Rosterman

Major league baseball controls all revenue? Now we start getting into issues The Olympics face, as well as collegiate athletics. In Minnesota, we don't lose a player simply because they can get paid more by a New York, Chicago or Los Angeles team. They often look at it as an opportunity to get that secondary income, by being product spokespeople. And even Nike will come calling if you are in a big market team, compared to Minnesota or Kansas City. Can a team control wages you earn when not required to be at the stadium or on the field? Can major league baseball control you and your likeness, shades of the Days of the WWF/WWE! In major league baseball, rooms on the road are blankedly paid by the team, but players (I assume) get the same meal money, no matter what town they are in, and it always seems to be more than enough, combined with food at the clubhouse (where they tip the clubhouse people) or the more rich players picking up the occasional check. But a hotel room in Minneapolis compared to NYC, there is a difference. Also, I always wonder about cars in the minors. The length-of-time from the end of spring training to get to your new location (that is where I see the housing issue, how do players find places to live fast and easy, especially if they are not sure we they are going...happens to major league guys, too). Yes, think about that. You are in Florida, thinking you will be in Ft. Myers to start the season but told you are the 25th man on the roster to go to Cedar Rapids, but that will probably change when so-and-so rehabbing at Ft. Myers needs to be added to the Cedar Rapids roster. Where do I live.

Garlick, coming off an injury, pretty much ahs zero trade value. You can argue keeping him on the 40-man roster. The Twins have 10-12 names that they CAN keep once some prospects are added, all of the dozen names replaceable if you sign a free agent or find someone better, which you hope you can do if there are still ten expendable names on your 40-man. Rooker is home grown, a power guy, and can play 1st base and the corners. Garlick was the surprise (beating out Broxton in spring training). Rob Refsnyder kept himself in the 40-man roster spot hunt until he collapsed in the final month. Be interesting to see who goes and who stays. Rooker, as a keeper, could actually be a good throw-in if you do perform a trade during the off-season and the NL is granted the DH.

Nope, not going to build. Would more than likely lease. Think of the hardship of players who do have a family or a spouse and are paying for some sort of housing elsewhere. If you spouse has a job, why would they spend the summer with you. The problem (or benefit) of a stipend is how it is spent. You can rent a whole house pretty cheap and put a lot of people into the Animal House (assuming you can get it for six months. Not like players need a formal dining room and such. Of course, when renting you also need furnishings of sort, be it a bed at least. The joys of host families in the good old days was that a player got a sleeping room, usually was comfortable in shared space and such, for a modest sum. They are on the road every other week, and spend most of their free time NOT at home. Even major league players skimp. Was it Dustan Mohr that just rented out a hotel room during his short stays in the majors. Could vacate it when on the road. Of course, he was getting a major league salary. Billy Gardner lived in a room at a Super 8. I think Trevor May basically had a mattress and his computer setup in his apartment. Jamming many bodies into housing has been the norm for people since the days of off-campus housing on campus. Should be same in minors where you only need limited clothes because you have to travel, and may move around at least once during the summer. The key is controlling short-term housing. Every ball club does this, working with hotel chains when on the road for a BIG block of rooms at a set price. And if you can put two players (in the minors) in a room, well...better than the private suites major league players have now. Roommates...that is something I unfondly remember! Also, if it is team supplied housing, it isn't like giving players a taxable stipend, in some ways. Businesses always like to give free stuff to people that they can deduct as an expense and that they don't have to pay payroll taxes on.

A utility guy is often just that, a versatile stop-gap until you promote the next generation from the minors to play everyday. He gives people on the roster a rest. Maybe has a skillset like a defensive replacement in blow-out games, a speedy runner if looking for base advancement, someone who hits a sacrifice fly (possibly) or puts a ball in play to move a runner. If that person can also play an everyday role when called upon, for the short-term, it is a bonus. Cave did it before in the outfield. Players like Reboulet and Hocking did it regularly for the Twins. Ehire was fine. WIllians Astudillo can, but also has a price cap for how well he can. Gordon has earned another good look in spring training, and also the inside chance of making the roster. After getting some at bats, have to see how he will change his game, so to speak, and what he can add top his skill set. Otherwise, you go with the Riddles, Maggis, and others.

If they sign him, they can negotiate long-term once they see how the finger has healed. He would be a trade chip mid-season if need be. If he totally lights-out excels, he could also be a qualifying offer candidate for an additional season. Can you replace him with an equal arm (or two) for the same price. The Twins really won't be over payroll in 2022. They can afford it.

The Twins already have a "dorm" in Ft. Myers, single and double rooms, food service (I believe), recreation room hangouts. Plus the facilities in the various clubhouse spaces.

Gonna be interesting to see how it plays in different markets. Housing in Vegas compared to, say, St. Paul. Does the team control where a player resides (with rules and regulations), or are players, if able, free to live how and where they want? The dorm situation has always been interesting, as players come and go. Who does housekeeping, do rooms have private baths or shared communal ones. What about food. Can players have fridges, for example. They ARE on the road half-the-time, and at the stadium almost fulltime.

Yeah, the Twins let Rosario go because they thought, between Rooker and Kirilloff and Cave, they would be covered. Wade was behind those three, and in the longterm scheme of things about to be passed by Celestino and Larnach when looking towards 2022. Who knew the fight for leftfield would be between Garlick, Broxton and Refsnyder, with Cave being the backup of choice because he could play centerfield. In hindsight, looking at 2021, we wish we had stuck with Wade over Cave, sadly.

And then we have names like Huscar Ynoa (Braves), Luke Raley (Dodgers), Brooks Raley (Astros)...just some of the former guys in the Twins minor league system. Luis Gil (Yankees) is another. Curtis (Braves) got injured. Andrew Vasquez was grabbed by the Dodgers just in case.

Derek Law is a free agent.

Raisel Iglesias is intriguing, especially if you can limit him to closing dutires. You will have to give a big contract, though.

Learned that there is a new guy in the Twins coaching network, a motion performance coach named Martijn Verhoeven, who has been working with pitchers for a couple of seasons. Plus a nice shout-out to his Concordia coach Kevin Walsh.

What could a 22-year-old with limited play above A-ball possibly do? https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=baddoo000aki You just never know until you try. In 2020 the Twins decided to protect Celestino from the Rule 5 draft, although he was far from ready. In 2021, the Twins decided to NOT protect Akil Baddoo, for the same reason.,

We will see on Ryan, but if he fails as a starter...he does have the potential to be a closing ace.

Decisions should be pretty easy this round. Of course, the Twins might actually win a couple of the cases to their advantage, too. Buxton is soooooo interesting. Let's give him a big raise, but how many games did he play this season, and last season, and..... Rogers is a lefty. As is Coulombe and Thielbar. All three are within reasonable amounts to keep on the team at this point. All three can be traded or basically removed if someone better comes along. Same with Duffey. If they all come to spring training healthy, and the Twins have struck out in the free agent marketplace, they are trade chips. Gant is interesting, a swing man no doubt. Did he like Minnesota? Would he sign for less, or consider signing for less elsewhere? Curious top see what the demand for his services would be. Minaya is cheap and has stuck with the Twins as a free agent for two seasons. Reward him and see if he excels again. Yes, the days of Willians may be at an end. Again, another guy that would be curious to see what the demand for his services might be. You can make him a highly paid AAA guy, but do we rally care that he can play somewhere anytime. Cave will find a new home. Refsnyder will still be available. At one point he looked like a lock, a keeper. But the Twins could probably do as well elevating Kerrigan or Contreras when the time comes. Refsnyder is behind Larnach, Rooker, Celestino right now. Really, Arraez is a Super Two? I think they got this one wrong.

It was all about the monies. And in the back-of-their-minds the front office thought Rooker or Kirilloff would be ready. Who knew both would start in the minors and that the Twins would make a decision between Garlick, Broxton and Refsnyder to start out there. Then Larnach made us forget, for awhile, about Eddie, although Kepler was in the dumps, Buxton injured, and Celestino totally overmatched. Yes, it would've been nice to sign Eddie going into his free agent year. But the Twins didn't feel he was worth north of $9 million and neither did any other team. And the Twins didn't see the need to invest in Eddie with a long-term contract either. In hindsight, would he have played as well for the Twins and been a valuable tradechip at the deadline? The horrors of arbitration on baseball.

If the Twins trade Buxton, hope they get a good return. I'm sure they ARE hoping Lewis or Martin will be the centerfielder, now, for the future. But we may see a replay as the guys are not ready. Add in Span and Revere. And then Hunter returning. Of course, Joe Benson would've solved all our centerfielder issues for decades if.....

I was amazed to see this in Trade Rumors. Ugh! Looks like Twins going full court press. And they are "seasonal" jobs!?!

Let's look back. In 2019 the Twins sent Royce Lewis, Ben Rortvedt, Dakota Chalmers, Moises Gomez, Jovani Moran, Luke Raley and Zach Neff. All still playing. Raley made it to Dodgerland this year. In 2018: Jaylin Davis, Rooker, Blankenhorn, Hector Lujan, Adam Bray, Smeltzer, Jax, and Raley...again. All still playing ball. In 2017: Tyler Jay, Chris Paul, Lamonte Wade, Andrew Vasquez, Ryan Eades, Sean Miller and Tom Hackimer. Paul and Miller were infielders who are no longer in pro ball. In 2016: Gordon, Gonsalves, Curtiss, Melotakis, Randy Rosario, Garver, Tanner English. Tanner English disappeared. Melotakis is still hanging in Indy ball. All-Stars, ROY, batting champs, World Series players...whatever. Just a good chance to get extended seasonal play against a higher caliber of promising player.

Sometimes we go about this the wrong way. When forced to add someone to the 40-man, you have to take someone off. Happily we have three that will leave soon: Simmons, Pineda, Colome. Now at 39. When adding Rule 5 guys to the roster, you have every hope they will play in 2022. Or, because of their signing status, they are too precious and you need to keep them. Royce Lewis is one such, high ranking, expensive...but with two wasted seasons under his belt. You gotta keep him. Why? The teams you most fear are those that are in rebuild and won't mind carrying a low-level guy for a whole season on their major league roster. The Twins did it with Santana. The Tigers did it with Baddoo. Baddoo, although a decent prospect, was still a High-A ball player. He was behind a wealth of names like Cave, Wade, Larnach, Celestino, Kirilloff for sure. That he played for the Tigers was unheard of in the minds of too many. But he did. The gamble you take. The Twins also will keep Miranda. He should be on the team in 2022 for sure, in some capacity. Now it gets iffy. You need to protect Winder, as he is close. Sands is also very close. Enlow is close to being close, just needs the works and innings. All three would be smart picks by any team to stash in the bullpen. By putting them on your 40-man, the Twins have the luxury of them all working as rotation arms at AAA ball and joining Duran and Balazovic and Strotman as possible future rotation arms for the Twins. That's thee new arms to go with three old ones, none that you would expect to break camp for the Twins unless they were in rebuild mode compared to being competitive. Anyways, now at 44 names on the roster. Two interesting pitching names, both bullpen arms and both converted hitters: Fundeburk and Gore. Gore might be closer and the Twins didn't advance him to AAA, so he may get bypassed. Unless Fundeburk is TOTAL lights out in AFL ball, he should also fall under the radar of other teams. I would take the chance to NOT add them. Palacios is an interesting choice. I would hope I could convince him to return on a minor league contract for some looks at AAA ball. I would have to choose between him or Gordon if I was going to make a 40-man add. I would keep Gordon at this point, especially with Lewis in the wings, and the potential of Martin, as well as Miranda. I worry that we will lose Trey Cabbage to free agency. Do we add him to the 40-man? Wander Javier is a 40-man add only because of the investment. Another team can grab him and thumb their nose that the Twins let a million-dollar kid walk away. This is a tough call, but I don't see someone grabbing him this season. He doesn't really look much better than last season, when he passed thru the Rule 5. So, we are at 44. We really only need to drop four players, then. Again, you drop players as you add them. At this point, not really a need for a 40-man spot. If you think you are going to do a Rule 5, then you make a spot now (or later, before the draft). If you sign a free agent, you drop a corresponding position player. That's the way to play. But we still need to drop four. Barnes and Thorpe and Smeltzer are left-handed and rotation possible arms. They should be keepers. Thielbar and Coulombe are left-handed relief pitchers, they can also be kept for the moment, to join Rogers and Moran. That means we have Garza, Stashak, Gant and Dobnak on the bubble. Dobnak will stay because of his contract, but he could be jettisoned to the minors and probably not claimed because of his contract. Stashak is a probable because we don't know where he sits in injury land. If Jax is claimed, good for him getting a job opportunity elsewhere. If the Twins designate him, hopefully resign him for depth. Garza is interesting. He would compete with any minor league free agent signings, and I assume the front office will do a number of those. We are going to easily get to 44, no doubt about that. Smeltzer, Thorpe and Stashak may be too injury prone to worry about NOT losing, so they could be lost. None contributed to the Twins in 2021. On the offensive front we have a gaggle of outfielders: Cave, Garlick, Refsnyder, Rooker. Assuming Larnach is in the real mix, Celestino is more valuable than any of the aforementioned names, and you have Arraez/Gordon in the mix, Kirilloff in left, and Miranda in play somewhere...you can jettison all four. I would probably keep the home-grown and cheap Rooker at this point. But he would be removable if you signed anther outfielder or a designated hitter. So, if we remove Cave, Garlick and Refsnyder, we only have to cut one of the many pitchers mentioned above, for the moment. And we still have Willians Astudillo on the roster. In the end, add: Lewis, Winder, Sands, Enlow, Miranda. Lose: Cave, Garlick, Refsnyder and one of Smeltzer/Thorpe/Stashak. We still keep Astudillo, Rooker, Coulombe, Thielbar, Garza, Jax, Barnes and two of Smeltzer/Thorpe/Stashak. Hey, and we also keep Gant, who MAY BE arbitration too expensive. But what is $4 mil these days? That's still ten guys - TEN GUYS - that can be removed for someone better! I don't see Gore or Fundeburk or Javier or Palacios or Cabbage playing in the majors in 2022 fer sure, and especially don't see another team gambling to start the season with any of them on the roster for the first few months.

The Twins ain't seeing anyone beak camp that hasn't been in the majors: Ober, Barnes, Jax. Who knows what will happen to Thorpe or Smeltzer (or Dobnak). Balazovic, Duran, Winder, maybe Sands will start at AAA. Sammons will probably walk. SWR and Vallimont will probably start at A with Enlow.

Buxton arbitration will be interesting based on the number of games he has played the last two seasons. DIdn't want to pay Wisler last season. Will the Twins pay Minaya or Coulombe roughly the same this season? The Twins already have too many outfielders, depending on what they do do with Rooker, as well as Arraez and Gordon.

The Twins need to trade. But who actually ahs real top-notch value. Who are the guys another team will pick up the phone and make the call, rather than just receive yours. The Twins very well could've seen everyone of their top talents for use in 2022 this season. Why they didn't advance Strotman, Balazovic and Miranda is beyond me. It is questionable amongst names like Winder, Duran, Sands, Enlow, Lewis, maybe Gore and a couple of AAA outfielders, that you will see much action on the field from raw talent unless the Twins totally tank out of April/May and go total rebuild mode.

You need variety. Look those cereal snackpacks. Sadly, you also have one or two that nobody really wants to see on the mound.

Besides NOT bringing back ANY of the impending free agents, the Twins need to hard-address the future in the organization (according to their current needs) of Donaldson, Sano and Garver. All three have some value as bats, especially if the DH happens in the National League. Is Garver still the primary body behind-the-plate, or a future 1B/DH, and how does he really project withy that position move. Sano, in the right ballpark, could be a hammer. Donaldson still has worth. He is consistent if he plays the field. Yes, the Twins need to sign a bonifide closer. Quit having setup guys pitch the last inning. Alcala could be a possibility, but NOT yet. I hope Joe Ryan does work in the rotation, otherwise he has the stuff to be a lights out closer if he only needs to face 3-5 batters. If the Twins sign a shortstop of any contract length, then they seriously have to address the need/position for both Martin and Lewis. Couple that with the need to extend Buxton (or not)...that is another decision that has to be fuilly addressed in the off-season so you know where you are going. Sadly so many prospects lost a year of their lives sitting out 2020. 2022 will be the chance to stock the two upper levels with the guys you NEED to give the chance to shine and stay a part of the organization. Minimalize the minors free agent and concentrate on the talent you want that you have developed. If you need to stock the minors, go with the new system where you draw from the short-season play leagues. I think we will see a lot of guys in the non-tendered class or arbitration this season. Might be one or two gems. And we will see - because of the lost 2020 - an huge amount of players deciding to pursue pro-ball, or calling it quits as minor league free agents will be jockeying for a job, any job. But, still, they NEED to come secondary to your own development program. I wish the Twins could afford to blow away a top-notch starter, but they won't even come close to doling out the type of money that even Jose Berrios will command in 2023. Instead, they have to look to trade. If they trade, then they can spend the free agent money elsewhere, on that shortstop everyone wants them to have (shades of what to do with Arraez then), or a bullpen arm. Speaking of Arraez, he ahs to be a tradechip. Too bad there really aren't other names on the roster, except for perhaps Buxton. I do so wish other teams will see value in Sano, Donaldson and Garver.