looks like we should be set for years to come. He looked MLB ready. He may not be the best around, but will be fine. Garver, may bounce back, but at his age he is not someone to be counted on for years to come. If we can flip him for value I would be open to that.

Story, DJ, and Walker, all had huge home road splits. Story road splits are average at best. Basically same as Polanco. Story does appear to be a much better defender, but on offense he will not be much of an upgrade, not worth big prospects for a year rental. If you know he will sign you better be sure he can hit better outside of Coors than he has shown. In terms of DJ, huge home road splits and he went from from hitters park to another. Walker, his home road splits huge too. His early career at Montreal he was okay, only year 27 season was he great, not sure how Montreal field was offense wise. However, after that year he went to Coors and put up insane offense, but his home road was huge still. I have no faith Story will be anywhere close to the offense he puts up when half his games will be at Target Field. If he landed in AZ, Yankee Stadium, or other hitter friendly places maybe. Target Field is not know to be hitter friendly.

NOOOOO Story. His offense is average at best away from Coors field. He is basically Polonco away from Coors field. Why give up prospect, and tons of money for offensively the same guy we already have?

It is hard to say what Garver did last year is what to expect, just as it is hard to say what he did 2019 is what to expect. If he can start hitting the fastball again he should be fine. The article says he faced same amount of fastballs, but I am wondering if he saw them at same counts. What I mean is did he see same first pitch fastballs? It says he took first pitch much more often, but was that because he was taking fastballs or they were off-speed pitches? Garver was well known to be a guy that would attack fastballs early and take any borderline pitches and off-speed. If first pitch off-speed was up with taking strikes on them for get me over pitches, expecting him to take, then later in count fastballs that could lead to more misses too. Think about it, he takes 0-0 off-speed for a strike, now behind 0-1. He now needs to be concerned of that pitch again and may not be sitting on fastball. Then as he had the off-speed in mind fastballs get faster and he is more likely to miss. Teams may have started to pitch "backwards" against him. Could be he just was off due to strange season and injuries. Let's hope for a bounce back season.

Still to early to say who 'won' either no one won or Twins did. If Rijo can be anything at MLB level Twins will win the trade. If you can get any value from a player that was just going to walk after the season and you were not going to contend with that player, then you win.

Most teams do not like using the DH for prospects exclusively. I would not go out and sign Ozuna. I would be fine with Brantly as he is a pro hitter that is not an easy out. He can play the field if needed too. However, my preferred route would be if Cruz does not sign just do the rotational DH thing, or go with Rooker as the DH. Rooker is old enough that by putting him the DH you are not really hurting his value because he will be in early 30's before a FA, assuming he makes it that long, and his fielding is so bad that by that age that is where he would fall anyways. If you do not go Rooker, then I would look Sano as well, and let others play first, but Sano was not as bad at first as I thought he would be. I just would not want to invest big on a DH when you have a lot of possible bats with limited defense ready to play now.

I have never been a Bauer fan. He can be good, but he has not been consistent. Even more concerning, is he can be a huge hot head that can be tough on a clubhouse. Unlike other sports, I feel having good team chemistry is big in baseball. You spend every day with the same people for hopefully 10 months. EVERY DAY for hours on end. You do not get weekends away like most of us 9-5 people. So when one guy can fight with teammates, throw balls into center field stands when being pulled from game. (impressive as that is that he could do it, still childish). For me to put with that you need to be 100% worth it. Personally, I would pass on him. Just because he is the top FA this year does not mean he is worth paying top FA money long term. I would rather keep Jose long term if those are only 2 options.

First, it takes two to tango. The Cubs got new GM, will they want to start out on a full rebuild? Can the Cubs compete again next year? Typically teams like the Cubs will not trade away guys if they can compete. Might it be a good call for them in long run, maybe, but after having a season of no fans where they did well, to sell top talent and ask fans to return might be hard pill to swallow. Then on Twins side, are they looking to take on 20 mil a year for 3 years? With more big contracts looking to have to be around the corner for other guys. Jose and Byron mainly. Will the trade mean having to let them walk, are Twins okay with that? Then what would it cost to get the trade done? Many things to think about. If it was clear Cubs were having a fire sale for pennies on the dollar then yeah make your offer, but nothing is suggesting that right now.

I wonder what the offer to Yadi was. If he is looking for 10 mil. I doubt he will be the last player to be upset with the offers made. Teams are cutting payroll next year. They report they lost a ton of money this year, and will lose more next year. Players will have to understand that only the top top guys are going to get big deals. The rest are going to have to settle for less or be done.

This whole article is pure speculation as to contract discussions. We have no clue if any talks have happened, and if they have what has been discussed. Both sides at end of year said they are interested in Cruz playing in MN next year. That does not mean numbers have been discussed yet. It is fully possible the Twins have said "Cruz, we want you back, but lets hold on talks until we both know more about next year so as not to insult either side. All we ask is if you start getting offers you let us know so we can talk then." The contracts are numbers, the players are people, not just resources. Developing relationships, and being known to be a good organization to work with helps. Every organization has a reason to do things, and every player has a reason to do things. Some players would rather retire than play for less than their believe value. Some players will want to play until the teams take the bat or ball out of their hands and will play for whatever team will sign them. Some want to get that ship and will take a lessor role for less money on a team that may win it, than more money on a bottom feeding team. None of us know what drives Cruz. So often we think just money, and we as fans either judge them for it, or praise them for it. We put ourselves in their shoes, without knowing their life or mind, and impose our own judgement thinking if we were them. We are not them, and they are not us. For all we know, Cruz may be thinking of calling it a career. I still expect Cruz to be back with Twins on a less than expected deal because of possible lack of fans for at least several few months, and because few teams will be seeking to bring him on. Twins could offer min deal, but that would be an insult to Cruz. I expect a smaller base, with a few incentives that could drive it up. This would protect the team if he does bottom out or have injuries, but will get Cruz closer to market value if he still can produce. Personally, I think these are the types of deals teams really should start pushing for generally.

Other news organizations had a few things about the Saints ownership. Veck, main owner, said Pohlad, now a minority owner, is not asking Veck to make any changes to on field entertainment. That was a main thing for Veck, lets hope no disco nights like he did for Sox. There is talks about cross-promotions too. I think Veck would not have agree to this had he not had those assurances. He used to be in MLB and left because he wanted more fun outside of the actual games on the field. For those who have not been to other minor league games affiliated with MLB they still do similar things as the Saints did over the years. I used to live in Harrisburg and went to a few games when the Rock Cats, former Twins AA team came to town. They would still have plenty of side games and things to entertain similar to Saints. I think this will be a huge bump for Saints because fans, like all of us, will more of a vested interest in the team and how it is doing. We will want to follow players more, and get closer look at players that will be MLB bound. I would enjoy Saints games, but when I had little to no interest in the actual players it made following them kind of blah. I do recall going to one game, when former Twin, Brian Buchanon had record RBI night, and when I was a kid my mom made us leave early, to beat traffic, only to miss a walk off grand slam. I will also miss the annual story of the open try out where the mayor, in a suit shows up. It is also sad for MN own, Mark Hamburg who has played for Saints a couple years. However, all those nice stories aside, I am happy to see this happen now. For the price, I may try to go to more Saints games than Twins. It was announced no increase in ticket prices next season, whenever it officially starts.

I used to talk about this trade tree. I think in the long run it was a great trade for Twins. Several people connected to it help take them to central champs over the years. Twins were not going to win even with Chuck back then. I know fans hated Chuck for his demands, but it worked out for us. Had Bill Smith not screwed up, even better things could have came of it when Bartlett, young, and JJ were traded. JJ not connected technically, but harris was and that trade was the worst I can remember.

I expect a slow winter meetings. Teams have no clue how many fans they will get to have next year. They will not want to invest heavy for players it they are taking huge loss. Players will not want to take huge reduction in pay. My guess sides are throwing out numbers that are not very close. Players will be seeking long term deals that may be more back loaded to ease the money next year, but teams most likely looking for 1 to 2 year deals because the CBA coming up and expected work stoppage. They have no clue what CBA will look like down the road with tax or possible salary cap. Other than Bauer, who know one knows what he is thinking, there is not super star long term contract guys this year. Bauer has stated wanting 1 year deals over his career, but rumors are he has backed off on that too. I have a feeling a lot of guys will sign late for less than they wanted.

I remember the rumors prior to season start and wanted Twins to pull trigger then. I do not fully recall with either of the top prospects were included in the offer or just Twins were asking for either. I remember thinking the offer pre-season was better than later in season. I also remember thinking people, locally mainly, overvaluing Dozier. We will never know what actually offered pre-season but feel pulling trigger then would have been better offer. Not sure much will come from Smeltzer, but at least we got something for Dozier, because waiting would have netted nothing.

The Lynn deal is good for both sides. Sox pushing to win now, but with who is managing them who knows what will happen. Roberts faded down the stretch a bit so not sold on him being MVP candidate as some will expect. Sox will be good competition, but they will need to improve over last year. They did not do well against better teams overall, and beat up on weaker teams. It is also very hard to compare last year to any other season. I would not want to use last year as something to compare how a team will do in future.

I was not defending the Beasley deal, just felt the comparing the two was a little flawed. Also, one other thing of note, is in basket ball they share the revenue. You hear a player makes 'x' money in NBA they may actually not make that if the league makes less money. I could be wrong, but I think I heard NBA is asking players to have about 50% of salary in escrow until end of season, normally it is only 10%. So if league makes 50% less than what they would normally be expected, the players lose that money and it goes back to league. So a player making 10 mil will make only 5 mil. In baseball, the player will earn all their money no matter how much money the league pulls in. So there is much more risk to team owners in baseball giving deals than in basketball as well.