Bring Niko Back to Target Field

YES, he can have Jake Cave's spot on the 40 man roster.... please!

Nice creative essay - the Twins gave up on Niko and Gordy brought him in to a talent starved organization and he delivered. It is a nice catch - he could be a stopgap if we use the money to get pitchers.

I agree, he'd be a MUCH better use of a roster spot than Cave.  I'd still like to explore Adelberto Mondesi from the Royals but as was pointed out, Goodrum can fill in at seven positions and I didn't realize he was that good a gloveman at SS.  It's an interesting thing to consider.  

I thought the same thing when I saw he was available. If Simmons is available and cheap at SS that would be my 1st choice, I agree with pundits that he will bounce back. But even so Goodrum would be an excellent back-up SS and a super utility player if he can play CF. If they indeed trade Arraez, Goodrum and Gordon would be 2 very good utility players that would add much needed depth at needed positions.

Like the idea, Seth.  Will admit I didn’t know he was that good defensively at short.

Seth, am usually opposed to bringing back ex-Twins previously released, especially one also just released by Detroit, but if he has still truly an above average fielding SS, his power potential alone would make him a clear choice over Simmons.  

We're not going to spend the dollars necessary to sign one of the big name FAs, so why not a flyer on this guy?  Don't like his high K rate, but from the list of other available middlin' SSs, this would seem to be a good low risk candidate at a very moderate cost.  I like the idea of jettisoning Cave and see Gordon and Goodrum as backups in both the IF and SS if and when Lewis can take over SS position permanently.  Unfortunately, I don't see the Wonder Boys going for an "old" Twin; just not in their DNA.

Excellent idea. I didn’t realize he was that good with the glove. If you’re right and he can field at an above average big league SS level, he is now my first choice. Like you, I think the Twins need to spend all of their money on pitching and sign a one year stopgap shortstop. I like Goodrum much better than Jose Iglesias, who stunk for the Angels last year, Freddie Galvis, wants to go to Philadelphia, and Simmons, who cant hit and just a little too weird for my liking.
 

I saw this DFA and wondered if Niko might be worth a small contract risk. Good post and it seems like a lot of money to throw away if Goodrum is cooked, but there should be some scout's analysis out there on him. The current options are not looking better, so yes.

Seth, you are sounding like Sid Hartman in bringing back any athlete that passed through Minnesota.

Not sure that bringing in a career .230 whose presence would mostly serve to block guys like Lewis, Martin, Gordon and maybe even Cavaco, Soularie & Steer would accomplish.

Why are we trying to get by so cheap. First Nico's numbers offensively are no better than Simmons. He also has had leg issues. I want to see the twins add not subtract. Nice idea but if can't add a big name we need to get by with Royce, Gordon, or martin. Then we save the 2 plus million and add it to the pitching.

Meh. I think if Niko wasn't a former Twin he would be on zero peoples radars. Am I completely opposed to it? No. But is this a move that moves the needle? Not one bit. He's probably an upgrade over Gordon, so if it's a straight swap I am fine with it.

I actually hated to lose him 2018 and thought he would have been a valuable multi-position option for us. I wasn't so concerned with losing him in 2019-20 due to Marwin and Adrianza on the club.

If we got the 2018-19 version of Goodrum I'd be very pleased. But I'm going to echo just what everyone else has already stated, I didn't know his glove at SS was that good. Most of the games I've watched the past few years he's usually been stationed somewhere else. So yep, if his glove is that good, I'm in on him as one of a handful of options I'd be happy with. He offers an OK bat for the position with some decent speed and power as well.

4 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

With the possible exception of Gordon, none of the rest of these guys would play SS in at least the first half of 2022 and some of them for a year or three. 

Then put Gordon as SS for the first half of 2022, or resign Simmons (far more likely to bounce back offensively than Goodrum is to suddenly become Derek Jeter) push your cards to the middle of the  table and call it good.

4 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

I would think someone, maybe even the Tigers, would give him an MLB contract. 

Since the Tigers just did the opposite of that that would seem unlikely.  Minor League deal maybe.  And the Tigers are a team looking to take the next step.  Shouldn't we be doing the same?

The Tigers didn't feel he was worth a couple of million. No otehr team approached the Tigers to grab him. So he is out there, dangling, and can probably be ahd for less. I'm sure he is looking for a multi-year deal first, advertised as a utility gem...but if the Twins could guarantee him a good hard look at being a starting shortstop.

How does he fit into a potential Twins lineup with his power and speed. Yet we don't need him coming up and striking out too much in game situations.

Soon we will find out if the Twins are serving us a dish of "contention" or if the team is just going to play ball, try and get better internally, and Niko could be a fine stopgap/

Since Simmons will get more than 3 million.  There are several team interested in him including the Yankees.  If we can use the 5 million in savings toward the Buxton extension that would. be great.  I wonder if the Twins are waiting to see if the Yankees sign Seager to trade Buxton to NY for their SS prospects.  

Didn't even realize he had been released. I will add to the other comments and say that I actually don't mind this idea. I think that it would be a good idea to have him or a similar player, and/ or Nick Gordon splitting at time until one of our minor leaguers are ready (Martin, Lewis, etc.)

13 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

I thought the same thing when I saw he was available. If Simmons is available and cheap at SS that would be my 1st choice, I agree with pundits that he will bounce back. But even so Goodrum would be an excellent back-up SS and a super utility player if he can play CF. If they indeed trade Arraez, Goodrum and Gordon would be 2 very good utility players that would add much needed depth at needed positions.

It makes perfect sense to trade Arraez for pitching so you can bet that they're not going to it. So we won't sign Goodrum, they'll more than likely put Polanco back at SS because nothing they do makes sense.

3 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

My point would be to sign Goodrum instead of Simmons (for probably less $$ and to probably get more production). Pretty sure there was no mention of Goodrum becoming Jeter anywhere... 

Highly unlikely to get more production from Goodrum than from Simmons.