Tom Froemming

You won’t find these guys listed on any of the top free-agent rankings, but here are eight under-the-radar players from this year’s class I think would make sense for the Minnesota Twins.I fully expect the Twins to provide a couple big gifts for fans to unwrap this offseason, but here are some other free agents who could be nice stocking stuffers: Pedro Baez, Tyler Chatwood, Mike Foltynewicz, Mitch Moreland, Yusmeiro Petit, Daniel Robertson, Jonathan Villar and Alex Wood. I explain why those players stick out to me as fits on the Twins in the video below. Let me know who your favorite under-the-radar free-agent targets are. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY Brad Hand Would Love to Play for the Twins5 Trade Targets: Who Can the Twins Raid from the Reds?Using History to Decipher Who the Twins Will Sign This OffseasonReacting to Twins Blockbuster Trade SpeculationOffseason WorriesChoose Your Own Path: 5 Ways for the 2021 Minnesota Twins to Spend their Remaining $40M Click here to view the article

The Twins have scored nine runs in five playoff games the past two seasons. Pitching is certainly important, but you're not getting anywhere averaging less than two runs a game.

Players lost about 63% of their pay in 2020. Owners lost an estimate of 30% of their expected revenue. We don't know their exact numbers because they won't open their books. The argument is the owners are not giving the players their fair shake, regardless of what that equates to in relation to the average person.

Yup. And that's more than likely what any delays to this coming season are going to be all about: the owners not wanting to pay the players. We know the owners were comfortable with around an 80-game schedule for 2020. It didn't get shortened to 60 due to health and safety concerns, it was because the players wouldn't give up additional pay. Players just wanted their prorated salaries, owners wanted to implement some kind of a revenue sharing system, as detailed in the last bullet point of this article from Ken Rosenthal. Most players already think spring training is too long, and it's not like there was a traditional spring training immediately preceding the 2020 season. It's possible to get the season rolling in April even without a traditional spring training. So that's not going to be the reason behind the delay, either.

Owners are not taking a loss. Baseball America did some great reporting in April on revenues. The estimate is attendance accounts for 30% of teams revenues. Forbes reported that MLB saw $10.7 billion in revenues in 2019, and players were set to have been pad a little more than $4 billion entering 2019. Of course, those salaries were prorated to about 37% (60/162). Seems to me the math is still working out very much in favor of the owners. I think they're gonna be fine. If they don't agree, any MLB owner can cash out for a cool billion dollars any time they'd like. The player's salaries are not guaranteed, and their careers have limited earning life. Owners, on the other hand, can gain wealth from their franchise for generations. Keeping things local, Carl Pohlad bought the Twins for $44 million and they're now estimated to be worth $1.3 billion, per Forbes. (and per this inflation estimator $44 million in 1984 comes out to about $110.2 million in 2020)

The TV situation is mentioned in the final paragraph. Embarrassing that in a time most other things are getting easier to watch, it's getting more difficult to see baseball in some areas.

What are the roster rules for 2021? We don’t know. What is the playoff format for 2021? We don’t know. How long will the 2021 season be? We don’t know.Jeff Passan of ESPN reported last month that the league is trying to get expanded playoffs approved in exchange for the league approving the designated hitter being universal going forward. MLB appears to already be negotiating broadcasting rights for the expanded playoff rounds with ESPN and sent a memo to teams advising them to plan on not having a universal DH in 2021. Well, per Buster Olney teams are actually operating under the assumption that the National League will, in fact, have the DH in 2021.

Brian Howard, RHP currently with the A's.

They most certainly do, that's just what's been reported thus far.

Let’s take a look at who the Minnesota Twins are rumored to be interested in and what transactions have already taken place this offseason as we prepare for the MLB Winter Meetings.The MLB Winter Meetings are typically an ice breaker to the offseason, but this year’s event will be held remotely. As if the current economic situation wasn’t clouding the situation enough, it’ll be interesting to see how the event going virtual may slow things down compared to prior years. Speaking of which, last year’s meetings saw some of the biggest contracts in baseball signed. Stephen Strasberg signed a record-breaking deal for a starting pitcher, seven years and $245 million, only to be bested by Gerrit Cole’s nine-year, $324 million contract the next day. Anthony Redon also inked his seven-year, $245 million deal with the Angels. The Twins, however, had a quiet 2019 Winter Meetings. The Michael Pineda and Alex Avila signings were made official, but they were originally reported a week prior to the event. Let’s run through who they’ve been liked to thus far this offseason. Twins Rumors Darren Wolfson of KSTP has reported that the Twins are interested in Kiké Hernández, Joakim Soria and Corey Kluber (link to Kiké Tweet, Soria Tweet and Scoop podcast). Hernández’s overall numbers don’t stand out, but he brings one particular skill that could be of great value to the Twins. That ability to crush left-handers combined with positional flexibility — he provides depth at virtually every position in the field — means Hernández could solve a lot of the Twins’ problems all on his own. Soria, a right-handed relief pitcher, has been worth 5.2 WAR the past four seasons, per FanGraphs. That ranks 11th among all relievers, two spots above Taylor Rogers. He’s entering his age-37 season, but this Twins front office has been very open to adding veteran relievers in the past. Kluber was a leading Cy Young candidate as recently as 2018, but that feels like forever ago now. He’s pitched just 36 2/3 innings over the two seasons since. He’s entering his age-35 season. Jayson Stark of The Athletic recently noted that every executive he’s spoke with “expects the Twins to spend money.” That leaves a lot of room for interpretation, but it’s a much more positive outlook than some other fanbases are faced with heading into the Winter Meetings. Catching Up The MLB offseason is always a bit slow to pick up steam, but this year feels especially sluggish. Just four players have signed contracts with new clubs in excess of $2 million. Here’s that list: Mike Minor to the Royals for two years and $18 million. Trevor May to the Mets for two years and $15.5 million. Charlie Morton to Atlanta for one year, $15 million. Drew Smyly to Atlanta for one year, $11 million. The other significant deals all involved players returning to the teams they finished the 2020 season with. Marcus Stroman and Kevin Gausman both accepted qualifying offers and Robbie Ray got a one-year, $8 million deal to return to Toronto. There have also been a couple of trades, as the Angels acquired shortstop José Iglesias for pitchers Garrett Stallings and Jean Pinto while the Reds sent Robert Stephenson and a prospect to Colorado for Jeff Hoffman and a prospect. But that’s it. There are a lot of moves yet to be made, but whether or not things pick up this week is anybody’s guess. What About the DH? It’s possible the fate of the Designated Hitter in the National League is determined this week, though there’s no hard deadline on when the decision needs to be made. This arguably impacts the Twins as much as any team in baseball, as Nelson Cruz waits to find out whether or not an additional 15 teams may be interested in his services. If so, the likelihood of a team meeting his desire for a two-year contract raise significantly. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Fixed, lol. Must have been thinking about their roided out mascot as I typed that

I think I read somewhere the people of Wichita actually started a petition to try to get the team to change its name.

While there hasn’t technically been an official announcement yet, La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reported a series of changes to the Twins minor league structure that had been rumored for months. The big headline is the St. Paul Saints becoming an affiliate, but there are changes to all four top levels.Triple A: St. Paul Saints Here’s where I’m going to be a wet blanket. As exciting it is to be able to have a minor league affiliate so close, this is probably bad for baseball as a whole. Minor league baseball helps get some of the best players in the world in front of a lot of fans who otherwise don’t have access to that level of the game. Let’s be honest, the Twin Cities doesn’t need both a major league team and a Triple-A club (in addition to all the great other baseball options we’re spoiled with). Like I imagine a lot of other people, I was first exposed to the Saints in the wake of MLB’s strike in 1994. Beyond all the extra fun, it was nice to have the option of watching a high-level of baseball played aside from MLB. Let’s revisit this topic after next season, when the current collective bargaining agreement expires. The Saints are the crown jewel of independent baseball. I have concerns about the American Association being able to survive without them. The fewer indy league teams, the less likely it is guys like Caleb Thielbar, Randy Dobnak and even Rich Hill (Long Island Ducks, 2015) keep their careers alive. Having the Triple-A team basically at arm’s length will obviously benefit the Twins, so that’s great, but something to keep in mind is the best prospects don’t actually spend a lot of time at the top level of the minors. Miguel Sanó, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco all played for the Twins before they appeared in Triple A. It’s going to be cool to have a Twins affiliate so close, I’m still excited about it, but there are some things that feel problematic about the whole thing. Double A: Wichita Wind Surge I was very happy with the relationship between the Twins and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, but getting an affiliate here that was gearing up to host a Triple-A club is likely going to work out nicely. They were supposed to be the Miami Marlins’ top minor league affiliate before all of this realignment started. This moves the Twins Double-A affiliate from the Southern League to the Texas League, which typically has the higher run-scoring environment. We’re not sure how Wichita’s Riverfront Stadium will play yet because 2020 was supposed to be its inaugural season. It appears to be a beautiful ballpark, and you’d have to imagine the amenities for the players are state-of-the-art. It's difficult to imagine an upgrade from Pensacola, but that may turn out to be exactly what this is. High A: Cedar Rapids Kernels Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers swap places here, and the big win is for any hitters moving up the chain. Previously, they had to both adjust to tougher pitchers and a challenging scoring environment when making the leap from Low-A to High-A. A lot of things were up in the air during the time all these changes were just rumors, and there seemed to be some uncertainty surrounding the Midwest League, and potentially this franchise. I’m happy to see that not only will they remain a Twins affiliate, but they’re getting an upgrade in terms of level. Among these changes, I think this is the biggest “feel-good” story. Low A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Yes, that is really their name now. This year was supposed to be the first season of the change from Miracle to Mighty Muscles. Here’s where I believe flipping these affiliates will greatly benefit development. Possibly the biggest jump the average player makes in his journey through the minors is from short-season to full-season ball. Being in a familiar setting should help lower the degree of difficulty in that jump. Players spend a lot of time early in their careers at the team’s complex in Fort Myers. The Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Twins play their games here, instructs are conducted here and, of course, Spring Training. It makes a lot more sense for players to break into full-season ball here, then “go out into the world” than it does to have them go to Cedar Rapids and then come back. Elizabethton: Left out in the cold MLB is contracting more than 40 affiliated minor league teams, one of which is the E-Twins. This was announced a couple months ago, but the Appalachian League will operate as a college summer league. E-Town had been a Twins affiliate since 1974. That’s a lot of Twins players whose careers went through Elizabethton, Tenn. over the years. Just two years ago, the Elizabethton City Council approved a ballpark renovation project aimed at keeping the Twins there that came in somewhere between $1.5 and $2 million. This is a town with a population of around 14,000, mind you. Here’s hoping the new college summer league works out for them. For Seth's thoughts on the minor league realignment, check out his Nine Innings article today. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Thanks for checking it out. I wrote something that should be published soon about how, despite being used more than ever, bullpens arm appear to be being valued less than ever on the free agent market. That deal for Hendriks seems reasonable to me too, but that was what both MLB TR and FanGraphs predicted he'd get. We'll see.

In this video, I take a look at which of the free-agent contracts predicted by the staff of MLB Trade Rumors would make the most sense for the Twins.Predicting what’s going to happen on the MLB free-agent market is always difficult, but there seems to be additional uncertainty this year. There are a few different flavors of forecasts out there for this offseason, but let’s focus on those from MLB Trade Rumors. Here are my picks for the top-10 Twins targets based on their projections. The only other caveat is I decided not to include anyone on the 2020 Twins for consideration on this list. The video below is 23 minutes, but the entire list is unveiled in the first six minutes. The rest is additional analysis and discussion. Again, it's incredibly hard to predict what's going to happen in free agency. These figures from MLB Trade Rumors are most definitely open to debate, however, I still found this exercise fun. Let me know what you think of this list and who your favorite targets are in the context of these projections. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Now that the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man rosters in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft has passed, the next significant date on the MLB offseason calendar is Dec. 2’s non-tender deadline. Are we sure it’s a slam dunk that Eddie Rosario won’t be on the 2021 Twins?If it truly is a foregone conclusion that Rosario won’t be apart of the Twins next season, what is the team waiting for? We saw some other arbitration-eligible players get designated for assignment Friday, including Hunter Renfroe of Tampa Bay and Renato Nunez of Baltimore. It’s fair to note, however, both those teams filled up their rosters and needed to clear some space, unlike the Twins who still have three open spots. Nobody’s quite sure how things are going to play out in the arbitration process since this 60-game season complicates things. MLB Trade Rumors has three different projection models. The lowest has Rosie projected at $8.6 million, the middle at $9.6 and the highest at $12.9 million. That’s essentially a range from “in the realm of possibility” to “completely insane.” Even the average of those three figures, $10.4 million, seems awfully high. An x-factor in this discussion is what Rosario’s agency would project him to get on the open market, and how that may factor into this process. Over the past two seasons, Rosario and Robbie Grossman have the exact same fWAR (2.1) and xwOBA (.327). Craig Edwards of FanGraphs predicted Grossman would get a one-year, $6 million contract this offseason. Many of the other metrics, and even the early 2021 projections, paint a much rosier picture (pun very much intended), but that comp could be enough reason for the Rosario camp to welcome contract discussions toward the low-end of his projected arbitration salary. The tricky thing is the Twins won’t necessarily know what number Rosario’s agency plans on filing for at the time they’re required to make a decision to tender him a contract or not. If tendered a contract, he’s getting paid one way or another. Both sides would have until mid-January to negotiate a salary, but if they can’t they would go to a hearing. The team files at one number, the player another, and there is no middle ground. One side wins, one side loses. It’s important to note that a player’s arbitration salary really has nothing to do with estimating his value on the open market. Instead, everything is based on precedent. The people on these arbitration panels aren’t baseball analysts or anything like that, these are judges and other non-baseball people. Counting stats weigh heavily in determining a player’s value, which is good news for Rosario. Rosario has 5.120 years of service time. A comp I found for him at a similar time was Corey Dickerson, who avoided a hearing by agreeing to an $8.5 million salary in his final year of arbitration eligibility prior to the 2019 season. Dickerson had much better rate stats (.824 OPS vs. .788), but Rosario has him beat in counting stats. Rosario has the advantage over Dickerson by 16 homers, 77 RBIs, 58 runs, 41 hits and 51 total bases over their respective six-year stretches. Still, I’d say that’s pretty darn close considering the window we’re looking at. If we want to find a comp in an instance that went to a hearing, take a look at Joc Pederson. Entering this season, he filed for $9.5 million, but the Dodgers beat him in the hearing with their mark of $7.75 million. Pre-2020 Pederson holds the advantage in OPS over present-day Rosario .813 to .788, and Joc even had four more homers then than Eddie does now. Everything else trends strongly toward Rosie, however, as he has Pederson beat in RBIs by 101, runs by 76, hits by 265 and total bases by 309. That’s the cost of being platooned. Either way, I still find it very difficult to imagine Rosario’s team building a case for him anywhere near that high-end projection of $12.9 million. Circling back to Grossman, he agreed to a meager $3.275 million salary in his final season of arbitration eligibility last year. Gotta hit tanks to make bank, kids. I still doubt the Twins will tender Rosario a contract if it comes down to Dec. 2. I do think, however, there is a potential avenue for these two sides to reach an agreement between now and then. What is the magic number? There has to be a point at which the Twins have interest in retaining Rosario on a one-year contract. It's most definitely not $12.9 million, or even $10.4 million. It probably isn't even $9.6 million. Is it crazy to think Rosario would be open to coming back at $8 million? I don’t see much incentive for Rosario to want to hit the open market. Bringing him back would give the Twins additional certainty and some leverage as it relates to Nelson Cruz. They could just move on from Cruz altogether. Yes, there are still internal corner outfield options waiting for opportunities, but they’re mostly unproven. The Twins could always use one of them as a trade chip to acquire an established arm, building even more certainty into the 2021 roster. The smart bet is most definitely on this ending in Eddie Rosario being non-tendered. Still, there are a lot of options on the table to explore between now and the Dec. 2 deadline. This isn’t simply a decision between offering Rosario $10.4 million or cutting him loose. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

Anybody who pays close attention to our rankings knows I love Ben Rortvedt. I've had him ranked 11th, 12th and 13th in the system over the last three handbooks. Didn't get to see him at all this year, obviously, but I've always been a big believer in his defense and the way he carries himself as a leader/manager of the pitching staff. There's never been any question about whether he'd stick behind the plate or not. His physique is proof enough of his work ethic. The dude is jacked. He had a solid .745 OPS vs. RHP in 2018 and a .763 OPS against them in '19. Keep in mind 43% of his plate appearances over that span came in the FSL, where hardly anybody hits, let alone 20/21 year old catchers. Speaking of which, he was also facing pitchers who were older than him in 94% of his plate appearances over that same stretch. He didn't face the stiffest competition in high school, being from Wisconsin, so squaring off against these more advanced pitchers had to have been a huge learning experience. The overall offensive numbers aren't great, and he's really struggled against lefties, but I still think there's a lot to like. He knows how to work an at-bat. In 2019 he was starting to show a little opposite-field power, as four of his seven homers went out to left field. All that being said, is he ready? Probably not. Might another team have found room for him? There are a handful of teams with incredibly bad catching situations right now. I would not have been shocked to see him selected. I also think some teams may have found him interesting in terms of the potential to extract the secrets of Tanner Swanson's (former Twins catching coordinator who was hired away by the Yankees) crazy half-split/pretzel crouch framing techniques that Rortvedt, Garver and Jeffers all do.

One guy who intrigues me is Garret Richards. The problem is he's rarely healthy, but I think the Twins are well-suited to take on a high-risk, potentially high-reward pitcher like that. I mean, as well-suited as any team can be. But, the Twins definitely have the prospects to make another strong deal if they go the trade route. May need to overpay for pitching, but this franchise is in a position to deal unproven pieces for MLB talent.

I hear ya, this does not look like a great overall SP class. Bauer was going to get paid regardless, but the lack of similar options at the top mean he's really in a great spot to get big bucks.