Twins Acquire Jake Odorizzi From Rays For Jermaine Palacios

Really nice trade.

Moving to the AL Central out of the AL East will help him out. Moving to Target Field from the Thunderdome will help. I think he could be really good here.

I don't mind a rotation of Santana, Berrios, Odorizzi, Gibson, Mejia/Gonsalves/Romero/Sanchez for the bulk of the season. I don't think it's unlikely that'll be pretty good. I'd like to throw a Cobb or Lynn in there, but that's not happening.

Four of those were on last year's team, that was bad at starting pitching.....

This may shock you, Levi, but I'm in this camp too, probably along with 85% of the rest here. Absent a front line starter, the prospects for improvement for this team in 2018 are extremely shaky at best. 

 

If you start with an objective of mid-rotation performance, every potential rotation option, outside of maybe Berrios, is a big question mark in one way or another. I don't think it's a glass half empty viewpoint to expect that 3 out of 5 of them will fail to give us #3 type performance. Which means that we trot out Odorizzi, Gibson, Mejia, Santana, Hughes, maybe eventually May, and then begin the auditions perhaps of Slegers, Gonsalves...who am I missing? Oh. Sanchez. Maybe the team is more optimistic about some of these guys, and for reasons we don't know? It's perplexing.

 

So maybe 2 of them give us #3 stuff, maybe even 3 of them if the cards fall right. Maybe another 2 or 3 give us adequate results for a #4-5 slot. But rationally, the addition of the front line starter we have all been clamoring for makes the difference between competing for a postseason berth or not. On paper.

 

Assuming for a moment that Falvey is done now (a sad thought), where does this team finish in the AL Central? Out of the wild card hunt, at a few games under .500, in 3rd place behind Cleveland and Chicago? You have to play the games, but that's what I see as the risk without that front end guy.

I'm with ya on this. However... it's a strange place for me to be. Before the off-season started I never dreamed the Twins would be in the hunt for a top end starter so I was hoping for complete focus on the bullpen and creativity with the rotation such as moving someone out of a bullpen role into the rotation like Minor. 

Now that Darvish was supposedly in play... My mindset has changed and now I can't shake the desire for a top end guy that will push the others down a notch. 

However... If they don't grab that top end guy... I will remained heartened by one thing. The Twins have quality depth and that hasn't been the case for quite a few years.

We shouldn't have to throw a Cole DeVries or Scott Diamond type pitcher for 20 plus starts just to get through the season. I think this could be huge. 

I look at it this way. The Twins could have traded a draft pick for Arrieta, Cobb, or Lynn. All in their 30’s and all requiring three plus year commitments a higher overall price. Instead, they dealt for two years of a pitcher in his late 20’s and can separate with him before his age 30 at a two year max commitment at a reduced price vs. signing a FA unless they want to extend it longer.

The draft is growing in popularity. More picks mean more money and more opportunities for the FO to bring in their hand picked players. The prospect we gave up while good is from a spot of strength and an international signing from a past FO group.

I know there are much more statistics to compare. I’m choosing the financial approach with this one. Archer would have been the ideal target, but the Rays have to agree to trade him. If they trade him, good luck selling 5,000 seats per game. They need to retain some sort of selling point to their dwindling fan base. Maybe the Twins can blow them away with another offer for Archer, but it does appear they’ve made their move for the rotation.

I still want them to go after Archer or another 'top of the rotation guy'

But the trade for Odorizzi is much better than overpaying for a guy like Lynn, Arrieta or Cobb on the FA market.

HOWEVER with that said, I still think you try to see if you can get one of those guys in on a team friendly deal. I wonder if Arrieta at this stage would be interested in a one year, 18 million (prove it) type of deal?

I've been responding to people claiming we fleeced the Rays. If the Rays place a high value on Palacios, then we didn't fleece them. That's all I'm saying.

Exactly

The Twins didn't have a gun to their head. The only gun to their head was in the hand of the owner dictating that payroll has to be reduced. 

I think it is reasonable to assume that the Twins were not the only team that called the Rays about Odorizzi. They considered all the discussions and traded for the guy that their scouting department liked the best.  

That's how trades are supposed to work.

No one got fleeced yet. 

I believe you, but how much of that has to do with Tampa Bay just having better than average pitching?

Yeah, David Price had a lot to do with that as well.

I think overall the Rays have always had some pretty damn good pitching, their weakness seemingly year in and year out has been offense.

This may shock you, Levi, but I'm in this camp too, probably along with 85% of the rest here. Absent a front line starter, the prospects for improvement for this team in 2018 are extremely shaky at best. 

 

Assuming for a moment that Falvey is done now (a sad thought), where does this team finish in the AL Central? Out of the wild card hunt, at a few games under .500, in 3rd place behind Cleveland and Chicago? You have to play the games, but that's what I see as the risk without that front end guy.

It doesn't shock me.  You're a fair person in how you respond to this team, I genuinely appreciate your posts because you're among a the group here that you can't predict what they're going to type before they type it.  I come here for interesting takes, the cookie cutter responses aren't interesting.  The Strib comments are full of those, I come here for interesting takes.  (If anything, your previous posting endeavor was more shocking)

The current talent of the rotation makes me think a .500ish team, which puts you in the conversation for a WC spot.  Which would then mean the real question could be their aggressiveness at the deadline.  

But I think adding a guy like Cobb or Lynn could put them solidly in WC and divisional contention.  In lieu of getting a #2, I'll settle for having a bevy of 3/4 types.  This offense is good enough to make that workable.  

And in lieu of Cobb or Lynn?  Well then go get a DH and just put your foot down on the offensive side of the game.  Either way, this current roster is too middling for my liking.  And that looks like a wasted opportunity.