Rosterman

It's such a tough call, trading away players that another team may find as consistent regulars in 3-5 years for players to produce for you for 1-2 years, especially when you are not on the cusp of winning a dividison, let alone go into the post-season. Better, in the end, to play the market with mid-level free agents and jsut spend the extra monies while floundering like half of baseball in the standings.

Gotta figure out the emphasis you want to take, and don't feel bad if it is a different sport. Analytics/Information, public relations/press, operations of a ballpark, staffing and hiring, sales, marketing. If you can afford the minors, use that as a stepping stone, too.

What can you trade to get the guy in the off-season. Would will his value be mid-season for a contender. Any players you trade, where did you see them longterm helping the Twins. Royce Lewis may be one of the higher trade chips that the Twins can dangle because of potential, but he is still at least a season away from pulling good fulltime work, in the scheme of things. If he has a bad minor elageu season, does he start trending to be a Nick Gordon? That would be the big gamble.

You keep hoping the ccloser who isn't working will be a closer that works.

Yep, guys pitching every three days, with one or two solid rotation arms who can maybe get you to six innings, and a closer and anopther guy. If you work your 40-man roster right, you can have that light-rail actiuvity daily between St. Paul and Minneapolis. A guy pitches, goes back to St. Paul for a week while another arm comes in. Greata for prospects. Bad for minor league free agents without options. Great for getting guys to bhuild their esume. Long-term, not sure. If the Twins are going to have a bunch of starters who can barely pitch five innings, than maybe you need to really look at "opener." The strength of that position was that you would have a guy face, perhaps the first 7 batters in a lineup, with your starter coming in for an easy inning against the bottom of the order and batter #1 for his first inning of work, as well as throwing the hitters off-kilter because they have to immediately adapt to a new pitcher. It will also raise havoc on salaries. Still remember the days Frankie Rodriguez threwq a fit because the Twins wanted him to relieve, but he wanted to start because rotation arms got bigger contracts. (Frankie forgot that you also have to produce, and one can make a fine living as a bullpen arm and also get big money as a closer who throws only 40-50 innings). Pitching by committee seemed to work in the World Series. You still have a modicum of arms in the world of starters who cannot come into a game, but can warmup pre-game and do a good job of starting. That is a skill set (routine) that would be banished by such a move as tag-team pitching.

The Twins need an every fifth-day starter, who can push six (or even seven) innings consistently, and keep the team in the game. Period. Make all his starts. If he can keep his ERA below four, more power to him. Of course, that ahs Berrios written all over the description. Too abd the Twins couldn't have locked Berrios down a couple of years back. Now they have to pay the piper for someone possibly less efficient, older, and a roll of the dice for sure.

I;m hoping Ober can be pushed to 150 innings, and pitching at least five innings in a game. I would consider Ryan to be the fifth starter at this point with the chances of getting skipped, and hope you can get 120 innings out of the guy. 2022 will be BIG for Ryan. I want him to be the starter we all love, but I sadly see him becoming a Joe Nathan-like closer. The pain for the Twins is any number of other guys, from Balazovic, Winder, Duran, Sands - all will be on limited innings themselves. Seems the minor leagues this apst season were happy letting guys go four or even three innings rather than get into a decision situation, jsut to strecth them out but still limit innings. I see that happening to all of the fore mentioned, and doubt we see any of them until the end of the seson. The only pitcher that could possibly break the rotation would be Strotman, as spring training will be his time to shine in the sun (or Thorpe or Smeltzer, if they are still Twins). Of course Barnes and Jax could also be in the mix, as well as Dobnak.

The Twins only actually have to remove up to three names now to have prospect roster spot. Of course, there are easily a dozen candidates, and another go be jettisoned if you choose to Rule 5, and each free agent you sign can easily replace a name on the roster. But, yes, I would remove Dobnak. I doubt someone else would readily pick up his contract at this point, but the Twins would still have him sitting in the minors and working his way back to the team. You have to ask what is more important at some point, a 40-man spot for the guy, or paying him too much to pitch in the minors. That's what other teams would also look at.

So manmy trades because we had someone newer, probably better, and much cheaper coming to take the place of a player (shades of Doug Mientkiewicz in a mid-season three team trade, too). Of course, that is not across the board, as the Twins traded Garza, a highly touted draft pick for another draft pick, both with issues that most front offices hate to deal with. But keeping in this spirit, the Twins should definitely trade the now getting expensive Buxton because they can put Celestino in centerfield. And next year flip the now aging Celestino because you have to get the cheaper and more promising Martin or Lewis in the everyday lineup.

If anyone comes knocking, I would listen. I would also consider sweeting the deal with a prospect, if they take all the salary and...we get something half-way promising in return. The money can be better spent elsewhere, but sadly any team that might be a match for either player also needs to lok at the worth the player brings to them. Of course, both can be valuable additions if the National League switches to a designated hitter. Plus, both can play infield positions. Our choices for third are the unproven Miranda and the work-the-count singles guy Arraez. I don't see either as anything but a luxury, and suddenly a logjam IF you had to play either as an exclusive DH. At this point, I would be happier adding another catcher and makiing Garver the fulltime DH (who can also be the third catcher) with Kirilloff getting the 1st base job, and hoping we can land a leftfielder, third baeman and/or shortstop. I don't see the Twins digging themselves out of the cellar until they address Byron Buxton and his future with the Twins.

You are going to vastly overpay for a pitcher coming of a no-season who will demand a multi-year, or accept the QO from the Mets in hopes of getting an even bigger offer in a season. The other pitches less than Pineda at twice the cost. And the Twins are afraid to overpay the injury-plagued Buxton, or throw outrageous money at Berrios when they had the opportunity. My hopes are far from high that the Twins will be anywhere near contenders in 2022 unless a crop of rookies shine bright. And the White Sox, Guardians totally tank.

Both are good Hall of Fame picks.

Twins have one open spot. Have maybe 5 names, 7 at the furthest msot, to add from the minors. Still on the bubble now: Astudillo, Cave, Garlick, Rooker, Coulombe, Dobnak, Gant, Garza, Jax, Smeltzer, Stashak, Thorpe. Be interesting to see who goes!

Wade was a decent waiver claim. Talk about giving away a player.

Arbitration eligible. Servicable, but a high whip. Hoping, perhaps, to keep him in their minor league system but not on the 40-man.

Fun to see the winners in previous sesaons and thinking about where they are now.

The biggest decision is our belief in the front office. They say the team, will be competitive in 2022. To do that, they must improve on a lot of players that played last season (Kepler, Sano, Jefferies), fill some major holes at shortstop/ leftfield/ bullpen...and have pitchers that can actually pitch more than five innings in a game and maybe, just maybe, give you close to 200 innings of work. You have to ask who on the roster is actually tradable and what they can bring back to the team besides prospects, of which the Twins have their own fair share. Of course we may consider the Twins somewhat prospect rich, although baseball as a whole has a lot of underseasoned prospects who will be jettisoned by teams in the coming month, too. Are any of our prospects worthy of being loved so much by an over-salaried team, or a team feearing their own potential free agents, that they want to badger the Twins front office with communication. Then it boils down to money, how much, how many years in a contract. We see what happened when the front office proved to us that they would spend money bigtime on Donaldson. They got applause, until you start thinking about it in the long-run. Plus, any free agent looking to come to the Twins will come for one reason only - to rebuild themselves into a bigger and better future contract. If the difference is 10-15% in dollars, players will look closely at the winning possibilities, as well as how the market plays to their own success. Baseball is, after all, a team sport. You are only as good as the players around you, and a bad team can bring you down, or they end up trading you, which wasn't your choice when you signed and committed, but is part of the game.

One year of Sean? Three guys who all faced injuries last season? Not sure if can, or would want to sign Sean longterm. Could Sano play better in Fenway or Yankee Stadium? I would trade Garver to Florida if you can get a rotation arm...plus a prospect or two. Donaldson then becomes the primary DH who can also play in the field. But does DOnaldson NOT want to play in the field. Of course, you can rotate with Kirilloff and Miranda. I do expect Miranda will struggle some. I would like to see him placed fulltime in a position and go from there. Rooker or someone in left until we get Larnach back. Of course, the Twins could deal Buxton and/or Kepler, too. What a mes in the outfield. The Twins have decent guys in the minors like Kerrigan, Contreras, Boyd, WHiefield (and Wallner), but none are the long-term solution to any of the outfield positions right now. Martin and Lewis WILL BE in the hunt at some point. Celestino could play everyday if you are rebuilding rather than being competitive. Buxton is the true key to the outfield and you go from there. I would gamble 3 years at $60 and hope you get 350 games out of him in the field. I don't know if I would gamble 7 years with the potential for 500 games, as well as him shifting to one of the corners in 4-5 years max.

I'm suddenly seeing the Twins resign (and early) ann three of the free agents. Of course, Colome is either an acceptance by him or a buyout. Pineda may be grabbed, as well as Simmons, for decent prices that the front office can't refuse. Expecially with the collective bargaining agreement out there. My gripe on any of the three is evaluating their worth at this season's trade deadline. They got the Twins nothing. Na-na for legit offers. And, in a losing season, the Twins chose to give all three innings that better could've been given to players for the team's future...if nothing else for experience, and certainly evaluation. $15 million for the three may be in the works. Too much? Too little? What else could you egt for $15 million to make the team better!

Berrios and Buxton are going to be really great -- for other teams. Twins banked on a bunch of arms that never materialized.

If we are cleaning house, might as well add Garver into the mix and pick up some bodies from Florida. The flaw is twosome. First, if the Twins are jettisoning proven major league talent for prospects, what would motivate someone to come here, unless they have a really good idea of whom will be abcking them up at first base, third bse, centerfield and, for all intents and purposes, shortsop. Not to mention a bullpen with no lights out stopper of late jettisoning blankly, at least, a strong setup guy. If I would be signing a multi-year contract, I would want to see a lot of guys doing the same. But that doesn't happen these days as a group effort. Who would be the signing leader (and for how much). Second is, again, back to roster construction. Right now, looking at the Twins current and intended 40-man roster for the season, you have a tough time seeing 26 standout guys who will hold their places on the roster. You see a lot of filler or potential. Plus, suddenly, you are expecting betters from Kepler and Jeffers, potential from Kirilloff and Larnach, and that Arraez can play third. The rotation is still a mess, and if you sign a lot of guys (or trade for other top arms), you pretty much are passing over the next potential cropy of arms in the Twins system. How mych faith do you put into Balazovic, Duran, Winder, Sands, Enlow, Ryan, Ober, Woods-Richardson, even Strotman and Barnes, to be a part of Twins destiny. Are they not worthy? If not, then why keep them! I have oft admired Billy Beane how he manages to shuffle playes, dealing them out and about, like with a whim, but still always fielding a decent team. In Minnesota, we want more than to be contenders in the Central and get wiped in the playoffs. It ain't happening with any masive free agent signings. The team has to position thru traes or development to be in a position where one or two free agents, even in beaking the bank one-year style, can come in and give the team that boose. How rich can you make a farm system of unprovens? We have that, right now, if we can keep them healthy. If scouting is correct, we can trade vets and or prospects for real pieces.

I would want to keep all three for fodder for next season. They have to be better than the majority of arms the Twins waded out. Hamilton would have to be sent thru waivers (again) if added to the 40-man and cut at any time. So you want to be pretty sure that you will use him, or maybe just keep him at AAA with a slightly inflated minor league contract. He wilal be able to ask around for his services. Same with Ryan Mason, who (I believe) is also a minor league free agent. The Twins elevated him to AAA to see if they need to add him to the roster. Cano will get more time at St. Paul, but a lovely addition. As we saw with Moran, you want the ability give guys time to get hit a bit, and then go work on stuff. Wish the Twins ahd done that earlier on Moran so they could send him back-and-forth, rather than keep bringing up guys like Barraclough, Vincent and the ink. But the Twins sooooooo wanted one of these minor league free agent guys to find a permanent palce on the 40-man. Of course, in the bigger scheme of things, the Twins need to make hard choices on Smeltzer, Thorpe and Stashak. Are any of them bullpen arms going forth. Same with Bryan Sammons and Griffin Jax...both could be bullpen opportunists, probably as good as any waiver wire pickups. All of the five mentioned above could forego 40-man roster spotting and hopefully stay with the Twins on a minor league contract status. Another intriguing name is Judson Gore. The Twins kept him in Wichita so he may be passed in the Rule 5. But he could quickly advance as a bullpen arm in 2022.

All these college guys that didn't get much play before season's end. Be interesting to see where some of them start, after the Fall Instructional league and other work at the Ft. Myuers complex.

I can stomach Sano if ALL the other postion players are playing their competitive skillset. But in a team of weak bats, we don't need a solo home run guy when he does hit one, and all his strikesouts when men are on base. If we are stuck with Donaldson, time to say goodbye to Sano and see if Miranda can work into the mix, especially if Garver also can play 1st or be a regular DH. If Sano and Garver were bvoth traded away, I would strongly consider reuniting with Crus for another season. Right now the Twins are like a House, the model home, that has some geat touches (Sano, Donaldson), but wouldn't you rather have something useful than what just looks good on paper.

Sounds good. Would love for all of that to happen. Two free agent bullpen arms and two free agent pitchers. You have to jettison three guys from the current 40-,am roster. A fourth if you do sign a shortstop. Starting the season with Celestino and Kirilloff in the outfield, Jeffers catching. Is Rooker still on the team? I would be even more pleased if could move Donaldson and get some of that payroll back!