Examining Arbitration-Eligible Players

Bye to Plouffe, Santiago, and Milone. 3 spots. Next.

Twins are at 37 or 38 spots I now believe.  Plouffe and Milone will not be tendered and then there are Wheeler and Dean, plus Suzuki.  Should not be much of an issue to get to low 30's.

Plouffe and Milone need to go. I'm iffy on Santiago. I fully expect the Twins to tender him, but who knows who the new GM will be.

All MLB players have good games here and there.  Even bad defenders make an occasional great play.  Even horrible hitters can have a nice streak, etc.

Gibson has had 7 quality starts out of 17 games started this year.  He'll be 29 going into next season and we're talking about his potential still? Had these same conversation last year around this time when so many said he had turned corner.  He is what he is now. He's not anything close to a consistent MLB starter (or a good one, for that matter).  He's a borderline #4/#5 starting pitcher, at best.  He not the kind of guy you plan to keep past his arbitration years.

I'm with you on this. It did look like Gibson was going to take some sort of turn last year, but alas, here we are. Still worth the arbitration price this offseason, but no longer in consideration for a multi-year extension. 

I'm glad he had a good game, but some perspective. Last night was his 7th quality start in 17 attempts this year and it was against the team that has 23 less runs scored than the team that is 29th in scoring. 

In fact, he's only had 4 quality starts this year against top half offenses (Boston, Texas, Baltimore and LA Angels).

 

 

That leaves Plouffe......

 

1. Is Sano's arm really ok?

2. Can Polanco play 3B if/when needed?

3. If the answer to both is "yes", then I non-tender him. I like Plouffe. But, it is time to clear space for Sano to play 3B full time.

4. If I think Sano's arm issues are long term...and I might move him to 1B or DH, then I think I still maybe non-tender him, but it's more of a toss up to me.

I agree that the situation at third base is as uncertain as ever.  It completely relies on Sano getting into shape and doing the work to improve his fielding. We won't know the results until next spring, so there is some logic to tendering Plouffe or finding an affordable insurance policy.

I personally think Sano is destined to be a career DH and would not have a problem with the team making new future plans at third base.  

I don't think Polanco is the answer long term.  His arm is not strong enough and he doesn't profile as a third baseman offensively.  

Gibson, Pressly, and Escobar are the only ones I'd tender at the end of the season. No explanation needed for dumping Plouffe and Milone... Santiago is a toss-up. At this point I'd just take the money and run. 

Plouffe has had an off year for sure (mostly due to injury I imagine) but this is a guy who was worth over 6 WAR combined between 2014 and 2015.  He may be the least wanted Twins on the team now that Nolasco is gone, but we could very well be giving away real value if we just let him walk.

Gibson isn't going anywhere. Good starting pitching is too hard to find and as he proved last night, he has the potential. I wouldn't hesitate to extend him for 3-4-5 years either. He may not be an ace but he can be a consistent starting pitcher for years to come.

Per Gleeman:

"Kyle Gibson's career ERA+ is 89, which is second-worst in Twins history for pitchers with 500 or more innings ahead of only Nick Blackburn."

There is no way I extend Gibson.  He has been a disappointment.  I would however consider a 1 year arb deal.  No harm in that.

Otherwise Ploufe, Santiago (he is what most analytics said he is, not very good or Nolasco light), Milone, all gone.   Kintzler is fools gold in my opinion, but the Twins will neither trade him or release him, so he gets a 2 year deal (although I would hope it just a one year deal).  I am hoping the new GM surprises me and does more than a few anti Twins types of moves.

Ya, it's his fault he started against the Braves and was good...

 

I didn't say it was his fault, whatever that is supposed to mean.  I said one needs to look at who he was pitching against before letting this game get everyone ramped up again about Gibson's potential. 

I also never said don't offer him arbitration.  I wouldn't, however, buy out any free agent years.

there are people all over the site saying to literally just let Gibson walk. That, imo, is insane.

There are also people saying Plouffe should just be let go when he was worth over 6 WAR between 2014 and 2015.

I still think he wasn't traded because Ryan never tried to trade him.

Per Gleeman:

"Kyle Gibson's career ERA+ is 89, which is second-worst in Twins history for pitchers with 500 or more innings ahead of only Nick Blackburn."

 

There is no way I extend Gibson.  He has been a disappointment.  I would however consider a 1 year arb deal.  No harm in that.

 

 

Yup.  And, as a bonus, he was a 1st round pick.  another top notch selection.  11 first round picks from '06-11, not a good one in the bunch.