Rosterman

The joy is that all teams are experiencing the same. You can push players, to make up for that lost year, or start to see a logjam. Not that there is any lack of players, with a whole host playing the major league sponsored indy leagues looking for that secondary chance. I also noticed an abundance of plaeyrs in the Mexican leagues. How it all plays out will be fun to watch.

Well, at least the Mets are contributing the the "cheapo team" fund with whatever more penalities they have to pay!

I keep wondering what kind of contract Byron Buxton may have gotten from someone else last season. Sheesh.

That's a ncie grouping of 8 pitchers with a couple more in the minors. Two who started well all season, four coming of i njuries that limited their work, and two rookies. 2022 the Twins had Ryan, Ober, Paddack, Gray, Bundy, Archer and no room for Winder, who started in the pen. How quickly things changed as Smeltzer, Sands, Gonzalez, Sanchez and Rodriguez all got brief glimpses of starts, with Smeltzer being the lone lefty (right). Mahle was added to the mix and became an immediate casuality. Varland and Woods Richardson got a looksee. Henriquez good a looksee as a reliever. 15 starters, and not one was named Dobnak. Not sure those eight pictured above are enough for 2023.

Rumor ahs it that whenb the Twins saw what the Padres were doing, they started to cull together offers to top the Padres offers, but the photocopy machine ran out of paper and the players ended up signing elsewhere. But, hey, at least they thought they were in the hunt.

While other teams were breaking their bank on signing names like Turner and Judge, Verlander and DuGrom, the Twins managed to woo a couple of players into their fold with contracts. Yes, the contracts for such studs as 1B Tyler White and 3B Johan Camargo pay about the equivalent of one swing of the bat of an Aaron Judge. And getting split 26-year-old relief arm/starter Carlos Luna for the price of a couple swings and misses of a Verlander means they have a guy that might challenge Randy Dobnak for a roster add in sprint training, and might actually make us miss Devin Smeltzer. Yes, it is time now for the Twins to pump up the roster of St. Paul and Wichita with up towards three-dozens of new minor league free agents who hope to crack the Twins line-up, rotation, or bullpen in 2023. There is a roadblack to the outfield, although that didn't stop the 7th-8th and 9th depth members in the field to take the field in 2022. The Twins need to find the next Chi Chi Gonzalez, Derek Rodriguez and Aaron Sanchez, just in case. And there has to be catcher hungry to come and be back-up to Ryan Jeffers, as long as all he has to do is throw out potential base stealers. Winter Meetings are done. Dollar Tree is about to open for after-the-holiday sales!

ZACH BOVE leaves Twins minor league system for The Royals! https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/royals-hire-zach-bove-as-assistant-pitching-coach.html

KYLE GIBSON signs with...The Orioles! There goes another #5 starter! https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/orioles-agree-to-one-year-deal-with-kyle-gibson.html

SEAN POPPEN now a Padre. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/padres-claim-sean-poppen-from-diamondbacks.html

I would've liked to see Celestino get almsot a full year of play at AAA. Should've happened last season (along with Larnach) with the Twins fielding Kirilloff/Buxton/Kepler with Garlick and now Gordon as the reserves. But that failed to happen. I would still nurture him, at age 24, for a regular job in St. Ppaul and see how he goes from there. Play him everyday, in a central place in a line-up. Yes, he may be bypassed by larnach, Wallner, Lewis, Martin and overtaken by Rodriguez soon. I still questioned why they felt the need to keep him on the 40-man, as well as other outfield decisions, in that season the wins lost not just Baddoo, but also Wade.

You snooze, you lose.

Well, there goes the chance for Polanco to move on. Wong, longtime Twins fans will remember, was drafted by the Twins in the 16th-round of the 2008 draft, but didn't sign.

LEWIN DIAZ grabbed by the Orioles. The former Twins 1st base prospect ahs bounced around a bit since he was traded for Sergio Romo. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/orioles-claim-lewin-diaz-waivers-pirates.html Tha meant the Orioles tried to sneak JAKE CAVE thru waivers, and he was claimed by the Phillies. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/phillies-claim-jake-cave-waivers-orioles.html And people have talked about the Mariners being a trade partner for the Twins, if we wanted to part with, say, Polanco. They, instead, traded for KOLTON WONG from the Brewers. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/brewers-trade-kolten-wong-mariners-jesse-winker-abraham-toro.html Wong, longtime Twins fans will remember, was drafted by the Twins in the 16th-round of the 2008 draft, but didn't sign. t

Twins will take the "one-more-year" gamble. But Ryan, if nothing else, could develop into a great shutdown bullpen arm. ALways felt he would be best suited for the role of a closer. But as long as he can put up decent starts, I will run him out every fifth day and, hopefully, get four more years out of the guy in a Twins uniform.

He was still young. Probably should've been sent down to AA for awhile, sooner rather than not at all. And basically has trolled in the Twins system long-enough that he would become a minor league free agent if waived off the roster and someone would openly grab him. For the promise alone. But 2023 is his final year to put something together for the Twins. A fast start with decent numbers could make him part of a trade package. But right now, even as a throw-in, he doesn't have much value.

TWO tWINS ELEASED FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE TEMAS 40-MAN ROSTERS RESIGNED MINOR LEAGUE CONTRACTS. Drew Strotman with the Giants and Jermaine Palacios with the Tigers. SHAUN ANDERSON and minor league free-agent signee last year ARIEL JURADO will both be playing in Korea. WILLIANS ASTUDILLO has signed to play in...Japan!

Gambling is the magic word. The future could be bright...if healthy. Can Royce be the longterm solution at shortstop? How long will we have to wait to see. And, if so, where do we plug in Martin and Lee in the seasons following. The outfield logjam. We know Kepler. But Wallner, Kirilloff and Larnach are unknowns, still. Celestino is also still a prospect. We have half-a-catcher. Arraez is great, but he is far from your typical first baseman. But the Twins still have a designated hitter/bench spot need when all is said and done. Hopefully a right-handed puncher who can also play the field, somewhere. Front office, don't try and sell us on a competitive team. Still doing the tryout thing, and the best we can ask is that the guys get playing time, and do well, and surprise us all before you discover they really aen't that good and have to make some mid-season movements, if the team is still competitive. Otherwise, if not, we look at the next batch scheduled to get playing time come end of '23 or soemtime in '24. Unless you open the wallet and sign two top flight free agents (rotation arm and catcher and/or right-handed bat). Of course, you could also trade for a catcher, depending on who you sign for a pitching ace and a right-handed bat from what would then be rotation arm depth and a surplus of outfield "talent."

Although a good year away, he is so young and still a promising catching prospect. But he will also be eligible for the Rule 5 draft if a team will pay the Twins the fee, as well as whatever the negotiated signing salary is.

I'm hoping he becomes our next Jason Kubel, and not our next Jim Eisenreich. At least in a Twins uniform. Although I would like him to comeback in the same way Eisenreich did...for other teams!

I would do that trade.

Great that he is going to work on defense with Correa this winter. Miranda may not be the long-term third baeman, but should suffice for the short-term. He is why Strand was available for trade to the Rangers. Plus the influx of players from Martin, Lewis, Julien, Lee, Shuffield and others that need to find a home. The Twins have to figure out Arraez longterm and where he can play best, or dangle him s a trade chip. Miranda could move to first and MAY be better there than...Arraez. Kirilloff also is in the mix for first. I would not worry about third base for 2023.

I say give him $35m for season 1 and 2 with $30m for 3 & 4 and a $25option for year five. Give him an opt out after each of years 1 and 2.

Paying a free agent piotcher is a luxury for msot teams. You hope for one or two good seasons. With the opt-outs that are in many contracts, you have the ability to front-load for a stud, hope they give you the quality, and let them walk. Or even if you sign a guy to a longer contract (3-5 years) you hopefully have the ability to trade them if it isnb't working out, but their stats are still good enough for a contending team to grab. Even with home grown talent, it is a hard decision. Which is often why it is GREAT if you can nab one of your own talents and sign them longer term by the time they enter arbitration, going that distance of, say, a five year contract into a free agent year or two with mutual options. Most of us in Twins Daily land were on the bubble if Jose Berrios would've been worth a $120 million contract before he was traded to the Blue Jays. Yet one or two years ago, we would've been more than happy to see the Twins sign him for 5-7 years (at what might've been less than $120m). In the end, though, I have a hard time seing the Twins wasting $15-20 million or more on 2-3 so-so arms, rather than just investing in a probably one good arm, if available. Besides the horror stories of old, I was disappointed with the Twins final payout on Archer this last season, where the guy ended up doubling his salary because of his starts, but not really giving us...a start. Right up there with Odorizzi taking the qualifying offer. Thank goodness the 2020 season was shortened and the Twins didn't have to payout the full amount. Again, it is a fine line. Be interesting to see where the Twins go with, say, Joe Ryan. We all remember basically not seeing any longterm worth in the likes of Kyle Gibson, as an example.

Him and Canterino could be studs. Just gotta get the innings. Sadly, see Enlow, at best, becoming a relief arm in the end. He has to advance to AAA. I wish the Twins had sent Balazovic back to AA to work out his rotation kinks. I'm not sure where to be with his status. Should he also start at AA in 2023? Two prospects, along with Canterino, that I doubt will contribute to the team in 2023. And they really don't have a lot of trade value, unless other teams wish to take a flyer on "what could be....."

I hope one is spending an equal amount to Correa's salary on other players to make a winning team.