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Man imagine putting up a 1.99 ERA in your rookie season (Busenitz) and not being favored to make the team out of spring training. And then imagine posting a 4.50 ERA across 21 starts in the AL in your rookie season (Mejia) and not being considered a lock for the rotation next year. This game is too hard man.

Your Dozier hatred continues to amuse me. Jay Bruce: 31 years old, 5806 PA, 20.3 fWAR, 18.9 rWAR past 3 year WAR total: 4.2 rWAR Brian Dozier: 31 years old, 3770 PA, 20.8 fWAR, 22.9 rWAR past 3 year WAR total: 13.4 rWAR Come on, those numbers aren't even close.

Let's please avoid mind-reading.

A 2nd round pick is more valuable than Dozier? No need to take this personally. He's going to continue playing the best he can for Minnesota so he can cash in as much as possible. It's up to Minnesota if they want to compete against LA, NY, and Chicago for his services.

Granite gives the Twins things they already have. OF defense is not a problem. LH batting is not a problem. Speed on the base paths is nice but your middle infield backups can provide that. Grossman gives them OBP and a right handed bat to spell Rosario and Kepler in the OF and to be the right handed half of a DH platoon with Morrison early in the year. If they get rid of Grossman (no options) for Granite (who has option) then they are not being smart.

FWIW Thrylos, he talked about it because I asked him about it in a one-on-one interview. He's not parading around talking about it. I give him props for being willing to talk about a very sensitive topic.

Pressly is the other guy who I think might be out in the final end. Busenitz is the player I expect to make it. Pressly has never put it all together and with this club, potential is going to mean less than results. (At least I hope so). Would almost like them to deal him early, because late teams become more aware of who might be picked up at no cost (except for salary) and will not offer anything. Maybe he can be fixed, just do not think Twins can afford and try to figure that out.

TD Exclusive?

He's a top 3 2B by most every offensive statistic and WAR out there. And proved his worth by slugging 34 HRs last year after his career year in 2016.

Whaaat? Adrianza played very well last season. He came from injured long shot to excellent super utility man, and his bat played far better than expected. Ten years younger Eric Aybar kicks everybody's butt, sure. But now? Aybar's career is winding down, where Adrianza is still in his physical prime, and possibly getting better.

There are reasons to not sign Dozier to an extension or a new contract next offseason. His production during the last 5 years are not one of them. He has unarguably been GREAT. The lack of trade value is also meaningless. Very few contending teams needed a 2B last offseason and that drove down his value. For the record I wouldn't sign Dozier to an extension or a new contract unless the market for him collapses for him. This could happen for similar reasons that FA has been slow this year. Teams don't seem keen on big contracts for aging players. This is justified by how many end up being dead weight for half of the contract.

Need to keep him! Very good player and a much needed leader.

I am not arguing Granite vs. Grossman. I am arguing the point of view that the Twins should keep Grossman regardless, since he is out of options. If he is the best player for the Twins' bench, he should come North. If he is not, he should not. Options or no options...

I cringe seeing Hughes at #5 on the list... I don't want him on the list at all.

I'm pulling for Granite. He gives the Twins much more flexibility than Grossman. I'm also pulling for a healthy "unsuspended" Sano. This gives the Twins additional flexibility and a much deeper batting order.

I agree that Morrison wasn't my first choice but I think it came down to "get a $5m player at $4-5m or get a potential $10-12m player in Morrison at $5.5m." I think the decision made itself in that situation.

I see a lot of lineup predictions with Mauer leading off. Makes sense on paper, but from what we have heard over the years Dozier is more comfortable leading off and Mauer likes to hit second. I think the comfort level of the veterans will influence the decision.

Maybe they can trade Vargas to Miami and keep Kinley? I'm not really sure what they see in Kinley, but they clearly like something and, barring an injury, there's no room for him in the bullpen. They can't expect to get much back for Vargas when teams are just waiting for them to DFA him, but this way they'd at least get to keep working with Kinley.

I hope he has a great 2018 to drive up his value.

I had to go all the way back to 1996 to find a player (Jacques Jones) that would even be in the conversation as a 2nd rounder as good as Dozier. Scott Baker and Anthony Swarzak are the only other two whose career WAR was higher than a single season WAR from Dozier. The Twins have not done well in the 2nd round. Baddoo, Rortvedt, Miranda and Leach have a chance at changing that, but all are low minors prospects at this point. I'm pretty sure Eades and Melotakis won't even make the Baker/Swarzak list. All other 2nd rounders are out of the system. Anyway, Vanimal, I think the answer to your question is: Likely not. Isn't prospect dreaming fun?!! Edit: My bad ... I missed Jesse Crain (Still half the career WAR of Dozier so far)

No surprise at all. Good luck to him, I hope he goes the jackpot!

I've heard this argument a lot and its a fun one to make because it has a good soundbite. But it's pretty ridiculous. You're not building the best Opening Day roster, you're building the best team. You will almost certainly need both Grossman and Granite at some point during the year - someone's going to get hurt (Buxton) and you're going to go to AAA. If you start with Grossman, you have Granite in AAA to fill in when the Twins need him. If you start with Granite, Grossman gets exposed to waivers and ends up elsewhere because he's a useful MLB player. So let's pretend Granite > Grossman (I would disagree strongly but for the sake of argument we'll go with it). That seems simple but it's really GROSSMAN + Granite vs. GRANITE + Some 27 year old AAAA player. I take the GROSSMAN + Granite side of that everyday. Competing teams don't throw away MLB talent unless the upside is a lot higher than whatever someone looking at Granite through rose shaded glasses sees.

Sorry, do not see Aybar making this club. He probably would have to do more than he is capable of to make it. I see Adrianza a better shot than Aybar, defends as well and is cheaper. I also see Grossman gone as do not see a role for him here with the Morrison signing. Would like to see Granite or Wade be the 4th outfielder, they both can field and run. I guess Grossman could make it as a platoon partner for either Rosario or Kepler, but think it is early in their careers to call them platoon players.

I'd rather still have any of Burdi, Chargois, Bard, and possibly Rosario over Tyler Kinley at this point, so I think they miscalculated on that move in particular.

And you, sir, are a wise and excellent judge.

While I'm encouraged by 91, I also know better than to trust a Spring Training gun too much.

Gomez was a great value at $4M as was Jackson at 2/6M. It might be that they just don't want to give up on Kepler developing against LF pitching which I can get behind.

Change Hughes from pencil to ink, Seth. Will be interesting to see how they deal with Vargas. Will they get much of anything in return if/when traded? And who will be the better hitter in 2018, Morrison or Vargas? Results come September could surprise us.

Cody, appreciate the post and idea. And it is probably relevant to the new FO and moves made. But in a way, it's also a bit of a tired subject. Almost like the Ortiz situation 2 decades later. (I stretch a little). Every team in baseball can claim a number of guys picked for little or nothing than turned out to be anywhere from good, quality pkayers to stars. Santana was a rule t player traded to the Twins. Believe he was traded for a pitcher, once a top draft choice, named White but can't remember for certain. Nor can I remember all the teams involved at this time. Shane Mack was a big success with the Twins, but a talented player who never found a home before. Brian Harper was a "who" before the Twins. I know that's a short list, and somewhat dated, but there have been others who have been quality players for the Twins, just as there have been others for other teams. Even some rather well known players who previously played for the Twins and found success elsewhere are out there. Portugal is one I always remember and laugh a bit about. He had a solid, OK career. But he also bounced somewhat before finding his footing. But somehow the Twins are to blame for letting him go? The new regime has come in, looked around, and decided to let some talented players leave believing that other options are more important, and more viable, long term. Some of the RP are a perfect example. I still believe that guys like Burdi or Chargois may get healthy one of these days, and make some kind of mark. And that will be a small thorn, to be sure. But despite stuff and potential, there also comes a time when you have to look at injury and real time on the mound and just decide you can't hold on to "maybe".

Burdi and Chargois. As the 40 man stands now there's no reason Chargois had to go, and Burdi wouldn't have even needed to be added back until the end of May.

Cleaning house. Fans attach themselves to draft picks and have a hard time separating their dreams from their dreams. That's why you have an Executive Baseball Cadre who can make crucial decisions. Over time, leadership gets a track record of success, or like in the Twins' recent past, failure. Don't see how any of those ex-Twins' guys get us to the playoffs and beyond, but, I wish to heap good luck on the lot of them.

It seems to me that the Twins haven’t rushed players, so much as weighted the developmental league playing time too heavy in the A ball levels and too short in AA and AAA.

I dont think Dozier is saying he doesn't want to be a Twin any longer. In fact, I interpret the comments to mean he would like to stay. He's a great ball player and leader in the club house. Hope he stays but I get it. If he can pull an extra $5mm + or more a year for his services elsewhere good for him. More importantly, what really gets me excited about Dozier is that he will be a free agent next year! If anyone is going to work extra hard and pull out all the stops, this will be the year for Dozier to do it. I'm betting this could be his best year as a Twin. As you mentioned in a previous post he will be 31. Regression does eventually take hold. As my tag line says, "on a long enough time line the survival rate for everyone drops to zero". Go Dozier!

You both may be interested to hear that I talked with Dozier a bit about the free agent market and what he expects next year. I'll include it in the Twins Daily Nightly Wrap later tonight.

The Twins look like they are strong up the middle, but they will miss Dozier when he is gone. I hope he gets all the money in the world.

Every single player on an expiring contract should be saying these things. Simple negotiating tactic.

I don't know what happened to Aybar. At one point in his career he was average both offensively and defensively. That last year he achieved that was 2014. https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4082&position=SS Adrianza put up 1 WAR last year playing in 70 games. With above average defense and slighly below average offense. https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=8418&position=2B/SS I would be surprised if Aybar beat out Adrianza. Aybar would need to play much better than he did last year for that to happen.

I would say Burdi. When not injured, he had a relievers arm and a relievers mentality, it seemed. I realize "when not injured" is a pretty large caveat, but he seemed worth the patience. This still isn't an outfit overloaded with dominant arms.

With all of the additions, it's great to see such depth in the bullpen...Busenitz, Curtiss and Moya all got outs for them last year during a playoff push...and in the rotation...May, Gonsalves, Romero, Littell?, a yet-to-be-signed-FA?

The way its always been is not the way it always has to be. A catcher gets his bell rung and it is natural for the pitcher to be concerned much like it is natural for the manager, the trainer, all the infielders , the catcher's wife and kids and his close friends to be concerned and yet not all of those go and see if the catcher is all right. The correct answer to Hughes question would be "There is no reason for you to come and check how he is doing." The guy actually trained to check if the catcher is ok and to do something about it if he is not ok is the guy that should be going to see if he is ok. If I am not clear, that is the trainer. The distance from the dugout is not that much different than the mound and I don't think anyone would object if the trainer jogged out there every time the catcher caught one on the noggin. It may sound a little cold but there is nothing the pitcher can do. Same thing with the umpire. You don't need a mound visit to give the umpire a little time to collect himself. Have the trainer come out and give him the time he needs. Player and umpire safety and common sense trump length of the game but player/umpire safety and common sense says that medical staff trump the pitcher and catcher when it comes down to who should monitor it.

I think Adrianza has to go... I would rather keep Granite and Aybar to have on the bench. Speed and experience... I also think Grossman is a goner at this ☞ with LOMO able to play what he can!

100% confidence, John, That Hughes will be much closer to the pitcher we knew in 2014 than the past few years. He's a character guy and I expect he feels an obligation to the Twins to give them something in return for the checks he's been cashing. No question in my mind that he will be one of our top 3 pitchers, which may make this staff surprisingly good!

And Morrison has had an OPS higher than the .730s once since 2012 and isn’t an OFer. There’s nothing wrong with adding Morrison, but we’ll see both how he hits and how he gets ABs. And I still would have preferred a RH hitting 4th OFer....which were available.

The Twins have spent years without having a strong, consistent option (and in particular, that is a power threat) from the DH spot. There have been many many days that the DH has been a utility infielder or even the back-up catcher. Morrison probably won’t hit 38 home runs this season. (We said that about Dozier last year too.) But his signing, his left-handedness, his on-base/slugging combo - on a cheap contract with an option - is a huge win for the Twins, and a great step in the direction of fielding the strongest line-up possible. I see nothing not to like about this move. Well done, Thad Levine. And Odorizzi, too, if he really played a role.

I really like Hughes and watching him deal a couple seasons ago was fun to watch. I’d love to see him be able to be competitive again from any roll. That said, if the Twins get anything competitive from him this year that is a huge win for both Hughes and the Twins. 91 on his first out in with first pitch strikes sounds good, let’s hope he can ramp things up. A competitive Hugh’s in the rotation would make things interesting since I don’t think anyone was counting on him for anything this year. You can never have too much pitching, I’d love for him to grab that rotation spot.

Burdi is the only one of those I really regret. Rosario seems like a LOOGY at best. Palka is redundant for the Twins organization, which has tons of lefties. Turley and Vielma are organizational filler. Bard and Charges could be okay I guess but they seem like fringe MLB bullpen guys.

Compared to whom the Twins have added? No one. I was surprised to se Shaggy DFA'd, but, meh. The lineup is full, the Bull Pen is full, the staff is starting to round out (can ypu imagine a Lynn signing too?!). The 25 Man and the 40 Man are better today than they were at the end of the 2017 season. The prospect depth is also better than before the 2017 draft (in addition to the trades for Enns, Littell, Pearson, etc.)

I've always been for giving young pitchers a couple of starts and send them back down. It take time to adjust to the Bigs. I'm talking about preparation, large stadiums, interviews, new teammates etc. Not to mention your pitching against the equivalent of the AAA All-star team every start. It's my belief it take 3-4 up and back to AAA before it starts to click and the comfort level come around. I'm one that believe we might be surprised with Slegers this year.

I’ve been wondering about a similar idea regarding the #5 starter, although not considering as many details about the other slots. What if, for example, Slegers, Gonsalves and Romero shared the #5 slot, each pitching every 18 days or so, and cycled to the minors before and after each start? They would get major league experience, learn from it, and then pitch ten or so innings in the minors between starts, where they could work on what they learned in the big leagues. If one proves that he’s should stay, basically by pitching better than someone else in the rotation, move him up and a fourth pitcher could join the rotating trio. The former starter could be that fourth pitcher, circulating between the majors and minors, or he could become a long reliever.

Not quite, but this is the perception fans have and the Twins old FO partly had. There’s a step missing. Tampa has a good development program, which is more than bringing the kids up and letting them take their lumps. Instead, they have a coordinated program to prepare pitchers. The old FO sort of recognized this, which is why Neil Allen was hired to be the pitching coach, but it requires a whole organization, not just one guy. The new FO understands the organizational requirement, which isn why it has hired so many new and notable people to work in the minors. Fans sort of notice these hires, but get a lot more fired up about free agents, even though it is likely that the new pitching development personnel will be responsible for a lot more WAR over the years than any free agent would.