Rosterman

$80 million payroll with all of this. Still leaves the Twins with $40-50 million to spend, though. Have to ask...who from this list should be extended beyond...in other words buy them out into the free agent years. That is step #1. (Rosario, Gibson). #2 is, who is still a bargain, fills a hole, and could be flipped during the season> Odorizzi fits that category. Maybe Adrianza. #3...who do we pay a percentage of the salary for a spring training looksee of alternative plan if nothing is done in the off-season (Grossman). Yes, you look at the list and think "how much would they get from another team, any team, if they were a free agent." Which reflects on the quality of players the Twins currently roster, I guess.

What to do with Sano is the key. Like Mauer, he is the questionable need of the team. Is he a third baseman? If not, you need to grab Escobar again, or maybe a longterm solution. If he plays fist, is he a better choice overall than Austin/Kepler at the bag. If he is a DH who can also still need to look at third base and first base...hard.

Any of the candidates would be wonderful. The Twins are going in a...new direction. That's fer sure! Do see a couple holdovers from the current coaching staff and maybe Tommy Watkins elevated from the minors.

Some tough decisions. The Twins will explore the trade market to trade depth in lower level pitching if they find someone who they can control for 3-4 years at a decent rate. I see some free agent grabs, but more along the line of guys who are better than minors but can't find a place in the majors (say Trevor Plouffe-like). The big decision is, really, do they go after Escobar and where do they plan to put Sano...not just in 2019, but beyond. Or do they look to write off Sano and Buxton and wait for the next...wave. They really don't have demands beyond Gordon and Reed and maybe Anderson for the 40-man. They can dangle Wade, if they wish. Take a chance on losing Jay. I see them coming in around $75 million. They have $35 million on the books (all of which would be gone after next season). And assuming the other 35 players on the roster average a meek $1 million a head...well, you are there. But, yes, they do have $50-60 million they could spend on free agents. Will they? I suppose we can be surprised.

Curious to see who is added to the 40-man. Twins page made reference to Brian Navaretto, Zander Wiel, Luis Arraez, Nick Gordon, LaMonte Wade, Nick Anderson, Jake Reed and Tyler Jay. Navaretto may be a minors free agent. Amderson and Reed performed well. Nick Gordon is a top prospect. I really don;t see any of the others being grabbed and staying on a major league roster for three months.

Scott Ullger.

I say it will be Joel Skinner and three new coaches.

The Twins starting lineup. All depends on Sano. If Sano stays at third and not DH, and Austin is at 1B. You then have Grossman as DH. You have a bench of Garver, Adrianza and Cave. Hopefully you can drop a bullpen arm and keep Astudillo. I don't see anyone else cracking the Twins roster except for whomever you put at second or shortstop. So the Twins are set if they are in rebuild mood with actually one player too many at the well, and LaMonte Wade, Luis Arraez and Zander Wiel on the 40-man (and Brian Navaretto perhaps) and all at Rochester. I'm not seeing the fire being set in the Hot Stove during the pf-season unless it is in minor league vets and maybe a bullpen arm at best.

The roster coming out of spring training was wonderful if you really felt Santana was coming back in a month and you didn't have the suspension of Polanco. That Lynn and Morrison were both very slow out of the chute can't be explained. The Twins managed to turn international money into prospects and also draft well. They had a core group of guys who didn't sign long term because the guys felt they were going to be better than ever. Someone like Dozier should've had a career year entering free agency. The division was horribly weak. Everything went wrong, but the Front Office managed to turn lemons into some non-ripened fruit. Now they get to choose field staff 100%, make some hard choices on how to sell the team in 2019, and start a new dynasty of Twins baseball after the hiccup of 2018. Have faith! \

The Twins are building towards the Future. They have to be looking at who will be playing for them in 2020 and 2021. The Big Three right now: Buxton, Kepler, Sano. Sano. Where does he play. 1st Base or DH or both, of keep him at third (but until when). Buxton was injured. Yes. But he also wasn't hitting. The Twins had hitting coach James Rowson. Plus Buxton could call upon the services of Oliva, Carew and Torii Hunter. Not to mention the hitting skills of Paul Molitor. What is going wrong. Kepler is just fine IF you are getting bigger production elsewhere. He shows some punch, hasn't settled into who he hits best against totally. You do want a better all around guy, sure. The bigger question on all three of the above is what to do if they put together a premiere season in 2019. Do they become tradebait and someone else's problem for a long-term contract (Sell Soon, Future Payback) or do the Twins extend. Do the Twins push rookies like Gordon? Will they add Wiel and Arraez to the 40-man. Can they fit into the mix in 2019? Cave and Grossman will both be here in some capacity in 2019 because of cost and they pretty much earned a chance to stay and why throw money at more one-year contracts of free agents. But right now 2019 is looking at a rebuilding year. 2020 is also a time we might see some of the guys at A+ ball from the last season. 2021 the Twins might be making a BIG free agent plunge. 2022 is when they should be winning fer sure. Ugh? Well, that's baseball.

Joel Skinner.

Well,we all thought Dougie Baseball should've been the pick before, or in the mix later. He's gone, as is Jake Mauer, who left baseball for greener pastures. Tommy Watkins still endures. But I think the choice is obviously there: Joel Skinner, who was hired to manage at AAA Rochester for 2018 and has ties to the front office giants. Who ends up coaching? That will be interesting, to see who were picks of the front office, or picks of the front office in consultation with the former manager. Paul still has two lucrative seasons and hopefully the Twins will continue to use his abilities to further the organization, except not on the field. Or he may just sit, like Gardy. I'm sure he wouldn't have been renewed except for winning the MOY in 2017.

Paul Molitor. Is he Good for the Twins? Is he Bad for the Twins? Manager of the Year in 2017. Second place finish in 2018 with...this team. Two more years on his contract.

It's always been a combination. Smart teams trade prospects for higher level prospects or decent regular players when the opportunities happen. Free agents are purchased to fill a couple of distinct holes (usually a starting arm, a bullpen arm and some kind of bat). Gad, look at Oakland who regularly trades all their prospects for players, sign a lot of mid-level free agents that they trade for more prospects or players. This has to be looked at on a longer term scale, going backwards...and then where they are in a season or two, too.

Interesting. The Twins have to make a decision of Kyle Gibson. Does he work into the plans. That will be an interesting negotiation to watch. They also need to think about extending Berrios and Rosario. They have to make a decision on where Kepler and Polanco fit into longterm plans. Sano is the wild card. Is he a first baseman. Is he a Designated hitter. Is he a third baseman. If he is the DH, you don't need Grossman AND Cave, especially with Lamonte in the wings. But then again, what about Buxton? Man, Sano and Buxton blew it, but will be given every chance to succeed still again as youth and service time is still on the side of the Twins. The Twins have 10 names to write into the rotation, so they basically have a full major league staff and full Red Wings staff, plus a couple of names that should be at AA (Wells for one). I think you stick with rebuilding from within and that the September looks gave you enough to know if Gonsalves, Littell, Stewart can pitch in the majors. Remember, we still have Romero. And people, don't write-off lefty Mejia. Same with the bullpen. The most expensive arm is Addison Reed. I doubt that he will step into the closer role, although he could be the backup if Trevor May doesn't happen. And, sign a bunch of fringe guys and look for some glory. It worked this season with Magill and Drake, both of whom will stay on the 40-man and have a chance to break camp. The Twins will add Jake Reed and Nick Anderson. They might see future still in Luke Bard. A lot of fine hard-throwing arms that just need the experience. Be curious to see if the Twins keep Baxendale and Eades at the minor league level. You never know. So the Twins could have $50-70 million to spend in this off-season to reach payroll levels of 2018. I doubt they will sign 4-5 free agents to fill all big holes and be a challenger in that way with the Indians. Instead, they may just gamble on sneaking a rebuild. But not sure how they are going to sell these guys to us fans!

The Twins could easily bring back Logan Morrison. They already have to pay him a buyout. Looking at Matt Adams, you MIGHT have more certainty of him because of two seasons of play, but his numbers would correspond with Tyler Austin. They both play the same position. The rub here is how many 1B/DH do you need (let's throw Sano in that mix) and you also have Willians Alstudillo in competition. If you could possibly go with a 7-man bullpen, Joe Mauer would be a nice addition to stay with the team in a Jim Thome role, someone who could come off the becnh and also play in the field (an advantage over Thome, you don't need to pinch rn for him). I'm thinking Sano is the elephant in the room for 2019 right now, like Mauer was for 2018. If you have to play him, where do you play him and how does that affect adding others and the bench. If Sano is not a third baseman, than Escobar is a candidate. But, truly...will Escobar get a $45 million contract offer? I see $25-30 million if teams want to go three years. He may get a larger one-year contract, but how do other teams view him compared to corresponding third base opportunities (or other infielders).

If I had the energy I would be a one-man band, with the base drum on my back, a trumpet, an accordion, and cymbals on my knees. Would go to different sections and do my thing. But you also have to stay within baseball rules, at time, for audience involvement. Too much wear and tear on my old body. Always wanted to be an ushertainer for the Saints, but didn't like the idea of wearing tights and a tutu in 100-degree weather on the field!

I hate the thought that Dozier might be in Trevor Plouffe territory. He will still get a decent offer from someone ($4-5 million fer sure) but only a one-year deal. We seem to forget that the phone never rang off the hook to get him when he was tradebait in the summer of 2017, the off-season, or even this season. The nice thing is the Twins could be in the hunt of they so desire. Same with Escobar. How much? Is he an elite player? No. How many teams DO see him as a regular at any infield position, that is the big question. And will determine the length of the contract. Either way, he is probably looking at a multi-year deal around $25 million (doubt he gets more). Does anyone see him getting a one-year $10+ million offer? I was discouraged with the Twins NOT playing Polanco at second, if that is to be his best position. I'm not sure the reasoning behind Forsythe, except they are paying him, but see him coming back even less than another run at Dozier. Forsythe will have the same issues as Dozier. A lackluster 2018 doesn't justify a large contract, let alone a multi-year deal. This was the time of the season for the Twins to see more of what they have. Happily Santana and Morrison went on the DL. They played Austin. I'm not sure the total reasoning about playing players out of position) Gimenez in the infield, Garver at first) and although he may be overmatched, if Nick Gordon is a future Twin, they could've given him playing time at second just to get an advance looksee. The Buxton situation is a mess. If he is still truly recovering, best to let him just rest and workout (and the way they are doing it saves service time). But they were still paying him. How many of us are overjoyed seeing an outfield of Cave, Field and Grossman in September? And the reasoning behind giving innings to Belisel? Any reasoning? So many arms in the pen. Even giving innings to fringe guys like, sadly, Duffey and Slegers and Magill can be questioned, but they have youth on their side, in some aspects. Maybe there are some longterm players the Twins can put under contract, better than Dozier AND Escobar. But watching the off-season and the jobs "former" Twins get will really hit us hard in the stomach that these guys WERE TWINS and were a big part of plans in 2018.

Buxton will be given every opportunity available. He has the ability to seek advice and work with people like Torii Hunter, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva. And that's just with the Twins.

I voted for May as a potential closer and wish the Twins had used him so for the final month instead of overusing Hildenberger. Reed, Rogers are also in the mix. Moya will be better. Vasquez might need more seasoning. Depends on the "opener" but do you have any of the 10 starters in the pen for 4-inning stints: Littell, Mejia, DeJong, Slegers? That's the new question. And do you think any of these starters can transform into bullpen arms in the majors without putting in pen time in the minors. Jake Reed will be added to the mix. So will Nick Anderson. You will still have Magill and Drake (but not Belisle) on the off-season roster. You hope you might've found the next Guerrier or something. But look for the Twins to sign lots of minor league invite arms in the off-season and bring them to camp. Unless they go out and spend $100 million on free agents, it will be a rebuilding year, and with the right field management, maybe they can compete with the arms they have from within.

We might be forced to keep Cave AND Grossman as outfielders next season. I expect Vasquez will do alright. Think Moya. Lots of potential starters...and just never know. But looks like the Twins could stay homegrown for awhile. Garver and Willians are good to have around...they might stick for 4-5 more years!

You see the non-potential of early round picks over time, and wonder why teams do shell out big bonus $$ for such players. Especially when you can basically trade for them once a season has passed, or possibly go after them if they pan out as Jay (and Burdi) have for the Twins. That Kay didn't get a call to AAA will hurt him for Rule 5 consideration. Interesting that the Twins not only advanced Stewart to AAA ball, but they gave him more than a single start shot in the big leagues. Will be interesting to see how his career develops. We have to remember that not all HIGH draftees are superstars. Some take time (humm....Hicks and Buxton, maybe).

All this time, the Twins should've been auditioning Trevor May fulltime to be the new...closer, And get Willians a tighter helmet! Of course, it is good that he is running the bases. Means he gets on base and sometimes scores! Hilde is being overused. With ALL the pitchers on the staff all season, no need to be dragging some guys out every other game, especially for a losing team. Regulate the innings pitched and situations faced better.

7 more games in six days. Every starter gets an opportunity. Maybe two guys with 10+ wins. Picture one game will be a hodge-podge of pitchers, to say the least. We have, after all, more than a dozen that can pitch in a game. Not really looking at anyone for 2019 beyond Tyler Austin, at this point. At least of the batting end. So much fluff that won't be here fer sure in 2020, let alone sometime gone in 2019. Be interesting to see if it becomes the Joe Mauer Farewell Tour!

It's a gamble you take. Many players don't last past three years. And look at Denny Hocking. 52nd Round. 7 years in the minors before a comfortable amount of major league at bats. Would you trade places with him? https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hockide01.shtml#all_transactions_other