Rosterman

Spend $40 million on starting pitching, sign A.J., and maybe get a Doumit clone...who can really play the field. So, $50 million spent in 2014. $40 million spent in 2015/2016. $25 million spent in 2017.

I would do that third year on Arroyo. But no "no trade" clauses. Of course, we have to figure out $$$. 2-years $24 million and a buyout/option...of a flat 3-year at something like $30 mil.

There is talk of a market for corner outfielders and WIllingham could garner the Twins something. But then the Twins would have to get a similar backup bat back, preferably someone who could be a higher grade Parmelee. I don't love the idea of Doumit as DH, I don't mind him as the backup catcher and a bench guy. I don't love the idea of Parmelee in the outfield. If Mastro can play, with Presly in right and Arcia in left, I could live with that as we would have a but more speed potential. Remember that Darin was stealing bases bigtime in 2012. Alex is supposed to be speedy but didn't do much in 2013. I really wish we could get different players in place of Correia, Doumit and Willingham.

Royals also signed P.J. Walters to a minor league contract! Looks like Bruce Chen will finally be available to the Twins! Add him to the Duensing and Swarzak for rotation mix!

Yeah, didn't see any Twins on Cooper's list. Let's see, in the last decade plus, since the Twins swapped out Jared Camp for Johan Santana, they have grabbed such names as: Brandon Knight, Jose Morban, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Jason Pridie, Alejandro Machado, Jason Jones, Scott Diamond, Terry Doyle, Erik Komatsu (when another team dropped him mid-season) and Ryan Pressley. What's more interesting is the people drafted from the Twins: LeVale Speigner, Kevin Cameron, Garrett Guzman, Tim Lahey, R.A. Dickey, Jose Lugo. That's 14 years of Rule 5...not counting minor league guys of minor significance.

Darnell, Meyer, May, Gibson could all be starting at Rochester. You can switch Hendriks to the bullpen there. Duensing and Swarzak should be bullpen in the majors. Diamond should also get consideration as the new long-man in the bullpen. Johnson and Albers can fight it out for a long-man job in Rochester. Someone can always start at New Britain. Before siging any more minor free agents, the Twins have Vasquez and DSean and Wimmers and Baxendale also in the minor league mix. But Correia is the only major league lock. Deduno may still be recovering. Worley needs to get some starts to prove his worth. The Twins are solely lacking four starters to open the season. They could easily sign up to three bodies AND Santana as a project and not hurt the growth of anyone, considering Correia will come off the books in 2015 and two of the signed starters would probably be on 2-year deals. The Twins do have the $$$ today and will have the $$$ for a couple of years (and more) and can afford to gamble on arms. No one says you have to keep a signed pitcher for the entire contract if someone better shows up in the system (or in the marketplace). But, yes, sadly the Twins will have to blow a pitcher away with an offer to come here...or be really agressive and sign a BUNCH of quality guys that give a greater impression of winning, rather than total from the scratch see what we have bottom feeder rebuilding. I WANT TO HAVE TO PAY FULL-PRICE FOR A TICKET IN 2014, TERRY! Although the idea of $5 seats for a game and being alone in a section is not always bad!

It is still early. There are only so many places the couple of dozen free agent starters can go. But I can't get excited about Duensing (a career low i innings pitched this past season where the supposed long-relief guy became an left specialist) and Swarzak, who wants to start, but fared very well out of the bullpen. Plus, both are tradable commodities and CAN be replaced. I don't get excited hearing their bumper music, sorry...and won';t be lining up at Twinsfest to meet or see them. Terry Ryan, if you are going to put an AAAA team on the field, the stands will be half-full, people will leave the game early, you won't see too many jerseys, and the money not spent doesn't carry over to the next season. At least when you invest in a player, that money is carried over to the next season and can be freeded up by trading the player possibly.

The Twins claimed Alejandro Machado in the Rule 5 and kept him on the 25-man roster all season, albeit disabled, during 2007 and when the other team didn't want him back kept him in the system the next year. He's the only player in the Twins Media Guide listed on the all-time roster that never batted or played in a game for the major league team.

Not true. You need an open spot on the 40-man if you do wish to explore a Rule 5 draftee. When the time comes, the Twins may not add a Rule 5 player. Then they have a roster spot open, if need be, for a free agent signing, as anyone else in their system doesn't need to be added to the 40-man unless brought up during the season, or next year. The Twins will sign a lot of minor league free agents now, too, once rosters have finally been cleared of old 40-man chaff. No need to add any of these minor league guys to the major league 40-man. And if the Twins do sign multiple free agents, they need to have players on their current 40-man that they can move (these four players cannot be removed until towards the end of spring training, unless involved in a trade). And we know they have lots of names here, from Albers and Hendriks and newly acquired Johnson, to Fryer and Herrmann, not to mention Colabello or Pramelee, and probably Mastro. Any of these pieces can be moved if a corresponding free agent is signed to take their place for the next year or two, as there is mroe than enough talent in the wings to take their places in 2015 and beyond. It is always fun to see what players are taken in the Rule 5. But overall, it is usually the 26th or 41st player on not only your roster, but the other team's, too.

Carrying guys for two years is not unheard of, unless there were truly better candiodates for this year. I'm surprised the Twins carry Santana. Doubt that he'll be considered for the majors this year and might be a long shot the following year. Of course, we always need names that can be removed for free agent signings, Darnell Logan I'm not sure if anyone would've truly gambled him for a spot. I don;t see the Twins even finding room on the roster to open the season, even if they failed to sign ANY free agents. Chris Rahl and any other minor league free agent. It's a crapshoot. 10% don't make it thru spring training. 20% start at AA. The question is should the Twins be better fulfilled with AA and AAA rosters full of prospects. Oliveras I could see someone taking a flyer on. Wimmers...I don't see him getting stashed in the back of any bullpen. Now nest year...who do the Twins have to keep. With Kepler and Polancho, makes you wonder about the joy of signing really young players for big bucks if they have to be stashed on the roster. Plus, the guys get a nice minor league salary raise (don't they make like $50 grand now?!

Did he get a discount. If he meets incentives, will still be a decent one-year signing. I doubt that anyone would give him two years guaranteed. Plus he seemed to be picking his marketplace. If he has a great year, he's a free agent again. If he doesn't have a great year, San Diego has an option to bring him back. Good move by San Diego. This is one area that the Twins have to get more comfortable with. In any free agent signing (or extended contracts) there will always be a Toshi potential, and you may have a Mays or a Balckburn deal. It is the chance you take. Anywhere from 10-20% of the money you budget from salary may sit on the sidelines that season. It happens in football, t happens in basketball. You can try and escape it, but it will happen. Do we hear anyone complain when a player overperforms their contract? Do we hear teams complain when they overpay a free agent when the team the player leaves should actually be overpaying that free agent for past services, in a way? (on the flipside, do overpaid free agents ever give money back...wait, the Twins lucked out with Toski, didn't they). Is Santana worth a $5 million P.R. contract in which he might pitch a game or too...he was vastly underpaid in his earlier stint with the team. And then, you have to look at players for worth -- longterm or marketability or trade value. The Twins do a bad job on the trade value, at times (flip Delmon Young earlier than they did, same with Liriano). Often the Twins hold onto pieces just a tad too long. Yes, it is hard work being a general manager.

I just saw that Baltimore did an add to their roster, bringing their 40-man roster to 32. That's a lot of empty space. Looks like someone will be looking Rule 5. The basis for Rule 5 is that a team must have space on their 40-man (1 empty space going in) and they would grab someone better than anyone that they have to protect in their own organization. Two can play at that game. If there is anyone better than anyone in your organization available, you grab them. What makes the Rule 5 more interesting is the higher price paid for draft choices. Do you grab another team's multi-million dollar investment if available?

Agree. Replacement for Hernandez. Welker was a Slama clone if we wish to go that route. Pitching depth is never a problem, although three of the same (Diamond, Johnson, Albers) and the maybe Duensing on the 40-man is too much protection We need a star lefty on the roster, not a group of maybes.

HEADLINE SHOULD READ: Terry Ryan gets Lefty Starter! Big Hot Stove Move of week! First Eric Fryer (instead of Samamamamatoochi or Pierrrzynski. Now Johnson instead of anyone. Terry just spent a million bucks!

I would imagine that the Twins thought about removing Welker from the 40-man and this gives Pittsburgh a reason to reclaim him, possibly giving the Twins an aging arm they didn't want to 40-man at the moment...the Twns wanted a starter, didn't need another Slama. Who knows. Strange but true. Welker one of those "almost a Twin" guys like Chuck Shilling.

In regards to free agent signings.....if you sign a lefty, you remove Albers. If you sign a righty, you remove Worley or Hendriks. If you sign a catcher, you remove Fryer or even Herrmann (Rohlfing is the same as Herrmann and a year younger). If you need another spot, you can always exchange a free agent for Colabello. Then you still have Parmelee and Mastro on the bubble. You also have folks like Welker who could be removed during the summer months. Right now, the Twins have to get to the magic 39 number (I see Hermsen also getting jettisoned). And remember, Danny Santana is still there. Does he need to stay? Yes, any player removed from the 40-man roster must also go thru waivers. But with most 40-man rosters set, you should ore easily get guys thru who are not eligible for minor league free agency. Again, any free agents signed CAN replace aging prospects who have not panned out. Oh, Vargas is probably moot now that Mauer has moved to first base.

That is the one point about trying free agency. There is money to spend. What has it been spent on (Toshi, draft picks, Blackburn and Baker out for a year). It doesn't move to the next year. And the Twins have quite a bit they can spend this year. They lose Correia, Willingham and Doumit next year which is the price of a high-priced free agent with few players getting arbitration raises. They are still salary light going into 2016 and 2017, assuming that your potential free agents are the likes of Plouffe and Parmelee and Swarzak and Fien. Go figure. There is money to "try" something new for the organization. If it fails, it just means ... well, someday we will learn where ALL that unspent money does go.

I would be more than happy with the above, even with an additional $5 million or so that it would really take. Because it goes down next year and we lose 2-3 guys and replace them with rookies in their sophomore year. We still have tradebait. We can still add someone in 2016 and 2017 if we need to add someone, even two someones. This perfectly illustrates the no-brainer of spending money that is there and still being solid as the years approach and new talent starts to thrive. When we reach some arbitration, we still have a low payroll and and all these guys would be gone fer sure when free agency hits out new crop of players. Go for it, Twins. Put bucks and butts back in the seats.

We all would love to have certain pitchers. But the reality is that the Twins front office have to deal with agents who realistically WANT to place their clients with a team like Minnesota, as well as players THAT WANT to play for a team like Minnesota. If a player and/or agent suggests that a Minnesota tie-in would be explorable, then you pounce on it. You can't wait for a Hughes to say "maybe I will play in Minnesota" if he is avoiding making a discussion commitment or has expressed salary demands above-and-beyond (see Santana) your team is capable of giving, or that a pitcher truly wants to play only for a "winner." The only way we (the Twins) can possibly get around something like that is to totally throw an unbelievable contrat at the player -- "Hey, Hughes...we want you. How does $20 mill a year sound, you tell us 3 or 4 years...your choice." Otherwise, you go after "friendly" players and make a serious offer "Hey, Ricky, right now, today...we will give you $14 mil for 4 with a $4 million buyout or $15 mill option for year 5. If we don;t hear back from you by tonight, we are moving on tomorrow." A fair offer. If you don't hear back...you got $60 million to easily spend elsewhere.

We need pitchers that will consistently go deeper into the game. Hopefully the Twins defense will hold up, with Mauer stretching at first base. Willingham AND Parmelee in the corners is not my idea of outfield fun. Arcia is a bit betetr out there, but not much. I can live with Florimon and Dozier up the middle. Still have trouble with Plouffe at third. We do need an experienced catcher behind the plate if we sign a couple of vets. Pinto is best served at Rochester working regularly with the Twins pitchers of the futures and...working...working...working. I would almost like to see Steinbach at Rochester helping Pinto personally. The Twins also need to score 4 runs a game consistently. Can they do that with a lineup of Presley/Dozier/Mauer/Willingham Doumit/Plouffe/Arcia/newctacher/Florimon? Perhaps. I would like to see more punch from Doumit. I want a good hitting catcher (A.J.). I would love to see Plouffe a bench player, but not sure pushing Sano at the beginning of the season would give us much more than last year's Hicks results. I think the bullpen can be a solid given, as long as it doesn't need to be overworked like it did last year. And pieces that could potentially be jettisoned (Swarzak, Fien, Duensing, Burton) can be replaced by lower cost free agents (Crain and Hawkins, Neshek and Tonkin/Achter from the minors, and new duties for the likes of Hendriks and Diamond). The Twins should try and turn their bullpen strength with a prospect for a decent hitting temporary third baseman, an Adam Lind-type for DH, or something. Burton will never be more valuable. Swarzak is a stud worthy of something. Duensing is a lefty with value.

I truly doubt that Frankie would've resigned with the Twins. By letting him go to the White Sox, the Twins took the gamble that he wouldn't shine and would be a viable candidate for resigning, not having to make him a qualifying offer if you really wanted to keep him, and getting something, anything in return. The Twins were rumored to have at least contacted Frankie. Who knows what lowball offer they made. The Pirates literally blew everyone away with their offer, which was lowered because of the off-season injury, but it was 2-years and Frankie (and his agent) didn't look a gift-horse in the mouth, so to speak. Frankie now has to be brilliant in 2014 and he will have a bigtime payday. I really don't think Frankie would resign with the Twins anyways. There was a little bad blood during the arbitration timeline. I don't think he always agreed with the way the Twins wanted him to pitch. A new place can be just as good as an old place if you truly aren't happy. And the Twins weren't going anywheres and it reflected in his stats with the team. The Twins got something for Frankie. Wished Pedro had been more consistent and be the back-of-the-rotation guy. Yes, like others, thought he could replace Duensing in the bullpen...if the Twins had moved Duensing. Escobar is a decent role player. Considering that I would predict that Frankie was 98% sure of walking at the end of the season anyway, something was better than absolutely nothing, plus he didn't help the White Sox at all.

The pain is that agents are using the Twins words about being in the marketplace against them in hopes of actually stabilizing offers or maybe even driving up prices. Of, perhaps, every agent and pitcher can leak the rumor that the Twins are interested and pursuing them, knowing that ultimately it won't happen.

This is strange...shades of Drew Butera. What it means that if the Twins do waive him from the 40-man, and another team claims him, they are responsible for the contract he signed with the Twins, which the team probably wouldn't want to take on. That keeps him from being claimed as a Rule 5, too. In that way, it is good. Keeping him on the 40-man is bad.

Well, as qualifying offers keep rising, it will be interesting to see what eight years of qualifying offers would bring Mauer in the endgame. The Twins have to stop lowballing (wait, they didn't lowball Correia). I don;'t think hometown discounts exist anymore, unless you are 38 and running year-to-year on wanting to play...and then it is now longer a GREAT discount. Even playing for less on a winner is hard to take...no one can predict who will win or lose. Agents sure work for their cut of the pie!

I'm not so sure $60M for five would be crazy. It would be a bargain as THAT pitcher would be surrounded by minimum wage guys thru most of his contract. The bigger question always is, regarding a National league pitcher, how does he fare when he faces a bat rather than a #9 non-hitter on a regular basis. This might be the bargain signing of this decade. Is Garza getting $100 million for the same length? Would you pay Hughes the same? I would rather pay this amount that whatever Santana is asking, that's for sure.