John Bonnes

After one of the more exciting wins of the season, Aaron and John discuss the state of the team, Josh Donaldson trade rumors, Nelson Cruz's health, Mitch Garver's return, and the players the Twins' selected in the first round of MLB's Draft. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Aaron and John recap Josh Donaldson's eventful week and evaluate whether he and several other Twins will be traded before the deadline. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Aaron and John talk about Byron Buxton's latest injury, whether or not the Twins are playing well enough to change the arc of the season, eating Josh Donaldson's contract, the long-term pitching outlook taking a bad turn, and Bonnes' upcoming stand-up comedy debut. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Any extension at this point starts with what he'll realistically be paid as a free agent - and I don't have a great idea of what that is. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? With his talent and age (27), he could be looking at an 8 year contract if he didn't have the injury history. But with it? Will anyone give him five years? Four? Six? Five feels right to me, but I wouldn't be too surprised at anything between three and six. And the amount per year could be anywhere between $15-25M depending on how healthy he is over the next year-and-a-half. So is 5/$100M the starting point? And I'll throw in one other semi-reasonable scenario: he spends enough of 2021 and 2022 injured that he and his agent decide it would be best to just sign a "make good" deal for 2023 - which makes him accepting a qualifying offer not totally crazy.

Many of these numbers (especially arbitration) can only be estimated right now. That's why it's "back-of-the-napkin". We're trying to find a decent range of overall payroll. In the interest of transparency... - Garver is arbitration eligible, so his exact salary will not be know until February, but $3.8M is a decent estimate. It could be lower (maybe $3M?) if he doesn't play the rest of the year, but the Twins haven't placed him on the 60 day IL so I still expect him to come back. - Per Cot's Baseball Contracts, Polanco is making $5M next year. - Sano is guaranteed $9.25M but has a $2.75 million buyout on his club option in 2023. Since that is likely to be exercised in November, the Twins will need to budget $12M on him next year. - Buxton. No, it's not guaranteed. It's listed in the chart as "arbitration." It's an estimated. If he stays healthy, it would likely be higher than that, but that's a big if. - Rogers - also listed as "arbitration" above, so yes, $7.5M is a projection. - Berrios - yes, also lised as "arbitration" and as such is a projection. Finally, I'll list one other that others have mentioned and is perhaps the biggest question mark: Maeda and his low guarantee with an enormous incentive clause. You can find details on that on the "Cot's" link above.

I agree that how the team treats budget for next year is a pretty big unknown. I suspect we won't know until next March what they really chose. But $140M is at least reasonable. I'd probably put the over/under a bit lower, but not much. And FWIW - I'm not projecting that lineup. I'm just saying how things sit right now, if they had to field next year's team. I anticipate a lot of changes. I just wanted to know whether they have $20M or $60M to spend, because that might play into how they approach the trade deadline and the "reload" vs "rebuild" decision.

He's only guaranteed $3M, but his salary is heavily incentivized. If he starts most of the season, he'll likely make $9-10M.

I included Sano's buyout in next year's number, which is why it is $12M instead of $9.25M. I figure it will likely need to be paid in the 2022 season (at the end). I did not include Colome's buyout for next year for the same reason - it will be paid this year.

Aaron and John talk about the Twins sweeping Texas, Byron Buxton's long-awaited return, Josh Donaldson and Nelson Cruz getting hurt, rebuilding vs. reloading, and the rash of pitching prospect injuries. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

It is way too early to be talking specifics about the Minnesota Twins payroll this offseason – except that it is not. With the trade deadline approaching, and several trade candidates being among the most highly paid players on the team, taking a quick peek ahead becomes mandatory. So let's take a way-too-early, back-of-the-napkin view of where things sit right now. The Lineup ($56M) The bad news this year was the Twins had to empty the St. Paul Saints roster to cover for all the Twins' injuries. The good news is that many of those players will be available to fill in for departing free agents like Nelson Cruz and Andrelton Simmons. With a bit of reshuffling, the default lineup likely looks like this: 2022 Player $M Type C Garver $ 3.80 arbitration 1B Kirilloff? $ 0.60 team control 2B Arraez $ 0.60 team control 3B Donaldson $ 21.00 contract SS Polanco $ 5.00 contract LF Larnach $ 0.60 team control CF Buxton $ 8.50 arbitration RF Kepler $ 6.75 contract DH Sano $ 12.00 contract The Bench ($2.8M) Will the Twins try to add depth with a capable 10th man this offseason? Maybe. Until then, the bench looks like this: 2022 Player Type C OF Rooker/Galick $ 0.60 team control M IF Gordon $ 0.60 team control C Jeffers $ 0.60 team control Other Astudillo $ 1.00 arbitration The Rotation ($20.0M) The Twins will need to focus on the rotation this offseason, seeing as J.A. Happ, Matt Shoemaker, and Michael Pineda are all free agents. Let's fill in those spots for now with minor leaguers like Bailey Ober, Randy Dobnak, and Jhoan Duran, and anticipate several of them will be replaced by acquisitions this offseason. 2022 Player Type SP Maeda $ 9.00 contract SP Berrios $ 9.00 arbitration SP Ober $ 0.60 team control SP Dobnak $ 0.80 team control SP Duran $ 0.60 team control The Bullpen ($14.5M) The bullpen losses some free agents too, and there were already lots of gaps to fill. Even though he's expensive, we'll assume Taylor Rogers returns because there are just so many other spots to fill. If so, the bullpen looks something like this: 2022 Player Type Closer Rogers $ 7.50 arbitration RH MR Duffey $ 3.00 arbitration RH MR Alcala $ 0.60 team control RH MR Farrell $ 0.60 team control LH MR Thielbar $ 1.00 arbitration RH MR Stashak $ 0.60 team control Swing Smeltzer $ 0.60 team control Other Thorpe $ 0.60 team control That's a decent amount of money, but they also have many spots to fill. They must address the rotation, definitely need to upgrade their bullpen, might want to improve their defense, or even try and bring back Nelson Cruz again. To Spend ($35-45M?) Add those all up, and the Twins existing payroll comes in at about $96M. They spent about $130M last year, so they will have about $35M to spend if they match that. If they increase it by 10% - a reasonable assumption if they want to keep their competitive window open, they could be closer to $45M to spend. The trade deadline could change a lot of this, too. Josh Donaldson, Jose Berrios, and Byron Buxton will be among the most expensive players on the roster next year. Moving any of them could free up money for more free agents. Of course, that would also create other spots they need to fill. View full article

Aaron and John come to grips with the lost season for the Twins and what that means for the trade deadline, plus the latest on Byron Buxton and Kenta Maeda, a breakdown of Rocco Baldelli's controversial bullpen moves, and MLB's ongoing foreign substance controversy. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Great story and I’m very glad to have the chance to read more of Tom’s stories. But we’ll certainly miss him editing. TD dealt with a lot over the last 3 years, and Tom showed a steady hand but also the passion that the community shares. We are forever in debt. So please join me in thanking Tom for all his efforts and congratulate him on all his accomplishments.

Aaron and John discuss a sour ending to a good week, the Twins' continued roster shuffling, a second generation of Gleeman and the Geek listeners and the heartening play of Trevor Larnach and Alex Kirilloff. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Aaron and John talk about Miguel Sano's latest season-saving homer binge, the Twins' never-ending injury bug hitting Kenta Maeda and half the lineup, the silliness between Willians Astudillo and Yermin Mercedes, and why the next two weeks are absolutely essential if the Twins are going to turn things around. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article

Aaron and John talk about another frustrating week for the Twins filled with blown opportunities and injuries, plus Miguel Sano's big moment, Donaldson's big error, Alexander Colomé's march back, early impressions of Trevor Larnach, and the point of no return. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. View full article