Rosterman

Second place in their Division! A dozen teams worse than the Twins. Maybe they should be worse more so we can get a draft pick. But, yes, the end of the Mauer-era.

I'm not sure the reasoning behind Reed, and why didn't they treat Vasquez the same way. Neither needs to be a part of the 40-man until the offseason. Vasquez not being used, so why? Sure, the Twins need to make some decisions on Duffey, Busenitz and more. They really don't need to drop many players to add guys to protect from the Rule 5, so spring training battles will happen, as well as decisions on folks like Magill and Drake as we enter next season. But back to the original point...every game, with an opener, a starter and a closer will use three pitchers. It seems the concept of having multiple relief pitchers appearing in nearly every-other-game is a concept being explored. Starters eeking thru five innings is the norm. Man, the days with four man rotations and starters pitching 250+ innings and also throwing in relief, at times. A relief pitcher capable of going thru an order once, not getting pulled when they have to face a batter from the "other" side. Plus teams having 12 or 13 pitchers in their team, and another being on standby for immediate call and a send-back. Whew. And yet, hitters still hit.

Navaretto needs to be added to the 40-man, or he can walk to another team. Is he good enough to be the second catcher on the Twins, perhaps in 2020? Is he good enough to get a callup if someone goes down in 2019? Rortvedt and Jeffers won't be here in 2019. But both could be here in 2020. How many games can Garver catch.? Castro, if he comes back strong, is the guy to work with young pitchers. He should catch 50% of the games. More, probably not if Garver is willing and able. Astudillo is a nice luxury, a good bench bat, perhaps, plus he can play multiple positions including catcher. Could he fill in as the main abckup catcher if Garver or Castro goes down...probably. Everyone mentioned in a post above of possibly being "salary relocation" is still cheap enough and filling holes, but all could bring abck prospects if the Twins need to trade guys next mid-season (assuming that they don't extend Gibson or Odorizzi). Yes, if the Twins sign a free agent or trade or a player, the thought is that THAT player needs to be a part of the roster in 2021 and beyond, with at least an option opportunity. Unless the Twins just decide to spend $130-140 million on free agents to win in 2019, which they could do considering the number of roster spots that can be filled by better talents...and push back any prospects for other seasons. a

Well, I always tell people I won't go to a "live" Twins game again until they get to .500. But I still watch and listen. I am most frustrated by bullpen usage, line-up construction, and the lack of playing time for rookies compared to placesetters who ARE NOT part of the future. Do the Twins have/need a franchise player? How does that happen anymore with three years of play to get comfortable, three years of arbitration where you decided if you are paying too much, and always the need for free agency. Yes, Krilloff may be the player we wanted Buxton to be, or Hicks

I'm still with the Front Office and looking at the team as how it might vision out in 2020 and 2021 and what needs to be done to get there and who, from the big list of prospects, may be the impact pieces that can the team to go all-the-way, in 2021. So that means one more hard look at Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, Sano, Berrios. Also Hildenberger, May and Rogers. Do you extend them all? It is making decisions on Odorizzi and Gibson. Are they pieces to be traded between now and mid-season or worth tendering for 3+ years. It is giving time to a variety of pitchers who COULD be here in 2020 or beyond. John Curtiss, Fernando Romero, Gabriel Moya, Kohl Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves, Zack Littell. Andrew Vasquez, Adalberto Mejia. There are so many prospects that SHOULD make the majors in the next 2-3 years. ortvedt, Lewis, Krilloff, Larnach, Gordon, Graterol, Rooker, Javier, Severino. Alcala, Maciel, Haley, Miranda, Baladozic, Arraez, Baddoo, Celestino, Enlow, Bechtold, Paul and more. The minors look very very good for potential guys who will make a trip to the majors. Oh, Lewis Thorpe and Griffin Jax, too. Maybe Felix Jorge is still in the mix. Let the front office go with the plan. Maybe supplement the weakness in the infield today with some placeholder signings. But see what the kids can do. It is a weak division. The Twins could actually win and not die (the starting prospects are gems).

Let's go backwards here. The 40-man. The Twins need to add Jake Reed, Nick Gordon and Lamonte Wade, according to MLB Trade Rumors. They also need to think about adding Tyler Jay and Luis Arraez, although both performed okay at AA ball, I wouldn't expect anyone to take a flyer on keeping them on a 40-man all season. They should probably think about Nick Anderson. They could also consider if they want to kep names like Brian Navaretto, Luke Bard, D.J. Baxendale and Ryan Eades in the organization. All have the ability to walk. None are probably necessary to add to the 40-man. Except Navaretto if you want future catching depth, but.... Free Agents: Belisle, Santana, Gimenez, Mauer,Morrison, Forsythe. On the Bubble: Granite, Slegers, Field, Petit, Duffey, Busenitz, Magill, Drake. I think Curtiss does have a bit longer lease for the moment. Adrianza is still inexpensive. Grossman is still inexpensive and now adds a veteran feel to the young team. Reed is owed $8 million. Mejia is still a young lefty and did well in his limited time. But that is like 19 names (holy moley) and picture the need to keep NONE of them in 2020. Remember, you do need names to drop IF you add a free agent. Or a Rule 5 grab (at this point is such a player better than anyone in your high minors). So the Twins only need to lose 4-5 right away and maybe a couple by the first of the year. Corner infield depth. Infield, period. Polanco is still at shortstop. Wasn't he supposed to be better at second? Adrianza and Petit are in the mix as backups, although that doesn't thrill you. Austin can play first. Sano can play third, but wouldn't it be nice to have him rotate, instead, with Austin at 1B/DH instead of keeping Grossman in the DH mix? But then we need someone on third. Escobar is doing okay at Arizona. Could you get him for 3 years at $20-25 million? Would you do it? So if the Twins truly have to add Nick Gordon to the 40-man, then why didn't they bring him up for September and play him. I guess if push comes to shove, they might be able to grab Forsythe for a one year, or better yet look at Dozier again for a one-year rebuild his worth contract, if those bridges haven't been burned. The Twins are a mess in the infield period. And, of course, Joe Mauer could come back. Contracts. The Twins need to see what it would take to keep Jose Berrios for at least five seasons with an option or two. The Twins need to see what it would take to keep Eddie Rosario for the same, although that is a gamble, but you might be lucky to get him to sign a Span-like contract (in today's dollars) and have him continue production and trade him at some point. The Twins also have to look at bullpen arms and decide if May or Hildenberger can be closer material and is it worthwhile to dangle an extension to either. The rotation. Odorizzi has actually pitched well to end the season (think Gibson in 2017). Did you see enough to think of an extension? How much are you going to pay Kyle Gibson? Or do you just play them, trade them in mid-season, and elevate more of the promising arms towards a 2021 success story. No need to buy an arm unless you feel comfortable offering multi-years to some 28-year-old free agent not named Yu. Buxton? If he plays well, he will be richly rewarded. You don't overpay in arbitration because you feel it might be a nice thing to do. All it does is drive up the price you have to pay for the following seasons. You overpay if you wish to extend (or get a good deal if the player themselves wants security over dreams of riches). You can dangle something longterm out there, too. But the question might be...why? If Buxton has a breakout year, you still control him. You have a better look at what is coming up in the system (Krilloff, Larnach). If he has a breakout 2019, you also have a viable player to flip to another team, under control for three more seasons, if he doesn't fit into your long term plans for...well, heaven knows why. Sadly, the team is what we see right now. There is a lot of roster fluff that can be replaced by rookies NOT quite ready for the team, or other roster fluff from other teams. We have Castro coming back. A vet behind-the-plate. Not much with the bat, but a nice mix with Garver. Astudillo is interesting and can be that bench guy who can play 1B/3B/OF and also catch. Deserves another season. Cave will start in center if Buxton doesn't, or work with Kepler in right and be a bench bat, which puts Grossman in limbo. The infield is a total mess. Are future fulltime replacements one or two seasons away is the question there?

What ex-Twin playing still in the majors would you most like to see back on the team? And don't say Drew Butera!

You gotta keep him at least another season to see if you can improve his value.

Interesting. I always wondered about the minor league camp. Do players get room and board in the dorm while they get instruction? Are the games more pickup than regular competition, in some ways. Actually, what is the policy. Can players train at Ft. Myers year 'round if they choose?

I enjoyed the daily recaps. Great stuff, always. Also loved the keeping up on the Transactions! Thanks for doing this labor of love!

Thanks for mentioning Hicks. A guy with all the talent in the world. He may still develop and have a really Big breakout year, or a moment. You never know. Just looking at Twins centerfielders of yore. Who we have played since Torii Hunter. Carlos Gomez was rushed, it seems (and shows what happens when you use up a lot of their service time in development) but did have a couple of monster years. Ben Revere actually showed consistency, but not the powerhouse play to be the top draft pick he was, and was recently released from play. Hicks? Buxton? But look, overall...you hope TOP draft picks make it big. So many don't that you question why millions are thrown their way in the first place. Also, the reality, how many of the 150 guys in a minor league system make it past year two in a system (remember, 30-40 totally new names are added every season and another dozen play musical chairs to fill out rosters). How many guys MAKE a major league roster each season - 3 or 5 (many get tryouts) that stick around for a second season. Then how many stay longer than that? Look at overall roster construction. How many players were developed by the team. How many signed out of other organizations. How many acquired in free agency or via trade. Yes, we may argue about players being pushed too fast (Carlos Gomez was one, perhaps Buxton is another) and those not fast enough (do we want to see Royce Lewis NOW...if a team IS rebuilding, shouldn't they be looking at internal pieces sooner rather than later, spending money on placeholders). I want to see Nick Gordon, Luke Raley, Brent Rooker all getting a shot NOW or sooner rather than later. i would rather see them striking out and missing balls that players who aren't in longterm plans. I am glad the Twins are finding innings for Kohl Stewart, Gonsalves, Littell, De Jong. And considering so many of us were down on Stewart and still question his durability as a starter, he has shown more than the other "prospects." But NOT everyone enters a major league team ready t play extremely well and shine. Sometimes it takes a few months, maybe a season, maybe 1000 at bats, which is why rookies are threaded into rosters rather than starting a whole field of 20-23 year olds. And then you have the players themselves. Look at Delmon Young. Lots and lots of natural talent. He can play decent ball by just showing up, and just think what he would've done if he had kept working and developing. Hopefully with changes that happened this season in the Twins minors they have development totally under control. The success of the A+ and below teams shows that the regime is going in the right direction. Or so we hope.

Spring training will be a tell. Pineda, because he didn't end the season pitching innings, can likely start in rehab in the minors...with the Twins fuming about the $$$ investment. Mejia will get the biggest opportunity, especially since he is a lefty. But the Red Wings rotation looks pretty solid right now...someone will not make it there!

I trust we will have some gems next season between Gonsalves, Romero, Stewart, Thorpe and Littell. So, we are set. De Jong and maybe Slegers in the wings. Someone will be long relief, fer sure. Talent is there.

The pain of the current system also means you have to make decisions on players...take Trevor Plouffe, for example. Not worth his arbitration salary, yet the Twins might've kept him if they could've signed him for what Oakland signed him for. So in that way, the system works against both the team AND the player. You can argue how much time a team should have control of a player before overpaying, so to speak. Is six years outrageous (or more if you have parts of seasons). If the player does produce, they make big bucks. If they don't, they go into a limbo...sometimes having an okay years (see Escobar this year) which results in some riches. Sometimes you do forget the up front money some of these guys do make now in the draft.

How many arms are there in the bullpen?

2019 will be interesting. Do you need both CAVE and GROSSMAN as 4th outfielders? It will be Buxton's call. The Twins will play Kepler, hoping he improves his stock value. The Twins will keep AUSTIN for 2019...who can play 1B, too. He's out of options. And Astudillo might be a better overall bench bat, too....than two extra outfielders. If Rosario signs an extension, he will probably be here in 2021. But that would be the only certainity.

I remember Falvine duo at the State Fair in 2017. Both were a bit amazed at how well the Twins were playing ball It wasn't what they expected. Sure, the Twins eeked above .500 and got a Wild Card spot, but it was a team that wasn't expected to play (or draw) that well. They were honest in their assessment, talking about the future core of the team, changes they hoped to make in the farm system, and that they had a plan for bringing winning ways back to Minnesota. Didn't see them making a Fair appearance in 2018. If they had, imagine they would say that they were surprised that nothing worked out as planned...free agents failed, the future core had an off season...BUT hope is on the way...maybe not next season, but beyond...and a shill line would follow "that management has given us every resource to improve, if we see the need to spend, in the years ahead." I'm giving them a leash. I am also remember those words that WE were told waaay back when....to paraphrase.....building a new stadium and the glorious (almost paid of on the Pohlad end Target Field) means the Twins will be able to resign their own free agents and pay competitively in the marketplace.

Gimenez and Astudillo allow the Twins to carry one less bullpen arm if both make the team in 2019.

If the Twins add pieces, I think it will be thru signings rather than trade, unless they can trade for someone that might be a part of the team for sure come 2021 and beyond. Like Odorizzi, they may be given a leash to produce or leave. But more than likely, the Twins will patch holes and hope that the talent the new regime endorses will develop and take their place on the field for the Twins to be a powerhouse team for many seasons to come, starting with 2021. 202 will be a season of some fulltime rookies and late season additions as you wean out some of the players still on the team, leftover from this and next season.

Who's on first? If the Twins seriously want to consider Sano for 1st base, he should be playing there instead of Arianza or Gimenez or anyone not named Mauer. Of course, helps if Sano isn't injured. Salary is the Big Issue. Be interesting to see if he gets offers from other teams. If he doesn't, the Twins Way will be "how low will he go." Be interesting to see how he will fit into the organization longterm. It would be nice to have known if this would happen, though. The Fan Love would be great for his final games!

Johnny Field is one of those guys you need to evaluate if you wish to keep. Chances are he would still pas thru waivers and return as minor league depth. But they must see something. Not sure the pecking order these days for communication within the organization. You have people in player development and contracts that talk to players and/or reps. You have your person in charge of the minor leagues, who is the main conduit there. I'm not sure if TC Bear, is used, at times, to communicate with folks.

Nice bench option. Can also catch. Play lots of positions. Could be the Face of the Franchise?

The joy of one-year guys, you expect they will be playing for their next contract. First, Ervin Santana. Not only to make the Twins consider his option, but to show he could draw a multi year contract one more time. Lance Lynn wanted to prove that he was deserving of a multi-year contract. Brian Dozier needed to produce to grab his golden ticket in the off-season. Logan Morrison needed to prove that 2017 wasn't a fluke. Ferbabdo Rodney needed to show people he could still close, or at least pitch. And those Twins NOT YET IN ARBITRATION needed to show that they were worth well beyond any of the Twins initial offers. You would think with incentives like these, the Twins would've won 100 games, especially in a weak central division. But not to be. One-year "rebirth" contracts and pending free agents should create better than the norm results. 2018 was a bust for the Twins playing in the game.

Right now, I think Addison Reed is the biggest contract on the team for 2019.

Castro added to work with new pitches coming to the major, he would've done a lot of the games Wilson did this year. Hopefully next season he will work with Romero, Stewart, Gonsalves and others. Garver the more experienced in the mix: Odorizzi, Berrios, Pineda. Odorizzi was a gamble. You get him for two seasons at a decent rate. If he really shined, you might've extended him this off-season. You still have the chance to do so after next season (or during the season) and, if nothing else, you should be able to get someone's minor league (shortstop) player back in return. Austin was an interesting grab from the Yankees. What did you expect for Lynn (The Twins also got a low level pitcher who did well this season). The Twins need to keep him in the majors in 2019 or lose him (same as the Yankees). Right now, chances are he is better than Morrison, and probably better than keeping Vargas. Can actually play first or the outfield. Was he a longterm pieces? No. Considering the Twins MAY need a 1B/DH next season, and given a chance to play here in August and September, a nice return in the Lynn trade. Who knows, he might still be on the roster in 2020 or 2021. As to wins...well, everyone else has to lose. The Twins have to look closely and see that Detroit, Kansas City and probably the White Sox are no worse off that then Twins. So they MIGHT have a chance to put up more wins in 2019. Out of a four team standoff, can they at least take series from those teams below them in the standings? I truly thought the Twins would be the same as 2018, if not a tad better. Lynn and Odorizzi added to a staff headed by Santana. See how that worked out? Three veteran arms added to the bullpen in Duke, Rodney, Reed. You can't save games if you are behind. A bat in Morrison at DH capable of hitting .240 with 35-30 homers? Who knew? Polanco, Sano, Buxton, Kepler essentially going backwards. Dozier NOT playing for a great free agent contract. Who would've thought. Let's see. But a starter, some bullpen arms and a bat this off-season. They got the money. Can probably spend more than they did last season (considering they have Santana and Mauer money to spend, too. If that happened, if the roster contained replacements (new expensive and proven) for Lynn, Morrison, Rodney, Duke, Morrison, and if you threw in dollars for a second baseman and ANOTHER rotation arm...would the Twins beat Cleveland? They could. Yes, they still could, and not change much of the "prospects" talent they have that will be given another season to shine.