Rosterman

So tragic. Sad.

We have Pat Light doing this already!

It will be interesting to see if Turner can stick. I think the Reds may be thinking more of swinging a trade with the Twins. But suddenly, name the catchers the Twins will start at AAA and AA this season?

Well, if the Reds carry a third catcher, Turner will stay. Otherwise, don't see him as just a bench bat. Interesting that the Twins didn't get raided in the minor league portion of the draft. So, we still have Wheeler and Baxendale. Not that either are top prospects in the system, but they do give us depth at Rochester and Baxendale is...interesting.

Be interesting to see what kind of market there is for Revere. I miss his smiling face in Minnesota, but the Twins do have to go with Buxton, and they do have Granite in the wings, as well as Palka, who pushed away Walker. Revere would probably be too expensive as a 4th outfielder at this point.

It all depends if they think Santiago is worth $8 or is there another pitcher out there for the same (or less) that MIGHT just give you more. Gibson you can stomach, because you need the depth. Kintzler and Press are both good set-up men and cheap for the short-term and you pretty much know what to expect. Yes, the Escobar situation can hinge on Dozier, but unless you truly need the roster spot, he is a possible flip player. Any otehr team would grab him for roughly that amount to be a backup. None of them have any trade value at the moment. Gibson NEEDS to pitch well...and then I would dangle him out there in mid-season. Santiago is a big question. Personally, I would go forward and NOT offer him arbitration. I doubt he would sign with the Twins then for less or even a multi-year, which he probably would get from anyone else. The evils of arbitration. A gamble on worth now. And he ahs done nothing FOR THE TWINS in the past to deserve a higher reward. Plouffe WOULD'VE DESERVED the higher reward but became a subject of no place to play in the grand scheme of things (I would rather have kept Plouffe over Mauer at this point BECAUSE Plouffe could play first/DH and third, as well as the outfield in a pinch...for $8 million he would've been an expensive utility player, though).

The logistics of baseball. Ploufee is not worth $8 million a year, or buying into free agency and giving him a multiple year contract. Why? Well, we have a logjam in the 3B/1B/DH and possibly outfield, so he is expendable. Yet we can pay $8 million for multi-years for a catcher. I'm not arguing against the catcher. Just the worth of the player. The team ahs to feel the guy is worth the money, otherwise why do it. He fulfills a need, so you can be competitive and maybe overspend to fgill a perceived weakness. But don't overpay if you don't have a place for a longtime employee.

With the Twins current situation, I'm not sure they really have to invest monies in expensive long-term bullpen arms. They have to develop and see what they have...get them up here. They have to make decisions (will Berrios stay a starter, as so Trevor May, or go to the bullpen). They need to look at Reed, Bard, Burdi, Jones, Hildenberger and others...and sooner rather than later. They need solid catching, not only at AAA (and AA) but the majors to work and develop these guys. Then you fill in the holes once you have a smidgen of a chance to be competitive (be it as early as 2018 or as late as 2019). Sadly, stockpiling funds the future is not something we have seen the Twins do, but at some point they have to go beyond revenue projections and play the marketplace again. But right now, they are on rebuild. Now the BIG job is to see if Dave St. Peter can earn his keep and sell this to the fans.

Avoiding the question of where do you play him if he can't catch, could the Twins have gotten WIlson Ramos for a similar price. And question #2. Is there anyone in the system that will step forward and be the Twins full-time catcher in 2018 or 2019, or even 2020. This buys us some time.

You always have to remember that there are 27 outs in a game and some players have to do those, often more than a couple a game. It's CAN THEY be productive on working counts, advancing a runner, or putting a ball in play when needed, besides making you strong in other areas (defense, framing, etc.).

With a bit of seasoning and catching ore of the future Twins, Garver could be a primary backstop. But he will still need to show some signs of hitting. He may buy a year with a mid-season callup as there aren't a lot of other choices, but at some point the Twins will have to make a longterm decision. He may become a top-flight backstop who gives you what you need as a catcher and a batter. But only time will tell. We do know the Yankees knew something when they allowed Murphy to go as they watched a couple of other backstops develop into someone they would rather have behind the plate...than Murphy or McCann. At this point, we can be glad Hicks didn't become an instant superstar.

He just became too expensive. Even though we do have someone else that is also too expensive and causing a logjam on the playing field. Sad.

Purchased.

Flipping is fun. They did it with Abad. Nunez they did good. But couldn't find anyone to take Ervin Santana (which was a surprise) and you can't always flip dregs. We still have Kintzler and Boshers. Basically, the Twins have to do a better job of moving assets that don't figure into longterm plans. They did good moving Meyer. But did they really get anything in return. They failed with moving Plouffe. They definitely put too much stock in Adam Walker and never utilized the possibility that he might have value. Sometimes YOU MUST do a major league showcase, even if it turns out badly.

I'm sure we are all going to be mad with the Twins Rule 5 (and it may be losses) when we had names like Boshers and Grossman, not to mention a couple more borderline pitchers, still on the 40-man. t this point, with the bullpen of 2017, I would rather put stock in someone like Baxendale. But, we wait and see!

We will all bemoan that the Twins got nothing for Plouffe, not that he seemed in demand. And we may have wanted a look at Adam Walker (shades of Mark Fundeburk) and had every chance to see him hit a home run in September, if the Twins had only called him up. I always question, in the case of Walker, the investment in a player and even adding him to major league possibilities, and then just cutting them loose. Especially when they don't seem to be absolutely horrible. But, players get passed on the depth chart all the time, and two NEW outfielders are added with more on tap for the future years. But, in the case of Plouffe, if they ahd cut him during the season, they could've resigned him (if needed)...but now, he won't have that chance. Which may be good for Plouffe.

And I sure wish they had taken a short look at Walker. It might have freed up a spot for Palka if Walker was totally lost at the major league level. Now we will have two corner outfielders/DH who could both be lost at the major league level taking up 40-man space.

Plus, you sometimes have to worry about the minor league portion of the draft, which is why you keep players coming off the disabled list or guys who suddenly had a surge in their play at A ball but not necessarily ready to add to the high minors (Rosario and Landa may be examples of that).

Drew Butera. And make sure you offer an option pick-up, just in case he shines!

Plus, Mr. Jones? Will he head to the Twins?

The Twins will definitely be remaking their bullpen from within. What is interesting is that Adam Walker wasn't one of your call-up choices (yes, Granite WILL be on the list before Walker, unless the Twins DO sort out the Vargas/Sano/Park/Mauer/Plouffe mess. And we do have to put Palka in the mess. You also leave out Mejia, who will be the first starter called up if he doesn't break camp with the Twins. But I start to wonder about WHY the Twins added Landa and Rosario to the 40-man last season, now that they would be exposed to loss if removed, compared to just sitting in the minors this year and still going thru the Rule 5 and not being chosen (last year they could've been lost, I believe, in the minor league portion of the Rule 5...which is partly why they were protected). But neither looks to make an inning in 2017. I'm still waiting to see how the 40-man breaks out. There aren't a lot of names that truly need protection, unless they need it from the minor league portion, and THAT puts restrictions on in-season roster movement. Baxendale? What about Wheeler?

Bruno did have success in the minors. Not sure what they are looking for, considering you have Hernandez and Vavra, not to mention Molitor to give batting and base-running advice. I would love to see Bruno be the system hitting corrdinator, if possible. Chad Allen might be the call-up? The next season will be nteresting to see what happens with field management and coaching, and if the Twins stay within (people like Mauer, Dougie M., Tommy Watkins and all the other former Twins getting jobs from Valentin, Dinkleman, Toby Gardenhie and such). If the problem is the minors, then do we have a house-cleaning of the minors THIS YEAR!? Also, who sets the standards for batting? How much say does Molitor, who has a pretty good idea on how to hit, have in the matter.

There is nothing wrong with having a professional designated hitter on a team. Just think, the Twins could've kept Ortiz and paid him less than they are paying, say, Joe Mauer. In the end, imagine what that would've given THIS team. H appily keeping Matt LeCroy as the main DH in two of the three years since Ortiz worked, because LeCroy could also catch. Would it be bad to have Sano DH for 15 years? (Or even, Arcia, at one point).

There IS something about over-managing, and not trusting the guys you DO have on your roster. If you can't play them, why are they there? The big one was the third strike bunt attempt. And, of course, you have a bullpen full of relief pitchers and you think about starters doing the job instead, yet you don't have enough faith in your starter to let him throw more than 63 pitches. Geez. (Arrieta was also warming up at one point). Cleveland was the same. Short start. They used ALL their other pitchers yesterday in the loss. Yet your bullpen needs to be more than three overworked guys, plus bringing in your closer early rather than Shaw (not to mention bringing Shaw back out after a rain delay). Trust in your guys. Like the Cubs in the 10th. You have to trust that Edwards will see this as the game opportunity of a lifetime and pitch well, but not over pitch. The inute he does, turn to the situational guys. But suddenly you might have a long extra inning game and THAT is when you want a Lester, say, coming out of the pen to save the day in the end. The Indians had Bauer and looks like he was going to be a 2-3 inning guy at the least. Very over-managed. At some point, you have to trust your players. Inspirational when the Cubs held a quick meeting in the weight room during the rainout. It wasn't the greatest game ever, far from it. Too many errors. Badly over-managed by both sides. Some bad umpiring behind-the-plate. It's not a great game when you allow the other team to tie when you pretty much could be considered to have the game in the bag. What did make it great, it started all over again in the 9th inning, and was a brand new game after the rain delay...with lots and lots of tired players on the field giving their all!

Well, you have to have veterans to trade (we have Ervin and Dozier). It's nice to have prospects in the minors (for the rotation we have Berrios, Gonzalves and Stewart). You need to spend some money on free agency (is there a catcher available). Of course, the management team needs to be part of the management team on the field and hire who they think will work wonders. You can have the best pitchers in the world, but lousy pitching coaches. You have to be prepared to spend money in advance to put a winning team on the field (which generates more money in the coffers). Don't base your 2017 budget on your 2016 results...please. Have a five year plan. Really, know your organization!