diehardtwinsfan

I'm really not worried about the 2020 rotation just yet. I think for the most part, that will sort itself out. I'll be a bit surprised if Romero isn't a lock to start in 2020, and I think Graterol might force some hands too... worst case would be offering QOs to the guys leaving. I would note that I would be ammendable to a Gibson extension if he was... That said, I'd probably go with Mejia or May as the 5th starter and go out and get an arm or two for the pen. DFAing a guy like Duffey for an impact arm in the bull pen should be a no brainer.

From what I remember, Rosie was considered an average defender at 2nd. He was moved b/c he wasn't going to be starting over Dozier.

I think we're all jaded... and the Vikings aren't helping us much... though at least Flip got fired today.

I think to some extent, we should probably reconsider what we mean by dumpster diving. That term brings back memories of Terry Ryan going out and signing the Jason Tyners and Mike Pelfrey's of the world who all had incredibly limited upsides and not even a high floor. So far, what I've seen out of this front office is an attempt to get guys with pretty reasonable ceilings. Morrison may not have worked out, but that was a smart get. Same with Lynn, though I'd argue that other an April, he was pretty good and was turned into prospects. Every single name on this list certainly seems defensible. All of those guys (except maybe Cahill) are reasonable bets to be above average regulars. I personally don't care if they target those types of guys, I think that's smart.

Pretty much this... Cahill doesn't excite me. The rest are an emphatic yes.

OOF... not what I wanted to read when I checked TD today. I don't think Nick and I will agree on the definition of standing pat. My jumbled thoughts. I think Buxton and Sano should rebound a bit... to what extent who knows. they are both young enough to have truly breakout seasons (add Kepler and Cave to that too), and if they do, I really hope their supporting cast is good enough, otherwise we are wasting their prime seasons. I don't think we want to be wishing they had done more if that happens. Now that said, i like both Schoop and Chron. Both were good pickups, and I believe CJ can be around for a bit longer. Both are fine given our farm depth in those areas. Both are not fine if that's it. Payroll or not, the division is ripe for the taking, and getting a shutdown reliever and potentially upgrading one of Odorizzi/Pineda to a better starter makes too much sense. That would be a trade though, I'm not sure I'd sign a FA starting pitcher... Bottom line though is that I'd expect them to put some winners around them, so that the team is complete enough to well... win. I'll hold out hope that they do more, but I don't like the tones I'm hearing from the FO. Granted, it's not their fault if payroll is cut. That's on Pohlad... but... I just don't like what I'm hearing. They are good enough that standing pat makes no sense. I'm not saying mortgage the farm, but they can make some smart FA moves and trades to put a team that should win this division.

I don't think they would get enough value out of Kepler to be worth a trade... just my thought. And yes, I think he could break out in a big way.

problem is that if concucssions and catching is a concern, you'll end up with no catchers. I think at this point, Garver is still a catcher. He's one of the spots I'm not too worried about. Offensively, he's well above a typical catcher, and his defense seems to be catching up.

I actually like this signing. Given the org depth in the MI, the only long term signing I would have gotten behind is a positional flexibility guy like Marwin. This is a low risk, decent sized reward type signing. Plus, if they content, they can pick up a draft pick when he leaves if he's part of that contention... The guy posted some of the worst numbers of his career last year, and even with that, his career has been pretty decent for a 2B. I think a bounce back is a pretty realistic gamble. Now that said, this is a fine move in a vacuum. We needed help here and filled it... what happens next is what I'm more curious about. What will they to to improve pitching? I think they have to do something there.

I think a lot of that had to do with players being unhappy when they wanted a long term deal and signed for 1 year due to an abnormally slow FA market... In this case, the player wanted a 1 year deal and seems pretty incentivized to setup his FA pay day. I don't think this concern applies here.

I'd say we definitely need to add some guys. They have 2C, 4 OF, 3 IF, a backup IF, and a DH. That's 11 guys. I would be against 13 pitchers, but sadly, that's becoming more norm. If would definitely go out and get a 2B/SS. I'd probably get another lefty bat as well, preferably with some positional flexibility. That can allow Cron/Austin to get the occasional day off against a tough righty. I'm fine with Adrianza being the backup, but I could also see parting ways with him, especially if they picked up Marwin Gonazlez..

The real question is how much Tom and Steve paid Seth to put all those Astrudillo comments in there.

Kepler was pretty much the same as last year, which is likely a flaw in WAR... now that said, I don't have a problem with Max getting some reps at 1st, but yes, his offense needs to improve... I will say this though, he's shown flashes of being an impact player offensively... and well more than what can simply be written off as a hot week or two. I think he's going to have a break out season eventually (though to be fair, the clock is definitely ticking). Hopefully we will see it in 2019, at which point him playing some 1st on occasion to minimize handedness issues with Cron/Austin will make a lot of sense.

So are you confident that 2nd half Odorizzi will be more the norm than the exception next year? Just curious. I didn't realize he was a top 25 SP in WAR though.

This... Buxton and Sano had bad years, but if they rebound, we are going to be wishing there was talent around them. Not saying they need a 170M payroll, but there's no reason they cannot use FA to fill the holes on the team.

I agree. Pretty much everyone but Grossman will be tendered.

May started missing time once he went to the pen... That's why some of us want him starting Then again, I've given up hope on that... No to Romero. He needs to start. Like the idea of Kepler being a bit of a platoon partner to our RH 1B/DH guys, but that works best if Kepler start to hit.

No one is saying that Cron > Cruz. Everyone recognizes there's a limited budget to fill all of our needs and that based on where they are career wise, Cruz is not a slam dunk.

I'd love to know what happened to Schoop. If that's fixable, perhaps he could be had cheaply. He was decent in 2016 too. He was nothing special in 2018, but really fell off a cliff after the trade.

and 5 years left on his contract.

Can I both like and hate this at the same time?

This moves means they don't believe in Rooker for 2019. They shouldn't, I might add. Let Rooker earn his call up. If he's destroying AAA, he will get the call at some point. I would argue this does quite a bit. They had a gaping hole at DH. Now they don't. You're right, they still need some IF/OF help and pitching (based on Pohlad's comments, I wouldn't hold out much hope for an SP). Offseason isn't over yet. I'm not a fan of Pohlad's comments, but I don't think this move hamstrings their budget. If anything, I suspect they would have had to spend more to fill that slot, which means they have money that can be put into those other things.

well, it certainly is an improvement over Mauer's production last year. And there's some potential upside to it yet too. The 2018 lineup was sorely lacking in .800 OPS guys and has a spot open where you really should have one. It doesn't solve the "flexibility" issue, but that can be solved in other ways.

The worst part is you had to explain the pun... I'm guessing most of us wouldn't have noticed

Cron out performed every single one of these guys last year... and it wasn't close.