Rosterman

Yes, the Twins need to make some 40-man moves. They have NO 40-man reserves in the hitting department. But, they have a good chance of opening the season with May and Pineda on the 60-day DL. Plus, possibly, Hughes and maybe Chargois. They would still have 10 or so pitchers to find homes at AAA and AA ball. They currently have 16 on the rosters there, with another 3-4 that COULD move up from Ft. Myers more likely than any of the 16 moving down. Of course, disabled list will claim a few. The Twins have 2 names replaceable. Boshers if you add a bullpen arm and Slegers if you add a starter. Enns has value being a lefty (as does Moya). Mejia might be odd-man out if you add to the rotation. Pressley and even Rodnoy (now) could be expendable. And, is Kinley worthy of a season-long roster spot, now. What you also unfortunately have is 7 arms that WON'T start the season with the Twins and it could be debatable if they would graduate to fulltime service during the season. Gonsalves could be the closest, but you have Jorge, Romero, Littell, Thorpe, Curtiss and Moya. Right now, these guys ARE above the 15 currently on the AAA/AA rosters with only Reed and possibly Tyler Jay ahead of them, but still not guys who would start the season with the Twins. So it will be interesting to see the musical chairs. Especially when a roster spot or two NEEDS to be kept open to bring up temporary guys if someone just goes on the normal DL during the early part of the season.

SHows the joys of having players start their careers at an early age. Development time. And the outfield: who from the current trio do you keep - Kepler, Buxton, Rosario. Rosario has put up some pretty fine numbers, might prove to be a better bat than Sano overall. Speaking of: Sano. Hoe much, how long. Of course, a decent contract doesn't always work out. Seems you could hardly give away Dozier going into last season. Now he's a real bargain and, unless he totally tanks (think Plouffe) could garner bigger bucks going forth. Who are the real prospects in the wings. For the sake of the team, knowing that you have control of a player for 3-4 years is wonderful news. Of course, arbitration also gives you that comfort, sometimes at a greater cost. Some players are worth more than their arbitration price in the longrun, some are worth...less. I'm hoping Buxton shows his stuff as a lead-off batter (replacing Dozier, who should be deserving of a 2-3 year extension with the Twins -- of course, depending on monies). But this might be the perfect front office. We will know for sure when the Mauer decision is made at some point. And if they vastly empty the vault for Davish.

Is he worth $100 + million or not. That is the question. What do you get, for how long, and why...........

Twins can collect insurance money if Hughes remains disabled. May should start as a relief pitcher to build up his arm for multiple innings? Could he be a future closer? Twins also have Chargois. What is his status. Four potential disabled pitchers. Only 11 more needing homes in the minors at the end of spring training.

Garver needs to catch, be it in the majors of half-a-season FULL behind-the-plate at AAA before becoming the sole backup or just a bench bat to put into other positions. Unless any of the other guys down the ladder would be a fulltime catcher come 2020, which I don't see. So, is Garver the potential once and future catcher come next season and holding down the majority of games behind-the-plate for years after that, or is he a guy "who can also catch" and be the super reserve bench bat.

Supposedly Garver can handle the job defensively, if given the chance. This will be a telling season for him. Does he go back to Rochester and catch fulltime and work with future Twins, or stay in the majors as a very part-time backstop and bench bat.

I imagine he would see what someone might pay. Would he get a multi-year contract in the $10-15 mil range? Does he want to do year-to-year otherwise with the Twins. Is he a good bench bat? He is basically a DH/1B guy...ot like you want him in the outfield. I imagine he would explore some opportunities. Does he have front office desires down-the-line?

Interesting to see what DOES happen to Mauer, where Sano ends up, and what the Twins do with Dozier, who suddenly has become an expensive commodity...would I pay him $60 million for a longterm deal at this point, or hope that Gordon/Polanco are suitable replacements. Is Rooker the answer at first base? See how fast he progresses, with Diaz on his heals. Kepler is interesting. He seems to be a very hard worker, but still lacks consistency (or maybe he is consistent). Buxton may be on the rise, and Rosario hs been a total surprise as the team hitting leader. Who is on tap to bring something different and unique to the outfield? The whole Jake Mauer thing was strange. Saw him as possibly a manager of the future. Would he have been better served to be an on-field coach with the Twins....having half the season at home in Minnesota, as well as the off-season? Is it the money you can make in car dealing compared to the time and energy you spend on baseball 24-hours-a-day? It does seem strange to think of Mauer NOT as Twin, but it may happen. I was thinking there would be more changes in the Twins front office, not just some position shuffling. But maybe next year.

The Twins need to make a splash. But in the local sports scene, anything they do will be lost right now with the Vikings success and the Super Bowl mess taking up the sports time between now and spring training. Maybe the Twins will make a trade. A pretty big one. Or maybe they just sign a marginal rotation arm, hope everyone comes back strong, and pull off a Verlander-like acquisition mid-season (hey, they could always go after Grienke). I'm sure the front office is trying to figure out longterm (a team, perhaps, without Mauer and Dozier in the future). Will be an interesting TwinsFest, and WCCO air time!

You run a business to make money, or perhaps to take a loss for that business of offset outrageous profits from another that you own, or to grow a business so that it can be resold for a hefty profit. But ultimately, you do it to make money, pay employees, create cashflow. When cashflow goes down, you cut expenses as mucha s you can. When cash flow is high, you maybe pay dividends instead of reinvestment...why reinvest when you can get a public bailout when you need new facilities, or when the price of your limited edition franchise keeps going up, no matter how well they perform on the field (or at the box office). Baseball is unique. There are only so many toys for people to buy and play and they seem to generate funds and keep value. Explain that to me. 50% of revenue interested each season? Explain what happens when you make $200 million and spend $100 million on players on the field and $100 million on the organization. When you make $250 million, does the organization really spend another $25 million in front office/behind-the-scenes that they didn't spend before? The team needs advance money to play with. Then they have to market, and hope the people DO show up.....even when the sold seats sit empty, they do convicec advertisers that their message IS being scene. And the illusion of putting a team on the field that CAN appear competitive is just as good for amrekting as family entertainment as going all out and trying to BUY a winner. You have no idea if your team will be great or not. Because someone has to lose when two teams take the field. It depends on the mix in the lineup, the quality of that five-day rotation, if your bullpen is up to snuff...and are the other teams truly better. The Twins were in a division in which three teams were significantly worse than them in 2017. They also managed to squeak into the Wild Card. We all should be glad that the Twin Cities experienced meaningful baseball throughout the season. And the powers-that-be were pretty darn happy that they were getting full price for those tickets in the final games. Mauer was a p.r. boost to the team, and a decent marketing image. But he always absorbed a tremendous part of the payroll. He should've been outside the confines of payroll budget, as his contract was more marketing than player needs. What you call the franchise contract. How much you spend is a crapshoot. The butts you put into the seats give you ticket, concession AND advertising revenue. That is IF the butts are in the seats. The Twins front office DO know what they are doing, from the mess of different seat and game prices, to figuring out the profit margin for every hot dog or beer sold, to sponsorship tradeouts. Can't wait to see how the marketing ramps up AFTER the Super Bowl.

The public relations value to the franchise for many many years was priceless.

Duffey has found his key, the long-relief set-up guy. I have a sneaking suspicion that Trevor May COULD be developed into a closer!

Is he the special guy to come off the bench in a pinch-hit situation? But then who replaces him in the field. Is he better than Vargas? That is the decision the Twins really have to make. Is there then still a need for, say, Grossman? Longrange, all the names above (including Nap) could be gone anyways come 2019. So it is getting the right pieces. The elephant in the room, though, is Sano. Will he play third, or be starting his quest towards being a fulltime DH who COULD play third in NL ballparks. Of course, if we want to have the Twins spend money...they have the money for a temporary bench bat. But is he truly the msot versatile fit for the team. And they do need a first-rate starting pitcher...no more dumpster diving back-of-the-rotation guys instead of a quality arm.

Duke signing means Boshers is on the bubble more likely. Napoli signing would mean Vargas or Grossman could be on the bubble...probably Vargas sold to Japan.

Actually, how much money do major league coaches actually make?

Interested the additions from the academic world of baseball. You forget that coaching and managing doesn't necessarily have to involve playing the sport as a pro anymore. Lots of minor league coordinators as well as the former Twins on hand for experience drills.

Regarding Rule 5. You have to ask, is the person they take better than the person they may lose (or persons). And do you want to spend a year finding that out?

You have two guys who will be working together towards a common goal, building a championship team. They still have to sort out the front office, some organizational coaches and such. Looks like they are taking a hard look at the minors. Will be a tell if the upper rosters are full more of prospects than minor league free agents going forth. They still have to field a team and try to be as competitive as possible, and that will still create some roster changes going forth, and you can't fell a team 40-man with prospects going forth from a WIld Card, especially when the reality is that the team, as a whole, is still young. The big question is always money. Is there a dollar figure they are constrained by in the process of adding players? Can they write of contracts or even fail in a signing, but still have funds. As long as the Twins do win, the revenue stream is solid. They should be able to play with the big boys and push towards $140-150 million if the front office will gamble. The 55% operating expenses rule changes once the team hits around $190 in revenue.

Did Graterol use up a couple of his minor league seasons already> Twins have to protect him from the Rule 5 after 2019?

I know they are on tap for the posting money or whatever, but since he asked to be released from his contract to return home...I don't see how the Twins owe him the remainder. If so, they can ask him to stay and play.

So much depends on the pieces the Twins choose to add. Sure, they need at least one solid TOP starter, which should be their biggest drive. They need a veteran bullpen arm, but it could be a backend guy if you see promise in the rookies, and you are better likely to get some value signing a 2-3 free agent (with the option to trade them if you, by chance, tank). They do need a bat...can the guy play the outfield AND an infield position? The bigger question. Mauer extension and how much? Will the Twins extend Brian Dozier and what plans for him? Can they do something with the Hughes salary, or is insurance the best bet, for now.

I still always have a tough time with this 55%. When the Twins spend, say, $98 million, they still manage to run the front office, manage the minor leagues, do signing bonuses and such with the 55% allocated for those expenses. If they suddenly are able to spend, say, $120 million on payroll, where does that extra $20 million go that they can now spend on...operations. Or is it to further pay down the Target Field debt (which I understand is nearly clear). At some point, a cap happens on operational expenses, so if the Twins would, say, make $300 million in revenue in a season, what would prevent them from spending $200 million on payroll instead of a max of, say, $160 million or so. They have to be happy with 2017. Attendance didn't dive. Season ticket sales might've been down, but the flip side of that was that fewer seats were available from STubHub, and the Twins were able to maximize many walk-up sales...plus it also meant overall concessions had to be betetr than the previous season when many of those September seats were paid for, but sat empty and the lines were short at concessions.

Stewart has been bypassed. Reed was a question that I would enjoy hearing an answer, but the need to protect relief...well, is Reed better than, say, Boshers...or Pressly? Have four open roster spots (considering names you COULD drop for free agent acquisitions) is what I found...amazing.Which means the Twins do feel comfortable with some roster moves to fill their holes. And, ultimately, I was a bit uncomfortable having 10+ roster spots on the 40-man filled with players who MAY NOT possibly contribute much in 2018, especially if there is a smidgen of thought that the Twins, in a division where they are currently ahead of three teams, can win or go Wild Card. Sure, they need two starters, a solid bench bat/utility guy, and more comfort in the bullpen. And they have to answer the questions on what to do with Mauer, Dozier, Hughes and, possibly, Sano.

Basically, the Twins didn't see him capable of contributing in the 2018 season at this point. A lot of the arms were give this looksee by the new management, and the other reality is WHY do you protect a lot of bullpen arms (maybe Jake Reed should've been the exception) if "failed" starters can be just as valuable out of the pen. What it kinda shows is that current powers-that-be kinda disagree with the direction the former regime took in drafting relief pitchers. Stewart will need to prove himself out of the gate at AA ball to see if he can get a callup, at some point, to AAA. But in the scheme of things, he stats behind Jorge, Romero, Gonsalves, Thorpe and Littell. And there are a couple of other names that may pass him. If no one claims him, he has to show life or go thru the whole process again. Another team MIGHT just draft him because of the investment the Twins made. But you do have to weigh him against any and all other Rule 5 choices out there. The decision is someone worth holding onto in a re-build process, or someone who has a better chance of cracking the major league roster in 2018, if not 2019 fer sure. My only complaint in all of this is that the guys THE TWINS DIDN'T PROTECT were all valuable tradechips during the summer, then...and how many could've been packaged for, say, a Verlander...instead of placing them in minor league limbo and destroying their trade value as any team can grab them for the Rule 5? Of course, some do have trade value if another team thinks a lowly team may snatch them, and they want them and have the 40-man space. Wasn't it just yesterday that the Twins future bullpen looked to be Reed, Melotakis, Chargois, Burdi, maybe Zack Jones, possibly Mike Cederoth...and di I leave out a prospect name or two? Was going to be hard-throwing, strikeout heavy crew, too. Instead, we have...Hildenberger, Curtiss. Moya, Busenitz, Hackimer, Jay and possibly one of the Anderson guys.

The fear is signing him to a longterm contract. And then we have the Guzman factor. When you make all-the-money-in-the-world what is the incentive to be a superstar. Of course, if you are a superstar, you make even more money. The David Ortiz factor. At what point do you question the monetary worth of the player compared to arbitration or possible free-agent salaries, and you let him move onto another team,not realizing that the player may/will stabalize and become a longterm solid player, at least as a designated hitter. What is the depth in the organization. if he does DH, can he cut down on strikeouts and can he run the bases. Shades of Jason Kubel, you don't want someone limping on and off the field constantly. Again, depth. Who plays third base in 2018 (Escobar?). What is the longterm look at the hot corner come 2019 and beyond. Sano has to watch his weight. Has to watch his conditioning. Has to work extra hard at the plate as teams have s much video review these days. Can he escape bad habits? Will he WANT to play, even if there is pain?