Rosterman

So why not have players get real comfortable in a position that they can play for their career. Why I remember seeing a guy in right field, just the other day, play a inside-the-park home run ball that the regular rightfielder wouldn't have had happen. You bring in someone as a defensive replacement late in a =wipeout game to give the regular a rest.

If all five of these guys open 2023 with the team, I will be happy. Lewis has a road to climb, actually a mountain. Him and Duran just need the playing time against experienced folks. Martin will be joining him there. Balazovic will start the season there and graduate to the Twins, one hopes. Woods-Richardson will be pushed at Wichita to move to AAA. Quit being down on Lewis. He is only 22. As is Martin. One played collegiate level, one went thru the ranks of minor league ball, which is a learning experience of its own. Fun he we go from a season of Dobnak, Smeltzer, Thorpe in the wings to instead have them replaced by Barnes, Ober and Jax with Sands, Ryan, Strotman, Winder in the wings...and Duran and Balazovic still in the promised prospect camp. And we also have Colina and Enlow in the near mix. Jeez. Talk about prospects keeping us from going out and spending money on a legit arm!

He is one of those guys that you like a a fourth outfielder, someone who plays with heart and soul. And given a full season of play will also give you his best. Names like Robbie Grossman, Lew Ford, pop up. As long as there is a job open (and every team has them), and your salary demands are within reason, well, Cave will play - health saying - for at least five more seasons. Look at the Twins this season. They let Wade and Baddoo go elsewhere. They went out and signed Broxton who was in the hunt at spring training, but lost out to Garlick, neither as good overall as Cave at the moment, but turned out to be worthwhile. They also had Refsnyder in the mix. Broxton really tanked at AAA in the early months, otherwise he would've been here. Cave gave the Twins one important step - he could be a better than average centerfielder. Someone better than using your spare infielder. He can play center better than most, which is what you want. Can we write off his hitting woes as tied into his back? Perhaps. Chances are Cave won't be on the roster come post-season. A younger face will probably need to be protected, and he will enter free agency, still with an opportunity to return to the Twins (money), or go elsewhere if there is an opportunity with another team to be a regular.

We will get a true picture of the minor leagues going into next season. After the washed-out 2020, in which the Twins did pay all their minor league guys, we saw the Twins front office front-load the upper two levels with more than 30 minor league free agents. The ONE big issue has been injuries. Currently the Twins have Duran, Colina, Dobnak, Smeltzer on the 40-man roster. Earlier they had Thorpe and Balazovic. Plus you have assorted other names out with injuries. Not to mention names like Sands and Enlow and Canterino who would all be playing above current roster space. Not to mention Winder. The Twins are carrying/relying on a lot of pitchers that just aren't...pitching. We sit here in Twins Daily land and seldom look at the big picture day-to-day. 40-man roster management is an art. Every player in the system is evaluated on where they are today, should be tomorrow, will they move too fast and need to be added to a tight 40-man, or flare out a bit and be grabbed by someone else. I can see the Twins holding back on Sands, Enlow and Villamont with hopes no one will see them major league ready and allow the Twins to get another year of minor league play before making their own hard decision. The washed out 2020 season allowed players to move towards their own free agency, but there will be a helluva a lot of players switching organizations come this winter because they have stagnated in an organization, grew older, and jobs will be harder to find as organizations suddenly have a full draft of guys to put into their system. I like what Falvey and Levine have done with the coaching throughout the system, bringing in collegiate coaches, and getting a solid system in place. Making Fr. Myers your low-A team to also feed off of the FCL League is great. The Twins have a wonderful complex. I may disagree on many of the free agent choices, but did expect better results overall. I do keep thinking back to all those early extra innings lost. If we had dominated, we would be sitting where Cleveland is right now. I will blame the front office for not spending on a first rate closer and a #1 starting pitcher, both in limited supply. Would the Twins have been better served with Hendricks in tow? Keeping May? Well, they get to try again, see if anyone wants to come here. If I have a frustration, it is more on the field. Establish your couple of severe batting orders and stick with them. Get players and give them a position. So many guys have played anywhere and everywhere. Maybe it is fun for them, but it reminds me of T-ball. And don't be afraid to cut guys, NOT just the revolving 40th player thru the bullpen staff, but others. Especially in a losing season. Total looksee has to be on 2022 and beyond. Yeah, Colome and Coulombe are fine, Burrows needs a long look, Farrell may be a keeper if you like Wisler. But if these guys are truly coming back in 2022, you can probably still get them, and keeping them on your roster doesn't make it any more likely that they will come back once the season ends anyway. Falvey and Levine are still dealing with the previous administration. I ask myself every year "what to do with Sano." Kepler signed a decent extension, and may end up being the 4th outfielder because of it. We saw them pull the plug on Berrios to go in their own direction, and that deal looks good. They seem to be prepping for a team without Buxton, although we pretty much have been that way for 2021. Lots of player decisions. 26 players need to be here that can play, Preferably all year, in Target Field. Another 10 have to be ready to play from Day One to 30 days out. We can't have a roster full of guys who gave little to the major league club in 2021, starting with Buxton's paltry 27 games and including no shows from Duran, Balazovic (so far), Colina. Little from Thorpe and Smeltzer. Pitiful from Happ and Shoe and Colome. Guys like Stashak eating up a spot with Law and Farrell. At one point our outfield was Rooker, larnach and Refsnyder. That says it all, and definitely not the plan Falevine saw going forth! Plus an infield of Garver, Astudillo, Polanco, Sano.

Who plays where? We all like Arraez in the lineup, often leading off. He works the count. Gets on base. But we hate him at second, Donaldson is better at third, and he just isn't the hitter we want in right or left (not that Kepler and Larnach are making us happy.) We all hate Polanco at shortstop. Yet if we don't have Simmons, who do we have at short - Polanco. At least until the arrival of Martin & Lewis, and then we have to wonder who will actually play where and when. At what point do those guys make us not feel bad if Buxton walks. Since this is about Gordon, is he just a solid utility guy, for at least another season? Can he play 2B/SS/3B/OF as necessary? If so, his speed is good, but is he a better bet than Astudillo? Is he more valuable than Jake Cave? Should Cave be repalced next season by the older Refsnyder? Is there any reason Cave, Garlick, Refsnyder should be kept on the 40-man, considering as long as we have Sano, Kirillof will be playing the outfield, or playing 1B/DH with Sano, Garver and maybe Rooker. Is Rooker long for the Twins in the off-season? If the Twins don't resign Cruz, then I picture Garver/Sano will be the primary DH with a little bit of Rooker in the mix. Which means Garver will also be the third catcher a la Astudillo, with Rortvedt coming up fulltime to spell Jeffers. Man, in some ways I'm tired of all this positions shuffling. The other night Garver at first, Astudillo at second, someone at short, Sano at third. An outfield of Larnach, Refsnyder, Rooker? Who's anywhere? But the Twins will go into the off-season before making final 40-man decisions with Cave, Refsnyder, Gordon, Rooker and possibly Astudillo. They have a few people to add because of Rule 5, Lewis the top one - Enlow, Sands, Villamont, Winder, Sisk are all at AA so not as appetizing. They have Javier, Weil, Watson, Moran, Miranda, Lujan and Wells, Maciel, Cabbage, Bray, Ryan, Caleb and Ian Hamilton, Vasquez all approaching (I believe) minor league free agency. Who will go, who will walk away, who might stay will be the question.

I would also put Miguel Sano into the mix, if he can get his average up and approach the 25-homer mark. But who do the Twins have to replace. Well, with Rogers, anyone they could BUY as a closer. There seems to be some left-handed ams in the minors on the cusp, and we can still drag out Columbe and Thielbar for another season...I guess. Miranda will be added to the 40-man. The question is more if he will come up in September and get some exposure, Thus do you go with Donaldson and hope he IS tradable next trade deadline. Getting rid of two outfielders. I would rather see Kirilloff at first base, thus keeping Kepler and his contract, still, in Minnesota. I think the Twins will play out half-the-season with Buxton, unless he does return for 25-30 games and really rakes. We need value for him. I would rather see him help us in center and play for his free agent contract with all his abilities in 2022 and just give him a qualifying offer and get a top signing...or trade at mid-season. I see the Twins sticking with Rooker and Garver as possible DH candidates, also capable of playing first, which means the Twins will have another catcher on the roster besides Jeffers. September is important. Do the Twins look at anyone and everyone they can fit into the current 40-man musical chairs, or not.

As long as you can keep him on the 40-man, he has more option seasons. When I saw him enter the waievr field, thought "oh, my!"

Be interesting to see how the Twins rotate starter prospects into the mix. I imagine we should see Balazovic and Sands brought up, not to mention Stortman. Just so they get a taste of the major leagues. I wonder if the Twins would consider using someone like Gant as a regular opener for the younger starters. I also don't see the Twins wanting to shut down a guy like Over before the season is over. The question is do you just keep him at the 50-60 pitch level or push that upwards towards 100. Also will be interesting to see if fall instruction league exists and who the Twins send to whatever is Wieetr Ball.

Now it is all about minor league management and where you see such players as Sano, Kepler, Polancio, Garver come 2023 or 2024. There are supposedly 12-a4 plays on the cusp of AA thru Triple-A (although the Saints roster is mostly AAA guys now until a few move up from Wichita. If that is rue, the Twins need to find 40-man spots for those guys in the next two seasons. Five should easily come forward by this season's end, with tryouts in the majors in September (the Twins may actually be making few 40-man moves come November than ever). 2022/2023 will see basically big expenditures for Donaldson. If his salary was removed, the Twins could spend bigtime on one front-line starter and one real-time closer. They can play their dumpster diving for some bullpen arms (many of whom are already on the 40-man or in St. Paul) as well as that spare outfielder/infielder (most of whom are also at AAA St. Paul). They need to address training and conditioning. So many players down. Waiting for the total of games lost by players to injuries in this season compared to any other. When you have 5/6 guys on the 60-day, well.......

Time to elevate Sands and Balazovic to St. Paul.

The Twins were being, naturally, cheap. Looking for a massive hometown discount. Hunter walked, Cuddyer left. Nathan moved on. Yes, the Twins offered $80m, at first. Then went to $90. Then hinted at $100. During the process, I believe Santana's agent was also able to talk to the variety of interested clubs and get an idea if they could sign him longterm. That happened and the trade went forward with a $137 6-year contract that could push it to $150 million. Like Berrios, Santana saw dollar signs. Why not. He also wanted to go to one of the major markets for baseball, be it Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston or New York. A pitcher like Johan was also looking at the secondary dollars that come with name branding and commercial ventures. But, like so many, you can be a regular fish in a BIG marketplace, or stayed in Minnesota and be the Kemps or Subway King of Minnesota. The Twins probably could've pushed to $120 million for six years. And, quite frankly, they should've. Like Corey Koskie, you wonder if Santana's career would've continued strong if he had stayed and been a Minnesota icon rather than chasing the almigty dollar. And when a player is NOT returning to a club (remember the demanding Chuck Knoblauch), the paying club is somewhat in the driver's seat. The Twins got Humber. I believe they originally wanted Pelfrey at the time. The Yankees supposedly offered Cabrera, Hughes, Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy. The Twins didn't want Cabrera. The Red Sox offered Lester, Crisp, Bowen and Lowrie. The Twins wanted Ellsbury. The Red Sox countered with Buchholz rather than Lester.. But nothing could be put in stone and the Mets suddenly became the players in the game, only. The Twins got Humber, who had to be put on the roster. They got Gomez, who should've been sent to the minors for some seasoning. They got Mulkey, or eventually got us Jon Rauch. And Deois Guerra, who spent SEVEN YEARS in the Twins system leaving at the ripe age of 25 and ahs pitched in 100+ games since, okay. You have to hope that the Twins were running the board this round, that San Diego, Mets, Blue Jays and a couple of other teams were making offers you'd be a fool to refuse while scouting secondary options that may be more fruitful. Sometimes it is a tough call. You can't expect a hometown discount. You should actually be paying a hometown bonus because the guy ahs been toiling for your team for the past six/seven years (or in Buxton's case, working part-time for six of the past seven). Good luck to Berrios. He has the incentive to be the BEST pitcher he can be looking for a payday. So many things can happen between then and there. And then you have to always hope that the player will have the same "in play" as they beak the bank but still need to come to work and play every fifth day for the next half-a-decade.

I think Jax will be a solid back of the rotation starter, and hopefully find a career as a solid middle multi-inning relief guy. The Twins will let him start, I hope, to stretch him out and be a possibility in 2022. He ahs to be able to go thru an order three times to stay in the rotation long-term.

Berrios Time. The starting pitcher names I most remember are the oldtimers...Perry, Blyleven, Pascual, Kaat. We had shortimers like Grant and Chance. Then we get into Goltz, Radke, Tapani, Viola, Santana and shortimers Erickson and Lirano. Santana, Perry, Viola had better WHIPS. All the oldtimers had better ERAs. Everyone else started more games in their career for the Twins (except Chance and Grant). A homegrown talent who got away (hey, Matt Garza was another that left too soon). Goodbye, Jose! Will be interesting to see how well you pitch heading into free agency and how the money will flow in your direction.

Gotta get that #1 stopper relief pitcher. I am excited about Moran, Cano and possibly Hamilton. The question is how gets cycled (or recycled) for the rest of the season. The sooner the Twins part ways with Colome the better. A top of the order starter. Yes, Noah would be fine by me. I have faith that the Twins will look at Balazovic and Winder still. Remember, we also have Dobnak! And Smeltzer and Thorpe are still in the mix, I guess. Catcher is fine with Garver also able to play first base or DH. DH is fine with Rooker, and Garver/Sano as relief. Maybe even a resting place for Donaldson. Arraez, Polanco, Gordon, Lewis should be able to hold down the infield. I might like a better backup body that Alstudillo for third base, but.... An outfield of Kepler, larnach and Buxton is fine. Kirillof needs to be a regular, and maybe bump Sano more to the bench or DH (or Miguel can stay in shape and be our third base backstop). I'm not seeing an issue with a backup in the outfield. I hope we maybe see more of Refsnyder. Maybe not too much more of Cave. Maybe time to see Contreras. But the Twins showed that for outfield depth you can troll AAA free agents: Garlick, Reysnyder, Broxton...shouldn't be a problem to find a fourth outfielder. Two questions: who are the Twins pending minor league free agents of note? Who are the names the Twins have to look at hard for the Rule 5 draft. Wander Javier back in the plans? If he Twins spend money, they need to do it on a front rotation arm, a proven starter, and maybe bring back Pi9neda. I'm not sure if Cruz really fits into the picture anymore. September will be the time to look at everyone really really hard who you think might play in 2022 and get them on an off-season program to come to spring training strong and hungry.

The toughest job is 40-man roster construction. Who to protect, who to jettison, who to forget, who to hide. Baddoo was hidden, waaaay back in the minors due to injuries. Taking him was taking a big chance. He was behind Celestino and Larnach and Kirilloff and Rooker....so he was waaaaaay out of the picture. You keep a Cave (or a LaMonte Wade) as off-season 40-man adds have to stay on the roster unless traded until spring training is way underway. So you need a player or three to jettison if you sign a free agent. Miranda was missed? Well, the Twins don't see fit to add and bring up the guy, so it was doubtful that any other team would also make that choice. The Twins, going into 2021, needed to sign a top of the rotation starter on the level or Berrios.2, Someone a year or two older that is deserving of a longterm multi tens of millions contract. They didn't. They went to the slush pile of Shoemaker, Happ and Pineda, with the hopes that Ballazovic and Duran would need innings and these guys could be happily flipped at the trading deadline for riches. The Twins needed a bonafide closer. Not a closer by committee,. No a diamond in the rough. Not someone who Wes Johnson could magically transform. They didn't. Sure, they lost Clippard and Romo and Wisler and whatever. They also lost May, who might've been closer material and really didn't go for an outrageous contract. But instead they have gone to the trash-heap. Look at all the names waiting in the wings: Shepherd, Leyer, Hamilton, Albers, Nunn, Barraclough, Gilmartin, Lau, Garcia, Vincent, Harvey, Williams not to mention time and money spent on Coulombe, Law, Farrell, Anderson, Minaya, Waddell...and don't get me talking Colome and Robles. Let's put all that cha-ting into one contract and get someone actually good. And on offense, it all revolves around Sano, where and how much he plays, when he wants to play. At some point, you make it a non-issue and someone else's problem. Plus, yes, you could've kept Wade (or Baddoo) and rode without Cave. The Twins showed there is plenty of outfielders of that status to be had putting Garlick, Refsnyder and almost Broxton into the mix. Okay, Baddoo wasn't on the cusp (like Lrnach and Kirilloff) so he was blocked, blocked, blocked folks. Agree with that. He was 10 spots away from the Twins in the minds of the front office, depending on what he would do in a full-season of play in AA ball, soemthing Celestino should be doing rather than running around in the majors. Is it hard to sign starting pitchers? Then the Twins needed to be the best friend Jose Berrios ever had and figure out a way to keep him. DO you like what you see rather than spin blindfolded and buy in the open market? Then you keep your Trevor May. You resign Byron Buxton because he is Mr. Twin right now. You show other players that the Twins can be your lifetime in the majors leagues, not just a losing steppingstone to bigger markets and contracts elsewhere where you are forgotten (Johan, are you listening...what did New York do for you - you would've been KING of Minnesota baseball). Us fans have to realize that running a team IS HARDER than sitting in our armchair and dreaming up trades that get rid of mediocre players for great ones, advancing prospects before they are ready, shuffling names on and off a roster not realizing that they do have to go somewhere. Right now, let's recognize the NEWE core the Twins have to build around, what that core will cost tomorrow and five years into the future, and what needs to be done to supplement it. Supposedly money isn't an issue. If the fan base returns, totally in 2022 then the Twins should be looking at $150m+ for payroll. There is absolutely no reason they can't be competitive in the top free agent market.

It's so hard. The Twins are looking at who will return to the roster in 2022. Who they need to see who they may/may not be keeping because of 40-man considerations, Rule 5, six year free agents. In some ways, we will see a cycle threw of some odd names. Hamilton will either get a looksee and will be jettisoned, or kept on the 40-man. The pain is for every name added, someone has to go. CASE IN POINT: We traded Cruz and Faucher for two pitchers. One takes the place of Cruz on the 40-man, but someone, ultimately we lost a position player. But in the end, we do have to add the other Ray acquire to the 40-man, which means a player has to go in his place. Okay: case-in-point that the Twins WILL have plenty of roster spots with free agent departures. But both Tampa players HAVE TO BE ADDED. Not sure if Moran or Cano needs to be added. Hamilton would have to be added to be kept. If they don't, he will surely walk. But he also needs to stay once added or he will also walk. Our current trouble is all the players on the IL, including our top two starting prospects in Duran and Balazovic. Throw in Smeltzer and Thorpe and Stashak. That's now five pitchers that the Twins would pretty much keep, but seeing little results. So, a couple may be gone just because.....

Well, Pineda increased his trade value. Donaldson is making himself look valuable.

The pain is that any team trading for Berrios might only be looking at him as a rental, too. Berrios seems intent on going for the biggest bucks possible following his 2022 season. What that means, though, is that anyone having him on the roster NEXT season should expect super numbers. But if you are trading for the guy now, in July 2021, you really can't negotiate with him or his agent unless you make the trade. Am I right on this? Unless you are totally going to blow him away with an offer the day after the trade (like $150m for five years, option to get out in Year 3, etc. etc.)

I feel so bad for Rooker. You have Garlick and Refsnyder both holding 40-man positions. You have Celestino rushed, but shows promise. Cave is back. Both Larnach and Kirilloff are here to stay. Until the Twins figure out if they are keeping Cruz and the eventual fate of Sano, there is no place for Rooker in the inn. Especially when the Twins are more than happy to play Arraez or Gordon in the outfield, too. Happily Rooker has increased his value as a possible trade chip, or for himself if the Twins choose to move on from him in the off-season. WHich brings he question - you are making additions/deletion decisions on the 40-man. Who do you keep of Rooker, Cave, Garlick, Refsnyder, Astudillo?

The pain with Berrios is that any team that trades for him will be in the same boat as the Twins, have to pony up an undecided dollar figure to resign the guy. Things like that can better happen in the off-season where a team can weigh-in with an agent the probability of what the player wants. Otherwise, Berrios is just a rental. The joy of trading either is that if the team they are traded to can't resign them, you can also enter the bidding war. Same with Buxton. He can play out his contract, hope for a suepr 2021, and the sky is the limit.

I see Gore has been moved to Wichita!

They Twins still had their closer Colome available! Tag-teamed with Thielbar, they might've pulled it off even with two runners on base and no outs!

Donaldson is seeing his name in the news more than he probably would've expected, signing the possible five-year Twins contact to end his career. You hear the good about how you can help others as well as the bad about how not doing well at all. The trading part of the calendar is something I'm sure most players would just like to avoid, but don't...because it IS there! The Twins are currently being either over-coached or under-coached, depending on the glasses you are wearing. Us fans in the stands ask "why aren't they doing certain things" and others just wonder "why everyone seems to be too careful out there."

It's a tough call. You don't want to advance, then send them down all next season (or beyond) as 40-man spots are precious. You will probably go with folks like Ian Hamilton and Andrew Vasquez, who if they bomb you can just let them walk before making the ahrd decisions in the fall. It would be nice of Smeltzer, Dobnak and Thorpe came back and actually pitched as starters. Then I would feel better about Pineda and Happ leaving and Ober being shutdown because of innings. Of course we all wanted to see Duran and Balazovic this season, but now seems unlikely. I had precious hopes for Griffin Jax. Hopefully he will get another start or two and a decision can be made. But I see them ONLY bringing up prospects at this time who would be protected come the 40-man revision in the Fall. Anyone NOT on that list would be a longshot.

With waiver claims, you most often NEED a 40-man spot to put the player, and you put a player on waivers because you want to advance to your 25-man roster someone from your system. Often a roster as placeholders for just that reason. Or you hope you can claim them, and them option them down to the minors, off the 40-man. But you always run the risk of losing the guy in the off-season (shades of Zack Littell). Go back and look at transactions and see how many guys the Twins have been signing of late in the minors, often to be potential replacements for waiver wire guys that they may need to replace if booted from the roster (Derek law and Danny Coulombe are two recents, not to mention what might transpire if the Twins decide to send out Garlick or Refsnyder). During the season you take a gamble claiming a guy on waivers. Often better to just let it past and the guy plays out the year somewhere else and eventually becomes a minor league free agent that you can choose to sign in the off-season.