2015 Opening Day Payroll

[drjim]

Which is why I suggested the other possibility being that their international scouts are not very good. Perhaps I should have made that more clear.

 

What is wrong with locking up a 1B/DH combo for that many years and dollars if they are both great hitters?

 

Of the many issues with this team, real and imagined, international scouting is very low on the list.

 

Tying up 30% of your payroll on hitters with no positional value for that length of time doesn't strike me as a prudent use of resources.

[TwinsTerritory]

It will be interesting to see how this thread clashes with the thread on Pohlad's comments. On one hand, we'll have plenty of people saying payroll will go down as younger players are brought in, while on the other hand plenty of people will say that Pohlad is cheap.

 

After four years, they will probably get ripped no matter what they do.

 

This is definitely going to be interesting. It's really a lose-lose situation and probably why I'm guessing the owners don't read posts on the TD forum!

 

When the Twins spend money (Nolasco, Hughes, Pelfrey), they end up being idiots 2/3 of the time. When they don't spend money (Abreu), they're cheap.

 

While I would have loved to see them spend a little more money in a a few instances and payroll is much less of a concern than it was before Target Field, they still have some constraints. The Twins will never be the Yankees or Dodgers that can absorb numerous bad contracts. Everyone is talking about the Dodgers winning the WS, but you can't tell me having a payroll near $230 million doesn't help. On any given day they have a two outfielders making over $17 million per year sitting on the bench and a 2B making $7 million per year in the minor leagues.

[Mr. Brooks]

Of the many issues with this team, real and imagined, international scouting is very low on the list.

 

Tying up 30% of your payroll on hitters with no positional value for that length of time doesn't strike me as a prudent use of resources.

 

 

Right, it's better to roll it up and stuff it under a matress and not use it at all then it is to spend it on a 50+ HR hitter just entering his prime.

 

It's not like this team is anywhere near its financial spending limit now, or any time in the near or medium future.

[TwinsTerritory]

So we should always just try to sign the guy that is worth the biggest contract. Instead of signing Phil Hughes and Kurt Suzuki, we should have signed Ubaldo Jimenez and Brian McCann. Then our payroll would be over $100 million dollars (and we'd have an even worse record).

[Mr. Brooks]

So we should always just try to sign the guy that is worth the biggest contract. Instead of signing Phil Hughes and Kurt Suzuki, we should have signed Ubaldo Jimenez and Brian McCann. Then our payroll would be over $100 million dollars (and we'd have an even worse record).

 

 

If you are referring to me, no that is not what I'm saying.

I am saying that we have the financial flexibility to sign a 50+ HR hitter like Abreu, for what turned out to be a modest price, regardless of position.

 

Not sure if you have noticed or not, but we could REALLY use that type of bat in the middle of our order, and if Sano fails to hit his ceiling we are going to have a hard time finding it in the future.

[TKGuy]

I honestly don't see the payroll issue as all that relevant for now. The Twins are going to have to turn to the youth, and they are cheap. If there is a fire sale in the next two weeks (I hope!), then I could see the Twins pursuing someone like Rajai Davis to come in and leadoff. But he won't be grossly expensive. Pitching-wise . . . they can probably just try Hughes-Gibson-Meyer-May-Nolasco.

 

Even with all of the Pohlad haters out there, I have no issue in my mind that they will spend money, based upon the history the last couple of years. There is no sense to spending money, just to do so. Not sure what we will need in FA next year that cannot be replaced just as well by our own farm system. The Twins are not going to give over 30 pitchers more than 3-4 year deals, which I am fine with. Lester and Scherzer are not going anywhere in my opinion. While Shields intrigues me, he's 33, and I wouldn't give him more than 2-3 years at most, but all you are doing is blocking May and Meyer.

 

Pick up a veteran OF/DH type player and stick Santana at SS, and Plouffe at 3b until Sano is ready. Wouldn't even mind bringing Suzuki back.

[jay]

If you are referring to me, no that is not what I'm saying.

I am saying that we have the financial flexibility to sign a 50+ HR hitter like Abreu, for what turned out to be a modest price, regardless of position.

 

Not sure if you have noticed or not, but we could REALLY use that type of bat in the middle of our order, and if Sano fails to hit his ceiling we are going to have a hard time finding it in the future.

 

Every team could use a 50+ HR hitter. Your rationale here relies on perfect 20-20 hindsight. Abreu wasn't a guaranteed 50+ HR hitter just hitting his prime when he signed or anything even close to it. He was a big question mark who was already 26 with poor defense value and the promise of power. There's about a $100M difference between the two.

[TwinsTerritory]

Every team could use a 50+ HR hitter. Your rationale here relies on perfect 20-20 hindsight. Abreu wasn't a guaranteed 50+ HR hitter just hitting his prime when he signed or anything even close to it. He was a big question mark who was already 26 with poor defense value and the promise of power. There's about a $100M difference between the two.

 

This is my point exactly. Instead of signing for 6 years/$68 million, he would have received $25 million per year if teams knew that he was going to hit 50 home runs.

 

Here is a pretty decent write up from last September with views from different scouts.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/onenationmlb09172013/sizing-cuban-slugger-jose-dariel-abreu

 

For those that want the short version, here are a couple quotes from scouts (pretty sure these weren't all Twins scouts;))

 

"Hitting-wise, he reminds me a lot of Dayan Viciedo," said a scout. "He's just not as athletic. This guy has more power than Kendrys Morales. But Morales is a better hitter for me."

 

"I like him fine, but I wouldn't sell the ranch to get him," the scout said. "The problem is, Cespedes and Puig can go 0-for-4 and they can still win you a game because they can run and throw. Abreu isn't that guy. He's more an Edgar Martinez-type. He has to hit or you've got nothing. He's all bat."

 

One scout suggested four years and $32 million as a reasonable expectation for Abreu, but wouldn't be surprised if he gets $10 million a year.

[Mr. Brooks]

This is my point exactly. Instead of signing for 6 years/$68 million, he would have received $25 million per year if teams knew that he was going to hit 50 home runs.

 

Here is a pretty decent write up from last September with views from different scouts.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/onenationmlb09172013/sizing-cuban-slugger-jose-dariel-abreu

 

For those that want the short version, here are a couple quotes from scouts (pretty sure these weren't all Twins scouts;))

 

"Hitting-wise, he reminds me a lot of Dayan Viciedo," said a scout. "He's just not as athletic. This guy has more power than Kendrys Morales. But Morales is a better hitter for me."

 

"I like him fine, but I wouldn't sell the ranch to get him," the scout said. "The problem is, Cespedes and Puig can go 0-for-4 and they can still win you a game because they can run and throw. Abreu isn't that guy. He's more an Edgar Martinez-type. He has to hit or you've got nothing. He's all bat."

 

One scout suggested four years and $32 million as a reasonable expectation for Abreu, but wouldn't be surprised if he gets $10 million a year.

 

 

Last I checked, it's not illegal to "outscout" the other teams.

The Twins missed big time on this guy. Yes, so did other teams. But guess what I'm not a fan of other teams, and this isn't "Indians Daily", so I'm commenting on him as he pertains to the Twins.