Jeremy Nygaard

He was taken off the 40-man roster. Outrighted. Cleared waivers. Good move for Twins. He's out of options so it was smart to pass him through when roster spots are hard to come by.

These aren't necessarily moves that I'd make over the course of the next few weeks, but these are the moves I think we'll see. I think the Friday non-tender deadline will roll around and the news we've all been waiting to hear "The Twins will non-tender Drew Butera" won't come. I don't think it will be because Butera adds a lot of value, per se, to this team, but I do believe it allows the Twins to keep Mauer and Doumit in the lineup every day and it allows Chris Herrmann to play every day in Rochester. I do think that Butera will come back on a near-minimum, non-guaranteed contract. Remember, even though Butera can't hit himself out of a wet paper bag, he does handle a pitching staff really well... a pitching staff that - more than likely - can use all the help it can get. Plus, that one open roster spot the Twins will need will come elsewhere. I think (well, now we know) the Twins will outright (or lose on waivers) Tommy Field. While Field does offer some middle infield depth, he's a classic example of what the Twins have tried to do lately... add depth when other teams are under a roster-crunch and sneak the guys through waivers when rosters around the league are maxed out. (Sorry dudes, it didn't work this time.) I think Denard Span will be traded. Denard Span might be my favorite Twin. He's a professional on and off the field and example of what's right when it comes to being a role model. Long-range plans, though, suggest that Span isn't necessary and he is valuable. (The contract that Bossman Junior just signed might make Span even more valuable.) TR could probably trade Span right now and get a starting pitcher in return, but *unlike* Johan Santana, D-Span's value isn't going down tomorrow. With his contract, especially next year and 2014, he's going to look like more of a bargain. With all that being said, I think the Twins wait to see where Bourn signs (Philadelphia? Washington? Tampa Bay? Someone else?) and sells Span to the team that feels they needed a center fielder the most and will give the most in return. I don't think the Upton signing with Atlanta hurt the Twins at all. Not at that price. I think the Twins do what they need to do to clear Lester Oliveros off of the active roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft. Considering Oliveros is recovering from elbow surgery, there probably has to be some sort of injury settlement, but I would guess that would more formality than obstacle. That's two openings - plus a potential third if Butera is non-tendered - and depending on what is included in a Span trade, possibly more. I think the Twins sign Brett Myers. It doesn't excite me at all, but if we can cross off 190 innings at the back of the rotation for, say, 2 years at $9 million, there's worse things. I wouldn't be crazy about it, but I wouldn't go crazy thinking about it either. I think the Twins pass on Francisco Liriano. I was always anti-Trade Frankie, but this ship has sailed... unless he offers to pitch for $2 million plus incentives. I think the Twins look at the list of non-tenders and find a guy they really like and get him early, like Monday morning early. I also think whoever it is makes us all say in disgust, "Really!?" I think the Twins sign a couple of major league guys to minor league deals - maybe a guy like Jack Hannahan (to compete with Plouffe) as well as another pitcher or two to compete for a spot in the bullpen, if not the rotation. I think the Twins draft a starting pitcher-like player in the Rule 5 draft and say "He's going to fight for a spot in our rotation." I think we'll know that he won't win a spot in the rotation. I think the Twins will try to get long-term deals done with Jared Burton and possibly Ben Revere. I could see Burton signing a 2-year, $5 million deal with an option for a third year. Revere could get a Span-like five year deal, which makes more sense than you would think, considering it could potentially cover four arbitration years. (Revere is in line to be a Super-2 after next season.) At the end of next week, I will probably be off on all of these thoughts - but at the very least - I think the Twins will have a decent starter to pair with Diamond towards the front of the rotation, another starter or two that can at least fill the spots on paper and hope that they can still add another decent starter (or two) in December or January. And Drew Butera. Yeah, I think the Twins will still have Drew Butera. [ATTACH=CONFIG]2766[/ATTACH] image from blackgreeklife.blogspot.com

The answer to that question is moot. He'd have to clear waivers - passed over for free - before being exposed.

Wil Myers is closer to Bryce Harper than Chris Parmelee.

I will be a little disappointed if the Twins add that many minor league free agents. You should lose about 15 minor league free agents a year near the top of the minor leagues just to make room for younger players moving up. If you have to replace all the minor league free agents you lost, with more minor league free agents, well then your young guys just aren't developing. That is pretty much what happened last year. It seems like a lot of kids in the lower minors had pretty good years. I hope that means they are developing and ready to move up a level. What you hope happens is that there is a few players at AAA every year who move up to the majors. Ideally there should be around 10 AA players ready to move to AAA. The same all the way down the system. Of course it doesn't work that way in real life. There are mid-year promotions and injuries and often promising prospects stall out at higher levels. Still, if a minor league system is real healthy, it should be able to replace most of the minor league free agents and other dropouts from within the system. I agree to an extent. But you also want to create competition for roster spots and have to assume that will squeeze a dozen or so from the roster completely. Regardless of how many are brought in there is only so much room for organizational filler. The more you bring in, the more you ultimately release... which is fine.

After Bollinger tweeted the news of the Clement signing, there were a number of replies about how the Twins need to sign real players instead of minor league guys. I get that. I think most of us here get that, especially considering no one here's complaining about the Clement signing. Either way, I did a little research: Last year, the Twins had 14 minor-league free agents they didn't re-sign (according to my records). They had 15 non-roster non-organizational spring training invites, most of whom weren't announced until later in the winter. This year, the Twins have 17 currently not re-signed minor-league free agents (some still unsigned, some lost to others). The Twins have only signed four from other organizations. Obviously the door is still open for some of them to return - a name like Kyle Waldrop comes to mind - but it shouldn't come as any surprise if the Twins continue to add another dozen minor leaguers. I would think Jeff Clement essentially replaces Sean Burroughs, who played a lot of first base last year. As mentioned above, Romero will probably get a lot of the 3B at-bats and Colabello will probably get a lot of ABs as well at 1B/DH. I continue to look forward to more of these signings, even though they aren't very exciting.

I'd say their GM is a little bit more reliable source than MLBTR. I figured you hadn't read the blurp the first time... and even though it might not make sense to us - though the Reds reportedly would like to move Chapman to the rotation - I'll take the GM at his word. (Though the last time I did that, TR said he didn't have eight players worth adding to the 40-man, so....)

Would you deal Glen Perkins for Didi Gregorius? I would but the Reds don't need bullpen help. Maybe you should call their GM up and let them know that before he trades off a shortstop for a closer.

How about this quote: Would you deal Glen Perkins for Didi Gregorius?

The fact that I look at those names and would make that trade in a heartbeat makes it pretty apparent it's too good of a deal for the Twins. If the Twins were to get Hamilton, though, he could stay in the infield. Part of the reason he got moved is because the Reds have two SSs (Cozart and Gregorius) were can stick there and a 2B tied up for the long term (Phillips). Personally, I'd play Hamilton at second base. He doesn't have the arm for the outfield, but his speed makes up for it. Sound familiar? Now, if the Twins were to include a better prospect than Santana... Arcia? Rosario? Then I think the Reds would have to consider it.

They also cracked jokes at the expense of the starting pitching depth in the minors.

You can make selections as long as you have room on your 40-man. And as long as there is room, you can pick until you pass. A lot of teams pass in the first round. But, yeah, there are multiple rounds...

In addition to the 40-man roster, teams have a AAA and AA reserve list. These lists aren't public knowledge, so it's hard to know who will be available and who won't be... but if you're not on the reserve lists, you're available to be selected.

Agreed. The part that irritates me is that they add eight guys, six of which have ceilings as replacement-level guys, yet don't add Salcedo who still has potential to be at least a mid-rotation starter. I wouldn't have added Salcedo myself, but there's no way I add eight guys before him. I wouldn't have added 8 either, I don't think, but like I said above, I can see the case. Salcedo was so hurt last year that no one would take him this offseason and be able to keep him on the big league roster, and my assumptino is that he will be too healthy next year to just throw on the DL. So, he's an easy choice to not add whereas a guy like Thielbar or Wood could be selected and would have no problem sticking on the big league roster of a team that has an open spot, or a bad team just trying to add pieces. BA released their first Rule 5 draft preview today. There were no Twins included in the list of 10 guys that could hear their named called. There were also no Twins included (surprisingly?) in the five names that fell into the "They were protected?" category. The Tigers apparently added a SS that batted .195 in high-class A last year. (Maybe they feared the Twins would take him?)

While I've never seen him ranked that high (even at BA), he's a shoo-in to be the highest drafted Minnesota prep hitter since someone named Mauer went 1-1 in 2001. Redstorm: My apologies - I just saw BA's newest HS rankings and Boldt is 8th. I heard he played well this summer, but WOW!

I agree that there is some team willing to give Slama a shot, especially after his performance last year. I believe he was eligible in 2011 for the Rule 5 Draft but was not chosen. My guess is that he must have spit (or is it spat) sunflower seeds at Gardy at some point in his career. He wasn't expected to get drafted in the Rule 5 draft last year because he was outrighted off the roster in October and went unclaimed. If anyone at all wanted him, they could have had him for free. A month and a half later no team was going to cough up $50K and a major league roster spot.

Boldt is considered a Top 50 high school prospect nationally.

Agreed. The part that irritates me is that they add eight guys, six of which have ceilings as replacement-level guys, yet don't add Salcedo who still has potential to be at least a mid-rotation starter. I wouldn't have added Salcedo myself, but there's no way I add eight guys before him.

The Red Sox also designated Zach Stewart for assignment. He was acquired in the Youkilis deal from the White Sox, but has bounced around (Blue Jays and Reds) in the last few years. He hasn't been great, but he's not far removed from being a decently respected prospect (Toronto's #1 coming into 2010). He would be a guy I'd much rather see added to the roster - young, cheap, starter - than a few of the guys added today.

The Red Sox have designated Danny Valencia for assignment.

The eight that were added today cannot be removed from the roster until right around Spring Training; that is correct. Drew Butera will more than likely be non-tendered next week. Tommy Field can be waived (and clear). Lester Oliveros (though I don't know how the injury affects their ability to move him) and Deolis Guerra can be outrighted off the roster. Yeah, the Twins hamstrung themselves... but so did most of the other teams in baseball... the next step is trimming some roster fat and having teams pass since their rosters are near full (or full).

I think it is a shame that Chris Colabello was not signed on the 40 man roster. He proved he can hit in AA ball and is tearing it up in Mexico for winter ball. What a shame. They must be saving him for trade. He wouldn't have to be added to the 40 man roster until after the 2014 season... so it's not worth taking a roster spot now since he can't be selected in the Rule 5. Let's be honest here... Colabello will be the everyday first baseman for the Twins at some point in 2013.

Arcia was signed in the summer of 2007 and needed to be added in November of 2011. Kepler (summer) and Sano (fall) were signed in 2009, so I'm anticipating that they will need to be added in November of 2013. I do believe, though, that I read at one point that because of when Sano signed that the Twins would get an extra year. I didn't - and still don't - see how that's possible. If eligible, both are must-adds.

There is very little risk in given him an invite to Spring Training. In fact, I wouldn't be opposed to him signing a non-guaranteed major-league deal (which is probably something that he would be more likely to agree to). I've pointed it out before - the Twins have 4(!) starting pitches (Diamond, De Vries, Hendriks, Hernandez) on their 40-man roster. I'd accumulate as many starting arms as I can. It's not like he'd be standing in the way of major-league-ready prospects. Doogie Tweet in response to if the Twins will offer him a minor league deal: If anything, yes. No shot the #MNTwins, or anyone else will give him a major league offer.