diehardtwinsfan

I no sooner finished this and saw that Haren is supposedly off the market... so flame away... http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?2103-My-offseason-plan

It's no secret as to where the Twins struggled last season. Starting pitching was by far the worst, but the Twins were left lacking up the middle as well as in the pen. The good news is that from a hitting standpoint, the Twins look fairly set going forward. Rochester's OF should consist of 3 decent prospects in Arcia, Hicks, and Benson (though Benson's stock has fallen a bit), and one of them should be ready if/when someone goes down or is traded. The higher minors are bereft of pitching talent and middle infield talent, though prospect Brian Dozier should get a chance to establish himself in Rochester next year. I for one am not as down on him as others, and a year in AAA will likely be beneficial to him. Fortunately for the Twins, there are options. In my plan, the Twins will make two trades this offseason. The first of which will be to deal Anthony Slama to the Angels for Dan Haren and 3M. While I personally think Slama deserves a shot, it seems clear that he isn't going to get one in Minnesota. The Angles took a similar type deal in letting go Santana, and they will take another one to for Haren as they will esentially get an RP arm for the cost of Haren's buyout, which they were going to pay anyways. The second will be to deal Denard Span and a PTBNL to the Reds for minor league pitcher Tony Cingrani. They will not sit quitely in the FA market either. The Twins go ahead and sign Scott Baker to a 2 year deal with an option. He will receive 2M in 2013 and 6M in 2014 with a 10M option in 2015 or a 1M buyout. They also choose to bring on Erik Bedard on a 1 year 2M deal. Bedard was very good for Pittsburg before falling apart late summer. That was certainly in part due to being tired as he hasn't had huge workloads for several years now. His purpose is to hopefully last the year, but if not, he buys time for Gibson/Hendricks. Gibson will be shut down early in the spring so that he can finish the year with 130 innings. The Twins will also go heavily after Marcum, and they will get him after adding a 2nd year and an option to his contract. Marcum is signed for 2/16 with a 3rd year option. They will opt for 1 year fixes in the middle infield. Both Kelly Johnson and Stephen Drew will be signed to 1 year deals to man the middle. This should provide better defense overall and a reasonable potential to help at the plate. Dozier will start in AAA where he belongs, and the Twins will be able to decide if he will man one of those spots in 2014. Terry Ryan said that the pen was his second priority, and as such he makes a few moves. Being out of options, Delios Gurerra will be given every opportunity to man a spot, and he will receive it whether or not it is deserved. But the Twins will also seek reinforcements who are capable of striking out batters. Jason Grilli will come over on a 2 yr/4M deal from Pittsburg. While he is 35, he is still quite capable of striking out batters. Staying with age, they will also sign Joel Peralta to a 1yr/3M deal. These pitchers will add some Ks to the back of the pen for reasonable prices. Their bench will be strengthened by signing Jeff Keppinger to a 2yr/7M deal. Keppinger will rotate at the corners and occasional DH and essentially be their 10th starter/super utility guy. Lineup: C-Mauer - 23M 1B-Morneau - 14M 2B-Kelly Johnson - 2M SS-Stephen Drew - 2M 3B - Plouffe - .5M RF - Willingham - 7M CF - Revere .5M LF - Parmalee .5M DH - Doumit 3.5M Total: 53M Pitching: SP-Diamond - .5M SP-Dan Haren - 12M (Angels cover 3M of his contract) SP- Marcum - 8M SP-Baker - 2M SP-Bedard - 3M RP-Swarzak - .5M RP-D. Guererra - .5M RP-Jason Grilli - 2M RP-Joel Peralta - 3M RP-Duensing - 1M RP-Burton - 1M CL-Perkins - 2.5M Total: 40.5 Bench U/MIF- Florimon - .5M U/CIF- Jeff Keppinger - 3.5M OF- Mastroianni - .5M C- Chris Herrman - .5M Total: 5M Grand total: 98.5M The end result is a swing for the fences type team. If everything breaks right, the Twins will find themselves in the thick of a penant race in 2013. Given that they are adding quite a few question marks, the likelihood of that is not as good as we'd like, but they have nice trade options to work with come the deadline should things not work out. Morneau will very likely be flipped for pitching help. The same can be said for Willingham, Johnson, Drew, or Peralta. With Arcia and Hicks in Rochester, one of these guys will likely be called up to replace Revere should he struggle. If Morneau or Willingham is traded, then one will be called up to move into the OF. Gibson and Hendricks will start in Rochester, but both will likely see time when the inevitable pitching injury strikes. This Twins team has much more depth as their minor league system should be able to provide a reasonable replacement for most roles.

It's no secret as to where the Twins struggled last season. Starting pitching was by far the worst, but the Twins were left lacking up the middle as well as in the pen. The good news is that from a hitting standpoint, the Twins look fairly set going forward. Rochester's OF should consist of 3 decent prospects in Arcia, Hicks, and Benson (though Benson's stock has fallen a bit), and one of them should be ready if/when someone goes down or is traded. The higher minors are bereft of pitching talent and middle infield talent, though prospect Brian Dozier should get a chance to establish himself in Rochester next year. I for one am not as down on him as others, and a year in AAA will likely be beneficial to him. Fortunately for the Twins, there are options. In my plan, the Twins will make two trades this offseason. The first of which will be to deal Anthony Slama to the Angels for Dan Haren and 3M. While I personally think Slama deserves a shot, it seems clear that he isn't going to get one in Minnesota. The Angles took a similar type deal in letting go Santana, and they will take another one to for Haren as they will esentially get an RP arm for the cost of Haren's buyout, which they were going to pay anyways. The second will be to deal Denard Span and a PTBNL to the Reds for minor league pitcher Tony Cingrani. They will not sit quitely in the FA market either. The Twins go ahead and sign Scott Baker to a 2 year deal with an option. He will receive 2M in 2013 and 6M in 2014 with a 10M option in 2015 or a 1M buyout. They also choose to bring on Erik Bedard on a 1 year 2M deal. Bedard was very good for Pittsburg before falling apart late summer. That was certainly in part due to being tired as he hasn't had huge workloads for several years now. His purpose is to hopefully last the year, but if not, he buys time for Gibson/Hendricks. Gibson will be shut down early in the spring so that he can finish the year with 130 innings. The Twins will also go heavily after Marcum, and they will get him after adding a 2nd year and an option to his contract. Marcum is signed for 2/16 with a 3rd year option. They will opt for 1 year fixes in the middle infield. Both Kelly Johnson and Stephen Drew will be signed to 1 year deals to man the middle. This should provide better defense overall and a reasonable potential to help at the plate. Dozier will start in AAA where he belongs, and the Twins will be able to decide if he will man one of those spots in 2014. Terry Ryan said that the pen was his second priority, and as such he makes a few moves. Being out of options, Delios Gurerra will be given every opportunity to man a spot, and he will receive it whether or not it is deserved. But the Twins will also seek reinforcements who are capable of striking out batters. Jason Grilli will come over on a 2 yr/4M deal from Pittsburg. While he is 35, he is still quite capable of striking out batters. Staying with age, they will also sign Joel Peralta to a 1yr/3M deal. These pitchers will add some Ks to the back of the pen for reasonable prices. Their bench will be strengthened by signing Jeff Keppinger to a 2yr/7M deal. Keppinger will rotate at the corners and occasional DH and essentially be their 10th starter/super utility guy. Lineup: C-Mauer - 23M 1B-Morneau - 14M 2B-Kelly Johnson - 2M SS-Stephen Drew - 2M 3B - Plouffe - .5M RF - Willingham - 7M CF - Revere .5M LF - Parmalee .5M DH - Doumit 3.5M Total: 53M Pitching: SP-Diamond - .5M SP-Dan Haren - 12M (Angels cover 3M of his contract) SP- Marcum - 8M SP-Baker - 2M SP-Bedard - 3M RP-Swarzak - .5M RP-D. Guererra - .5M RP-Jason Grilli - 2M RP-Joel Peralta - 3M RP-Duensing - 1M RP-Burton - 1M CL-Perkins - 2.5M Total: 40.5 Bench U/MIF- Florimon - .5M U/CIF- Jeff Keppinger - 3.5M OF- Mastroianni - .5M C- Chris Herrman - .5M Total: 5M Grand total: 98.5M The end result is a swing for the fences type team. If everything breaks right, the Twins will find themselves in the thick of a penant race in 2013. Given that they are adding quite a few question marks, the likelihood of that is not as good as we'd like, but they have nice trade options to work with come the deadline should things not work out. Morneau will very likely be flipped for pitching help. The same can be said for Willingham, Johnson, Drew, or Peralta. With Arcia and Hicks in Rochester, one of these guys will likely be called up to replace Revere should he struggle. If Morneau or Willingham is traded, then one will be called up to move into the OF. Gibson and Hendricks will start in Rochester, but both will likely see time when the inevitable pitching injury strikes. This Twins team has much more depth as their minor league system should be able to provide a reasonable replacement for most roles.

I fail to see how promoting from within somehow implies a scholarship and is necessarily a bad idea. The questions I would have is this: 1) Does this individual garner the respect of his peers, who will now be his subordinates? 2) Does this person understand what went wrong at the bosses level and have an actionalble plan for fixing it? 3) Does this person have the qualifications for the job description. Promotions can breathe new life into an organization, especially is the higher up that was fired consistently stiffled the new ideas. If you get more of the same out of the position, then your criticism is warranted.

Call me old school, but overpaying for relievers seems foolish and stupid. I'm all in favor of getting some hard throwing relievers for late innings, but those can be added cheaply via draft and free agent scrap heap signings.

Yes, GGs are stupid, why else would Jeter have a collection?That said, this site didn't exist, but I seem to remember very few people thinking that trading Hardy was a good thing over at BYTO... myself included.

First off, Plouffe proved that he earned a shot to start. Signing Youk is essentially taking that from him. I'm not sold on Trevor, but compared to the rest of the team's needs, Trevor is not near the top of the list. Finding a nice utility infielder that could potentially start at 3rd might be smart, but spending roughly 1/3 of the spending budget on a guy like Youk when there are far greater needs is foolish. Competition for Plouffe should be in teh 1-year prove it type deals.

No, but he'd be a free agent after the 2018 season instead of the 2019 season by calling him up after about June 15th. If he is what he hope he is, that matters...yes, that I get... That wasn't my point. People seem to think that making the opening day roster affects super 2... that only affects guys who have 2 years and approximately 2 months of service...

Well, my opinion is that injury was a huge part of it. He had no fewer than three serious injuries and two surgeries. The other option, and I know most here won't like it, is that he struggled because he was pushed to the Twins too quickly for the September call-up.Other than an injury or something, I fail to see how a september callup can be detrimental to anyone's career. AA was over at that point so it's not as though he lost PT. I do hope it was injury, be he struggled pretty bad before he got hurt, and other than a hot week, he didn't do very well once he got back to AA.

Do people around here understand how super2 works? If he makes the roster out of ST and stays on it, he will not be a candidate for super2.

Benson took a step back... and a big one. I hope it was just injury related.

Given the needs, trading Morneau or Span for AA pitching is not necessarily a bad idea. It might mean a few 1 year prove it deals over the next year or two, but given the derth of pitching in the high minors, it isn't a bad option.

To his credit, he's scooped some things before... He's been wrong as well. We will see. That said, I'm all for Baker on a 3 year deal if at least one of those years is an option year.

There are a couple of intriguing 1 year type options that have been mentioned here and in a few other places (Kelly Johnson and Stephen Drew), but not much else. Both would be playing for a decent payday and have minimal cost... not bad options, but that's about it.

Neshek had a pretty decent season this year. He spent a chunk of time in the minors, but he did just fine once he got promoted.

Just to pick a nit here, but if Gibson made the rotation out of spring training, he would not be super 2 elligible after his second season, as he would have exactly 2 years of service time. Super 2 tends to affect people who get called up for a good chunk of a partial season (i.e. calling him up in say June and he stays on the roster)... you have to have aproximately 2 1/3 years of service to be a super 2.

Selling low on Morneau would have been trading him last year at this point. I tend to think his value will only increase as next season goes on, so generally I say keep him until the deadline. That said, if someone were to offer a higer upside minor league pitcher for him, you do it, especially if that means there's an extra 14M available to go out and get one of the better starters out there.

Morneau is my favorite Twin, though I do think trading him would be wise. I've argued it will make the most sense at the deadline, as I suspect he will continue to improve. That said, if they can get a decent pitcher for him, and then use the 14M to go after another decent pitcher, I'd say more power to them. I think Parmalee can put up the same line Morneau did last year and could possibly exceed it (though I think Morneau will beat that line next year with a normal offseason and a normal April/May). It certainly isn't a bad idea.

wasn't there a big drop in Lincy's velocity this year?

those pretty knowledgeable people can make mistakes. Albert Pujols wasn't a first round pick... or a second. Lots of pretty knoweldgeable baseball people thought he had enough questions to pass on him. I'm not saying Slama is the next Mariano Rivera or anything like that, but the kid has gotten results at every level of the minors... knowledgeable or not, on a bad team, he should be getting a shot in the majors to prove himself. It's very possible he could have proven all of the knowledgable sceptics right, but on a 90+ loss team, he should at least be given a shot, especially over the likes of a Jeff Gray.

The Giants and Tigers have pretty decent hitters too.... and those other teams are largely lacking there as well. You might be on to something Just giving you some crap... You are right though, the pitcher is the most valuable person on the diamond, and regardles of what saber says, the pitcher has more effect on a game than any of the guys 1-9... That said, this pen thing surprises me a bit. I tend to think the pen will improve if starting pitching can consistely go 6-7. That alone helps (though Gardy and his bring a guy in for four pitches routine kind of blows that up a bit)... I woudln't mind another power arm out of the pen, but I'd think the middle infield would be a bit higher on the list.

any rotation that is nothing but a bunch of names from this organization is a failure. They need new pitchers.

I wouldn't give up on Dozier just yet. Not sure I'd plan on him either. I think I'd sign Kelly Johnson and Stephen Drew to 1 year prove it contracts and let Brian start in AAA.

I'm not sure I quite get the hate here. It isn't as if the Twins consistently get less out of the talent that they get. If so, he needed to go. I suspect the bigger problem has been talent evaluation, paritcularly with pitching. This team has liked its "nick blackburn" type pitchers for too long. This was in part because they were cheaper and less risky during an era where they had a 60M payroll, and that is defensible to an extent. But that is also why this team has little starting pitching in the upper minors, and that has absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Rantz.

This year's draft was considered to be a weak class, and I seem to remember a number of reservations on Buxton, which is why I'd have preferred going for Gausman, Zimmer, or Appel (though from the sounds of it, the money woudln't have been there, so skipping him made sense). Buxton has the ceiling of a Matt Kemp, but hardly a sure thing and hardly the BPA by far... That said, we have him now, there's tons of good OF in front of him so he won't be rushed, so here's to hoping he develops quite nicely.