3rd Inning Stretch

Too soon?

I will bite…still not sure I say yes.

While I certainly chat with the white whales this offseason (Cole, Strasburg, Rendon), ultimately none land in Minnesota. That doesn't mean the offseason cannot be a success. I move forward with the following: Zach Wheeler - 4 years/76 million Mike Moustakas - 3 years/42 million Jake Odorizzi - 3 years/39 million Will Smith - 3 years/35 million Jason Castro - 1 year/6 million Trade AWAY Eddie Rosario for prospects Trade FOR David Peralta for prospects (Net +1.3 million for trades) Non-Tender - Cron Pass on Martin Perez (+.5 million) I'd also bring back Gibson on a minor league deal if he'd accept and see how he performs in the spring...if okay, perhaps break camp with him instead of Graterol to begin year. This means: C - Garver 1B - Sano 2B - Arraez SS - Polanco 3B - Moustakas LF - Peralta CF - Buxton RF - Kepler DH - Cruz Bench - Castro, Gonzalez, Adrianza, Cave, Wade SP - Wheeler, Berrios, Odorizzi, Dobnak, Graterol (Gibson?) RP - Rogers, Smith, Duffey, May, Littel, Stashak, Smeltzer/Thorpe Total Payroll: 137 million I really wanted to bring back Pineda, however salary was not going to work while missing a portion of the year. The addition of Smith could shorten games for the inevitable shuffle at the back end of the rotation, however would rather spend on a guy like Smith then take a chance on the starters that could come for similar money. I think Wheeler is the home run get for the Twins...hampered a bit by the Mets dysfunction, but electric stuff that wont cost what the two top guys will. I try to extend Buxton/Berrios, just not sure that's gonna get done. So didn't even try and go there here. I prefer Peralta over Rosario despite the age difference as I only am planning on Peralta for one year. And he won a gold glove this past season (for what that is worth), but really wanted him for the quality at-bats he will provide versus Rosario. Believe the hitters provide good flexibility position-wise and the team has okay depth when the inevitable injury hits. No monster prospect trades allow for in-season deals to again be considered, also allows the team to see Larnach for a second year, see if Lewis continues AFL success, see if Kirilloff continues to make strides hopefully without injury. The concentration of LH hitters is a potential concern, especially if Sano/Cruz either don't remain healthy or don't produce. However, I could see the lineup being just as potent as this year (assuming MLB doesn't mess with the ball) and believe the rotation should be better overall 1-5 and bullpen should at least be on par with what we saw the last two months in 2019.

The REd Sox wouldnt give give Bogaerts straight up for him, so that isnt gonna work.

So on offense we replaced Span with Parmelee, which is a step back in my opinion...and a huge step back defensively. Pitching is improved, but not sure you could get Hanson for Willingham, let alone Span. He's young, under team control til 16, almost a K/inning...he's their #1 pitcher.

And nobody would sniff JJ for that. They are even further into salary dump mode. If you wanted to sell your house, but had it at twice market value, youd come down when nobody meets your price. As time goes by and you really want to sell it, and its costing you money on top of it now that you dont want to spend, you will deal at market price, especially when youd lose the house in a year for nothing. I think we have different expectations for Perez. I dont think he is expected to be a future Ace. Baseball America had him as the Rangers #4 starter in 2015 in last years prospect rankings. He will be cosidered a B prospect going into this year (was a B+ last year on minorleagueblog), which is about what you can expect for Morneau, especially from a team's who's glaring weakness is at 1B and doesnt care about money.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2594[/ATTACH] Trade Joe Benson and Liam Hendriks to Miami for Josh Johnson + $3.75 million Trade Justin Morneau to Texas for Martin Perez Sign Scott Baker - $3 million with incentives with club option for 2014. Sign Anibal Sanchez – 4 years $50 million Sign Jeff Keppinger – 2 years $8 million Sign Matt Capps – 1 years $2 million (setup, not closing kids) Non-Tender Alexi Casilla, Drew Butera Resign Burton and Duensing Twins Payroll, 2013: C: Joe Mauer; 23 M 1B: Chris Parmelee; 500 K 2B: Jeff Keppinger; 4 M SS: Pedro Florimon; 500 K 3B: Trevor Plouffe; 500 K LF: Josh Willingham; $7 M CF: Denard Span; 5 M RF: Ben Revere; 2 M DH: Ryan Doumit; 3 M Bench: IF: Eduardo Escobar/Brian Dozier; 500 K IF: Jamey Carroll; 3.75 M C: Chris Hermann; 500 K OF: Darin Mastroianni; 500 K SP1: Josh Johnson; $10M ($13.75 - $3 RECEIVED FROM MIAMI) SP2: Anibal Sanchez; 12.5 M SP3: Scott Diamond; 500 K SP4: Scott Baker; 3 M SP5: Kyle Gibson; 500 K CL: Glen Perkins; 2.5 M SU: Jared Burton; 2 M SU: Matt Capps; $2 M SU: Brian Duensing; 1.75 M RP: Tyler Robertson; 500 K RP: Alex Burnett; 500 K LR: Anthony Swarzak; 500 K ROSTER PAYROLL: 87,000,000 Contracts in minors: Nick Blackburn: $5.5 M TOTAL PAYROLL: $92.5 m Like it, don’t love it, but its a start. Offense should be close to last year, and pitching vastly improved. Not sure if Keppinger will give us the time of day, but could not go into season with Carroll as a starter. He mashes left handed pitching, which I would love with all our lefties still. Martin Perez , Sam Deduno, and Nick Blackburn are there for injuries and early in season if they hold Baker/Gibson back at all or they are unable to start the season for some reason. Nobody came close to matching Miami's asking price for JJ last year, think this is reasonable and more importantly, gets most of the salary off their books Other options I’d explore are a trade of Span + to TB for James Shields. They picked up his option but I believe it’s for the sole reason of trade him. If they did that, one of the kids is in RF, with Parmelee sprinkled in there if necessary with Mauer at 1st and Doumit catching. I'd rather they make the moves I noted though, and hang onto Span until the deadline or next offseason when one of the "kids" should definitely be ready and we should have a idea on what the true needs are. Brandon McCarthy is the other FA starter I’d look into. I think at LEAST two guys like that need to be brought in. And the nice thing, is with the way this is set up, they could resign either Johnson or Shields to a decent contract starting in 2014 without adding much to the payroll (Carroll, Capps gone, Baker gone if you want him gone, Span gone by then one way or another), even if the bring in another pitcher at a double digit salary. We should have players by 2014 ready to slide into those spots (Rosario at 2nd, young draftees for bullpen, Perez for SP, lots of OF talent for Span).

I've been thinking about this for awhile, prior to King Felix's perfect game a couple weeks ago. Perhaps I should have posted it then, as it wouldnt sound so pipe dreamish now. However, the Minnesota Twins are perfect trade partners for the Seattle Mariners if they look to deal Hernandez this offseason. And I am hoping that deal begins tonight with a strong Liam Hendriks start. My proposed deal would include Oswaldo Arcia, Eddie Rosario, Liam Hendriks, and a lower level pitching prospect (Jason Wheeler perhaps) for King Felix. I would have Arcia and Rosario as the third and fourth ranked Twins prospects going into next season. Why would Seattle do it? Well their top three prospects are all starting pitchers, and very highly rated at that in Walker, Hultzen, and Paxton. Also, their young hitters they are still hoping to produce in the future are all infielders in Smoak, Ackley, Seager, and Montero. And their other top hitting prospects are a SS and 3B. Saunders can play a bit, but other than that, they are thin in the OF (I am not a Trayvon Robinson guy). Therefore, Arcia and Rosario fit in very nicely in Seattle with their current pieces, and should be highly viewed after their current seasons. Hendriks has done all he can do at AAA, and needs to put it together with a major league club. His fly ball tendencies should play well in MN, but should play even better in the marine air of Safeco Field. With the other pitchers they have, he would be a solid 4 or 5 with the younger guys coming up and Vargas. This may have been more realistic at the end of June before Hernandez went 8-0 in his last 12 starts, however this is the type of move they should be looking to make as Hernandez will not be 27 until after next season starts, and is the type of pitcher any team needs, but the Twins DESPERATELY need. Id be willing to give up more, but those players make the most sense to me. If they want Hicks instead or perhaps in addition, Id still listen, as long as Buxton/Sano are not part of the deal. Would love to hear some thoughts on this.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, prior to King Felix's perfect game a couple weeks ago. Perhaps I should have posted it then, as it wouldnt sound so pipe dreamish now. However, the Minnesota Twins are perfect trade partners for the Seattle Mariners if they look to deal Hernandez this offseason. And I am hoping that deal begins tonight with a strong Liam Hendriks start. My proposed deal would include Oswaldo Arcia, Eddie Rosario, Liam Hendriks, and a lower level pitching prospect (Jason Wheeler perhaps) for King Felix. I would have Arcia and Rosario as the third and fourth ranked Twins prospects going into next season. Why would Seattle do it? Well their top three prospects are all starting pitchers, and very highly rated at that in Walker, Hultzen, and Paxton. Also, their young hitters they are still hoping to produce in the future are all infielders in Smoak, Ackley, Seager, and Montero. And their other top hitting prospects are a SS and 3B. Saunders can play a bit, but other than that, they are thin in the OF (I am not a Trayvon Robinson guy). Therefore, Arcia and Rosario fit in very nicely in Seattle with their current pieces, and should be highly viewed after their current seasons. Hendriks has done all he can do at AAA, and needs to put it together with a major league club. His fly ball tendencies should play well in MN, but should play even better in the marine air of Safeco Field. With the other pitchers they have, he would be a solid 4 or 5 with the younger guys coming up and Vargas. This may have been more realistic at the end of June before Hernandez went 8-0 in his last 12 starts, however this is the type of move they should be looking to make as Hernandez will not be 27 until after next season starts, and is the type of pitcher any team needs, but the Twins DESPERATELY need. Id be willing to give up more, but those players make the most sense to me. If they want Hicks instead or perhaps in addition, Id still listen, as long as Buxton/Sano are not part of the deal. Would love to hear some thoughts on this.