Tom Froemming

Twins fans have been trying to dream up ways to get rid of Ricky Nolasco and his nightmare contract basically from the moment the ink dried on his signature. That exercise has usually entailed finding a similarly terrible contract to swap. After a disappointing first season in San Diego, James Shields' name has been often floated out as a target of late. My immediate reaction to a potential Nolasco for Shields trade is it would be a dream swap for the Twins. After looking into it further, and considering the long-term ramifications, I'm not even convinced I'd pull the trigger on a straight up swap if I was Terry Ryan. Yes, Shields is the superior pitcher, but his contract carries far more risk going forward. The Twins still owe Nolasco $25 million ($12 million the next two seasons followed by a $1 million buyout), but Shields still has $65 million left on his deal ($21 million over the next three years and a $2 million buyout for the fourth). That $40 extra million surely could be better spent elsewhere, and while getting rid of Nolasco is an enticing idea, taking on Shields may be a subtraction by addition. Beyond the financial commitment, there are huge question marks surrounding Shields and some reason for optimism for Nolasco. Shields had a 3.91 ERA, gave up a league-high 33 homers and actually had a higher FIP (4.45) in 2015 than the mark Nolasco has posted over his two seasons in Minnesota (4.15). He also had a worse strikeout-to-walk ratio over the same time frames (2.67 to Nolasco's 2.88). Nolasco has been a disaster so far in his time with the Twins, but he may have been a victim of some bad luck as well. His BABIPs the past two seasons have been .392 and .351. He is always going to give up a higher than average amount of hard contact, but I would expect his BABIP to fall more toward his career mark of .314. Shields, in case you were wondering, had a .299 BABIP last season. With all that said, I would certainly still expect Shields to be the superior pitcher in 2016. He also has a reputation of being a positive influence on a pitching staff and has been an absolute horse, pitching more than 200 innings nine-straight seasons. My worry is in '15 we started seeing the beginning of the end and all that work has started to pile up on his arm. If nothing else, Nolasco should be at least have a fresh arm after throwing just 37 1/3 innings last season. And if we're going to address intangibles and credit Shields for his leadership, Nolasco should also get a tip of the cap for working his way back from an ankle injury to start the final game of the season when he had very little incentive to push to return prior to the season's end. Also, if I'm the Twins I'm trying to move Nolasco for anything but another starting pitcher. There's no question Tyler Duffey deserves to start the '16 season in the rotation, I would also prefer to see Trevor May starting again and Jose Berrios has very little (if anything ) to prove in the minors. What do you think? Am I crazy? Would you trade Nolasco for Shields straight up?

Beginning to think another misconception is that Plouffe has real value on the trade market. Maybe other teams are just not interested.

The first domino has fallen for the Minnesota Twins' 2015-16 offseason, and while some feel the club's (pending) addition of Korean homer machine Byung-ho Park will force the front office to trade Trevor Plouffe, I think it will actually give the front office more flexibility for the year ahead. The Twins still have to sign Park to a contract, they've only won exclusive rights to negotiate with him at this point, but from what reputable media outlets are reporting that shouldn't be an issue. Park's addition would give the Twins another option in an already extremely crowded first base/designated hitter field. Yes, trading Plouffe and inserting Miguel Sano as the everyday third baseman would solve that problem (if you can call it that). The thing I'd be scared about is what happens then if Sano misses some time, or just can't cut it defensively? Do we see Eduardo Escobar slide over to third and Danny Santana or Jorge Polanco get a shot at shortstop? Everyday Eduardo Nunez? Ugh. Trading Plouffe would be a big hit to the team's depth. The "problem" with keeping Plouffe and moving Sano to the outfield is there is already depth there, though admittedly a lack of anyone I'd consider established. Off the Baggy did a great breakdown of what Sano in the outfield would mean to the rest of the guys in the picture, so I'll direct you there instead of rehashing that post. The Pittsburgh Pirates created a similar roster jam of their own when they signed Jung-ho Kang out of Korea last season. Kang started the year on the Pirates' bench serving as a utility player, but a combination of injuries to other infielders and continued improvement resulted him becoming an everyday player. He was one of Pittsburgh's best hitters down the stretch, posting a .931 OPS in the second half. Perhaps the Twins would be best served to put Park in a similar low pressure, low expectation role to begin 2016. After all, even the biggest Park supporters are admitting he'll likely go through an adjustment period. I see him starting the season playing regularly but not everyday at DH while getting a cameo at 1B here and there. Keeping Plouffe and giving Sano a look in the OF would also give Paul Molitor plenty of options to ride out streaks, give guys extra days off or survive an injury or two. One thing about the 2015 Twins lineup is it was remarkably healthy, that may not be the case again in '16. There will very likely come a time in which trading Plouffe will be the right thing to do for the Twins. It may be as soon as the 2016 trade deadline, but it's not right now. This team still has huge holes at catcher and in the bullpen, but why not hold on to in house assets and fill those in free agency? Keeping Plouffe around gives the team time to figure out where Sano's going to end up in the field, evaluate the young guys who have shown flashes but are not established and allows for Park to have an adjustment period. It's the right move. For now.

I really like Bethancourt as a potential long-term solution at catcher. I know Atlanta is down on his handling of the staff and game calling, but those are Kurt Suzuki's strengths, so pairing them together for 2016 could result in some further development in those areas. In 143 career games at Triple-A, Bethancourt has hit .299/.327/.435 with 12 homers and last season between Atlanta and Gwinette he thew out 23 of 52 base stealers (44%).

I'd have to agree that Hicks is locked into a spot, but should he be? He's had one really good month in three seasons. I hope we see more of what he did this July, but with so many other options he should be on a short leash going forward.

I'd rather see them hold on to talent that's already in house than make trades, and it seems like a safer bet to spend on a catcher than a reliever (those being the biggest areas of need). I wouldn't be shocked if Wieters' best days are ahead of him. He was raking before getting hurt in '14 and finished strong this season. Anybody else see that potential, or am I seeing a mirage?