TopGunn#22

I realize analytics is all the rage now and I "get" how it can be helpful. But I'm still old school enough to see the value of a guy that can consistently drive in runs. Yes, I agree that opportunity has a lot to do with RBI's but there's certainly something to be said about a guy that takes advantage of those opportunities (and who does so at a high rate). It's kind of like debating the value of "Wins" for pitchers. Pitchers that "WIN" are pretty rare nowadays. But in the final analysis, it's all about who scores the most runs and how many games you win. Abreu would be a good acquisition. But I agree with the idea that a guy like Bogaerts could accomplish much of the same while still playing a position on the field that contributes to success.

I sure hope this is the year Kirilloff stays healthy and blossoms into the player we all have hoped he could be. He has a swing that reminds me a little of Will Clark. THAT'S the player I'd like to see him become.

I've posted on this previously. My thoughts are that the Jays will not part with Moreno and Kirk is too expensive. Janson is the most affordable and with catchers being hot commodities the Jays will be willing to deal Jansen. Jeffers is a career backup at best. I would be willing to trade Kepler and Ober to the Blue Jays for Jansen. It would take that. Guys like Sands and Balazovic haven't done enough to be a major piece in a deal of this magnitude. It would hurt to give up Ober but you'd have to come with someone like him to get the Blue Jays attention. The Jays want a LH hitting outfielder who can play CF. Kepler fits the bill. But if you wanted to expand the deal, you could offer Celestino and Ober and ask for Jansen and Lourdes Gurriel. Then we get a RH outfield bat as well.

Acquiring a bunch of #2's and #3's is sound strategy. Once upon a time, we had a true ACE (Johan Santana). We still haven't won a playoff game in forever. I'm risk averse tp overpaying for pitchers on the FA market. If we could sign Senga for a reasonable price I'd be for that. I'd rather utilize organizational strength (like LOTS of talented LH hitting outfielders) to TRADE for a targeted SP that is clearly better than anyone we currently have) and that we have a couple years of control at a manageable cost. Then, after those couple of years, assess how a Brandon Woodruff or Pablo Lopez has done and decide like we did with Berrios, whether we are extending or selling off.

I think Doc Bauer and "Always in Moderation" have this dialed in pretty well. I'm all for signing Correa to any of those deals. Like Buxton last winter, he's our #1 priority. I also like Bogaerts as a solid #2 if things get too rich for Correa. Having the varying lengths also allows the Twins to have a contingency plan if Correa opts out with Lewis or Lee waiting in the wings. Any team with a Carlos Correa is better WITH him than without him (with the obvious exception being the World Champion Astros). :) I still think while that $8 million could help sign other free agents, that Kepler's trade value is pretty low. I'd consider a deal straight up for Lourdes Gurriel to give us a solid RH bat in our OF, but I'd hang onto Max one more year as my 4th outfielder and package Larnach to get us a bigger piece, like Jansen at catcher, or a Woodruff/Lopez #1 top of our rotation pitcher. I'd hate to move Larnach. I think he'll be a Jesse Winker style hitter. But with Kirilloff and Wallner (and Max for one more year) trading Larnach to upgrade catcher or the rotation would be better use of resources.

Boy, that IS cheap!! Renfro would have been a decent option in a corner OF position. The M.O. of our front office is hang back and pick and choose over leftovers. They've never been bold and I don't see that changing until a new regime enters the scene.

Yeah, but you've got to admit, pricing it higher than an AUTOGRAPHED jersey of the top player from our Football, Hockey and Basketball teams does make one pause and say "HUH???"

This is certainly a topic worth further discussion. I think they are serious about signing Correa. Failing that, I like Bogaerts as the most affordable and best option to add another substantial piece. Failing that, Farmer is O.K. but certainly not great. I'd consider a trade for Mondesi or Kiner-Falefa. Neither is prohibitively expensive. Both offer additional positional versatility that always comes in handy. The Dodgers have proven you can never have too many Swiss Army Knives. Guys like Farmer, Mondesi and Kiner-Falefa are temporary enough that you can build a bridge to Lewis or Lee.

While I would love to have CC back I just think he's going to want too much money and for too long a length of contract. I've always liked Bogaerts as our #2 option. Swanson is staying with the Braves. Turner is the BEST offensive player of all the SS's but his glove is suspect and he will also be cost prohibitive. Bogaerts, in my opinion is the 2nd best hitter and is more consistent as a hitter than Correa. With Lewis and Lee the Twins could sign Bogaerts for 5-6 years and shift him to other positions at some point when Lewis or Lee emerges as the SS. If Polanco isn't dealt this off-season, he will surely be dealt this midseason or next off-season. Julien appears to be the 2B of the future, but Bogaerts could play 2B & 3B when his SS days are over and DH the rest.

I'm late to this again but it's been fun reading through 90+ comments to get multiple perspectives. For the last week my keyboard has been loading what I type really SLOW so I have to type 5 words and then wait for them to print. If anything, it's forcing me to be more concise and less long winded, a benefit I'm sure you all will appreciate. I was hoping for a little more than a 1-A ball pitcher as well and I liked Gio as a player and a teammate. But this move makes sense seeing the logjam of 3B players the Twins currently have. Aaraez and Miranda, with Lewis, Lee and Julien waiting in the wings. Lewis won't be available until end June/early July and will certainly require a minor league stint at St. Paul to knock off the rust. But I think Lee and Julien are pretty close. And Farmer COULD be the SS depending on what happens on the Correa, Bogaerts etc...front. Here's something I believe I'm in the minority: Kepler only has a BTV of 5.6. He's a solid defensive OF'er whose offense has really disappointed the last 3 seasons. With Kirilloff, Larnach, Wallner Gordon, and Kepler that's just too many LH hitters. Something has to give. Larnach has a 30.4 value in BTV. I would keep Max around in 2023 as the 4th OF'er and a late inning defensive replacement. I'd give him one more try to see if he can figure things out offensively. I'd trade Larnach despite how much I like him because he has the most market value right now. After 2023 you see how Kepler and Wallner did and reassess. But I use Larnach as a centerpiece to acquire a true starting catcher (Danny Jansen) or a true #1 to head the pitching staff (Pablo Lopez, Brandon Woodruff). The Urshela move and corresponding trade for Farmer is just the first move on the chessboard. There are a LOT of moves to be considered and made yet to come. Nothing should be judged in a vacuum.

It will be expensive indeed to resign him, but what are the Twins plans BEYOND resigning Correa ? A deal would certainly need to be creative and I like the 4 years with the options kicking in giving both the Twins and Correa future "protection." BEYOND signing Correa, the Twins need to be very aggressive, because signing him is a WIN NOW move. Several other moves would need to be made to contend NOW. Are they willing to make that commitment?? I for one would not mind making a run at Bogaerts if Correa got too expensive.

I like a lot of what you've done but I'm in agreement with Nashville that I'm not moving Lee. It was a gift he fell and the Twins pounced. As much as I want to acquire Woodruff (and I REALLY do, I've written about it several times), I just wouldn't give up a possible Chipper Jones type. Just can't. However, I see the logic of what you're doing. With Correa locked up for a minimum of 4 years you've still got Lee and Lewis as future SS's. There's a surplus to deal from. I've also been pushing for a Jansen trade and would rather have him and Jason Castro than a Jeffers/Narvaez duo. MY problem is that Ober is a key trade piece to get Woodruff from the Brewers as well as a possible piece to acquire Jansen the catcher. I can't trade Ober twice. But Woodruff gives us a true stud at the top of our rotation and Jansen would solve our catching problem for years to come. Kenley Jansen would be a sneaky good pickup. He's a proven CLOSER. Duran could be relied upon in high leverage situations and if Lopez bounced back you'd have THREE really effective pitchers in the 7th, 8th and 9th. It would also order the bullpen in such a way that Rocco would practically be forced to have clearly defined roles for each pitcher. This is something Rocco needs to save him from himself.

Happ and Hernandez are VERY interesting. I'd look into both options and weigh the cost for either. All the talk about the Cubs is how aggressive they will be going after a SS and pitching, so it's hard to imagine them parting ways with Happ. Hernandez is more of a situation where Toronto is overly RH in their lineup. Maybe we could offer Larnach or Kepler and something else (Kepler alone wouldn't get it done). Kepler and Polanco ??

I'm just glad Julien and Canterino were protected. I still have high hopes for Canterino. He will probably never be a SP but he could be a dominant arm in the BP and I'm fine with that if that's all he ever is.

Kiner-Falefa would be who I would go after. He's a perfect "bridge" SS with multi position utility if the Yanks non-tender him. Great glove, not a disaster as a #9 hitter. It would be surprising if the Yanks non-tendered him rather than seek a trade. I would be disappointed if the Twins non-tendered Gio. He's a keeper to me.

It's time to move Martin and Julien up and continue to move them up if they merit it. I see Martin as a LF'er who can spell Buxton in CF when he's hurt. We can't count on Julien THIS season, at least at the beginning, but we may be looking at the final season of Polanco if he isn't traded this off season.

I'm with Major League Ready on this one. Signing Garlick doesn't get me excited in the least, but he's purely a depth signing as a RH bat with all the LH bats the Twins have for their OF (Kepler, Kirilloff, Larnach, Wallner). This could very well pave the way for a Kepler or Larnach trade. Garlick could spend much of his time at St. Paul and be called up if a rash of injuries decimates the OF like last year. But as Major League Ready pointed out, teams with middling payrolls like the the Twins and Cleveland MUST migrate their top prospects up to the big leagues on a consistent basis. The pipeline must ALWAYS be OPEN.

I'm going to be kind of wishy washy on this "debate" and just say that I'm pretty happy we have both and even though they are both projected to be a SS, one of them probably won't end up there. I'm going to predict Lewis ends up at SS and Lee becomes a 3B who will be the next Chipper Jones. I'll take that.

Nicely done Doc Munson ! Judge is a pipe dream, but Correa is indeed possible. You laid out how "affordable" the bulk of this roster is. Moving Polanco for SP'ing frees up even more money to be spent elsewhere. Maybe a trade could be made where the Twins take on a bigger contract to fill a void. For example, but not necessarily THE trade: Acquire Kris Bryant from the Rockies to be our RH hitting LF'er. In a deal like this, Colorado would have to to chip in a sizeable portion of his salary. How desperate are the Rockies to mitigate some of that salary pressure ? It's not a perfect scenario because Bryant is as injury prone as Buxton, but imagine if he was healthy and playing 140 games?

It's true that Bogaerts has never played 2B. The data and metrics come from all his chances while fielding on the RF side of 2B in shifts. It's imperfect, I agree, but not outlandish to project that Bogaerts would be able to make a smooth transition to 2B. Anyone who watched the Twins fail time and again in situational hitting and hitting in general last season knows that a consistent bat like Bogaerts hitting 2-3 or 4 in our lineup would be a good thing. And I keep coming back to Lewis, Lee and even Miller. It's not like we have just ONE decent prospect for SS, we have several. Miller may be a long shot, but Lewis and Lee are the real deal. Any move we make at SS needs to be done with a clear plan of where Lewis and Lee would end up if someone like Correa was signed for 8 years, $288 million ($36 million average annual value) because that's probably the low end for someone like Correa.

One thing TK had going for him was he always had clearly defined "roles" for his BP guys. Rocco frustrates me because I can't figure out what his roles are for his BP. I'm not sure Rocco knows. I think Lopez will be just fine and he and Duran will be the closers.

Rosterman, Murphy would be VERY expensive. That's why I'd recommend trading for Jansen from Toronto. He's not as good, but he's MILES ahead of anyone we have. I'd like to use some leftover trade capital to try to land someone like Woodruff or Lopez to head our staff.

I read this article and thought the same thing. Correa is still #1 but I'd move Bogaerts up to #2. It appears Bogaerts would be a solid second baseman if Lewis or Lee blossom into the SS we all hope for. There is nothing not to like about Bogaerts BAT !

I see Martin as a contender for LF and as a super utility guy who could grow into a bigger role. The Twins didn't hand Ceasar Tovar an exclusive position after acquiring him from the Reds. I see Martin as a similar type of player who grew into his role. Martin could certainly be the RH backup for CF as Kepler could be the LH backup. I would look to move Larnach as a primary piece in a deal to acquire Woodruff or Pablo Lopez. With our glut of LH hitting OF'ers, Larnach has the most "current" value at 30.4 (BTV). Kepler as a 4th OF and Kirilloff and Wallner is plenty of LH depth if someone is hurt or not playing well.

Interesting moves. Adding a lot of RH bats. You're missing Jorge Lopez in the bullpen at $3 million so maybe subtract Trevor May and his $6 million and save $3 million. I like the Graveman addition. I think Robertson at that point is overkill. You could save another $8 million. Acquiring Singer is tremendous, maybe see if you can get Mondesi as well. It would be a gamble, but if the kid could ever stay healthy there is BIG upside. Then instead of Pollack you would save another $6 million and have a cheaper option in Mondesi. You could get closer to a more realistic budget, or spend that money somewhere else.