Rosterman

Only if he is rally cheap. And no incentives, as chances are you will cut bait with him during the season. Does he help with the defense? Is he a team leader, or a dugout pain, that is my Big question.

They go ahead and sign him. But if he starts having a bad spring can they cut him and just have to pay x-amount? Sadly, Rooker would've been a 40-man casuality with the Twins. That he got time with both the Padres and the Royals was good-for-him! But does he still warrant a 40-man for the struggling Kansas City team? The killer was the Twins still paying Rogers salary. How would've Rogers fit in the Twins 2022 bullpen? Be interesting to see what Taylor commands as a free agent. Pagan is still cheap. He could be a trade chip. As someone said, better to spend money on a known than buy an outsider like, say, Joe Smith, Hansel Robles or Alex Colombe! The Twins still have some questions. Will they keep Stashak, Coulombe, Megill? Is Sisk a posibility? Will Sands and Henriquez be bullpen arms, or given a chance to start in the minors (as well as Winder). What is the future status of Enlow. My pain is watching the Twins deal out $3-4 million for a player and then feeling they have to give them a long leash.

I would go ahead and sign Urshela. He can rotate with any number of guys on the field and into the DH slot, if you don't get a solid DH. And I would rather see the Twins sign a right-handed hitting powergouse outfielder who can also DH than, say, someone like Cruz again. Urshela will be trade bait thru spring training, considering his fine 2022 season. As long as he isn't a total washout and stays healthy, he is also a trade chip into July. The bigger question is: who's on first, where does Arraez play, and what is the status of Kirilloff!?

Well, if they keep playing him at shortstop, he will be in the hunt come spring training. Martin's downfall will be that there is no reason for the Twins to add him to the 40-man, yet. Martin gives the Twins some speed. Are they using the new "bigger" bases in the AFL? Kulien could also be in the mix coming out of spring training, assuming the Twins add him to the 40-man.

Kepler will have to be moved as part of a deal. And the Twins need a strong right-naded hitter to replace him.

Todd's signature was all over the place, at times. But it is a pretty close match.

It ws a tough 2022. Somehow, the Twins were winning into September with the crap that was sticking to the wall. They made some moves at the trade deadline. Who thought Hale would turn up lame. Plus, you can't move players that are on the injured list at the time (Kepler). You hope that you have depth. Better to cut and move on, Pagan and Archer and Bundy for example. But, sadly, at some point the Twins were pushing to find five rotation arms with Ober and Co. on the injured lsit. Thought we were deep, but at one point the Twins weren't, the bullpen was overworked, the outfielder was down to 5-6-7 on the depth chart, and our catchers couldn't stop a running game. Although Sandy Leon showed that anyone should be able to lay down a great bunt. Besides the guys that make the majors, the Twins sign a wealth of min or league talent. Gonzalez, Sanchez, Rodriguez, Coulombe, Cotton, Minaya, Hamilton, Thornburg, Romero...I wuld give creed to Davis...pitched for the Twins. Godoy, Beckham, Soto (not one at bat), Palacios, Garlick, Cave, Hamilton were basically useless. The Twins spent good money on Jake Jewell, Argenis Angelo, Curtis Terry, Jake Faria, Derek Fisher, Mario Sanchez, Wladimir Pinto, Kevin Merrill, Chance Sisco, J.C. Ramirez, Tyler Bashlor, Ariel Jurado, Tyler Viza, Daniel Robertson, Brandon Lawson, Steven Klimek, Cole Sturgeon, Jake Patricka, Hunter Wood, Michael Boyle, Nash Knight, Zach Huffins, Brandon Bishop, Ben Heller, Michael Feliz, Brad Peacock. That's a hellvuva a lot of guys who had major league experience and couldn't crack the Twins, let alone most of them didn't last the season. And then you egt prospects, that you have to get to a certain level in 4-5-6 years, or they depart. Yes, injuries were horrible in 2022. They hurt every position except for a brief time at shortstop and the Twins ahd third base covered. But everywhere else, especially in the outfield and rotation, the Twins ended up going with players like Contreras (good for him, getting to the majors, but...) and our beloved Jake (now an Oriole) Cave.

I worry about Arraez staying healthy. He needs to bat leadoff. Wish he was a "taller" guy at first, but...we need to play him somewhere. All the players mentioned above are trade chips if they stay healthy. I wished that Kepler was on the tading bloc this summer, but he went and got himself injured. Sigh. I now know why I am not a baseball general manager. You can't win in the job!

Let's Help! How much do you think a GoFundMe could raise!?!

It will be a loooooooooong off-season!

Cave in, former Twins prospect Jake Reed out, but got a pick-up by.....Red Sox. Remember Jake Reed?

I would consider Ryan, Duran and Miranda once spring training breaks, and maybe talk during the early months of next season.

Give me a good, solid right-handed bat who can play the outfield well and also be a designated hitter, and ahs the ability to come off the bench. Also, let's get a catcher who can also be a bat option, although I would settle for a dynamite throwout arm. We also need a stopgap shortstop and could sign a more "utility" like guy just to be on the bench.

Wander Javier will be the stopgap!

No one complained about short starts more than I. But the Twins had a gaggle of pitchers that needed to approach 150 innings, and giving them short starts was a way to also get nearly 30 starts out of the crop. Next year, Madea will be on an inning count. Paddack, too, but he ain't due back until August. WInder needs to throw more innings, but could funnel into a long relief role and spot start if he pitches well out of spring training. Gray, Ryan, Ober, Varland, Mahle, Wood Richardson could all comfortably pitch 150+ innings next season. Yes, it would be nice to have another...stud...in the rotation. I had hoped Jax would be a multi-inning guy. Moran seems to be able to pitch thru a batting order. Henrqiuez could become a long guy. I would've put mroe faith into Smeltzer being a multi-inning lefty, but he has walked.

Smeltzer elected free agency, as he qualified. Soto also has declared his free agency. Was on the major league roster, but didn't play.

I would have to think the Twins would be looking at #10-20 in the 2023 shortstop available class.

Cave was getting better-than-a-major-league-contract to play for the St. Paul Saints. Twins signed him for $800,000 back in November and removed him from the 40-man sometime thereafter. His choice, to play for the Twins somewhere or not get paid, unless another team also saw him as the bargain. We could question the Twins wisdom for this as the baseball season started to wind down come September and Cave was still playing, on his major league contract, in St. Paul. Jharel Cotton signed a similar deal with the Twins, thus why his up-and-odwn continued to happen. The Twins were paying him far more than a minor league salary to be a part of the organization, high enough that NO other team (until the end) wanted to take him off of the Twins hands. Granted, many minor league free agents get a tad better salary than the minor league base, and that also accounts for them staying with a team rather than walking, if possible, and returning to the minor league home, if the team will still have them. I give Cave points for hustle. He wants to play ball, especially major league ball. But considering that he ended up #8 in the depth chart, and would now be behind Wallner at #9 - but still ahead of Billy Hamilton - tells you how bad the Twins outfield situation was in 2022. Hey, he would even be once notch lower if Royce Lewis wasn't injured and played more than his game in the outfield. And, wait, the Twins even advanced Tim Beckham before Cave and felt the need to play him in the outfield. Cave is an arbitration eligible player, so you have to approach him in that fashion if you wish to keep him, otherwise, be interesting to see where he ends up...and continues his career shades of Robbie Grossman and Rob Refsnyder.

Still possibilities of trainers leaving for other jobs, or the Twins getting coach poached. Man, coaching has sure changed since the glory days of Billy Gardner and staying in a Motel Room at the Super 8, with a staff of Karl Kuehl, Jim Lemon, Tom Kelly, Johnny Podres and Jim Shellenback, and Rick Stelmaszek!

MLB TRADE RUMORS PREDICTS: Twins (12) Gio Urshela (5.127): $9.2MM Emilio Pagan (5.091): $3.7MM Tyler Mahle (5.018): $7.2MM Caleb Thielbar (4.131): $2.4MM Jorge Lopez (4.102): $3.7MM Danny Coulombe (4.008): $800K Chris Paddack (4.000): $2.4MM Jake Cave (3.137): $1.2MM Luis Arraez (3.121): $5MM Cody Stashak (3.064): $800K Jorge Alcala (3.014): $800K Kyle Garlick (2.163): $1.1MM Last season they signed Cave and paid him big bucks to play in the minors. Will they do the same with him and Garlick for 2023? Coulombe and Stashak will be interesting decisions. Both can remain good depth pieces.

You can always sig minor league free agents. The Twins signed around 40 last eason, with approx. 9-10 making time in the majors. But once spring training is underway, you will have two roster spots open up with Paddack and Canterino.

No Enlow. No Balazovic. Glad Henriquez made it (and he is still young, folks). Glad we had room to give shots to Chi Chi, Aaron, Davis, Thornburg (what, no Peacock?), Hamilton as well as a couple of past subjects. All those minor league free agent pitchers that didn't pan out...especially for the Saints. Shame!

Interesting to note that this was pretty much it in the minor league pipeline. Otherwise, it was grizzled old AAA guys: Beckham, Cave, Garlick, Hamilton, Soto (who never got an at bat, shades of Maggi), Godoy, Leon. The Saints roster was pretty much all minor league free agents at one point, on the offensive side.

There is a good chance that could happen! I mean, who wouldn't want to play for a team that seldom beats the Yankees!

Yes. Garlick is a minor league depth signing. Celestino should start the season again at AAA, as backup for Buxton. The twins have to make hard decisions out of spring training on Larnach, Kiriloff and especially Kepler. Wallner may not be ready. So nice if they would sign, at least, a worthy right-handed bat who can play the outfield and DH.