I'm fine with whatever the Twins want to do, so long as it does not impact our ability to compete in 2023 or beyond.  Obviously, things change when the games start being played, but I just don't see how the Twins perform better than at least 3 of NYY, BOS, TOR, TBR, CWS, HOU, OAK, and SEA, not to mention LAA, DET, and TEX could all be significantly improved.

If the Twins sign Rodon, Story, Pineda, and bullpen help, they certainly should be a strong contender, but that will take at least $60M, so I just don't see that happening.  As such, I think the Twins should make a couple smaller moves, but leave room for the up and coming core to develop; if they do, great!  We all feel really good about 2023.  If they don't, then having Rodon/Story et al on your team probably isn't going to do you much good beyond maybe 2022 anyways.

19 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Gonna be a wild next week with transactions and potential trades. 

 

Jamie Moyer...

With Rodon now gone, I truly don't understand the direction of the organization. Last year sucked and Falvine came out and said "we don't want that again. We plan to compete this year" MLB added one more playoff team to each conference and the Twins have done nothing.

With such a great FA pitching market, this seeemed like an easy year to get competitive again, but all impact starters are gone now. I know they could improve over trade, but I just don't understand why any team would rather trade away talent for talent instead of just spending money. Payroll is what, 75 million right now?

This has the makings of a very frustrating and disappointing season for fans. If nothing changes, I hope attendance is terrible this year and that the Pohlad's pockets hurt.

There's literally no excuse anymore.

Well, the wait is over. The first player the Twins sign post lockout is … Juan Minaya to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring training. All of you that had Minaya in the pool, report to the table and collect your Winnings! 

What I'm really worried about, more than being a bad team, is that this will be a bad boring team. I don't want to watch us strike out a ton and use 4-6 pitchers a game. I want to see Butxon on the bases, a strong middle of the lineup terrorize opposing pitchers and a respectable pitching staff. 

Not sure who else is out there right now. Carlos Martinez hasn't been good since 2019, Danny Duffy, Tyler Anderson, Zach Davies feel like the type of players who'd fit in on this staff. I don't think they would sign Greinke. 

I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a bigger flurry of moves so far. 

Per MLBTR, there have been ~7 FA deals in the first 24 hours since the lockout officially ended.

1 hour ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Well, the wait is over. The first player the Twins sign post lockout is … Juan Minaya to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring training. All of you that had Minaya in the pool, report to the table and collect your Winnings! 

To a minor league deal ... that's a minor league signing ... who will be the first to actually be signed directly to the team? (if anyone) 

 

New target?

 

Question: "Who do the Twins sign first post lockout?"

Correct answer: "No."

I had Minaya on my 2022 Twins team last November, but I also had Starling Marte. Oh, oh.

Wanted Rodon. I knew that wasn’t happening. Picked Pineda in the poll, even before Rodon signed. It’ll be Pineda or what Mike posted. 

4 hours ago, Azviking101 said:

With Rodon now gone, I truly don't understand the direction of the organization.

I think they're going to try running a bunch of young arms through the system in 3-4 inning starts. It's a total turning of the back to free agency and doubling-down on the pipeline they're now responsible for.

If it somehow results in the team in contention for a 14th playoff spot, then they're going to come out of this looking sharp. However, if the offense is strong and the pitching is a muddled mess, this should be their last year in the FO.

In my opinion, there was no excuse for not trying to sign a frontline starter. None. But barring any blockbuster trades (and why would there be - FOs don't even know the condition of the players at this point), this will be their rotation, lineup and direction. And they better own the result.

Other: Juan Minaya

 

They can still trade for good pitchers.

It seems fitting that two of the four players listed signed shortly after this poll was posted. This front office seems to not be able to decide on anything fast enough.

I wonder if the Twins Front office  EVER considered offering Rodon 2-years and $44 million.  I've got to hand it to the Giants FO, they lose Gausman and aggressively move to replace him with a guy who might be "risky" but has a tremendous upside if he's healthy.  

Joe Ryan is literally the only pitcher on this staff that I have any interest in watching. I feel like we already have a good idea of what we're getting out of the other 40 pitchers they'll use... and it isn't good.

On 3/10/2022 at 6:13 PM, Vanimal46 said:

Gonna be a wild next week with transactions and potential trades. 

Hopefully 

12 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

If it somehow results in the team in contention for a 14th playoff spot, then they're going to come out of this looking sharp.

It would be a very Twins strategy to play for the 14th spot when there are only 12 playoff teams.

Does the Universal DH have the secondary effect of making the pitchers who like batting now give the American League more consideration?

Zach Greinke has been a national league pitcher most of his free agency, and perhaps that has been a contributing factor.

I too consider minor league signings ineligible for this contest, as they could have happened during the lock out, and we did in fact sign a few during the lock out.

On 3/11/2022 at 6:21 PM, Squirrel said:

To a minor league deal ... that's a minor league signing ... who will be the first to actually be signed directly to the team? (if anyone) 

Yes, with all the wheeling and dealing the Twins have done since the lockout ended, they still haven't signed a major league free agent!

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Yes, with all the wheeling and dealing the Twins have done since the lockout ended, they still haven't signed a major league free agent!

As frustrating as that is, it's exactly what I expected to happen.  But, there's still time.

On 3/11/2022 at 4:58 PM, LA VIkes Fan said:

Well, the wait is over. The first player the Twins sign post lockout is … Juan Minaya to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring training. All of you that had Minaya in the pool, report to the table and collect your Winnings! 

So... who said Correa?

On 3/10/2022 at 5:13 PM, Greglw3 said:

He can be dominating. I would pursue the twin acquisitions of Rodon and Correa. They would make the Twins a better team right away. I’d add Odorizzi also for about 8MM per. Plus Pineda. Last I’d make an effort to acquite Binentendi to play the bulk of games in LF. I think Martin and Miranda and possibly Celestino are ready to contribute at a high level from the get go. I’d trade Sano for pitching and install Miranda at 1B and Martin would play as the DH and around the diamond as needed.

 

18 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

So... who said Correa?

That guy.