John Bonnes

In the now-delayed deal, the Twins acquired starting pitcher Kenta Maeda from the Dodgers in exchange for sending Graterol to the Red Sox. The surprising trade was announced Tuesday night, and Twins fans’ evaluation of the deal tended to vary depending on this very question: just how much upside does Graterol have? The other side of the trade is easier to evaluate. Maeda’s talent is considerable, and his team-friendly contract makes him even more valuable. But as recently as a month ago, the assumption was that the 100-mph-throwing Graterol would begin the season in the minors as a starting pitcher, keeping him on the path of becoming a rotational ace. That narrative was reversed when Twins coach Wes Johnson revealed that Graterol was preparing for a bullpen role a few weeks ago. Graterol served in that role in September and in the postseason for the Twins, but had been a starting pitcher to begin the season, before a shoulder impingement shelved him for three months. If he started the season in a relief role, it was unlikely he would ever return to the starter role for two reasons. First, he was expected to have tremendous success as a late-inning reliever with a triple-digit fastball and a plus-plus slider. But he also had never made more than 19 starts as a pitcher in any year, or pitcher more than 102 innings. His arm had never shown it could withstand a starter’s workload. “Value” is a tricky term, as it can mean a lot of things. The value to a team of a fire-throwing reliever versus a top-of-the-rotation starter can be debated. Because relievers are used more often, and especially because they are inserted into games in critical moments, they can impact more games in more meaningful ways than a starting pitcher. But starting pitchers pitch more innings, thus suppressing more runs. Those two values are depicted differently by different statistics. Wins Over Replacement (WAR) values innings pitched, and starting pitchers lead relievers in it every year. But Win Probability Added (WPA) values how much a player increased the probability of their team winning a game. High-impact relievers often lead pitching staffs in that metric. However, there is another meaning of value: rarity. It is usually harder to find starting pitchers than relievers. This has been especially true for the Twins, as their top-tier bullpen includes lots of reclamation projects, while they spent their offseason futilely begging “impact” starting pitchers to take their six-figure deals. So when the Twins, who are hungry for impact pitching and flush with relief arms, decided to move potential ace Graterol to the bullpen, it probably should have told us something. It probably should have told the Red Sox something too. Apparently it is now, and it’s significant enough that it is jeopardizing their signature offseason deal, including shedding over $40M in payroll this year.

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Proceeds from the Diamond Awards fund innovative research fighting brain, nerve and muscle disorders at the University of Minnesota. The event honors Minnesota Twins Bob Allison, who battled ataxia, and was featured in a video shown at the beginning of the presentation. Twins Daily hosted a table, but also had readers, followers and members involved in several volunteer positions to help make the event go smoothly. Over 20 Twins Daily members attended. The staged awards ceremony featured Dick Bremer and Marney Gellner plus several award presenters such as Derek Falvey, Thad Levine, Kent Hrbek and even Terry Ryan presenting awards to players like Luiz Arraez, Mitch Garver and Taylor Rogers. The event broke records for attendance and money raised, and has become a staple of Twins Fest week.

Donaldson made clear that he viewed yesterday’s press conference at Target Field as a moment. The 34-year-old had worked his whole life to choose the franchise where he was spending the rest of his professional career. “This is what I've worked my entire life for since I was five years old. There's a lot of sacrifices that I have made and that I'm continuing to make to this day,” shared Donaldson. ”It doesn't stop." Twins fans certainly hope it doesn’t stop, because they are in the same boat. It’s been a LONG time – as in forever. Never have the Twins signed a free agent to this much money. Never have they signed a free agent of Donaldson’s caliber. We’re talking about an offensive and defensive difference-maker who garnered MVP votes in six of the last seven seasons. “You want to [make a big move] when you really, really have a needle mover that is that impactful,” emphasized Twins CBO Derek Falvey. We’re still in waiting mode a little bit. We’ll all have to wait to see where Donaldson bats in the Twins lineup; manager Rocco Baldelli doesn’t seem to know. We’ll have to wait to see what number Donaldson is wearing on his back; he hedged a bit on whether the #24 he wore yesterday will be his everyday number. And we’ll have to wait to see how a four (or maybe five) year contract plays out for a 34-year-old player. But we don’t have to wait to see the commitment each side was ready to show. “There was never a moment where I felt like, hey, [Donaldson] doesn’t really want the Twins to be in,” said Falvey. “It felt like he wanted the Twins to be in throughout the conversation.” Certainly, when Donaldson was ready, the Twins were. They had been on board all offseason. “I believe that there’s a really small subset of the truly impactful guys in any cycle in an offseason, said Falvey. “Josh is one of them.” Thus, we witnessed a juncture in the basement of Target Field yesterday, on a gray, sleeting day, sides came together and history was made. Donaldson got the contract he has been waiting for. The Twins got the impact player they were waiting for. Maybe most importantly, Twins fans got the move they were waiting for.

You can't get in unless you enter. The event is completely sold out! So enter here to get your four free $40 tickets.

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Kent Hrbek. 612 Brew craft beer. Hot stove talk. Gray Duck Vodka. A free pint glass. Proper Twelve Irish Whisky. Food stations. 400+ Twins fans. More Guests. Raffle prizes. You can get it all now until the tickets sell out. Just click here. Again – these tickets will sell out. And then it will be next Saturday night and you’ll be all mopey, and whine “Why am I not drinking craft beer with Kent Hrbek and Seth Stohs?” And you’ll make the mistake of saying that out loud and someone will point and laugh at you. Nobody wants that. So here are the details, and below are the tickets. Saturday, January 25th 4:30 to 7:30 PM Lumber Exchange Event Center (above The Pourhouse), just three blocks from Target Field and Twins Fest A Twins Daily Winter Meltdown Pint Glass. Two complimentary local craft pints from 612 Brew Drink specials and tasting tables from Gray Duck Vodka and Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey. Raffle prizes, including a signed picture of Hrbek from FanHQ Food stations, Interviews with Kent Hrbek and other guests and It’s only $40 (if you can get tickets). Plus, we are not done making announcements. However, the tickets may not last that long. So grab a friend. Or come by yourself. This is your tribe and they’re going to take care of you. Get Your Tickets

If you grew up in a cave, Hrbek was the first baseman for the Minnesota Twins for both of their World Series championships in 1987 and 1991. Originally from Bloomington, he played his entire 14-year career for the Twins and finished among the top 10 in several categories including second overall in home runs. His number 14 was retired by the Twins in 1995. Target Field has both an entrance gate and a bar dedicated to him. His 1987 World Series even graced our pint glass back in 2014. And now he’s coming to our party. If you want to learn even more about him, just come to the Meltdown. He’ll be one of our first guests on stage Saturday, January 25th from 4:30 to 7:30 at the Lumber Exchange Event Center (above The Pouhouse), just three blocks from Target Field and Twins Fest. You’ll be joined by 400+ Twins fans, media members, Twins execs and many more to celebrate the upcoming season. Your ticket to the party includes LOTS of goodies: A Twins Daily Winter Meltdown Pint Glass. Two complimentary local craft pints from 612 Brew Drink specials and tasting tables from Gray Duck Vodka and Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey. Food stations, Interviews with Kent Hrbek and other guests and It’s only $40 (if you can get tickets). It also includes raffle prizes, and we’re excited to announce the first. In conjunction with Hrbek’s visit, Fan HQ is providing an autographed picture of Hrbek free for one of the lucky attendees. As you might expect, getting tickets can be tough. It’s even tougher this year, as over 300 of the tickets were sold in a presale. The rest will go on sale to the public right here (TwinsDaily.com) tomorrow (Friday) at 8:00 in the morning. HOWEVER, you can snag them early provided you sign up for Twins Daily’s Events Email List. We’ll be sending out a link to the tickets tonight (Thursday) to those on our list. You can sign up here. This event sells out EVERY YEAR, and I don’t want you to miss out, so do this Friday, blizzard or no. Also, stay tuned. We still have more to announce about the event, so follow us on Twitter and Facebook and you won’t miss any of the news.

This is the Meltdown’s seventh year, and the recipe has been the same. Make it easy to get to by making it near Twins Fest. Include a great Twins guest. Rally several hundred Twins fans to celebrate the end of the offseason. This year it still be just three blocks from Twins Fest on Saturday, January 25th at the Lumber Exchange Event Center (above The Pourhouse) from 4:30 to 7:30. We’re joined by a Twins player (who we’re announcing tomorrow) and 400+ Twins fans, media members, Twins execs and many more to celebrate the upcoming season. Not only will you get to gather with Twins Daily writers and members and talk hot stove, but we’ll include: A Twins Daily Winter Meltdown Pint Glass (picture above). Two complimentary local craft pints from 612 Brew Raffle prizes, Drink specials, like Gray Duck, Tasting tables, Food stations, Interviews with special Twins guests and It’s only $40 (if you can get tickets). Getting tickets can be tricky; we’ve sold this out every year. They will go on sale to the public on Friday morning on Twins Daily at 8:00 AM. You can snag them early provided you sign up for Twins Daily’s Events Email List. We’ll be sending out a link to the tickets Thursday to those on our list. You can sign up here. Otherwise, a special pre-Christmas sale took care of most of our inventory, so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you find a way to stop by TwinsDaily.com this Friday morning (1/17) and get your tickets while you still can. We still have lot more to announce, including some great raffle prizes and who our special guest (or guests?) will be. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook so you don’t miss any of the news.

There have been many steps, both forward and back, and almost all of them were giant, like he is. He’s been a top prospect (2010-2015), a Tommy John casualty (2014), and an instant success and late season hero (2015). Then he was a cautionary fielding experiment (2016), an All-Star (2017), and an out-of-shape pariah (somehow, also 2017). The drama has played out as a reclamation project (2018) and a breakthrough player (2019). All this, and he’s not yet 27 years old. So when evaluating his $30 million dollar contract, it is probably unwise to assume any smooth career progression, even if baby steps are what Sano is trying to emphasize for himself. “Just be professional. Take care of my routine; keep doing my routine. Take care of what I eat, what I put in my body,” lists Sano, in response to how he can stay healthy. Health is perhaps the biggest risk in the long-term deal the Twins offered. Sano’s major injuries were Tommy John surgery and a foul ball off his shin that resulted in a titanium rod being inserted into his leg. Neither are the usual chronic injuries that worry teams, but the perception remains that the 6’ 4”, 272 pound (listed) frame was at least a partial cause of injuries, and maybe more than a partial cause of slumps. Even last year, a heel injury, suffered in an offseason celebration, caused him to miss the first quarter of the season. So what could a healthy Sano do over 162 game? Well, last year, he had 34 home runs in 380 AB. “If I play an entire season, I think I can probably double those numbers,” he says. That’s obviously exceedingly optimistic. Fangraph’s STEAMER projections suggest 38 home runs is a more realistic target, but that also factors in a slight step backwards towards the mean. Slight steps in any direction have not been the norm for Sano. If the doubters are correct and he takes yet another giant step backwards, it will cost the Twins an extra $24M over the next four years, given he would’ve made $6M one way or the other this year. On the other hand, if he takes a giant step forwards, replicating the 923 OPS he posted after June 27th? What then? Sano seems to have an idea. When asked what he will do with his newfound riches, he smiles and replies “Nah, it’s not a lot. I can get more than that.” Indeed he can, if the 26-year-old‘s baby steps lead to giant steps in the right direction.