Rosterman

Surprised that Granite is still on the 40-mn after his season. He had a missed opportunity last year, and Cave stepped it up and took a position for regular play. But, I think, Cave still ahs options. So if the Twins feel a need to keep the bat of Austin he could start in the minors (with the excuse that they want him to play regularly). Reed and Wade are further insurance. So, it looks like the Twins are set for the outfield for 2019.

Who did we cut?

Pretty much all just getting to come 10 days early and work out with the major league guys. Wondering who the minor league free agent invites are. See they just signed another half dozen guys.

When you start plugging in longer term free agent or two, you have a club built around them, in which those free agents do fill obvious holes, Right now the Twins have a roster with, perhaps, 20-21 holes. It seems no one is in the longterm plans on the current roster, otherwise the Twins would be going out of their way to extend the players. The couple obvious choices for extension are Berrios (they better do something) and Rosario (do you really want to build a franchise around him). So many questions that needed answers last season and the Twins didn't get them, but the promise is still there, so you take another and much longer look. The Twins are playing for the future, the promise of the signings of the current administration becoming the team of the future. Look at the current 40-man roster. ho on the roster should be here in 2020. Who should be here in 2021. Who in 2022. You are better to ask who "might" and some of those "mights" are still in the minors. Kepler and Buxton are still questionable. Sano is a big question for an esxensiuon. The Twins have no 2B/ss. They have patchwork at 1B. The atching is a mess. Not that any/all of these guys could play well in 2019. But the only proven given is an aging DH. The rotation has three guys entering free agency and one longer extension candidate. They have a bunch of starters that you hope can pitch you into the 6th inning. Hope is the big word. The bullpen has no closer and a couple of overworked setup guys, and the usual mix of arms with a couple in the wings. Anyone you want to extend? ANyone you can live without? Before you say May and Rogers, really think about that. Yes, the Twins could sign a couple of HUGHE free agents. But now, they are rebuilding. The pieces they have MIGHT make them competitive if the players want big money in the future (something that should've also happened last year with names like Santana, Lynn, Dozier, Morrison all playing for BIG contracts in the years ahead.) There is a plan. We have to be patient. The front office WANTS to make a team and organization in their own image. It takes time (sadly), but once the pieces start falling into place, we MIGHT have success and actually get young conrollable longterm free agents.

Again if the Twins spend 50% of new revenue above and beyond then tell me what the other 50% is silent on. Operating costs stay pretty stable with cost of living increases. There might be s slight uptick in draft monies but money sient on the limits stays stable. You mighg make a new beer garden but that should pay fir itself. Again spending $130 million on $260 million different then doebding $100 million on $200 million...you have $30 million being soent on what? Stadium beds reduction?

Interesting signing. We have Berrios and Gibson in the toration. Odorizzi needs to pitch more than 5 innings. Pineda is coming off an i jury season. Mejia is out of options but can he go more than 5 innings. Everyone else CAN start at Rochester and make for a nice reserve. If nothing else, Perez and Mejia can battle for a relief role, the winner making the rotation. The bigger question: who is cut?

Yes. but we can't have 5-inning starters. Still out on Odorizzi. Wonder if Pineda will be ready. Still questionable about Mejia also getting the innings. And Gonsalves and Stewart are still unproven. So that is WHY the Twins MAY need to have a first-rate rotation arm if they wish to be HIGHLY competitive. But I think the arms and talent are there in the bullpen for this season and a preview of next.

So who goes? Vote for Magill or Duffey, although the Twins could cut ties with Granite.

I start to look at the list as assets going into 2020, too. See a drop off of at least four names in the next year, sadly. Although a couple of those COULD remain if they are better than OTHER product out there.

I don’t see Cron or Austin being the future of the Twins anyway be it 2020 or even beyond. Rally and Rooker should be battling fir s place on the roster and first basemen are nit a hard commodity to find if you need a place setter for the moment. I hope they do keep Austin thru spring training just in case and keep him st AAA.

I just hope Sano reports in shape and IS a third baseman. I also hope they still keep Austin until the final day of spring training. You never know. I don't think the Twins need more starters. They have to see what they have. And I would be satisfied with letting Pineda, Gibson and Odorizzi being tradebait at mid-season. The bullpen...I would only add by subtracting, and be harsh. Can you do better than Reed, and eat his salary? But any signings in relief take the place of some lesser body on the 40-man.

Well, since Royce and Alex are still Twins for the next 7-9 years more of less. Would you go 4 with an option, or 5 years. Would you spend $100 million to tie him to the Twins (what can you give as an upfront bonus compared to yearly payouts)?

Bigger Question: What is the Twins Rotation in 2020 and how do we get there. Berrios Gonsalves Littell Thorpe Mejia DeJong Slegers May Romero Stewart Poppen Wells Alcala Who do you really push. Who is a better fit for the bullpen. Can you get most of them a half season of work in 2019 at the major league level.

Sadly I don't see any of the current team guys as a longterm Twin, even Berrios will become trade fodder once it looks like he may be too expensive. If the Twins sign Lewis or Kiril to a long-long term deal down the road, yes. It is going to be a strange decade, the next ten years of Twins ball.

Right now, the three are hungry. They should produce (especially Gibson) like they have never ever produced before. Of course, having a decent lineup and guys in the field would help any of them. The Twins need to take stock of what they have on the verge and on the horizon. I think they have enough. Pitch the three, trade them. If you feel the need to extend one...try to do so as the season progresses. Right now I a even wary that extending any would still make it possible to trade them in the future. Thus, a rebuilding team fer sure.

You really don't see a need to sign any of these guys longterm, especially with the attitude coming out of the front office that these are players of yore and MAYBE not the future of the team, as they see it...and any arbitration salaries for the future will be happily accepted or the players moved before they become too expensive. Except Berrios.

Twins lukced out. Got to keep guys no one wanted but was better than anyone they might've chosen.

I would rather go with what we have and say no no no no to all of the above no matter how cheap.

I wish the 8-man bullpen was a thing of the past. It may not be if you have to throw out 1-inning pitchers to start a game. But not sure how that will work. The Twins could with a shorter bullpen, except we don't know if Pineda can pitch five innings, we know Odorizzi can get to a sixth inning as he didn't show it last season. 100 pitch counts means guys come up short...Romero included. Ca the Twins transform a couple of their starters-to-be to bullpen arms like ground-ball Stewart and left Mejia? Would seem logical. How many one inning setup men do you need pitching every other day, i.e. Hildenberger getting overused. It hurts the bench, which needs a backup catcher (Garver) an infielder (Adrianza) and a guy who can play the outfield or maybe somewhere else (Cave, Willians). The days of a defensive replacement, a pinch runner, or a pitch hitter are moot. Maybe it is tie for the majors to expand rosters to 27 or 28 players so you can have those extra arms, since so few pitchers actually pitch 200 innings and a relief pitcher shouldn't be needed 80 times in a season. And nice to have some bench strength. I think the union would love the extra salaries for "fringe" potential players to get a shot at the majors. Or maybe you are allowed to carry the extra players, but only allow 25 to suit up for a game (okay, you already gave four arms that don't really suit up to play in a game already). But this is about Austin. He showed power. All or nothing. Not much in the batting average. Lots of k's. But he should get a strong look in spring training as the Twins lose him if he goes back to the minors. I keep thinking about Chris Parmelee who had a good late-season run. And then I think of former Yankee Kevin Maas as the DH-to-be who was worse than Logan Morrison. In someways I'm excited about spring training to see what the Twins think they are putting on the field...and then hoping I can stomach up the bucks to watch it all play out on the field.

It's such a tough call. Do you sign on Buxton and Sano and Kepler long term, or wait and see and they either become considerably more expensive or you escaped throwing money after replacement players. I see the Twins being cheap again this season. Sure, they made an overture towards Yu last season. But somehow...call it Pohlad madness or low expectations...I don't see any spending on major free agents. Even the three rotation arms...I almost doubt that any will be extended beyond 2019 (although I have hopes that Gibson and the Twins might reach an agreement). I still wonder if we are seeing the remaking of the Twins in an image of Falvey and Levine, which is still looking at the pieces from the past with hopes for the future and the desire to avoid any major commitments until they get a total handle on what they want to do with the team on the playing field. But the question remains, how do you sell the Twins in 2019? No superstar player. "Hey, we came in 2nd! In 2018" might look good to the casual fan. Until they see the ticket prices and the St. Paul Saints play on the field. Anyone excited about TwinsFest, or will the Twins stack the player appearance rooms with Mauer and Hunter and Morneau and Cuddyer? Talk about old timer weekend. I'm not against what the front office is doing. But they do have revenue to spend and, as we all know, what isn;t spent is never carried over for future seasons...instead goes into some money bin, or to pay off sooner the Target Field debt so the team's worth looks great on paper to borrow more money for something other than baseball.

I totally agree on the Field and Drake. Jeez. Better to have seen Reed or Wade at that point. Even Granite (why he remains on the roster still is beyond me - talk about an unlucky minor league season). Dumpster diving is fine. If you are non-competitive, n total rebuild. But then, you also give the unproven rookies a shot. Well, maybe Fordon does need a good solid season at AAA.

Hildenberger was overused. Hopefully more situational next season. What more amazes me is all these high/drafted relief pitchers that never panned out for the Twins. Yes you make fringe starters into relief pitchers: Mahoney Perkins Nathan Aguilera and good old Fast Eddie come to mind!

Castro will be the main catcher still in 2019 so Mitch will get to prove himself a bench bat. Then we approach 2020. But if Garver can’t catch we have Willians. they need to fix the gear!

You also forget that Rooker may be in the mix. The Twins could possibly trade Rosario and get more. We see what Eddie can do. He might keep doing it. But is he elite? Kepler is someone a team would take a flyer on (similar the Yankees with Hocks - who still isn't the 4-tool superstar we all thought he might be when drafted). The bigger question is do we double-down and sign him longer term and hope he hits for a bit higher average with the same home runs and defense skills, as well as maybe play a bit of first, or let it be someone else's problem and be amd about the return.

I have no issue with any of the moves. But it does show that the Twins aren't going after the big-big money players, and if I must say, still looking hard at what they do have. Be interesting to see the arbitration settlements with the likes of Sano and Buxton and if they do extend Berrios and Rosario. Yes, they can still add a bullpen arm. They might pull off a trade. I hate to see them just jettison players from the current 40-man with nothing received in return. But we will see. Hope they don't see the need for a Rule 5, especially a bullpen arm. Will the Twins break $90 million in salary? Will anyone go to TwinsFest?