Rosterman

Yes. They did good. Murphy pretty much played himself into a nothing role in the organization. That they were able to flip Garcia, and if they had waited a day that trade MIGHT not have happened at all, was genius. Kintzler has been good for the Twins, but is he THAT good and that the Twins managed to get a possibly rotation piece was a fantastic return, plus they can better negotiate to bring Kintzler back (as a setup guy if they wish) then if they had let him walk themselves. I'm sure the thoughts of arbitration signings of Santiago and Gibson, as well as bring Breslow and Belisle into the fold, were along the line of filling holes and having a possible trading chip in a year in which -- if polled -- no one would've thought that the Twins would've held first place in the division and bee in the playoff hunt STILL come the All-Star break. But this stuff, call it for what it is, doesn't always pan out. Hopefully the Twins will move on from Gibson. Plus the many other pieces are more valuable to keep than move, all of a sudden. Some of this can change. If someone claims Santana, do you jettison his 2018 salary commitment for a prospect or two, or is he the anchor and maybe only bright spot in the soon to be young rotation of 2018. You have to make a decision on Dozier, and right now he looks to be a longterm Twin. This season will actually lower his value compared to what he might've been worth - trade or salary-wise - this past winter. But he gives you predictable offense and, as I have said in other posts, he could be a DH who plays a position 2-3 years out. They still have to address Mauer. No first base replacement yet. So Joe is better than...nothing. And the field staff question will be big this off-season, especially when the minors continue to thrive with the coaching talent down there...should more of them come north, or do you totally go outside. We are in a rebuilt. The front office did try to find pieces that might be flippable for a rebuild. They have added four fine pitching prospects for near nothing. But, again, I seem to remember Terry Ryan doing something like that when he did the centerfield shuffle-off of some players for pitching, too.

This is interesting. Because if there are claims, then it is totally in the Twins court about how much they want to rid themselves of Santana. And a team claiming him, trading for him, is on the hook for the salary, but they also have the ability to use him as a trading chip themselves, so it can be win-win for pretty much any team in baseball. Depends on the players offered in return. And how badly the Twins want the $13 million to NOT spend in 2018.

Some points: Yes, we were promised that Target Field would create the kind of revenue to place the Twins into a competitive situation in signing players, as well as keeping their own players under contract. The past regime has always been more focused on being competitive against their division with the chance of making the playoffs, yet staying within budget because you might make more money with a successful team or have a bad season if you tanked. What a team does during a season is totally unpredictable. You can have the most money and still lose. You can spend little and pull a whammy! I'm still giving the front office this year as a wash. They came into the game after the World Series. They needed to fill some roster spots and picked up more cast-offs than Terry Ryan ever did. The needed to evaluate the current 25-man roster, the extended 40-man roster, and all the guys in the minors. The majors (pitching) and minors (pitching) have been plagued with injuries. The current crop of youngsters have had ups and downs and will continue to do so. We always have to factor in age. Not everyone is a mike Trout, More are like an Aaron Hicks or a Carlos Gomez. Might take a couple of years. But do you keep them on the farm or let them take major league lumps. But at this point, looking at the line-up, there is no depth of backups yet in the minors. Hopefully that will change into next season. If someone goes down, there is not a bench player that I want to call permanent for a starting position and, besides Gordon and Garver, no one from the minors that might meet the challenge of being a regular for a short period of time. I want to believe that everything will start to come together by 2019. We will hopefully be out from under the Mauer contract, have an idea of our the players that will be the strength of the team for a decade, and have a system in place where the draft picks will corrrectly perform and take their place in the major league world. I loved this draft overall. But we know how many players NEVER pan out. It was a surprise to the front office that the Twins were in the hunt, I believe. And it started to shows visions of "maybe" or "could" in their hallowed eyes instead of staying on plan. The revenues happened, fans came and spent, they might have a better revenue season than last year (minus all the sponsorship money cuts they might've had). It may be a tough sell come September, and especially this off-season with Super Bowl fever grabbing the headlines. So don't look for the Twins to spend again. But September will be a tell. Do they look at ALL the possibles from within the system and give them some playing time. After that, do they jettison the waste and fluff? I mean, you can always find many of these guys on the waiver wire, i'm sorry. As a matter of fact, that is where you found these pieces to begin with, right? There is not a lot of value on the 25-man roster beyond the players you really do want to keep, sadly. The value of the system is still in a flux. The whole on-field staff issue has to be addressed again. You have to figure out why the minors are succeeding and what changes have to be made there. And once the pieces come together, the Twins will be your dad's team again. Keep the faith. Enjoy the ride we had this year! Buy those cheap seats on StubHub in September and enjoy sitting in an empty section cheering some good play.

So who are the pitching matchups for this series! Wouldn't it be nice to have seen Romero this homestand?

What about the names on the 40-man. Like Vielma, Palka, maybe Rosario. Do we keep them on. Will they really contribute to the team in 2018? On the plus side, you can drop names as you add. On the minus side, you can't drop 40-man adds until sometime in spring training, if they are added during the lead-up to finalizing rosters. So in some way,s you do add some suspect names come September (Slegers, Recker, keep Vargas, Park) to move off if you have a free agent signing or something. But Diaz, it would also mean a tam keeping him on heir 40-man for at least the next three years while he develops (sitting on the bench in 2018) and he would be open game if removed at anytime after that. But depends on how much the Twins think he is a Mauer replacement, which opens another basket of thought - how long will the Twins have/need Mauer on the team and doing what? At this point in time, I would rather longer-term sign Dozier to factor into DHing in the future as well as play the field (I would imagine Dozier could play in a pinch 1B/3B/Of) than Mauer, who would be confined to 1B or DH, and is not the guy I want as a fulltime DH...assuming Sano stays healthy an can play third for a few more years, too. I shake my head in wonder that we pretty much all thought the Twins bullpen, today, would've had names like Reed, Burdi, Cederoth, Bard, Jones, Chargois, Jay by the end of this season. How the life of prospects change.

So this brings the question...will we see Palka in September? Why protect guys on the 40-man if you really have no intention to use them or see them. Yes, Palka was injured, but.......... Still felt Walker should've gotten a call and a looksee, just because he was a solid minor league guy who advanced each season and did what was asked and deserved th tiny bit of major league glory (and the bump in pay). He was on the 40-man. His butt didn't take up that much bench space. And so you have to spring for another sleeping room.

Yes, you do bring up some non-prospects as fill-ins, if the need arises. I'm looking at the 40-man. I see the following basically leaving because they should be free agents: Belisle, Gee, Perkins, Santiago, Gimenez, Adrianiza and Colon. I would not offer arbitration to Boshers, Gibson, Escobar, Grossman or Vargas at this point. You can also cut O'Rourke, Turley, Recker and possibly Vielma and Palka. I am on the bubble on what to do with Polanco, as well as the longterm situations of Chargois and Hughes. If you can move Hughes off the 40-man, which you should be able to do by adding him back on at the end of his 60-day DL in September - and send him to the minors (and thru waivers) like you did Blackburn, do so at this point. You still are on the hook for his salary. But he's not eating a roster spot. That's a heck of a lot of players that I don't see playing with the Twins come spring of 2018. Added back in, somehow, before the season ends for a looksee would be names like: Park, Slegers, Hurlbut, Rucisnki, maybe Baxendale and Melville. Do you care about Matt Hague? Also, make sure you do look at Palka and Vielma before jettisoning them, if you wish. Looks like names like Wimmers, Tonkin and Heston would be ignored. Many of the above, by giving them a shot with the Twins, then possibly removing them from the 40-man, would still give them enough of a big league taste to maybe resign if the Twins want them for minor league depth. But I don't see any of them as givens for roster spots. The only other pitcher I would possibly add before seasons end would be Jake Reed. Get him some innings going into next season in the majors. Many of the names to drop from the roster should happen during the waiver wire time in August. you shed the spot to add a prospect. YTou still have a better job at revisiting the player in the of-season without having to face arbitration or staying with the max 20% salary cut that you would if they stayed with the organization. Sadly, I don't see many of the names (or free agents) having fights over their signability with another team and most would probably not end up on a 40-man themselves. (Exceptions: Escobar, possibly Grossman, Polanco will be given a flyer...but being out of options hurts him so bad). Which kinda says a sad case for the current state of the Minnesota Twins.

Yes, Slegers and Hurlbut would be equal options to Dillon of Gee, both who more than likely won't be here in 2018. Add in Santiago (who will be a free agent) and Gibson (should've never gone to arbitraion in 2017, let alone think about 2018) - you can argue that Slegers and Hurlbut (and Eades) as well as AAAA castoffs Turley and Melville won't be superstars, but they might be as hungry, if not more hungry, to show off what they can do. And the Twins have to make off-season decisions on all those guys, so let's get a little exposure, especially with roster spots open and more to come. Can they be worse? Can they be better? You'll never know unless you give them the opportunity and, they are the future of the team more than Colon, Gee, Santiago. Same with the bullpen. If you must, Pressly or Rogers at closer. But why not Hildenberger. Or let's just see what Curtiss can do. Just don't feel the need to increase the post season value of Belisle at this point in time. The Twins need to play for 2018. And it would be good to give Romero a cup of coffee in the least now since he will probably hit his inning limit come September and the Twins will probably not see fit to have him just travel with the team and do a bullpen inning or two. Give him one or two starts now! End the season with Slegers and Hurlbut in the least. Can see that you won't add Gonsalves, or even Stewart, to the 40-man before season's end. Just not the Twins Way. Hey, the old Twins Way is being replaced by a new Twins Way!

Mauer batting cleanup. Let's put together a lineup and stay with it. Is Buxton or Granite leadoff material? Where to bat Sano. The Twins seriously lack a designated hitter (let's try Escobar or Rosario in that spot - only kidding) Two hitting coaches and Vavra. Pickler doing what he does. Molitor one of baseball's best. You can call on Oliva and Carew. What is not working here.

Good list. I don't really see anyone holding down a major league job in a lot of the players you mentioned (like Thorpe or Kohl Stewart). Mason already went thru waivers and could've been claimed by any team with a 40-man spot. But somehow he made in thru. Go figure? If anything, I would use the current open spots to look at players on the fringe, like Baxendale, Hurlbut, Slegers and what they do in their brief looksees would determine if they stay or go. Are they also six year minor league free agents that might jsts walk anyways? The Twins have to be really careful adding folks like Diaz, too far away...yet can they be lost in the minor league portion of the draft? Looking at this season, we already have Vielma, Romero, Jorge taking up space and not really ready for the majors, and we can argue if they will be major league ready before any of the added candidates from this off-season. The Twins could have up to 14 roster spots available between now and the beginning of spring training, if they really wanted to be hard-lined. And the newcomers will get some consideration, although what is the potential for any of them staying on a major league roster (unless a Wild Card like the Padres come into play and grab three rokkies to keep on the roster and in their system). That is where you have to think long and hard about Littell and Moya, for example. But you realize how few candidates the Twins have for 40-man spots in the offensive part of the roster. Very few. And looks like we may be saying goodbye to high draft picks Levi Michael and Travis Harrison. And, hey, weren't we talking that our bullpen, by now, would be people like Reed, Burdi, Cederoth, Bard, Zach Jones, Chargois, Melotakis. As early as this season? How the world of prospects can change........

I argue that he was worrying about winning more than playing players. First off, doesn't know the players enough to build a consistent lineup. Second, how many times if your best pitcher on the mound and one or two of your better players is substituted out for someone else. If you are going to win, you have to make sure that Santana gets the win those 3-4 times that he should've but didn't because of low offense. Pitching staff. I seriously thought it looked better this year than last, at one point. And last hear thought we had a staff that would take us into the 7th, especially after a good spring training. But that went to heck like it did this year. And he has been given a bushel basket of relief arms. Think about it. How many pitchers have gone thru the turmstyles between Minnesota and Rochester and, somehow, a decent bullpen ahs yet to materialize. Who are the long men. Who sets ups? Who is the secondary closer? Do we have someone who can get a grounder (who is not the closer) a strikeout (anyone), a surefire fly ball out. The bullpen is made up of role players - 7 to 8 guys - who are so specialized to do more than eat an inning. Of course, having a rotation get you only 5+ innings can wear you out. But you also have a bullpen - 7 to 8 guys - who shouldn't be in the bullpen if you can't use them anytime in most any situation. Quit using the same players over and over. If you are playing to win, cringe when you relief pitcher has an 8.00 ERA and you are forced to bring him into any situation, elt alone on the plane ride to the next town you are playing. There were some interesting coaching moves (Rowson and Pickler) to ho with the hold-overs, none of whom seems to be as tight with Paul (would he take any of them to another job if he got one). The big change in the minors was Eckstein. So we have yet to see any major turnover in the direction of coaching for this organization by the new front office powers-to-be. Maybe it will happen this off-season, although someone explain the winnings in the minors this year!

Yes, and you look at the value of resigning the players yourself. Kintzler is a solid journeyman relief pitcher who has been thrown into the role of closer and did well. He will be able to parley that into a decent multi-year contract in the off-season. Maybe not closer money, but somewhere in-between because he has enough skills to be a set-up man, if nothing else. Although I would discuss a return contract with him, the Twins now have the chance to look at closer possibilities (not Belisle) from within to see where they stand going into next season. Dozier was hot last year. Unfortunately no one needed a second baseman in the off-season, or one who was as predictable as Dozier, coming back to earth. You know what you a e going to egt with him...now. The Twins have to either explore a longer-term cost-effective extension with the guy, or decide to take what they can get. Two questions have to be answered: who plays second if he is gone, not just next year but beyond. Is Dozier a viable DH candidate who can also play the field? Biggest question of all: Why is he still batting leadoff? Santana. Another player that you know what he brings to the table. His past year of greatness besides, he is a middle-of-the-rotation workhorse that would thrive on an offense heavy team. He has a decent contract, is re-flippable if another team had taken the gamble. I look at moving him as freeing up salary for the next two seasons, but losing your most experienced pitcher. What would I want in return? More than anyone would be willing to give, sadly. The time to trade a Santana IS during the trade deadline. You might be able to move him in the off-season, but to whom and for what? My main reason for trading him would be the same as any other team for NOT trading for him. I can spend that money just as well elsewhere. Unless I really needed that 4th/5th starter for the playoff push, and no one better was available, I might bite and bite big. But right now...I'm going to get what the Twins got for the other Santana...a spare outfield piece with potential that needs roster space, a 28th-man starter out of options that is a placesetter and only pitching because I have no other candidates, a relief pitcher to fill out my bullpen but equal to anyone I can find on the waiver wire, and a guy with lots and lots of potential (can say the same for all prospects) but is taking waaaaay to long to get there, if he ever does - plus salary relief, only in this case save $13 million for 2018 and maybe more from 2019 instead of having to pay $120 million to a guy for the next seven years. Joe Mauer. Has a no trade clause. But even with all he can bring to a team, does anyone want him as a first baseman? If he was still catching, he would be worth millions. You would think Joe would welcome the chance to go to a contender, since it looks like the Twins may not get there in his contract lifetime. Unless the Twins extend him, and there is the big elephant in the future...how long, how much, and where does he play? The only other player (besides our prospects for the future) that may have worth is old Eduardo Escobar. But other teams look at him the same way the Twins have done - now for the third straight season. He is NOT the regular shortstop although he ends up playing the position more regularly than others, shows some power, an ability to hit...everything you want...from a dynamite utility guy, which means a low-level prospect (or two) in return. August will be a tell for the Twins. Let's see who they let walk for CASH BACK. Even trying to put together package deals with prospects...if the guys aren't wanted by a team like the Twins where almost EVERY job is up for grabs, why would other teams want these guys? You have to push these prospects a little bit...see how hungry they are...do or die-type stuff, rather than let them smolder in the minors while you throw out waiver-wire AAAA fodder to get you thru a game, with hopes that one of these pieces of coal will turn into a diamond and can be shipped off for another prospect that will wallow in the minors.

There is still something in the water that isn't keeping up the pep. The minor league teams seem to be doing better than ever, although the pitching pipeline is being derailed bigtime with injuries and Rochester, once again, was a haven for minor league castoffs until late (look at the current pitching staff and its stats...some good stuff happening from a lot of non-name prospects). If the Twins go forth with a youth punch, and there is little reason to NOT do so, they have three fabulous names that should be handling on-field duties in any number of ways at the major league level - Dougie Mientkiewicz, Tommy Watkins and Jake Mauer. They must be doing something right and if those three could be the manager, bench coach and one of the base coaches, you got the beginnings of another dynasty of on-field staff. Not sure what the Twins need for a pitching coach. But something isn't playing right in Kansas, eh...in Minneapolis right now. And, yes, September should be a time for callups and those guys to play, if not a tad sooner, as there is more than enough depth in the Twins system right now to restock the 10-or-so bodies that should be up here come September 1st getting major league playing time. Can start earlier in August by eliminating those players that don't need to be on the 40-man in the off-season or even at spring training. It will give you a bit better idea of what to go after with all that extra cash you got in player sales during the season and in salary dumps come August, not to mention solid ticket revenue. Hoping the Twins bandwagon continues thru August and even though September might be slow, maybe some braintrust in the Twins marketing department will figure out something to put fans in the stands. Hey, I have August promotions already: the first in a series of "going away parties" for certain players or on-field staff." Don't worry about putting a competitive team on the field of play in pennant races. Right now, you are a team that needs to look at as many pieces of the future as possible and give those pieces a taste of the big leagues and see how hungry they are for major league salary and meal money!

No one really saw Kintzler as a closer. He was a fine setup man. I would keep Rogers and Duffey and Belisle as set-up guys. I would let Hildenberger close for August and then look at it again. I would not put into the closer role ANYBODY who will not be with the tem next season, unless you want to give it to Perkins and just let the season happen.

Yes, now is the time to look at 2018 and beyond. Of course, may want to take a looksee at Gee...though I'm not totally sure why. Romero and Jorge will reach innings caps soon, sadly. There is, sadly, no need to add people to the 40-man before their time. So I guess we do see some waiver-wire pickups and such get Twins uniform time. I'm saying it again, will be interesting to see who the Twins let walk in August? Is Vargas still in play? Do we want to see Park back? Do you add to the 40-man and take a rpeview shot at someone like Slegers to see if you truly do want to keep them on the 40-man? The evils of adding people to the 40-man is that you have to open them up to other teams for claim if you don't keep them on the 40-man, which is often an easier way to pluck someone from a team than the Rule 5 (with its buyback rule) or waiting for the guy to negotiate their own minor league free agent contract.

You must be too young to remember that famous movie line!

It looks like we don't need to 40-man roster him yet, which can be a plus. And got some cash in the deal to spend on international signings. CASH is the favorite player of the executive branch of the front office. Plus, we now have the opportunity to explore resigning Kintzler, if they need arises.

The Twins are in no hurry to add men to the 40-man, at this point. They will partly see who becomes available in August. They actually have names to remove. But, yes, who is the starter coming to replace Garcia? Will they keep the extra bench bat when Buxton returns? Or send Granite out, since Grossman is still here. You could actually see the Twins remove an infielder, a backup catcher, a backup outfielder, a starting pitcher and at least two relievers, not to mention a few names already on the 40-man stuck in Rochester (Turley, Vargas) come the waiver wire and replace those names with [people currently on the 40-man for sure. Glen Perkins!

Sadly, it looks like some of the Twins players - Grossman, Escobar/Adrienza, Gimenez, Belisle will only be spare part acquisitions (really, these are bench guys or back of the bullpen guys) - will only draw interest when they hit the waiver wire, and be interesting to see if any of the teams in contention will make a play for them. Otherwise, it is on to the off season. I'm already looking forward to seeing what the Twins roster looks like come September call-up time!

I don't know what all this action is for relievers on teams right now. I mean, Craig Breslow is now a free agent!

I would be looking at also packaging some 40-man disappointments with a Kintzler or a Santana if possible. I would hate to see Polanco go, but I do think the Twins have suitable replacements for the guy. Vargas could be an add on. We are paying Park outrageous money and have to bring him up at some point to see his value. You might as well package Tonkin or Wimmers if you can, free up some spot at AAA. But also looking at names that other teams would have to protect and 40-man spots can be precious right now. I guess would rather have as a throw-in someone not in need of 40-man protection for at least a year, or someone not out of options. Be interesting to see who might get claimed in August. Salary relief (Santiago) or roster space for Granite (Grossman). And to the person above the mentioned trading Buxton...we need a further centerfielder to come back to haunt us. Span, Revere, Gomez, Hicks all still solidly playing elsewhere. I think Buxton is worth a longer look, a much longer look...and at the top of the order, Mr. Molitor. Let's figure out a line-up for the rest of the season and try it! Yes I'm talking about finding teams that have open 40-man spots for Twins garbage. So, probablyot

The Twins did try earlier, what with Meyer, May, Worley and such. Plus drafting ALL those pitchers for a few years. The results, uneven if not a disaster. When you are looking at the names for the future, especially the near future, many weren't considered in the top prospects world (Eades, Slegers, Hurlbut and Hildenberger, Rucinski, Busenitz). But, yes, it is nice to get three solid arms that have the potential of making the major leagues at some point. But you never, ever know. Then, again, you look at the majors and the guys drawing a salary and wonder if a Kohl Stewart would be as good as a Gibson or a Hughes and even that Haley guy you took a shot in the Rule 5. We still have some fluff on the roster. I mean: Boshers, Duffey, Belisle. You have to ask what roles they are looking at for Rogers. Is Pressly worth the long leash. What place in the bullpen do you give Hildenberger. And Busenitz...why not use him...what is he sitting around in the bullpen doing...guarding the treat backpack? I'm still not seeing a "place in the lineup" role for anyone but Dozier so far this year. I'm not sure who the longmen or setup guys truly are in the pen. I don't know why we are pressed to get five innings. let along six, out of our rotation and how can that get fixed. And what is the bench...or better yet, we don't have a true DH. Cheap seats come September?

He can afford to go back to school and pursue those dreams, although he also would be a nice on-field presence as a coach, I believe.

I like Dozier, but should he be the leadoff hitter most all of the season. He is still a bargain and contributes well. But I don't see anyone knocking down the door to get him and, as they showed in the off-season, no one really thought he would repeat his 2016 campaign. The question is can he and the Twins reach an agreeable contract? At worst, I picture Dozier being a viable DH in a couple of years who can still play the field.Assuming that we don't have the "where to play" Mauer issue, and Sano can still play third base.

Offense consistency (lineup construction, too, perhaps) and the bullpen. Those bullpen arms are going to wear down fast.