Rosterman

Not every team can have a power catcher like Joe Mauer behind the plate forever. I think back...fondly...to the years of Jerry Zimmerman and Phil Roof, amongst others, bridging the gap between our great catchers.

If he is injured, they would have to carry him on the major league disabled list, so he can't be injured too much. A strange game being played. Maybe he will sneak thru. Seriously, is he ready to pitch in the majors out of spring training? Better to sit back and watch him pitch in the Twins minors and have them need to make a decision, or let him walk, after this summer. He would be a minor league free agent after this season.

The Twins do have some 40-man roster problems, especially with the signing of two more pitchers and the moving of the likely candidates to create open roster spots already to the 60-day. With 26 pitchers still in camp, half need to find space in the minors, which alredy have 19 pitchers on the rosters at the top two levels. Not much depth in position players, and that really creates a mess. Who to subtract to add someone temporarily when the time comes. IF the Twins would need a new catcher because one of their two roster guys is injured, a palce needs to be made. Same with pretty much any other spot. Yes, there are likely candidates to be cut loose from the major league roster, and the ones with experience would probably be claimed by other teams (Slegers, Rressly) and you don't want to cut those promising arms, of which there are an abundance (Thorpe, Jorge, Romero, Goncalves, Littell, even Enns). Hope everyone stays healthy and the Twins figure out how to work Hughes or Sanchez into-or-out of the plans.

Yes, the two big questions for the Twins are (1) The Future of Joe Mauer and (2) What to Do With Sano. If he starts the season, you have Vargas make the team for sure. But then, you ask, what happens when he returns. The need for Vargas is certainly first base depth. Yes, you can play Sano there. Kepler played 1st in the minors. You don't need Eduardo or Ehire playing first. Garver is the backup catcher. Vargas also has to be hungry. He is playing for a job with the Twins and a job beyond in 2017. His prospect of being at first for the Twins in the distant future is zilch. Rooker and Diaz are both probably ahead of him, just not there yet. Sano will have to be moved eventually, but to fulltime DH (another Vargas only position) or 1B is the question. Hopefully Vargas shows hunger. Gibson, too, entering free agnecy. Ervin Santana is in the hot seat, too. Either pitching strong enough to get the extension, or a solid multi-year free agent contract. Odorizzi also needs to pitch well to win in his last arbitration year. Plus Dozier needs to shine. Lots of incentives for players to play hard. Maybe they play too hard and suffer. But should be an interesting 2019 in Twins land.

Should think about a 2-3 years extension with a buyout clause.

So they get two decent salary years or Odorizzi for a position of strength in the minors. Good deal. But still, can afford to purchase at least one more arm...unless Hughes IS showing signs of life. See Trevor May going to the 60-day now, too.

Depends on how the front office is positioning the Twins of the Future. Hopefully we would be done with signings like Colon. Wait, maybe we will be done with signings like Rodney and Sanchez. Anyways, where does he play, who is in the wings, what does he bring to the lineup and roster. Two things: Mauer WILL NOT want to be a parttime bench guy if he comes back anywhere in 2019. Second, he will command a minimum of $8 and someone will offer 2-3 years at $10-12 million a year., if they have a need for him and his bat on their roster. But it eventually comes down to Joe. Does he need the money? Does he want to play in a different city? Does he even want to continue with baseball in any way down the line?

Well, the Twins missed out on bringing back Bartolo Colon, so this is the next best thing...I guess.

The Twins have a bunch of pitchers to make a quick decision about before their value plummets. Are Romero and Jorge actually in the plans, or can still cater trade possibilities. Do you cut ties with Phil Hughes? Is May a starter or bullpen guy (could May close). Duke, Reed and Rodney have pushed back the youngsters, who have done a pretty good job of pushing themselves back, too...how does Chargois, Reed, Melotakis, Busenitz fit into the future bullpen plans or will they be pushed aside by others. Is Garver best served riding the bench, or actually catching games pitched by Jorge, Romero and Gonsalves at AAA for a good part of the season. Actually working behind-the-plate and keeping those skills developed. But if the Twins add a Bobby Wilson, they need 40-man spaces. Too many "prospects" on the 40-man roster! TraideBait if you can get proven talent...better than letting them walk via the waiver wire.

I'm just at a loss of whom the Twins would trade. For anyone. Is there a market for Romero or Jorge, from the 40-man roster? If you do a trade to the Astros or Rays, you need to trade someone, anyone from the roster. Otherwise, you are throwing away another name to add someone. Where do the Twins have offense depth. Right now, every bat on the 40-man could play in Target Field come April. The number of prospects redy to push any of the roster spots is...nill. I just don't see the Twins having major league ready assets to trade. Especially for a talent that still ahs team control. And anyone on the Twins major league roster not named Buxton and probably Sano is far from being on the top of most team's wishlists.

I will say that Ervin pitched GREAT for the Twins the past two seasons and lost many a heartbreaker, to the bullpen or modest offense. I doubt that he will have any trouble finding a job in 2019, as well as 2020.

Kepler could be a victim of numbers. Right now, I would trade Eddie Rosario. His value is probably the highest ever (think Delmon Young when he was hot and then followed it up with.....). And you do have to look at the overall picture. Is Kepler the future Jacque Jones, a Michael Cuddyer (was he ever a consideration for first base) and will be breakout before you have to pay him big bucks, or do you have to ink him to a longterm contract. If you say goodbye to Kepler, you are stuck with Granite and Grossman in the outfield this season. Lamont Wade is a prospect to watch. Edgar Corcino is areserve in waiting. Your best bets for the future are Kirilloff (who may be fast tracked) and the loser in the shortstop arena (would Royce Lewis be doomed to outfield play). But like someone said, it is hard to get solid starting pitching, but an outfielder hitting .250 and 20+ dingers and player the corner can be a dime a dozen, or a band-aid, Will Kepler be a superstar? In 2016 I saw a guy who was learning on the job, listening to coaches, working hard, and trying to adjust. In 2017, you saw that the league caught up to him. Can he adjust even further? How much is his talent natural and how much of it is techincal. The question the front office ask, today, is: beyond getting an arm for the rotation, what is our potential roster for 2019 and 2020, Would the 2018 team suffer without Kepler in the outfield (and Grossman/Granite there) and an arm better than Mejia, Gibson and whomever in the rotation?

It's complicated. First of, drafting. Your placement is also hindered by the amount you have to spend vs. the number of guys you basically need to sign each draft season to keep the minor league system developing. Actually, the draft is almost a parallel of free agency. What determines a guy getting multiple millions from someone getting a few hundred thousand. More askew because you are totally rewarding potential rather than (a a home team) contributions made in the past. And then you still have the hundreds of guys who don't get signed, but do sign at some point, for basically a 1 in 40 chance of getting a cup of coffee in the big leagues. I like to think Jack Morris is the eprfect free agent example. He walked from the Tigers, who ahd every incentive to reward Jack with a BIG multi-year contract, because he was one of many Mr. Tigers at that point of his career. But there was also the chance that he was on the downside. Jack took the "hired gun" route to the max, and got a lucrative deal with the Twins for one season, and then turned around and got an even better two-year deal with the Jays with a taken buyout, and then signed a pretty low deal in his last year to try and stay in baseball. Would the Tigers have given him $10-12 million over three years at that stage of his career? Would the Twins up the ante to a multi-year contract at Jack's age and the budget they had at that point in time? Budget. You can't legislate minimum overall spending for a team. But if you did, do you basically see more of what is happening now, high-price salary sent to rebuilding teams so bigger teams can have money to spend...and the receiving team basically gets an aging vetean for nothing as the other team uses the write-off for the current season, not the future season/s. It would be like (almost) saying that since the Twins offered, say Yu, $20+ million a year for five years...that means they can spend that $20 million still today (and tomorrow) on product, rather than just $5 million of $10 million. Which brings up the question, what happens to the money NOT spent. Does it pay off your stadium investment (the Twins are doing this ahead of schedule, I believe), go into development (which now has caps on how much you spend) cheaper beer and brats, lower ticket prices, raises for front office staff, better butter on the popcorn. Like so many unionized businesses, the players demand their share of the pie, usually 55%. No, the share of the pie is whatever ownership wants to pay for certain levels of talent. A rebuilding team doesn't have to spend that amount. A rich team is spending 55% but, like the Dodgers and Yankees, can still spend more (and they do). They spend more because they have to pay penalities which are rewarded to teams NOT spending their 55%. Go figure. Plus the outmake and outspend a team like the Twins almsot 2-1. Which also means they can afford to have $20-30 million sitting on an inactive or disabled list. (Look at the Twins in 2017...Phil Hughes and Glen Perkins NOT playing and controlling x-amount of salary dollars). I'm sorry, the best player/s in a free-agent class don't have to be the best paid players in baseball or at their position JUST because there is lesser competition. They are paid what they are perceived to be worth to a team, and how that team will have to juggle money today and tomorrow. Yes, the Twins were prepared to commit $20+ million to ONE player for the next 4-5 years. That's a good sign, or smoke and mirrors from the front office (something we have seen in the past..."we are in the game, look at us...dang, we didn't get the prize"). If the puzzle piece succeeds, you are loved. If they start treading water (look at Mauer comments the past few years...up and mostly down at one point) we cry "Foul!" It is hard to run a major league franchise in any sport. You want to pay for play (as fans do too). Again, look at the Draft. It shows you everything that may be wrong with the sport and free agency-type ideas. What are you aying someone millions to do...ride the bus and star in A and AA ball, never make the Big Leagues, drive a better car than msot of their teammates, rewards for being a Top High School of Collegiate player? Same with Free Agency...are you getting the rewards that player gave to his previous team during his early and arbitration years? And don't get one started on arbitration. Yes, the system rewards you above expectations for years you played for cheap. But often at a price. You become too expensive for a team to keep and end up signing on the cheap elsewhere (then getting lucrative deals after-the-fact, see Anthony Swarzak and Brian Duensing, for example, or Pat Neshek). Again, being paid for what YOU DID, not what you MAY DO FOR SURE. It's the FOR SURE that is the tell. You just don't know, and you must gamble.

We should've resigned Chris Gimenez!

Yes, Twins start season minus Sano and Santana. But they di need a backup for 1B. Is Vargas still in the mix? Grossman over Granite for 4th outfielder? Of course, Escobar at 3B, Ehire as the spare...both Grossman and Vargas as DH with Granite on the bench. Okay, a Sano-less field staff. But now the rotation. Is May or Hughes in the mix? If not...the Twins need a fulltime body and someone to give a looksee.

I always consider the DH a bench bat, as he primarily comes off the bench to hit anyways. So, you always need a back-up catcher. Garver should fill the bill. He can possibly play elsewhere, too. You need a backup infielder. The Twins have two right now, unless Sano becomes the DH. If you don't carry that extra bullpen arm, that is fine. You need a backup outfielder who can play centerfield. The Twins have Granite and supposedly Grossman. They don't need both. You also have to have someone on the team that can backup your first baseman. That was the value of Vargas, if written in as DH, above Grossman. The idea situation is to have a bat who can possibly get that long fly out (or home run -- Jim Thome comes to mind) but then you often make a triple move, as you need a pinch-runner (did I say it is nice to have someone good on the bases on the bench) and then play the field for whomever you did the pinch-hitting thing for.

Right now...he is a lefty. He needs to throw innings. At the least, he needs to show that he can be a long relief guy. Otherwise, his career MAY be short lived. He is lucky to be a part of the Twins system when he was. The sole left-hander, a guy who is a tad better than the "others" at the moment. But he can be easily pushed aside by prospects or a free agent signing.

I would happily sign any of the free agent starters, but all of them are overpriced and don't demand the contracts they are reportedly seeing. Five years at most for two of them. 2-3 years for the other two. Price can be debated. But I don't want to see ANY of them taking up roster space, really, past 2021.

You try to build teams around a stable of players AND a winning format. Sometimes those prospects may take 3-4 years to develop, and then they are on the cusp of walking away. You gamble and extend them early. It's more cost effective than tying them up later in free agency, but still a gamble. You sign a free agent. A gun for hire who is only as good as the player behind them. Short-term, you get the Jack Morris sensation who may create the msot memorable moment in history. Or you may get one of many, who languish on the roster eating up dollars. Happens to your own (Ryan Howard, Joe Mauer) as well as giving contracts to guys outside. At least when you give a longterm contract to a homebody, you are, in a sense, rewarding them for play they have done at a discount, so to speak. $20-25-30 million a year. At what point is it senseless that one player takes up a huge percentage of ALL your payroll. Are players worth 10% of a team's payroll? If they are and you payroll is south of $125 million, then you are relying on the hit-and-miss of prospects and pre-free-agency folks. If you can afford to eat a big contract for a season or two, then you are paying a luxury tax on top of that big contract. Capping payrolls is somewhat wonderful, but you still have teams spending twice as much as some other teams a season...consistently. The teams are finding creative ways to pass off big contracts with a cash payment to select teams to take aging vets off their hands. The Dodgers may not want to pay a luxury tax, but they did get rid of Kemp and his salary along with a contribution from their books. Yes, they are eating a contract, and the money is not beneficial to the team receiving Kemp (as they have to pay him). In a round-about way, the owners are figuring out how to play the system. And they are also balking at the loss in international bonus money or draft positions (another area where players are vastly overpaid on paper talent). I shake my hed at the initial demands of this free agent marketplace. I look at the big four in the world of starting pitchers and don't see it. Hosmer and Martinez? I don't see huge time commitments. At some point, the contract of a David Ortiz that keeps rolling over from year-to-year seems a wonderful luxury, especially to a franchise player compared to that gun-for-hire. Yet the equation is thrown out of whack. Middle relief, guys who setup and pitch in 40-50 games, are getting more money than imagined...closer money, in some ways.People that were jettisoned by teams in the past because those teams didn't want to pay the piper (Twins alone: Swarzak, Neshek, Duensing, Kintzler). And it is also about roster space. Is there space on EVERY roster to handle 2-3 veterans in spite of prospects that YOU want to keep and develop? Are the free agents better/worse than the backup fodder you could remove from your 40-man, and at what price, and at what need for playing time. Will it get better before it gets worse? Will more and more prospects come up and be eaten and disappear before they have free agency, rather than players hanging onto careers and multi-million paychecks forever?

It will be interesting to see how the BIG FOUR pan out in free agency. Looking at the age and numbers...none of them is worth what they think. I would not go 5-7 years on Davish. I would not go more than 3 years and $36 million on Lynn or Cobb.Davish may be a power pitcher, but still...NO! Is this the year we see one-year $25-30 million days across the board? Yes, the Twins do have the revenue. They have at least $50 million to spend and not hurt themselves. More if they actually do win games. But I don't see any of the pitchers in question panning out longterm. At least in 2018 we have Kyle Gibson pitching for a free agent contract, Ervin Santana pitching for a free agent contract or a one-year extension. You need someone else that is decent and hungry. Is Garcia the guy? Or can the Twins still flip a trade?

You funnel guys in and out. Hopefully the prospect pipeline is stable and you have a better idea of who is coming forth. The Twins have the money. 2017 was a great year. They were cutting their own budget and tightening their belts and made revenue because of increased interest in their product. Less season tickets but more fullprice seat control. The whole "how much can they spend" is bull. 55% of $200 million doesn't mean they spend 55% of $250 million. The other areas don't increase of the same level as payroll. If they have $100+ million on $200 million of revenue, they should have $150+ million on $250 million. Some of the new guys will demand monies. But some are also replaceable. You can maybe sign some to contracts like they did Span, which makes them worthwhile trade commodities. What was surprising was the lack of interest in Dozier during 2016 as well as that offseason. Now he's in a wait-and-see position and even if he does GREAT again, his return will be limited unless the inquiring team could sign him longterm. Mauer is the question. He always brought you value as a catcher, and has some clubhouse value, but his on-field and batting order value to the Twins is not worth what he should probably be paid. Sad to see him move to another team, although he might just retire. He is not a parttime player...yet. Still curious to see how the search for a starter does bear out. Not in favor of $100+ million multi-year deal. But is there an alternative. And would the guy be a solid anchor for 3-4 years in reality, that is the question. If not, pass. Wish all these pitching prospects (rotation and bullpen) panned out or weren't delayed. We seem to forget that Meyer and May were supposed to be foundation blocks and a bullpen of Reed, Melotakis, Chargois, Burdi, Jones, Bard closer to arbitration rather than rookie seasons.

I always wondered "what if" he ahd remained a Twin. Back then, it was a $120 million 7-year deal for the guy. Should the Twins have grabbed at it? Did Johan really feel being on a bigger stage was more important then being the biggest fish in a small pond? Kudos that the Twins will add this guy to their Hall of Fame. Now, Al Worthington, another worthy candidate.........

Very interesting comments about Fast Eddie. You almost wonder if THIS is the season you might've packaged him and a prospect for a mainline starter, shades of the day the Twins passed on trading Delmon Young after he had a dynamite season. Stat wise, and playing time, Eddie looks better than Sano, another guy who might still become awesome overtime. I always wonder what other teams do think or see in the players in the organization I admire. Seems we had a cold awakening about Dozier last year, who is now even more valuable except that he will be a free agent. We will never know how our hometown heroes are evaluated on the bigger stage.

May would have to come back as a pen guy. Duffey and Enns could both be long-relief, if needed. Yes, the Twins need a long-relief right-hander. In the Wings are Reed and Jay (and don't count out Melotakis). Just need to sort out the rotation. And the true Bench. aAnd, we could get Burdi or Bard abck, and I would take them.

The Twins suddenly have TOO MANY bullpen arms. Closer: Rodney. Setup: Reed and Duke. Others: Hildenberger, Busenitz, Rogers, Pressly, Duffey. There's Chargois, Curtiss and Moya to start in the minors, perhaps. Kohn, Melotakis and Reed at Rochester. Baxendale, Jones, Nick Anderson with the Lookouts but should be at Rochester. Add in the return of Bard. Do you need Boshers AND Kinley?