diehardtwinsfan

The fact that they executed the trade? They were in a win now mode.

No way I would move Gibson. Of late, he has been striking out guys, and of late he's pitching like a 2. I get that he's not young, but he's definitely a cornerstone piece under team control through the remaining of his good seasons. You could replace him with May (who I like a lot, and probably more than most people here), but I don't think he's really on the block. It certainly won't help this year. Given Colorado's position, I have a tough time believing they would want Gibson. He's getting expensive by the time they are competing again.

Twins Wins: 37.5 - Over Mauer's OPS: .815 - Over Dozier HRs: 14.5 - Under Sano HRs: 9.5 - Under Hicks: .350 OBP - Over Sano OPS: .900 - Under Hunter HR: 8.5 - Under Perkins Saves: 22.5 - Over Gibson ERA: 3.25 - Under Santana ERA: 3.50 - Under Hughes ERA: 3.75 - Under Arcia PA: 150 - Under Buxton PA: 150 - Under Trevor May Starts: 5.5 - Over Mike Pelfrey Starts: 5.5 - Under Alex Meyer IP: 6.5 - Under Jose Berrios IP: 15.5 - Under Kurt Suzuki OPS: .600 - Over RP acquired via free agency and trade: 1.5 - Over Catchers acquired via trade: 0.5 - Under Trevor Plouffe OPS: .775 - Over Brian Duensing ERA: 3.80 - Over Blaine Boyer ERA: 3.80 - Over Casey Fien ERA: 3.80 - Under

Wow, quite the discussion. I think I'm with Brock that I'd take him for the right price, but let's put a few things in perspective. Colorado is in last place and looking to trade one of their better players. Why they would want Gibson, who is going to be expensive when they are ready to compete again strikes me as a bit odd. I suspect it's posturing. He wouldn't be a bad fit, but he'd be expensive by the time they are competing again. Add to it the other negatives that all teams see. He's expensive, declining, and spends quite some time on the DL. For the record, here's a link to the Rockies' system. It's highlighted by Jon Gray (p), a nice 3B prospect in the upper minors, a couple of nice OF prospects in the A+/AA range, and several good young pitching prospects in the A+/AA range. They have a nice SS prospect in Trevor Story. That's a core that will be arriving and starting their adjustments in the 2017 time frame with a few trickling in next season. Competition wise, they are probably looking to 2018 right now. Add a couple high picks in that timeframe that can be used towards college pitching/bats and they have a nice core. They could probably use some additional depth up the middle, pitching (who doesn't?), and in the OF. On that, our systems line up fairly well. However, I don't see any package around Berrios, Gibson, or Sano. Berrios makes some sense to them, but I don't see the point in getting an established major leaguer in Gibson. Hundley doesn't excite me that much to be very honest. He's having a decent year for a catcher (791 OPS), but that whole home/road thing makes it a bit difficult to quantify. If he wasn't hurt, I would be interested in Adam Ottavino to help with our bullpen, but that's not an option. Latroy Hawkins might not be a bad option either, as he'd be cheap in terms of acquisitions. Rockies trade: Tulo, Hawkins What I'd trade. Ricky Nolasco (more to balance out cash than anything else. Makes the Twins have to cough up more, but it solves a problem for both teams in the short term. Plus, he gets 3 all expense paid trips to LA each year) Danny Santana Travis Harrison Kohl Stewart Adam Brett Walker (imagine the home runs he could hit out there) Hard throwing relief prospect (one of Jones, Reed, Burdi, etc.) That's probably the most I'd do. Not sure if they'd take it or not.

how many more years is Tulo under contract? He's in a decline phase too, and while he's good, this target worries me because it's expensive and not likely to benefit nearly as much as I'd hope.

yeah, I'd say if this is a weak system (outside the top 2) then you're probably being a bit unrealistic. Most teams I think would be hurting by those standards. That said, I have to think Kepler is a top 100 prospect this winter. He's 22 and having an impressive season in AA showing all of those tools. He may not be a CF, but he can be a pretty good corner OF defensively with a bat that plays above average.

Arcia holds minor league career splits of .312/.374/.553, which is good for a .927 OPS. He did all of it while being significantly younger than the league average. I get that he won't be a potential Griffey Jr. (let's face it, very few have that potential), but let's not pretend that there isn't some serious potential, especially in a league where a .750 OPS is above average. I don't have a problem trading him for the right piece, but if his value is as low as people suggest, then I'd keep him here.

I misunderstood you Mike. Apologies.

I wouldn't be against going after him, though the Twins will need to be patient with him. He didn't exactly destroy the PCL, which is a hitter's paradise, but he's not a bad prospect. Something tells me though that the Mets will want more.

yeah, I have to admit this is harder than it looks. I'm working on my own list (only to 30). It's fairly easy in the top 10-20 or so, but once it starts to grow, it really gets difficult. Good list.

Unfortunately it's not. He was getting shelled in AA to put it nicely. He was sent back to FTM a couple weeks ago (I think, not quite sure on the timeline). Burdi won't be in MLB this season. While I suppose there was a shot at Jay being there (quite low shot I'd imagine as well), it was just that... a shot. Jay will likely start out in FTM as a starter next year. He's already got quite a few innings on his arm in his college role, so they are likely just using this time to add a few more innings and then convert him to a starter next spring.

The Twins have done it before (though never on a contract this large). I'd imagine that if next year is another loss that this is a very real possibility.

Moderator note, let's cut out the bickering please.

Burdi hasn't been very good at all this year, and his string of good appearances (which ended yesterday I believe) is in A ball. I doubt he's up this year.

One, this is a protected pick. They get it back next year in what is being talked about as a stronger draft. Second, I think you need to be a bit more realistic. Very few guys picked that low even make it. Think about that for a sec. Everything at this point is a crap shoot. You pick guys here because some will make it and even the org filler has value. If you expect the Twins to hit on every pick (or even most), you're being unrealistic b/c no one does.

Arcia and Meyer for Norris? Seems really expensive.

This times 20. Once you hit the latter part of the draft, you start running out of sure things. Go for upside at this point. Cody was talked about as a potential 1st rounder due to a very high ceiling. It didn't work out for him this year (hence the fall) and his medicals might provide a bit more of a clue as to what is going on. I'd have liked to have had him in the fold, but understandably, he's betting on himself. Knowing what he's going to pay in taxes and what minor leaguers make, that's not a bad option. That money will be gone in no time.

Yes, the pick is protected.

Houston had an agreement in place with Nix and when Aiken chose not to sign, they yanked offers off the table for him. They also, when they thought they could get Aiken for less, immediately went out and tired to sign Marshal and then yanked that offer too when Aiken didn't sign. It's a bit different. It's not unusual to have something come up in the medicals and see an offer reduced. All teams do that from time to time. What Houston did, however, was a bit more unethical.

I think Nunez could carve out a nice career doing it. Decent stick and poor glove. Guess we need to go out and find a Jose Offerman type.

To be fair, I'm not quite certain many people are good at identifying that type of talent late in the draft. It's pretty swing and miss at that point.

For some reason I thought the age difference was bigger. My assumption though is that age matters, especially in terms of developing power. The older guy is going to have more of it naturally until that physical peak happens. Walker has more home runs, but he's also a bit older. And of course there's his problem with swinging at everything. Sano let's a lot of pitches go by that Walker takes massive cuts at... sometimes he connects.

Perhaps I'm overstepping myself a bit here, but for some reason I think that Brian thinks about all of these things.

That's a power bat thing in general. Most power hitters strike out a bit more than the norm. The good ones make up for it by being selective and knowing when not to swing.

I think we have several of those already. Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, and Pat Dean.