Article: Winter Meetings: Major and Minor League Rosters

[Steven Buhr]

Reports have estimated that as many as 100 members of the Twins staff may participate in the meetings this week. That's a lot of people, but then it's a big job. In Part 1, we covered the manager and coaching staffing issues. In Part 2, we look at roster matters at the major league and minor league levels.As indicated in Part 1, over the coming days, weeks and months, the Twins need to:

• Hire a new manager for the first time in over a decade.
• Work with said new manager to assemble a seven-person big league level coaching staff.
• Assign manager and coaching duties to every level of minor league affiliate.
• Determine which, if any, of their minor league free agents to attempt to retain.
• Determine at which minor league level to place a significant number of their top young prospects to start 2015.
• Determine whether to offer arbitration to a few members of their current big league roster.
• Identify potential MLB level free agents and/or trade targets to pursue once the World Series is completed.

http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ToDo-List.jpg

 

Some of the items on that to-do list are not common tasks for this organization, but even for some of those that are on the list every postseason, the stakes this year have risen significantly.

 

Concurrently with their efforts to identify and put in place big league and farm system managers and coaches, the Twins also have some work to do on the player front.

 

Filling out the roster(s)

 

When the subject of filling out the 2015 roster comes up among most Twins fans, the discussion generally focuses on which of the current Twins will/should be back with the club and which potential acquisitions Terry Ryan should seek in the free agent and/or trade market.

 

Granted, these are both important considerations.

 

But, given that 2015 is looking more like a bridge to the next era of competitive baseball at Target Field than it is a destination itself, the make-up of the organization’s minor league rosters may be as important as that of the big league roster, if not more so.

 

For the past couple of years, as the farm system has been being restocked, even the most optimistic fans of the organization have conceded that many of the Twins’ most promising prospects have been in the low minors, multiple years away from being of any help to the parent club.

 

Sure, it was fun to watch Byron Buxton put on a show for the Fox Sports North audience in 2013 when the cable network televised one of Buxton’s Cedar Rapids Kernels games. But while the distance between Cedar Rapids and Target Field can be traversed in less than five hours, the time it takes for a prospect to progress from the Class A Kernels to the Twins is much longer – frustratingly so, in some cases.

 

The 2012 Elizabethton Twins won the Appalachian League championship. In 2013, many of those same players made up a Cedar Rapids Kernels playoff team that went 88-50. This past season, largely the same crop of prospects contributed to Fort Myers Florida State League championship team. In 2015, that group should largely fill out the roster for the first season of the Twins new AA affiliation with the Chattanooga Lookouts.

 

No problem, right? Move them up there. Challenge them. A player who masters Class AA is generally considered a candidate to skip AAA and move up to the Big Club if a need for someone at his position presents itself and that player is deemed to be a more promising option than whoever fills that position in Rochester.

 

The thing is, you don’t have to stretch your imagination far to find 30 or more players who, arguably, should be starting their season at AA. That’s a problem when you’re allowed only 25 players on the Lookouts roster.

 

Jeremy Nygaard maintains an excellent database at Twins Daily that includes a variety of important information concerning every player in the Twins organization. For example, did you know that the Twins also have 23 minor leaguers in their system eligible for free agency this offseason - or that 21 of them are already at Class AA or higher?

 

They also have a similar number of players eligible to be selected by another organization in the Rule 5 draft if they aren’t added to the Twins’ 40-man roster by December. Granted, few of those potential free agents would be viewed as potential linchpins on future Twins teams and even fewer of the Rule 5 eligibles are likely to be lost in that draft. But with the promising class set to move up to Chattanooga, the front office does have its work cut out for it this week when they sit down to fill out preliminary rosters for their AAA and AA clubs.

 

Finally, there’s the minor little project of assembling a major league roster.

 

And, by “major league roster,” I mean a roster of players who have either demonstrated that they possess a talent level worthy of being on a major league roster or, at the least, have shown potential to be elite big leaguers in the not-so-distant future.

 

Of course, this topic can (and certainly will) warrant entire articles devoted to it all on its own. For purposes of brevity here, suffice to say that the Twins need to identify big league talent to fill the following positions:

• A starting pitcher worthy of being a #1 or #2 starter for a competitive big league team.
• Multiple bullpen spots.
• A major league center fielder.
• A major league left fielder.
• Any other positions that may open up due to trades.

That’s a pretty substantial shopping list. Some of these needs may be filled from within the organization, some via trade and some via free agency. What they all have in common is that, at the end of 2014, they did not have an incumbent that you would definitively declare to be a legitimate everyday major league talent.

 

When you consider all the work to be accomplished this week – paring down the manager options, looking at coaching candidates for both big league and minor league positions and assembling rosters at multiple organizational levels, not the least of which is for the Twins team itself, I’m not sure 100 people in Fort Myers is going to be enough.

 

Of course, I have some vacation time coming if Terry Ryan would like me to come down and offer some ideas. I’m just a phone call, email or tweet away.

 

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[bird]

Nice synopsis, Mr. Buhr.

 

I'm guessing that the Twin's will have a slightly less ambitious and less expansive to-do list when it comes to filling holes via trade or FA.

 

1. TR might shop for a Hughes-like #2-3 starter. I doubt he has an appetite for a #1-2 starter.

2. I wonder if they won't conclude they have all the viable RP candidates they already need in-house, and the decision will be about who to trade away versus who to keep, with only a fringe acquisition or two being in the cards.

3. I'm hoping real bad that they get us a 2-way corner OF and make do in CF with in-house guys until Buxton is set to go.

4. My guess is that they don't see a need to fill the CF spot.

5. My guess is we have a surprise or two on the trade front. Hicks is my candidate.

[Mike Sixel]

I agree with Mr Watcher, except number 5.

[bird]

No surprise trades at all, mike, or just not Hicks? Maybe Pinto? 

[Mike Sixel]

Not Hicks. No idea on others.

[Mike Sixel]

Actually. ..that is what I meant when I replied. I am less sure since I replied

[Seth Stohs]

I personally wouldn't do anything with Major League Free Agent bullpen guys. Andrew Miller is the one that is great. There are 3-5 others that are pretty solid but on the wrong side of 30. There are plenty of good options currently and in the upper levels, and there are some guys drafted the last 2-3 years that could (should?) surface quickly. I like the minor league free agent route with bullpen arms.

[Mike Sixel]

I personally wouldn't do anything with Major League Free Agent bullpen guys. Andrew Miller is the one that is great. There are 3-5 others that are pretty solid but on the wrong side of 30. There are plenty of good options currently and in the upper levels, and there are some guys drafted the last 2-3 years that could (should?) surface quickly. I like the minor league free agent route with bullpen arms.

 

1000000x this. 

[clutterheart]

If the Twins make a surprise trade I would be REALLY surprised if it was Hicks - That would mean the FO is happy with Santana at CF which would also mean Escobar is locked in as the SS of 2015.

I keep waiting for the Joe Mauer to Red Sox rumors to start

Red sox 1B is Mike Napoli who is kind of a crummy player and they need a LH bat

[Mike Sixel]

Red Sox are using their assets to get Stanton......I really do believe that.

[bird]

If the Twins make a surprise trade I would be REALLY surprised if it was Hicks - That would mean the FO is happy with Santana at CF which would also mean Escobar is locked in as the SS of 2015.

I keep waiting for the Joe Mauer to Red Sox rumors to start

Red sox 1B is Mike Napoli who is kind of a crummy player and they need a LH bat

Yeah, I'd be surprised too, which is why I labeled it a surprise trade. I'm in the minority I'd guess, but I actually like the idea of keeping Santana in CF and Escobar at SS to start 2015. My reasons: 1) it provides immediate adequate solutions, both offensively and defensively, at two positions at no new cost, until the real solution, Buxton, is ready; 2) it's an adequate solution for a .500 baseball team, which is what I'd project as their upside range in 2015; 3) I'm very skeptical that Santana's development as the future SS would be retarded by having him play CF for another half-year. And in fact, I'm not even convinced he's our next SS -it might be Polanco.

 

I picked Hicks as the surprise trade candidate based on my hope for an outside solution at corner OF. It's speculation on my part that Hick's acceptance of a 4th OF role may be a challenge for him, and that a change of scenery trade might be best for both sides, especially if it appears that Schaefer would beat him out of the 4th OF spot anyway. Again, I don't expect it.

[Mike Sixel]

Yeah, I'd be surprised too, which is why I labeled it a surprise trade. I'm in the minority I'd guess, but I actually like the idea of keeping Santana in CF and Escobar at SS to start 2015. My reasons: 1) it provides immediate adequate solutions, both offensively and defensively, at two positions at no new cost, until the real solution, Buxton, is ready; 2) it's an adequate solution for a .500 baseball team, which is what I'd project as their upside range in 2015; 3) I'm very skeptical that Santana's development as the future SS would be retarded by having him play CF for another half-year. And in fact, I'm not even convinced he's our next SS -it might be Polanco.

 

I picked Hicks as the surprise trade candidate based on my hope for an outside solution at corner OF. It's speculation on my part that Hick's acceptance of a 4th OF role may be a challenge for him, and that a change of scenery trade might be best for both sides, especially if it appears that Schaefer would beat him out of the 4th OF spot anyway. Again, I don't expect it.

 

Entirely too well thought out for a post on a sports thread.....please sum it down to 1 partial sentence with way more emotion.....*

 

I'm with you on this whole post, btw. 

 

*for those that don't know, BW and I don't always appear to agree.....this part is supposed to be funny.

[drjim]

Yeah, I'd be surprised too, which is why I labeled it a surprise trade. I'm in the minority I'd guess, but I actually like the idea of keeping Santana in CF and Escobar at SS to start 2015. My reasons: 1) it provides immediate adequate solutions, both offensively and defensively, at two positions at no new cost, until the real solution, Buxton, is ready; 2) it's an adequate solution for a .500 baseball team, which is what I'd project as their upside range in 2015; 3) I'm very skeptical that Santana's development as the future SS would be retarded by having him play CF for another half-year. And in fact, I'm not even convinced he's our next SS -it might be Polanco.

 

I picked Hicks as the surprise trade candidate based on my hope for an outside solution at corner OF. It's speculation on my part that Hick's acceptance of a 4th OF role may be a challenge for him, and that a change of scenery trade might be best for both sides, especially if it appears that Schaefer would beat him out of the 4th OF spot anyway. Again, I don't expect it.

 

I just don't see Hicks having that much value - don't know what you would trade him for. He still has an option and can provide some immediate future depth if they decide to roll with Santana, or possibly Rosario, to start the season.

 

Pinto or Plouffe seem much more likely trade candidates, but I'm also very skeptical they would move Pinto unless the new manager wants no part of him.

[Steven Buhr]

I'd agree that the bullpen options from within the organization probably have at least as good a chance of being effective as anything you might get on the open market. The point was just that there are a number of spots that are, or should be, open in the pen. It was not a solid MLB-level bullpen at the end.

 

Which is interesting, I guess, because my recollection is that a year ago, the bullpen was seen as one of the few relatively positive roster components. Just goes to show how quickly that can change.

 

Personally, I think it's going to be a pretty quiet offseason for the Twins. I'm not expecting much, if anything, in significant trades or free agent signings.

[James Richter]

Trades are fine, as long as they aren't selling low and/or buying high. Mauer would be perfect for Red Sox, and I'm sure they know it, but he's coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. Would they give us a lot in prospects right now? Take on a lot of salary? If not, don't make the trade.

 

Same with Hicks. He's a former top-50 prospect with solid minor-league numbers who was rushed to the Majors and struggled. But he already showed that he can get on base at an acceptable rate for a CF at the bottom of a lineup. He's way too big and strong to keep putting up Ben Revere's Iso. He's way too fast with too strong of an arm to keep playing below average defense, particularly if LF is his eventual position. If Gardy were still around, we could project him stagnating, but who knows what the new coaching staff can get out of him. I hope they spend at least the first half of 2015 finding out.

 

Wanna make a surprise trade? Make Hughes or Santana available. Either one would net a pretty awesome return, very likely providing more value than we can reasonably expect from either of them over their remaining time with the Twins. Sell overvalued assets to acquire undervalued assets - that's how you build wealth.

[jay]

I'm with you on this whole post, btw. 

 

When did you guys start agreeing on so much?  I don't even need popcorn to read through this love fest... 

 

The World Series hasn't started yet and it seems like our TD spectrum is as closely aligned on how this offseason is going to play out as any topic out there.  Maybe Terry's comments accomplished something after all...

[bird]

Nah, go get the popcorn, jay, 'cause I'm about to rain all over mike's parade by telling him about Baseball America's letter grades, just released, for the 2009 draft. (It's the most recent draft they're comfortable weighing in on. Ahem, did you catch that mike? .

 

They gave the lousy stinking Twins a B. KC got a B too, but they rated #12, not #22. Chicago (#23) got a D. Cleveland (#15) got a C. The Tigers, who drafted #9, got a D.

 

Alright, gotta run. About to get a timeout for thread

jacking.

[ashbury]

Alright, gotta run. About to get a timeout for thread jacking.