Baseball Bat

I like it. On top of what you've listed, I'd also ask: The Red Sox about Tanner Houck, Sam Travis, C.J. Chatham, and Jalen Beeks The Brewers about Corey Ray, Tristen Lutz, and K.J. Harrison The Phillies about JoJo Romero. *Not saying I'd ask for all of these guys in one package, just as one for ones or part of the deal. I have an awful time trying to figure out the trade value of any player, much less rentals. So thank you for helping gauge this value. I'd be interested in seeing potential returns and ideas for Odorizzi, Gibson, Rodney, Duke, and Lynn (Nothing probably). Gibson is the Twins most valuable trade asset IMO.

You were just looking for a way to sneak in Rainis Silva into conversation weren't you?

No love for Akil Baddoo?

You forgot Yu Darvish, TOM

I'll tell you what happens. I gain 50 lbs. and then get fired for "poor performance" at my job. Then my girlfriend leaves me for Randy in Cottage Grove. EVERYTHING RIDES ON YU SIGNING WITH THE TWINS

Just joining in on this now and haven't read any of the comments. People are probably over this by now. For some reason I'm really worked up and baffled by how the Twins handled the entire Rule 5 Draft. First off, the Twins had a consensus Top 5 pick in the draft in Nick Burdi. I am extremely high on Burdi and think he is an 8th or 9th inning guy once he gets his health straightened out. So I will admit my bias upfront. They very easily could have protected him and then moved him to the 60 day DL once the season started until July or so. It really wouldn't be a burden to carry Burdi on 40 man at all. I think there are 4 or 5 guys I would remove from the 40 man at the expense of keeping Burdi. So I assumed when the Twins did not protect someone who everyone knew would be a top 3 to 5 pick in the draft, that the Twins had no intentions of drafting someone with pick 20 right, and wanted ultimate roster flexibility to add to? WRONG. They drafted Tyler Kinley, a guy who was left off the MARLINS 40 man roster and will be 27 by the time the season starts without ANY Minor League success above High A. But heck he can throw 100 and strike guys out so lets waste a 40 man spot on this guy and not Nick Burdi who BTW has a strong track record of Minor League Success through AA, is 2 years younger, and also throws 100. On top of that, you now have to worry about hiding a guy on the 25 man roster throughout the season which is an awful strategy for a team that plans to contend. If they just would have kept Burdi, they could just had him on the DL, add someone to the 40 man in April, and then have Burdi pitch in Triple A when he returns. They wouldn't be required to keep him on the Major League Roster at all. But now Burdi is all but gone. He will be insanely easy to stash. The Pirates will have no problem navigating around keeping him after his Tommy John Surgery. April through June: 60 Day DL July & August: 25 Man Roster September: Rosters expand and it is easy to keep him on it. That will satisfy Burdi's 90 day requirements while spending half the season on the DL. In summary, The Twins gained a Pat Light Jr., a player worse than Burdi, and lost roster flexibility because of it. I know I'm too worked up over this but I just don't get it. I really hope I am proved wrong. But I think Burdi will end up being a stud, and the Twins will return Kinley after a month and a half of wasting a roster spot trying to hide him. Falvey and Levine have to know something about Burdi that we do not. End of my incoherent rant

Don’t worry Twins Fans. Almost every upper echelon Free Agent is yet to sign. Here is my list of the Top Remaining Free Agents at each position and then my top 50 overall. It is worth noting that the highest rated player I had that has signed thus far has been Mike Minor, who was at 18 behind Logan Morrison. All top of my 17 Free Agents are still available, including 7 pitchers. Starters: 1. Yu Darvish 2. Jake Arrieta 3. Alex Cobb 4. Lance Lynn 5. C.C. Sabathia 6. Jaime Garcia 7. Jason Vargas 8. John Lackey 9. Andrew Cashner 10. Jeremy Hellickson 11. Jhoulys Chacin 12. Charles Tillman 13. Francisco Liriano 14. Matt Garza 15. Miguel Gonzalez Only guys of note to sign are Tyler Chatwood, Drew Smyly, Michael Pineda, and Doug Fister (I guess). I would argue that if healthy, Pineda is the best of those 4 and would have gotten 3 to 4 years for $45 to $60 million. Not a bad get for the Twins, but I expect them to be targeting one of the top 4 starters or looking to acquire one via trade. Relievers: 1. Wade Davis 2. Greg Holland 3. Addison Reed 4. Tony Watson 5. Tyler Clippard 6. Hector Rondon 7. David Hernandez 8. Seung-Hwan Oh 9. Trevor Cahill 10. Matt Belisle 11. Matt Albers 12. Boone Logan 13. Brian Duensing 14. Bud Norris 15. J.J. Hoover 16. Koji Uehara 17. Sergio Romo 18. Francisco Rodriguez 19. Neftali Feliz 20. Craig Stammen Interestingly enough, I had Davis, Holland, and Reed as the top 3 Free Agent Relievers available. With all the relievers flying off the shelves, it is worth reminding that the top of the relief market is still there. Specifically pertaining to the Twins, nobody outside of the top 6 would be an initial priority. It will be interesting to see if someone like Addison Reed struggled to find that 3 year $27 million deal, or if he is holding out for more. After Reed, there is a massive drop off, but Watson, Clippard, and Rondon are all intriguing and affordable. After that, there are plenty to circle back on in late January and February, including some old friends. Catchers: 1. Jonathan Lucroy 2. Alex Avila 3. Rene Rivera 4. Nick Hundley 5. Chris Gimenez Welington Castillo quietly did pretty well for himself early on in Free Agency. But since then, not much has happened pertaining to catchers. The Twins should feel comfortable with Garver as the backup catcher / DH / 1B / LF type player. I wouldn’t be opposed to bringing back Gimenez though. Especially if it means he brings his friend Yu with him. First Basemen: 1. Eric Hosmer 2. Carlos Santana 3. Logan Morrison 4. Yonder Alonso 5. Mitch Moreland 6. Lucas Duda 7. Mark Reynolds 8. Mike Napoli 9. Adam Lind 10. Matt Adams This market is at a stop sign. Literally nothing has happened, as is true with just about all position players (What an odd market / boring winter meetings – No?). I’m an advocate of circling back here for a right handed platoon DH type later in Free Agency. However, the only two guys on this list that are right handed are Reynolds and Napoli. Probably doesn’t make a ton of sense to go after Lucas Duda, Yonder Alonso, and Hosmer and Santana will be too expensive while not really being a need. Second Basemen: 1. Neil Walker 2. Howie Kendrick 3. Brandon Phillips 4. Chase Utley 5. Danny Espinosa I fell asleep typing this list of names. I guess Howie Kendrick would be an interesting utility guy. However, I’d rather have Adrianza in that role based on age, cost, and massively superior defense. Pass on all of them. Third Basemen: 1. Mike Moustakas 2. Todd Frazier 3. Eduardo Nunez 4. Yunel Escobar 5. Danny Valencia 6. Jose Reyes 7. Trevor Plouffe 8. Pablo Sandoval It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I just don’t see the Twins really paying any attention to it unless someone blows them away with a Miguel Sano offer or something. Shortstop 1. Zack Cozart 2. Alcides Escobar 3. Erick Aybar 4. J.J. Hardy 5. Adam Rosales Yeah I don’t have much to say here. Outfielders 1. J.D. Martinez 2. Lorenzo Cain 3. Jay Bruce 4. Carlos Gomez 5. Carlos Gonzalez 6. Jarrod Dyson 7. Jon Jay 8. Austin Jackson 9. Curtis Granderson 10. Melky Cabrera 11. Jose Bautista 12. Matt Holliday 13. Colby Rasmus 14. Rajai Davis 15. Cameron Maybin I’d be curious to see if the Twins have any activity here. I think we’ll know based on how they treat Robbie Grossman and Kennys Vargas. If they move on from Robbie via trade, I think it is highly likely they add at least one outfielder via free agency. Granted, it would be a lower end 4th outfielder type. There are also some cheaper 4th outfielder / DH type options here that might be worth pursuing if you lose Vargas. I’m biased and want to see us take a $5 million flier on Joey Bats, but I understand the hesitation on that. Overall Rankings 1. OF J.D. Martinez 2. SP Yu Darvish 3. 1B Eric Hosmer 4. SP Jake Arrieta 5. OF Lorenzo Cain 6. 3B Mike Moustakas 7. RP Wade Davis 8. SP Alex Cobb 9. 1B Carlos Santana 10. RP Greg Holland 11. SP Lance Lynn 12. SS Zack Cozart 13. 3B Todd Frazier 14. OF Jay Bruce 15. RP Addison Reed 16. C Jonathan Lucroy 17. 1B Logan Morrison 18. OF Carlos Gomez 19. 1B Yonder Alonso 20. SP C.C. Sabathia 21. 3B Eduardo Nunez 22. SP Jaime Garcia 23. RP Tony Watson 24. 2B Neil Walker 25. RP Tyler Clippard 26. C Alex Avila 27. SP Jason Vargas 28. OF Carlos Gonzalez 29. 1B Mitch Moreland 30. SP John Lackey 31. SP Andrew Cashner 32. OF Jarrod Dyson 33. OF Jon Jay 34. 1B Lucas Duda 35. RP Hector Rondon 36. OF Austin Jackson 37. RP David Hernandez 38. OF Curtis Granderson 39. SP Jeremy Hellickson 40. OF Melky Cabrera 41. 1B Mark Reynolds 42. RP Seung-Hwan Oh 43. SP Jhoulys Chacin 44. OF Jose Bautista 45. RP Trevor Cahill 46. 3B Yunel Escobar 47. SP Charles Tillman 48. 2B Howie Kendrick 49. SS Alcides Escobar 50. RP Matt Belisle Happy Shopping, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine.

I'm pretty low on Slegers and have advocated DFAing him in order to add Burdi or Reed to the 40 man (I'd DFA Hughes and Boshers before DFAing Slegers though). So naturally this would be an article written. Have to admit it has valid points and makes me want to reconsider my Slegers position. However, as you mentioned, Arrieta has far superior stuff. I'm always very biased against a minor league pitcher who has a long track record of not missing bats. I hope I am proved wrong, but I think his ceiling is a #5 starter with Kyle Gibson 2014 / 2015 numbers

I'm hesitant to do any trade this offseason that requires giving up more than 1 of Lewis, Gordon, Gonsalves, and Romero. I don't think the Twins are in the stage of their window yet where it makes sense to gut the top echelon of prospects that they have for 2 years of a starter who will leave for $100 + million anyways. Not saying Gerritt Gole isn't worth Gordon + Gonsalves and then a lower level guy because he probably is. I just don't think it makes sense for the Twins right now to do that. Why not just sign Cole in 2 years or trade for an Archer type pitcher then. The Twins have the potential to be really special come 2019 or 2020 once guys like Romero, Gonsalves, Jay, Gordon hit. Around then is when you can start mortgaging the future to go for it. The Twins farm system is probably borderline top 10, but the strength of the system is the depth. The Twins would be smart to utilize that depth in maybe trading for a reliever with a year or two left of control or a starter that may only require Gordon plus Littell or Jorge. Don't want to mistime the window and deal prospects too early.

Yeah but track record matters. He is often injured and you the only full season he had where he was both successful and healthy was 2017. The 5 guys I mentioned have all had sustained success for more than one season. There is a reason last season he signed a Minor League deal with the Dodgers.

I would argue with this a litte. Davis, Holland, Reed are all superior and younger than Morrow, who is 33. You could also make a case for others like Shaw, McGee, etc.

thanks guys. Comments are a great part of TD

As some of you may remember, back in August I began an exercise where I would periodically try and rank the top 100 Twins Prospects. Those rankings and the discussion that followed can be found by clicking on the below link. http://twinsdaily.com/topic/27220-top-100-prospects/ I received very useful feedback that I have taken into consideration this time around. Thank you to everyone who went through the list as I am sure you have better things to do than pay attention to who I believe is the 74th best prospect in the Twins system at the moment. One thing I emphasized last time and I will again is that I am still in the beginning / learning phase of how to evaluate and quantify an entire system of prospects. I have not seen everyone play, so I rely a lot on research, scouting reports, and an evaluation of there recent statistics and overall body of work. I feel more confident this time in my rankings and know a lot more about all these guys than I did 4 months ago. For example, I knew next to nothing about Akil Baddoo. I had him 30th in my last rankings really due to a lack of knowledge and research on him. As you will discover below, I am now very high on Baddoo and his potential. A lot of that comes from additional research and becoming more familiar with him as a player (He also continued to play very well). The next list will come out probably in late March or so once all the off-season moves have occurred. I anticipate 1 to 2 guys to be lost via rule 5 draft, and at least a couple to depart via some sort of trade. The Twins also could add via International Free Agency. So some shakeup in anticipated in the next couple of weeks. I really appreciated the feedback last time and if there is anyone that you feel I am completely missing or just wrong on let me know. It is a great starting point to do additional research and learn more. *Age is as of Opening Day 2018 Top 100 1 SS Royce Lewis 18 2 SS Nick Gordon 22 3 LHP Stephen Gonsalves 23 4 RHP Fernando Romero 23 5 OF Akil Baddoo 19 6 OF Brent Rooker 23 7 OF Alex Kirilloff 20 8 RHP Blayne Enlow 19 9 SS Wander Javier 19 10 RHP Brusdar Graterol 19 11 LHP Lewis Thorpe 22 12 RHP Zack Littell 22 13 LHP Tyler Jay 23 14 1B Lewin Diaz 21 15 RHP Felix Jorge 24 16 C Mitch Garver 27 17 2B Jose Miranda 19 18 3B Travis Blankenhorn 21 19 OF Jacob Pearson 19 20 RHP John Curtiss 24 21 OF LaMonte Wade 24 22 RHP Kohl Stewart 23 23 2B Yunior Severino 18 24 OF Zack Granite 25 25 LHP Tyler Watson 20 26 RHP Nick Burdi 25 27 C Ben Rortvedt 20 28 RHP Landon Leach 18 29 C David Banuelos 21 30 SS Jermaine Palacios 21 31 3B Andrew Bechtold 21 32 RHP Tyler Wells 23 33 RHP Jake Reed 25 34 RHP J.T. Chargois 27 35 SS Ricardo De La Torre 18 36 LHP Gabriel Moya 23 37 2B Luis Arraez 20 38 LHP Charlie Barnes 22 39 OF Aaron Whitefield 21 40 RHP Luke Bard 27 41 LHP Lachlan Wells 21 42 RHP Griffin Jax 23 43 OF Jaylin Davis 23 44 RHP Tom Hackimer 23 45 LHP Jovani Moran 20 46 RHP Aaron Slegers 25 47 LHP Ryley Widell 20 48 LHP Dietrich Enns 26 49 LHP Andrew Vasquez 24 50 2B Emmanuel Morel 20 51 3B Trey Cabbage 20 52 RHP Tyler Benninghoff 20 53 OF Jean Carlos Arias 20 54 LHP Mason Melotakis 26 55 RHP Clark Beeker 25 56 3B Chris Paul 25 57 LHP Alex Robinson 23 58 LHP Bryan Sammons 22 59 OF Edgar Corcino 25 60 1B Zander Wiel 25 61 RHP Sean Poppen 24 62 RHP Hector Lujan 23 63 RHP Eduardo Del Rosario 22 64 RHP Derek Molina 20 65 RHP Jordan Balazovic 19 66 2B Estamy Urena 18 67 OF Shane Carrier 21 68 3B Nelson Molina 22 69 RHP Cody Stashek 23 70 RHP Edwar Colina 20 71 OF Tanner English 25 72 3B Wander Valdez 18 73 RHP Michael Montero 18 74 3B T.J. White 26 75 SS Brandon Lopez 24 76 C Mitchell Kranson 24 77 2B Carson Crites 23 78 RHP Nick Anderson 27 79 LHP Sam Clay 24 80 OF Matt Albanese 22 81 RHP Calvin Faucher 22 82 RHP Zack Jones 27 83 RHP Williams Ramirez 25 84 RHP Colton Davis 24 85 LHP Michael Theofanopoulos 25 86 OF Carlos Aguiar 16 87 LHP Taylor Clemensia 21 88 C Rainis Silva 22 89 RHP Bailey Ober 22 90 RHP Ryan Eades 26 91 RHP D.J. Baxendale 27 92 OF Max Murphy 25 93 RHP Ryan Mason 23 94 3B Victor Tademo 18 95 OF Colton Burns 22 96 RHP Carlos Suniaga 20 97 RHP Patrick McGuff 24 98 C Brian Navarreto 23 99 OF Alberoni Nunez 19 100 SS Jordan Gore 23 Removed From Last Rankings Waived / Released / Minor League Free Agent / Contract Voided OF Daniel Palka (23) SS Jelfry Marte (27) LHP Randy Rosario (38) SS Engelb Vielma (46) 1B Amaurys Minier (52) 3B Niko Goodrum (71) RHP Dereck Rodriguez (73) 2B Levi Michael (76) OF Travis Harrison (79) LHP David Hurlbut (93) No Longer in Top 100 RHP Pedro Garcia (83) OF Humberto Maldonado (83) RHP Alex Schick (85) OF Roni Tapia (86) RHP Johan Quezada (87) SS Sean Miller (92) RHP Todd Van Steensel (97) Graduations RHP Trevor Hildenberger (28) RHP Alan Busenitz (49) Also Considered OF Humberto Maldonado OF Roni Tapia RHP Johan Quezada 2B Alex Perez LHP Anthony Marzi 1B Kolton Kendrick RHP Alex Muren OF Alex Robles OF Lean Marrero 3B Ariel Montesino RHP Randy Dobnak C Caleb Hamilton RHP Jared Finkel RHP Nick Brown 1B Ben Rodriguez C Willians Astudillo RHP Alex Schick 1B J.J. Robinson SS Sean Miller RHP Pedro Garcia RHP Todd Van Steensel RHP Donny Breek RHP Niklas Rimmel OF Mark Contreras 3B Yeltsin Encarnacion LHP Anthony McIver

Respond to as many as you like. Just curious what people think is an expected return for the below players (All have some degree of availability via trade). SP Gerrit Cole – 2 Years of Team Control 2018 (28) – Arbitration 2 2019 (29) – Arbitration 3 SP Chris Archer – 4 Years of Team Control 2018 (30) - $6.25 M 2019 (31) - $7.50 M 2020 (32) - $8.25 M Team Option 2021 (33) - $8.25 M Team Option SP Jake Odorizzi – 2 Years of Team Control 2018 (28) – Arbitration 2 2019 (29) – Arbitration 3 SP Dan Straily – 3 Years of Team Control 2018 (29) – Arbitration 1 2019 (30) – Arbitration 2 2020 (31) – Arbitration 3 SP Marcus Stroman – 3 Years of Team Control 2018 (27) – Arbitration 2 2019 (28) – Arbitration 3 2020 (29) – Arbitration 4 RP Kelvin Herrera – 1 Year of Team Control 2018 (28) – Arbitration 4 RP Raisal Iglesias - 3 Years of Team Control 2018 (28) - $4.5 M 2019 (29) - $5.0 M 2020 (30) - $5.0 M RP Zach Britton - 1 Year of Team Control 2018 (30) – Arbitration 3 RP Justin Wilson - 1 Year of Team Control 2018 (31) – Arbitration 3 RP Dellin Betances – 2 Years of Team Control 2018 (30) – Arbitration 2 2019 (31) – Arbitration 3 RP Felipe Rivero – 4 Years of Team Control 2018 (27) – Arbitration 1 2019 (28) – Arbitration 2 2020 (29) – Arbitration 3 2021 (30) – Arbitration 4 RP Brad Brach – 1 Year of Team Control 2018 (32) – Arbitration 3 RP Brad Hand – 2 Years of Team Control 2018 (28) – Arbitration 2 2019 (29) – Arbitration 3 RP Ken Giles – 3 Years of Team Control 2018 (28) – Arbitration 1 2019 (29) – Arbitration 2 2020 (30) – Arbitration 3

Giving Falvine the benefit of the doubt on this, but I have to admit I am a bit surprised that Burdi, Reed, Stewart, Diaz, Bard, and Melotakis all got left off. I would have had at least 3 to 4 of those guys protected. I'm not too concerned about Diaz, given that he is so raw and there is not way a team could keep him on there 25 man for 5 months. It's not the fact that any of those 5 pitchers individually got left unprotected, it is the fact that all of them got left unprotected. All are former high draft picks (especially for relievers) who have had very solid minor league careers. Reed, who is a lock to be taken in the rule 5 draft, throws mid 90's and had a legit case to be with the Twins last season. Bard, a former second round pick, all the sudden found his stuff and struckout 14 per 9 last season with mid 90's stuff. Stewart is frustrating as heck and even if he does get taken, I am not too concerned about him. Am I the only one that thinks Burdi's injury makes him more likely to be taken in the rule 5 draft? A team can literally stash him on the 60 day DL for a couple of months, send him for a rehab assignment, then it is September. I'm not a fan of giving up on him. It is a little bit confusing to me how Buddy Boshers, Aaron Slegers, and Phil Hughes' contract all have 40 man spots over the top 3 of Reed, Melotakis, Bard, Burdi, Diaz, and Stewart. All you have to do with Hughes is take him off the 40 man, nobody will claim his contract, you can protect an extra player, and add Hughes back later in the season. Hopefully this means the Twins are going to make some moves soon this offseason as they have some roster spots open, and are unprotecting a fair amount of talent.