According to MLB Rumors, Twins may have an interest.

 

Link: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/02/twins-interested-in-logan-morrison.html

 

Am I fooling myself, or doesn't Vargas have at least a chance of putting it together like LoMo did last year.  I understand that we don't have any bats in the upper levels that are ready if Vargas or Grossman totally burn out, but can't we wait and see if it happens first before investing in a guy who's career OPS in four times the AB's is only .015 higher than Kennys'?   

I don't feel the FO thinks much of Vargas. He was treated like a yo yo last year between the majors & AAA. Would like to see a real DH for once but they need a right handed bat more than another lefty.

Yeah I don’t get this one. I’d rather give Vargas a chance. Maybe that’s stupid and LoMo off the bench is a better bet...but I’d like Kennys to put it together at a fractional price tag.

I admit I'm full of "bleep," but I still like the idea of taking Matt Kemp off of the Dodgers hands as a 4th OF/RH DH.  If we could only be held accountable for about $20mill of the $43.5 he's owed through 2019, I think there's still something in his tank.  LA is said to be desperate to unload his salary.  To bad we didn't know they liked Chagrois, might have been able to work out a deal.

Edited February 25, 20188 yr by mudcat14

I admit I'm full of "bleep," but I still like the idea of taking Matt Kemp off of the Dodgers hands as a 4th OF/RH DH. If we could only be held accountable for about $20mill of the $43.5 he's owed through 2019, I think there's still something in his tank. LA is said to be desperate to unload his salary. To bad we didn't know they liked Chagrois, might have been able to work out a deal.

I think they will just waive Kemp, and we can pick him off the scrap heap. I wouldn’t pay $20 million, not $5 million, but I do think he could be our DH.

Morrison is coming off of a .868 OPS season with 38 HRs... I would absolutely be on board if he could replicate those stats at a likely discount. Problem is he has never hit with that much power before and never hit that well since 2011. Morrison might be the only FA I take over Vargas.

Matt Kemp is terrible. He can't play in the outfield (go look at the numbers) and is league average at the plate. The last time he was worth 1 WAR was in 2014. 

 

LoMo is younger, better offensively and can play 1st base. Worth 3.3 WAR last year. If he signs for a 1 or 2 year deal that would be great. 

Kemp would be productive on an AL team and might even earn his $20m. But the Twins would never do this nor should they.

 

Vargas looks like garbage on paper mostly because the Twins have bounced him around for four years. His performance is better than one would expect for a player on such a short chain. 

 

As for Morrison, last year was a strange uptick in his performance. It would be interesting to see if the Twins fall for this when no other team would fall for it when the Twins were trying to unload Dozier.

 

Matt Kemp is terrible. He can't play in the outfield (go look at the numbers) and is league average at the plate. The last time he was worth 1 WAR was in 2014. 

 

LoMo is younger, better offensively and can play 1st base. Worth 3.3 WAR last year. If he signs for a 1 or 2 year deal that would be great. 

Kemp has 'lost a bunch of weight and matured' so I'm sure LA will see what they have now since they'll be paying him anyway.

I would've liked them signing Carlos Gomez. Better baserunner still can play outfield and a RH bat, and cheap. Better all around player than Grossman, imo.

Yeah, Gomez for the same money wouldve made more sense.

 

But glad they are still spending.

Hmm, who’s out ... Vargas? Guess they have time to make that decision since there’s an open roster spot.

So this makes our lineup more dangerous - I'm all for it.

 

2B - Dozier RHB

1B/DH - Mauer LHB

CF - Buxton RHB

DH/1B - Morrison LHB

3B/DH - Sano RHB

LF - Rosario LHB

RF - Kepler LHB

SS - Polanco SHB

C- Castro LHB

 

Seven of those nine could approach or top 20 HRs. The other two certainly can reach double digits. Nice alternating Leftie/Rightie through top of order will make it a head ache for opposing managers trying to matchup

In addition now 3/4 current bench bats are switch hitters giving us even more flexibility. Escobar backs up Sano, Polanco, Dozier. Grossman backs up the DH/Corner OF slots. Adrianza gives us another MI backup - although either he (or Grossman) could be sent packing. and Garver is obviously the understudy at catcher

assuming 4-man bench leaves 12 pitchers:

 

Santana

Berrios

Odorizzi

Gibson

5th Starter du jour

 

Rodney

Reed

Duke

Rogers

Pressly

Hildenberger

Duffey

 

Kemp would be productive on an AL team and might even earn his $20m. But the Twins would never do this nor should they.

 

Vargas looks like garbage on paper mostly because the Twins have bounced him around for four years. His performance is better than one would expect for a player on such a short chain.

 

As for Morrison, last year was a strange uptick in his performance. It would be interesting to see if the Twins fall for this when no other team would fall for it when the Twins were trying to unload Dozier.

I don’t think the Twins fell for anything. One of their head analytics guys was in Tampa last season and watched Morrison firsthand. I’m sure they have WAY more data on the guy than we do and insight into his performance uptick that most teams don’t have.

 

On top of that, it’s just hard to figure out WTF the Rays are doing right now. They’ve let a ton of talent walk away without much in return.

 

I don’t think the Twins fell for anything. One of their head analytics guys was in Tampa last season and watched Morrison firsthand. I’m sure they have WAY more data on the guy than we do and insight into his performance uptick that most teams don’t have.

On top of that, it’s just hard to figure out WTF the Rays are doing right now. They’ve let a ton of talent walk away without much in return.

 

They're cutting things to the bone. The Twins did similar when Ryan came back. Hopefully the Rays fare a bit better.

 

It's a one year deal and it's impossible to be upset about that, though yeah this is the final nail in the coffin for Vargas unless something unexpected happens.

 

They're cutting things to the bone. The Twins did similar when Ryan came back. Hopefully the Rays fare a bit better.

 

It's a one year deal and it's impossible to be upset about that, though yeah this is the final nail in the coffin for Vargas unless something unexpected happens.

What the Rays are doing isn't quite like the Twins, as they let Morrison walk, Longoria didn't bring back much in return, Dickerson was traded for a really underwhelming return, and they received a pretty light return for Odorizzi as well.

 

They moved a ton of talent and picked up a few decent prospects but I don't think they managed to net a single consensus top 100 guy the entire offseason (Arroyo is missing from several lists). That's pretty ugly.