beetlebum71

You've got LF, 1B, and DH to rotate Kiriloff, Arraez, Sano, and Miranda through. Throw Larnach in there potentially, too. That's roughly 2,000 AB's to split between the four of them. Throw in some spell days for Donaldson, and you can probably add another hundred or so to that. There are plenty of opportunities to get them all ABs. Plan on a bench of one of those guys, whichever catcher isn't playing, a true extra OF, and a utility IF who can play some short, and let's go.

Call me crazy, but I don't like spending big money on FA pitchers. They're too unpredictable, and one injury can make them pretty much out of commission for a year or two. Teams like the Twins are going to have a tough time recouping that production. Position players are far less volatile, and are a much better bet to give you want you paid for. This strategy only works if you develop pitching, though, and that has been tough for MN. They will need for two of their top pitching prospects to hit in short order. I say roll the dice and see what happens.

It was either Descartes or Yogi Berra who once said, "I think, therefore I am."

Probably because this is satire and the guy doesn't exist.

His average FB velocity last year was 87.7. That is tough to get by with. Kyle Hendricks has managed to succeed with almost identical velo, but he uses elite command to mitigate it. He also throws his 4-seamer significantly less often than Devin does.

The key to this all is getting Buxton back. That allows you to play your best defensive OF, and your best defensive IF. Slide Sano to 1B against righties and have Gonzo/Adrianza play 3B, and have Cron and Sano on the corners against lefties. I'd be fine with Garv Sauce playing some 1B against righties, as well, but the coaching staff seems reluctant to do that, so I wouldn't hold my breath. As long as he's playing about 2 of 3 games behind the plate, I'm OK with that. It's possible that his reduced work load is contributing to his other-worldly production. This was a really great write-up of the situation.

They have more HR's so far this year than they hit in all of 2011.

Fun piece. The issue with moving Kepler to 1B, even part time, is that so much of his value is derived from his excellent play in RF. Even if he ends up being a plus defender at first, too, his defense won't have the same positive impact that it has in the OF. Add to that the fact that you'll be replacing him in RF with, most likely, Jake Cave, and now you're potentially making yourself worse at two defensive positions. I like the idea of having a guy who can play 1B and OF, but if I'm going to ask one of my OF to grab a 1B mitt, I think it'd be Cave. It doesn't look like he's ever played there, so the learning curve would be steeper than it would be for Kepler, and he's not the big target over there that Max would be, but he's a marginal defender in the OF, would satisfy the desire to have a LH option over there, and would not reduce your OF defense. The Twins were good in 2017 largely because of their OF defense. I'd like to see them go back to that now that Buxton will be healthy.

I was talking about revokable waivers, yes. It's obviously different than outright waivers, but guys get claimed off trade waivers all the time. Santana did not. Sure, the Twins would have pulled him back if they couldn't work out a deal, but the fact that they didn't have to make those decisions at all is telling. As I said, his value is likely somewhat higher now, but I don't think anyone is giving up two legit prospects who are close to ML ready. That colors my opinion that keeping him is best. If you can get a top 50 prospect who can step into the rotation next year and another high-end pitcher thrown in, then do it. It's never going to happen, though.

The Cardinals squeaked in to the playoffs with 83 wins a few years ago and ended up winning the series. Chip, chair, chance. You never give up on a season until you have to. This team is far from perfect, but it still has a chance at October baseball. That's a valuable thing.

For me, it's not about "what would the fans think?" of trading away your ace in a season in which you're competing for the division crown. It's about "what are the players going to think?" They're out there busting their humps everyday to hang around this race, and then Falvey up and trades the leader of their pitching staff. He'd basically be telling them that he doesn't think they're good enough to win this year, despite the fact that they're currently doing it. Whether or not he'd be right is essentially irrelevant. That's a good way to lose a clubhouse. When you start giving indications that you don't believe in your team, they'll bail on you. As long as this team is in 1st or within spitting distance of it, they need to keep the band together and look to add, not subtract. Lastly, I think people in here are overvaluing Santana just a little. This is a guy who cleared waivers last August. Teams could have claimed him and maybe gotten him for free. No one did. His value has probably increased, but I also believe that teams are skeptical of him keeping up this pace. In their minds, they're trading for the Ervin we've seen for the past 10 years, not the one we've seen for the past 2 months. Players are only worth what someone is willing to pay, as we saw this winter with Dozier. IMO, he's more valuable to the team by pitching for them than he is through a trade for a couple B-level prospects.

Is this Curtiss kid for real? He's only 24, looks like he has a mid-90's heater, a decent slider, and mixes in a change to some lefties. He has to be pretty close to getting a look, right? With that K-rate, you would think the big club would be more than just a little intrigued.