jorgenswest

Too add… Rick Wise at 34 had an ERA 8% above league average with 27 starts. That would be probably be OK. He was also acquired in the off-season before that 34 year old season. He was coming off two healthy seasons with more than 30 starts so it looked like he would be more reliable. The Padres signed Wise to a 5 year deal through age 38. By age 36 he was out of baseball.

Thanks. It leaves me wondering about… Do the Twins need to have short leashes on one season outliers like Topa and Stewart? Topa has options so that is easier. Are the WARPs of Funderburk and Canterino lower due to less projected playing time? They are both at an age where if they show they are among the Twins top 6 relievers they need to be on the roster over the stock pile of relievers in their 30s the Twins have recently acquired.

I think the 60 day starts on opening day or maybe the first game of the season where opening days vary by team.

I respect the Giants front office and wonder if there is enough left for him to approach a league average starter. There is no guarantee he comes back all the way from his injuries combined with the natural decline from his last good season at age 31 to age 34. The Braves took on some bad contracts this winter and released or outrighted or traded with cash the players. I think that includes Marco González, David Fletcher, Evan White, Max Stassi and Matt Carpenter. The Mariners found a new home for DeSclafani. The Twins have kept him. He really needs to show something in the spring. He can’t be the 5th starter if Varland is ahead of him. If he gets that spot he needs to perform and continue to perform. The Twins won’t find a taker during the season to flip a mediocre starter. They will need to release him at that point,

If you missed it a few weeks ago Baseball America had their podcast about the Twins prospects. I just gave it a second listen. It left me so hopeful not only about Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee but so many of the players that will provide position player depth. The decline phase position players on the roster better perform or be moved out of the way. They also have a great argument about why they ranked Canterino 6th. If he performs in spring and shows as a late inning reliever they better make room for him in place of one of those older relievers they have stockpiled recently.

Priorities in order for last spot in pen. Most important is availability of an option to shuttle to AAA when the bullpen is taxed. In this case they really would have two or three last spot relievers with one that happens to be on the opening day roster. The pitcher needs to already be on the 40 man roster. Don’t use a 40 man move for a reliever that will be shuttled a back to AAA. Keep them in AAA as depth for when injury hits. The pitcher should be able to give them 40 pitches in an appearance allowing multiple innings. There are several relievers with some experience as starters in the minors that can fill that last spot shuttle role. The name of the first player to have that spot isn’t that worthy of debate. This debate really needs to be about which of the out of options relievers will earn an important role in the pen. I think that needs to be at least top 11.

Agree. I should have said this as clearly.

The Reds preferred Bubba over myriads of others they could have put on the roster including Blake Snell and the recently claimed Jordan Groshans. They may simply have thought Bubba has a better chance of making it through or needed to try to get some organizational depth in the OF. The Reds have already DfA’d Thompson once this off-season. Getting DFA’d had to sting. Going unclaimed had to sting. That names of the players like Thompson and Groshans that were among those claimed while he was on waivers wouldn’t add to it. Would that mean he would somehow have less sting when they are DFA’d again before the season starts? This brings me to a more serious note. It can’t be helpful to a player’s career or family to be moved through so many waiver cycles. I have suggested the remedy is to limit the DFA’s. That probably wouldn’t go so I am going to put something in the waiver player’s pocketbook. As it stands I think the Twins paid a $50000 waiver fee to the Yankees and were paid back the $5000 by the Reds. Is that correct? I am not sure if the off-season or Thompson’s options status matters here. I assume there is money involved. Let’s give it to the player. Too much. Let’s give them at least half. Maybe the cycle of claiming a player with plan to DFA would lessen. That would benefit the player by landing him on a team that will really give him an opportunity.

Thompson is at least temporarily with the Reds. This is his second go around with the Reds. In the last 6 months he has moved from the Rangers to the Royals to the Reds to the Yankees to the Twins and back to the Reds,

You can probably add Martin. I am not sure there are any takers at Farmer’s contract. He fits better in the Twins than any other team where he complements Julien’s left handed bat and well below average glove. If the plan was to trade him hoping to get something along the lines of an Urshela return it was a mistake that can’t be made with the reduced budget. I would have preferred they had non-tendered him and combined that money with Polanco dollars to get an everyday bat.

I do fear that the decision to bring in decline phase veterans like Farmer, Santana and possibly a right handed bat will result in the Twins will be too slow to part with them if they have dropped in production. I do trust the rankings. MLB.com has him ranked 18th overall. It is sobering though to go back 5 to 10 years and see that a number of players in that range failed to become significant major leaguers.

Absolutely agree. I also believe what they see with their eyes in spring training should be an important factor in decision. They need to rely on their trained eyes as they watch players in the spring and make wise decisions.

I would also. They shouldn’t have any untouchable prospects.

Unsure what you mean by sold. Moncada was #2 ranked prospect by MLB.com at the time of the trade. They had Kopech ranked number 16. Basabe wasn’t globally ranked but was number8 in the Red Sox system and Diaz was 28th. The Twins couldn’t match that pairing with Jenkins and Lee. The Twins have nowhere near the prospect capital that The Red Sox have at the time. They also don’t need it, We can dismiss BTV but they have Sale’s trade value in 2016 about twice that of Luzardo. If that is the Marlin’s asking price they are wasting their time taking calls. No one is going to offer the historic prospect package the Red Sox sent for Sale.

I don’t get why my post was quoted here. There is nothing about ill will at all in mine. I don’t think there is ill will at all. I think there assessment of Gordon is that he isn’t talented enough for the four years of control to pay off. They had better be right because the roster is filled with players who are nearing them end of their careers.

Gordon was Super 2 so that seemingly small amount at the start of the arb process could mean more each of the next three years of control. The money still shouldn’t have swayed their decision. If they believed in the projections and believe in the fielding metrics from 2022 Gordon would have been valuable to the team when Polanco was traded. He could have been the platoon partner with Farmer at 2B with Julien at DH or 1B and the Santana money use for a bat that can play outfield. If they believed in the ZIPs projections he could have been an average CF in a platoon and insurance against Buxton. They may think they don’t need Buxton insurance. They didn’t believe. For Gordon’s sake I hope they are wrong. They also can’t make the mistake of letting go of four years of control when the budget is so tight. They are really gambling on several decline phase players in 2024 with little upside. It reminds me of the 2012 decisions to add players like Josh Willingham, Ryan Doumit, Jason Marquis, Jamey Carroll, Jared Burton, Jeff Gray, Sean Burroughs, Joel Zumaya and Matt Carson. Additional they had given Pavano a two year addition the previous year, signed Nishioka to an inexpensive contract (relative to a starter), forfeited a Matt Capps comp pick in order to give him two more years and hoped on minor league free agent Sam Deduno. A few of these like Willingham and Burton worked OK for a year but all were short sighted. All had declined to little use by 2013 and they continued the cycle of mediocrity by adding Correia, Pelfrey and Roenicke.

Good move for both teams. If both achieve their projections it will be a win on both sides. The other player without a great fit is Larnach. He has options so he does fit as depth. There are a few teams other than the Marlins that could use a left handed bat. The Angels and Marlins might be a match for one of their right handed bats like Meyers or Adell.

I am not OK with how they spent the dollars. There are too many decline phase veterans I fear they will not release if they drop any further. I would not have tendered Farmer. I would not have signed Santana. I would not have taken whatever they are paying for DeSclafani’s contract. I would have taken those dollars and spent it on one single player preferably a starter but an everyday bat would fit also. A bat or stater that would push others down in the line up or rotation. The remaining holes would be filled from within.

I am OK with the payroll. I am OK with the ownership. I think it is very unlikely a new ownership would be as stable or as good to the community as the Pohlad’s have been over the long run. My A’s colleagues out on the west coast have continually begged for new ownership. With each new ownership they are left wishing they had the previous one back.

Makes sense. Paddack was pretty effective until the injury. I hope that DeSclafani doesn’t throw too many ineffective innings while injured. If he isn’t right IL him.

Are expectations of a global MLB.com #42 prospect reasonable? Go back 10 years and look at the 42s from 2014-2018. All of these players have had a chance to establish themselves. 2014 - Carl Edward’s Jr. 2015 - Michael A Taylor 2016 - Anthony Alford 2017 - Hunter Renfroe 2018 - Michel Baez They are surrounded by Jorge Soler and AJ Puk in 2013 and 2019. If you expand to the 41s and 43s you will find Max Fried and little else. If he needs three options years in order to become an average regular through his service time that will be a huge plus and better than most in that grouping. If he makes multiple all star teams he is with the top of this class.

If either isn’t 100% early in the spring they should utilize the 60. They are going to need time at 100% building up and they will probably need the full rehab slot. That will take close to the 60 days. These two pitchers are going to need to be 100% to be helpful. Give them the early part of the season to get right. There probably won’t be a time in the season where the Twins are healthier than in April. They will need them at their best as other injuries occur.

Did the recent moves drop their projection by a win or two?

Absolutely go after Cabrera. It might take Emmanuel Rodriguez though. The Marlins have been rumored to trade a starter and they must be getting calls from many teams. They want an upgrade of Berti at SS and the Twins aren’t a fit without trading Lee. They really aren’t a fit at catcher either short of Jeffers. I wouldn't trade either in a Cabrera deal. The Brewers might be the best fit if they want Cabrera or Rogers with Willy Adames as the headliner in return. They also have a better catching prospect to offer in Quero if the Marlins prefer. As for right handed bat, I hope they don’t add another decline phase player that helps in a short side platoon. I would rather take a risk of a younger player with upside that has struggled. Offer Gordon or Larnach in a parallel trade for someone like Jo Adell or Jake Meyers.

Possibly a fair offer but how does one year of Kepler fit on a White Sox team that has been selling?