Front Page: Important Dates for the 2020 Offseason

[Matthew Lenz]

The Twins have a projected $70 million to spend with the goal becoming a perennial World Series contender instead of just a playoff participant. The importance of this offseason will be discussed a lot over the next few months. Here is a rundown of important offseason dates.Below you will see the list of important offseason dates and a short summary of how the date impacts the Twins.

 

Nov. 4 - Award Finalists Announced

Rocco Baldelli was announced as a finalist for the American League Manager of the Year.

 

Nov. 5 - Qualifying Offer Deadline

This year the league-wide qualifying offer was determined to be $17.8 million over one year, which is determined by taking the “mean salary of MLB’s 125 highest-paid players,” per MLB.com. On Monday the Twins extended a qualifying offer to RHP Jake Odorizzi. He’ll have 10 days to make a decision to accept or enter free agency. If he declines, the Twins could be compensated with a draft pick if he signs prior to the 2020 MLB Draft.

 

Nov. 11 thru Nov. 14 - General Manager (GM) Meetings

Among other topics, this is where trade talks can start and you could start hearing rumors about possible deals.

 

Nov. 12 - Managers of the Year Announced

Rocco will look to become the fourth Manger of the Year in franchise history. The Twins would become the first franchise to win three MoY awards in a 10 season period. Not to mention with three different managers.

 

Nov. 14 - Qualifying Offers Accepted or Rejected

Here is a list of all the qualifying offers around the league, some of which have been mentioned as free agent targets for the Twins: Jose Abreu, Madison Bumgarner, Gerrit Cole, Josh Donaldson, Jake Odorizzi, Marcell Ozuna, Anthony Rendon, Will Smith, Stephen Strasburg, and Zack Wheeler.

 

Nov. 19 thru Nov. 21 - Owners Meetings

Owners meet to talk about the “business” side of MLB (TV deals, rule changes, etc.).

 

Dec. 2 - Non-tender Deadline

MLB Trade Rumors is a great resource for various projections and, well, rumors. Here is their take on our arbitration eligible players:

 

Dec. 9 thru Dec. 12 - Winter Meetings

This is where trade talks can really heat up and even happen, as well as many other things.

 

Dec. 12 - Rule 5 Draft

Seth Stohs wrote a good article on the Rule 5 draft for the Twins.

 

Jan. 10 - Arbitration Figures Exchanged

 

Jan. 24 thru Jan. 25 - Twins Fest

Tickets go on sale on Dec. 11. Notice that they it’s only a two day event this year.

 

Jan. 25 - Twins Daily Winter Meltdown

 

Mark your calendar!!

 

Feb. 12 - Pitchers and Catcher Report

 

It may be a long time until baseball season, but we'll definitely have a lot to pay attention to over the next 99 days.

 

Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Not registered? Click here to create an account. To stay up to date, follow Twins Daily on Twitter and Facebook.

 

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[jrod23]

I assume Twinsfest has moved to Friday-Saturday because Sunday doesn't bring in income (even though profits don't go to the Twins), or the players don't want to commit to 3 days in the blistering cold.  In my opinion, Sunday has been THE most enjoyable day at Twinsfest because it is less hectic.  Being crowded in the skinny hallways of Target Field really takes away from the experience.  Unfortunately, that'll be worse now since they thinned it down to 1 1/2 days.

[rdehring]

We need to keep in mind that there should be several extensions that will eat up part of that $70mm everyone keeps talking about.  Shouldn't be a big part, but could certainly be $5-$10mm if they extend several of Buxton, Berrios, Rosario or Sano.  Could also be extensions for a couple young relievers.

 

Hasn't Dyson already been waived and he elected free agency?  Count me among those who wants all of the other arbitration back in 2020.

 

 

[USAFChief]

Nitpic: your dates are off by one.

 

Sunday, Nov 3, not Nov 4.

 

Monday, Nov 4, not 5, etc etc.

 

Not a big deal, but in an article about dates...

[Matthew Lenz]

 

  On 11/6/2019 at 2:22 PM, USAFChief said:

Nitpic: your dates are off by one.

Sunday, Nov 3, not Nov 4.

Monday, Nov 4, not 5, etc etc.

Not a big deal, but in an article about dates...

Uf-dah! That's embarrassing. Thanks for pointing it out...we've gone ahead and removed the days of the week and just left the dates!

[Matthew Lenz]

 

  On 11/6/2019 at 1:39 PM, rdehring said:

We need to keep in mind that there should be several extensions that will eat up part of that $70mm everyone keeps talking about.  Shouldn't be a big part, but could certainly be $5-$10mm if they extend several of Buxton, Berrios, Rosario or Sano.  Could also be extensions for a couple young relievers.

 

Hasn't Dyson already been waived and he elected free agency?  Count me among those who wants all of the other arbitration back in 2020.

Rosario is coming off is worst year as a pro, so I don't know that the Twins (or him) will be looking for a long term deal. Also consider that they have had talks in the past and couldn't come to an agreement.

 

Berrios is a possibility, but he has also turned down contract extensions in the past. He's also improved every year as a pro, so he may be betting on himself to continue improving and demand bigger money down the road.

 

Buxton is a tougher case with his injury history. My guess would be he would want to wait until he has another year of 130+ games under his belt before agreeing to a long term deal as he will be worth more then. And who knows how he feels regarding not being called up for the September 2018 roster expansion.

 

Sano is another tough case because he's not good defensively and we have hitting depth in the minors. If he can put up the numbers he did this year through a full season then he may want to see what kind of money he can get in free agency.

 

I'm not saying all of these are never going to happen, but I would lean on them not happening this offseason.

[rdehring]

 

  On 11/6/2019 at 3:12 PM, Matthew Lenz said:

Rosario is coming off is worst year as a pro, so I don't know that the Twins (or him) will be looking for a long term deal. Also consider that they have had talks in the past and couldn't come to an agreement.

 

Berrios is a possibility, but he has also turned down contract extensions in the past. He's also improved every year as a pro, so he may be betting on himself to continue improving and demand bigger money down the road.

 

Buxton is a tougher case with his injury history. My guess would be he would want to wait until he has another year of 130+ games under his belt before agreeing to a long term deal as he will be worth more then. And who knows how he feels regarding not being called up for the September 2018 roster expansion.

 

Sano is another tough case because he's not good defensively and we have hitting depth in the minors. If he can put up the numbers he did this year through a full season then he may want to see what kind of money he can get in free agency.

 

I'm not saying all of these are never going to happen, but I would lean on them not happening this offseason.

That's your opinion that Rosario is coming off his worst year as a pro.  My opinion is that he is a core member of this team, an important part of what made the Twins what they were in 2019.  Furthermore, he played a good part of the season on a gimpy ankle.  Wasn't the same player the last couple months of the season.  When healthy, he is one heck of a player who I want on the Minnesota Twins.  For whatever reason, I know others are down on him.  Kind of like a lot of folks were down on Kepler last winter.

 

Will agree, there are arguments for none of the core getting extensions this winter.  Doesn't mean the FO shouldn't work their tails off to get a couple signed.  This group came up together as winners nearly every stop of the way through the minors.  Time to get after it and win one on the big stage.

[Matthew Lenz]

 

  On 11/6/2019 at 4:47 PM, rdehring said:

That's your opinion that Rosario is coming off his worst year as a pro.  My opinion is that he is a core member of this team, an important part of what made the Twins what they were in 2019.  Furthermore, he played a good part of the season on a gimpy ankle.  Wasn't the same player the last couple months of the season.  When healthy, he is one heck of a player who I want on the Minnesota Twins.  For whatever reason, I know others are down on him.  Kind of like a lot of folks were down on Kepler last winter.

 

Will agree, there are arguments for none of the core getting extensions this winter.  Doesn't mean the FO shouldn't work their tails off to get a couple signed.  This group came up together as winners nearly every stop of the way through the minors.  Time to get after it and win one on the big stage.

He can be the "core member of the this team [and] an important part of what made the Twins what they were in 2019" and still be coming off his worst year as a pro. A reason for his struggle might be because of having a bum ankle. All of that can be true, and although it is most definitely my opinion, it is supported by fWAR. Outside of 2016, where he only played 92 games, 1.2 is the lowest fWAR of his career.

 

I'm not saying he is trash...I am saying, in my opinion, now is not the right time for either party to sign a long term extension.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

  On 11/6/2019 at 3:01 AM, Matthew Lenz said:

Dec. 12 - Rule 5 Draft
Seth Stohs wrote a good article on the Rule 5 draft for the Twins.

Thanks for the article. Might also be worth noting Nov. 20 -- that's the day reserve lists (for Rule 5 protection) have to be submitted.

 

So all the prospects that Seth profiled need to be added to the 40-man on Nov. 20, or else they will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 12.

 

(And if they're not protected by the Twins on Nov. 20, they might get traded to an organization that will protect them -- Nick Anderson was traded to Miami on Nov. 20th last winter.)

[Matthew Lenz]

 

  On 11/6/2019 at 6:00 PM, spycake said:

Thanks for the article. Might also be worth noting Nov. 20 -- that's the day reserve lists (for Rule 5 protection) have to be submitted.

 

So all the prospects that Seth profiled need to be added to the 40-man on Nov. 20, or else they will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 12.

 

(And if they're not protected by the Twins on Nov. 20, they might get traded to an organization that will protect them -- Nick Anderson was traded to Miami on Nov. 20th last winter.)

Ooh, that is a big one. Thanks for contributing!

[Bomba2026]

Does Eddie want to be here? I think he will have a great year in 2020. I hope Eddie stays. If we win the World Series our team will implode like the Nats I guess...

[Matthew Lenz]

 

  On 11/6/2019 at 7:20 PM, Bomba2026 said:

Does Eddie want to be here? I think he will have a great year in 2020. I hope Eddie stays. If we win the World Series our team will implode like the Nats I guess...

I actually had the same thought, as well as about Berrios and Sano...I just have no basis for it so I try not to throw it into any of my articles