mudcat14

Sick of a bullpen where the majority are afraid to throw strikes!

As I understand the DFA process, a team has 72 hours to deal, then pass through waivers and then release a player. Waiver claims are granted based on team records (worst to first). I would assume the Twins were willing to let Morin go for nothing, but the Phils wanted him bad enough to jump another claimant and offered cash compensation. Were the Twins supposed to turn it down? I expect the same thing will happen with Magill. Possibly a player will come in return, but likely just cash.

I don't see the Twins making any deal that includes anyone on the Major League roster. Possibly one of Astudillo or Arianza, but it's unlikely that a team in rebuild mode would covet either of them. Perhaps Cave might have value, but the Twins won't make any move that upsets the core that they have in place. They are looking to supplement what they have, not subtract.

I agree, Greg. I don't think that either Met starter is a realistic target for the Twins. I'm hoping a MadBum/Smith or Stroman/Giles package could be made without including any of my 3 hands-off candidates.

I'm not giving up Kiriloff, Graterol or Lewis for any deal, realistic or not. Everyone else is fair game, within reason. I wouldn't give up more than a couple of our top mound prospects, but would have no trouble parting with multiple IF/OF candidates where I believe we have an abundance. I'm a big fan of Lewin Diaz, and would hope he can be retained to compete for the 1B job in '20 or '21.

The Twins have been looking for an everyday third baseman since Corey Koskie left. Trevor Plouffe was as close as they've come and he is out of the game at age 32. Gonzales will be as good or better than we've had, similar to what we refused to commit to in Eduardo Escobar. Pittsburgh was at one time enthralled enough with Sano to try and lie and cheat to get him to sign. If he could be used to entice the Pirates into a Felipe Vasquez deal, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Just wondering if the large strides forward made this season by guys like Polanco, Garver, Kepler & Buxton, might make Miguel Sano less of a factor in the Twins future plans. Of course the power potential is obviously still there, but I can't help but wonder if patience is starting to wear a little thin while waiting for him to put it together. I would still expect him to have quite a bit of trade value and wonder if that might not be an avenue that the Twins pursue. I'm confident Marwin, Adrianza & Arraez could fill his shoes in the short-term, and in all honesty no one knows what his role could even be in the long-term. I'm leaning towards believing is best value to this club is as trade capitol. Thoughts?

How many different OF's have they picked up off the heap, or from other's this season? A lot. Cave would have some appeal to them as a piece in a trade.

Falvey/Levine did absolutely nothing in the off-season to address the bullpen. Blake Parker? Give me a break. Kimbrel still sits out there waiting for the phone to ring. 3/$52 would better Wade Davis' annual salary, and get him signed.

Bingo!

Kep needs to think more like a ballplayer. He must take a pitch or two to give the games most effective base-stealer a chance. Particularly when he just walked a free-swinger.

As near as I can tell, Kimbrel would cost a 3rd round pick if the Twins received revenue sharing, a 2nd if we did not. Either seems worth it to me.

It was just a bad (and hopefully learned from) decision by Baldelli to bring the rookie into that situation. Rocco was influenced too much by the fact that the pitcher was leading off the next inning. As we all know, games can be decided in any inning. Protecting the lead was the priority, not setting up the next four innings when presumably everyone was available. I'm more worried about Odorizzi than the 'Pen. He finally has a start where he is largely efficient with his pitch count, and he still can't manage to get past the 5th inning. We've seen short starts from him way, way, way to often to have any hope that this will change before he mercifully departs at season's end. Maybe, just maybe he can be one of those miracle reclamation stories of a failed veteran starter who thrives in the pen. I'm done with him as a starter. I'd rather start auditioning arms from AAA & AA to see if we can catch lightening in a bottle than wait for Jake to finally put it together.

Just sick of Odorizzi constantly pitching from behind in the count. Throws way, way, way too many pitches. If he won’t adjust, get rid of him. Again, sick of it.

I love Astudillo. There, I said it. He needs to be a part of this team. If he were 40-lbs lighter there wouldn't even be a debate. Because of his appearance, people can't fathom him being able to sustain. If Castro is catcher #1, I think our best roster is a 4-man bench consisting of Gonzalez, Adrianza, Garver & Willians. Three of them can play almost anywhere and provide the luxury few teams have of carrying a 3rd catcher. I like Cave, but he has an option left and would be merely a phone call away in case of injury. Austin has great power, but offers little else. Maybe he could net us bonus money or a prospect, or we risk that he clears waivers.

I think it's a matter of guy's with options left being the first to go. I think they also want to get them over to the minor league camp to establish their places on the AAA/AA rosters.

I agree. Granite is the obvious 40-man casualty. If we lose him, so what? I do find it interesting that Gonzales' & Eduardo Escobar's career numbers are almost identical. Marwin has an ever so slight edge across the board offensively, while Escobar seems more at home defensively (particularly on the left side of the infield.) Both got $21mil deals, but Eduardo's is spread over three years. I guess the Escobar trade did yield some intriguing prospects, so they need to be factored in to the equation at some level too. My initial reaction is that Torryes and Austin are most affected by this signing. Adrianza is still the primary back-up on the left side of the infield, while Marwin will see most of his action at 1B, 2B & the OF particularly against RH pitching. I hope El Tortuga is still in play, but don't think this helps him much either.

I don't get this. As I've written before, we had a cheaper, better version of this guy for the last several years in Eduardo Escobar. Why pay way more than he signed for to replace him? Don't know what kind of clubhouse influence Marwin is, but I KNOW that EE was beloved.

We had Marwin Gonzalez + in Escobar, but wouldn't go $21mil over the 3-years that he eventually got from Arizona. Why would we spend as much or more for a similar replacement? Adrianza, Torreyes and/or Austidillo will be our utility guys. The Twins have put their eggs in an everyday basket with Sano, Polanco & Schoop handling the infield. They'll take their chances at 1B with Cron, Austin or even Kepler if another outfielder (Cave, Reed, Wade, Rooker, etc.) emerges.

I agree that in-game spring training results aren't true indicators of future performance. I am more so interested in each guy's overall showing in Florida. With zero specific information on either player's make-up or desire, I am assuming that Cron's 1,900 AB career is pretty indicative of what he can produce. Hopefully Austin, at less than 400 AB's will show the willingness and ability to adjust his approach to correct his displayed weaknesses in pitch selection and plate coverage. As I mentioned previously, I prefer Austin's upside. But I hope whoever claims the spot is not satisfied with what they've accomplished thus far, and aspires towards more.

Don't see any way the Twins break camp with both of these guys on the roster. Will it be a true competition in Ft. Meyers between these two for the 1B gig, or does Cron's salary commitment give him the spot? At almost two years younger and with considerably less ML experience, I prefer Austin's upside. I see nothing wrong with pitting these two against each other in Spring Training and seeing who emerges.

My excitement about this signing can be boiled down to one word, SANO. I believe having the slugging veteran Dominican will have a huge impact on Sano in multiple ways. The fact that he has been what I believe Miguel wants to become, one of the most feared and consistent sluggers in the game will benefit Sano not only in the batter's box, but even more so in terms of conditioning and preparation. The fact that they share a Dominican heritage will only serve to make his example even more impact-full on him. Very pleased with this signing. Muy bueno!

Kinsler has been in a two year decline at age 36. Schoop regressed this past season after a three year progression at age 27. To me Schoop is the obvious choice, even at the slightly higher annual rate,

Personally, I give Kepler one more shot to break out. I realize another status quo season for him also diminishes any value he may have in trade. I just hate to give up on his obvious physical potential. My hope is that he, along with a few others on the roster will finally get the information or instruction and exhibit the patience and discipline to start maximizing every at bat. In Kepler's case, I think it's clear that the swing is there. Like so many of our young Twins, I think his biggest problem is simply swinging at the wrong pitches leading to unfavorable hitting counts.

I agree with the move. I'm not suggesting that it was all Paul's fault, but I find it somewhat damning that so many players regressed this year, some quite badly. Not only did most of the young core fail to improve, but seasoned veterans had miserable drop-offs as well. For no particular reason, I like Carlos Beltran as a candidate. I know the Yankees seriously considered him last year despite his lack of experience, plus he is held in extremely high regard by most of the Latino baseball community.