AstrosTwins

Just heard in MLB Radio but no reason given yet. Hopefully just precautionary and not injury related. EDIT: Not injury related. Joint decision between Correa and the Twins. His wife is also due to give birth shortly.

You might be right, but if you are, it will be a poor organizational decision by the front office. I think you’re going to be surprised. The moves this team has made already signals a different organizational direction. They are getting aggressive. With the new base size and pick off limitation rules, any team that isn’t trying to run more, is going to be significantly behind the sport. I’m hoping the Twins will get out in front.

Buxton - DH Polonco - 2B Correa - SS Miranda - 3B Gallo - RF Vazquez - C Kirllioff - 1B Taylor - CF Larnach - LF Vazquez is a good hitting catcher who makes contact. He’ll hit .270 give or take. Needs to hit higher in the order, not 8 or 9 like typical catchers. Taylor near the bottom gives you some speed on the bases as the lineup turns over.

I know Buxton is an ELITE defender, but do you think this could possibly mean that Taylor will play center and Buxton mostly DH closer to full time in an effort to keep Byron healthy and in the lineup? Gallo plays right, Larnach plays left with Kirilloff at first base? Kepler then moved for something? With the new bases and pickoff limitations, keeping Byron healthy and in the lineup are more important than ever before. If he plays a full season, he could steal 75 bases. I wonder if this is an effort to do this??

I think at least 1 or 2 outfielders are going somewhere for a bullpen upgrade perhaps?? Bednar or Mantiply??

Pretty good deal to me as far as the trade is concerned, but man, we have too many outfielders. More moves coming!!!

No details yet. Being reported by Jeff Passen.

I would love for the Twins to sign him. I posted this in another thread two days ago. He won the batting title two years ago and while he did drop to .244 last season, he was great in the playoffs. He also makes a ton of contact only striking out 14% of the time. We could use that in the lineup after moving Arraez. I think if you led off Buxton, Yuli hitting second with Correa behind him looks good. Real good. He still plays gold glove level defense at first base and he brings a ton of experience to the table. Now, having said that, I was getting the impression that Kirilloff would now play first. I just don’t see a roster spot for Gurriel unless there is a trade coming that sends one or more of Kepler, Gordon, Larnach or Kirilloff somewhere for prospects or another bullpen upgrade.

I’m going to miss Arraez, but I love this deal. We need to get better in the rotation and this accomplishes that. Lopez will be better in a Twins uniform as well because we are better defensively. This lengthens the staff overall which should improve the bullpen. Salas is highly regarded as well, can play multiple positions and has some power. Great job this off season by the front office. Just need to work on extending Lopez going forward and we have some money coming off the books to do that.

I couldn’t agree with you more. Lopez would be a phenomenal add to this rotation and I think the Twins are better defensively than the Marlins, which means Lopez should be even better in Minnesota. The only concern I have is that you only have him for 2 years, but he’s young and we have quite a few pitchers on expiring contracts. Just extend him. The Twins need to get this done.

It came from Jim Bowden so take it for what it’s worth, but he says the Twins could have Lopez for Arraez and Kepler. Twins said no due to not wanting to part with Arraez. I think the Twins need to make that deal. Pitching is invaluable. You win in the playoffs with pitching. Getting Lopez lengthens our staff which helps the bullpen. Those two players for Lopez isn’t an overpay so the Twins need to get this done before the Cardinals or someone else step up.

I have been in the “we shouldn’t trade Arraez” camp for a while….until today. My reason for not wanting to trade him was mainly because I see him as the table setter at the top of the order to get on base ahead of Buxton and Correa. But I’ve decided today that a quality pitcher like Lopez (though I’d prefer Luzardo) is way more valuable. You win in the playoffs with pitching. We need a quality starter to help eat more innings and to lengthen the entire staff which helps the bullpen. If I was running the show I’d get this deal done today. I think the Twins are better defensively than the Marlins so Lopez’s ERA which some have referenced as being too close to 4, will go down with the Twins. On another note, if we do trade Arraez, I’d like to see the Twins go out and sign Yuli Gurriel on a one year deal. I know he’s going to be 39 in June, but he’s still an elite gold glove winning defender at first base. He won the batting title in 2021 and while he took a step back last year hitting .244, he was clutch in the playoffs and his defensive skills didn’t suffer. His bat to ball skills are still great as he only struck out 14% of the time last year. He’s a right handed bat which the Twins could use. If you traded Arraez for pitching, you could bat Buxton lead off followed by Gurriel and Correa.

Fulmer is a nice bullpen addition.

Soto isn’t a free agent for 3 more years. Whether you extend him or not, 3 years of Soto in his prime, if you believe he is the best player in the game, might be worth that.

I think, at least as I type this today, there is a very good chance Correa doesn’t opt out. While he’s having a good year, I don’t know that I see a team out there right now who would pay him $35M/year the next two years.