clone52

Except this dumpster dive is for a AAA outfielder. Not for anyone they'll actually plan to make the major league roster.

Organizational Depth only. Our projected backup outfielders are Danny Santana and Oswaldo Arcia. Both could flop. If they do flop, those spots probably get filled by Kepler and Mastroianni. That leaves the AAA OF as ABW, Joe Benson and Ryan Sweeney with no backups. Is Quentin a worse option in AAA than Joe Benson or Ryan Sweeney? The Twins also don't have any high end prospects in AA. Its a low risk signing. Maybe he lights it up in spring training and someone wants to make a trade for him. Who knows.

In what world is Joe Benson a "known commodity"? Seems like he has more question marks than Sweeney.

You could be right that Ryan dropped the ball. Or maybe Yankees scouts valued Cessa and Green more than the general consensus. Maybe Ryan offerred Burdi and Reed and the Yankees said no. Teams don't look at mlb.com rankings when deciding who to trade. They look at their own scouting/ratings.

Your math is off. Kemp is owed 87 million over the next 4 years. Nolasco is owed 25 million. San Diego would have to throw in $22 million to make it a 4/40 contract. Plus, the Twins don't need a a $10 million outfielder. Assuming they keep Buxton, Rosario, Kepler, Walker, they probably aren't in the market for an outfielder like Kemp. He'd just be tying up $10-15 million in roster money. He might be useful in 2016 if Buxton isn't ready to go. However, with Sano, Buxton and Rosario, the OF is kind of set. If Sano moves to 3B in 2017, they still have Buxton, Rosario, Kepler and Adam Brett-Walker as possibilities. Even if they need another OF, could they spend the $10-15 million on another guy? At this point, they're halfway through Nolasco's contract. They're really only eating 2 more years of his contract. At this point, a 2/24 contract is not some albatross weighing down the entire team. If they needed an OF, then yeah, trade him for Kemp. If they really think they need another SP, trade him for James Shields. However, I don't think they need another OF or SP, so I think both of those are bad moves. If there was a decent C out there with a bad contract, they could make that trade. If there were a good reliever with a bad contract, they could make that move. Here are some possible options I wouldn't be opposed to. 1. Keep Nolasco and eat the cost. Maybe he recovers and has some value as a starter or reliever. 2. Trade him for Ryan Howard. Same cost, but only stuck with Howard for 1 year. Put Howard on the bench as a power hitting pinch hitter. Plus, much more likely to be able to trade Howard at the deadline for something (but would probably have to pay his salary either way). 3. Trade him to the Dodgers for Andre Ethier. Saves the Dodgers some money. Ethier is only under contract through 2017. It'd be like signing him for $5 million/year. 4. Trade him to the Padres for Melvin Upton. Padres save a little money and Upton is only signed through 2017. Basically this would be like signing Melvin Upton for $4 million a year to be a 4th OF with some upside. 5. Trade him to the Phillies for Matt Harrison and see if Harrison recovers from his injuries. Saves the Phillies $2 million, so they'd probably do it. If I were the Twins, I'd pay $2 million to roll the dice with someone not named Ricky Nolasco. 6. Trade him to the Braves for Nick Swisher.

How on earth does whatever Plouffe was doing at age 25 have an impact on a debate over whether Plouffe or Castro is a better player now?

Interesting article. However, they don't consider that maybe the #4 and #5 guys come up with more runners on than the #3 guy because the old school says bat your best hitter #3. Here is what I would do if I were the Twins. It won't happen, but I think it should. Buxton, CF Dozier, 2B Park, DH Sano, RF Mauer, 1B Plouffe, 3B Rosario, LF Escobar, SS Suzuki, C The reason I'd do this is that it sounds like the biggest adjustment Park will need to make is seeing more breaking balls. Why not bat him in front of Sano, where he will see the most possible fastballs. Plus, this puts Mauer behind Sano, where he is likely to see runners on. He was a much better hitter with runners on than bases empty. There is no way they start Park in the 3 spot, though. According to that article, the lineup should be this. Joe Mauer, 1B Brian Dozier, 2B Trevor Plouffe, 3B Miguel Sano, RF Eduardo Escobar, SS Eddie Rosario, LF Park, DH Buxton, CF Suzuki, C If Buxton breaks out, swamp him and Mauer or something like that.

I'm sure they're looking at trading Plouffe. Ploufee+Hicks+prospects is way overpaying, though. In my opinion, Plouffe and LuCroy are pretty similar assets. Both have 2 years left of team control. You know what you are getting with Plouffe. He's been healthy and pretty steady. Decent bat, above average 3B defense. LuCroy gets bonus points for being at a key position. However, he was injured. If I'm trading for a Catcher, I'd much rather go after Derek Norris, even though it would cost more. I guess if I'm looking at Sano, I'm looking to the future. Is he going to end up a 3B or 1B full time. If they really think he's going to be a full time 3B, then you trade Plouffe and put Sano at 3B for the next 6 years. However, if you're not sure if Sano is really a 3B and you're really pencilling him in as a 1B replacement for Mauer, then you're just looking for a spot to put Sano for 2-3 years until Mauer is ready to move on. Lets say you're the GM and really believe that Sano's end game is 1B after Mauer is done. You need a spot to put Sano for the next couple of years. Lets be honest, too. Sano was dinged up a bit this year. Its likely that next year, even if Sano is your every day 3B, he's not going to play 150 games at 3B. He's still going to get some time at DH and if you're grooming him to take over at 1B, you might give him some games at 1B as well. Probably best case scenario, Sano plays 120 games at 3B and more likely closer to 100. That means you've got to fill 40-60 games at 3B with a backup, probably Eduardo Nunez. However, if you keep Plouffe and Sano can play a passable LF, he maybe gets 80 games in LF and the rest at DH or 1B/3B. When he's not playing LF, the depth the Twins have in the outfield fills that spot much better than they would filling 3B.

Are you sure the intradivision tiebreaker is not only used if the tied teams are in the same division? Doesn't make much sense to use that as a tie breaker for teams in different divisions.

Even if that gets teh Twins into the playoffs this year?

Probably, but the Tigers didn't give up any prospect better than what was on that list.

So, apparently the Tigers are listening to offers on their possible free agents, including David Price and Soria. Obviously, both of these guys would be Rentals for the Twins, but I think they would be enough to boost the Twins to the playoffs this year while not blocking prospects later on. The Tigers won't resign them. Their owner is old as dirt and wouldn't want to wait for compensation picks to develop. An inter-division trade isn't a big deal knowing that Price would not resign with the Twins. What would you give up? The Tigers gave up a good but not great CF, a good but not great LHP and a single A SS for 1.5 years of Price. They would probably accept a slightly smaller return for him now. Would you do Rosario, Stewart, Niko Goodrum for Price and Soria. Would you thrown in Alex Meyer? I'd be awfully tempted to.

Why do you think Hawkins would be available cheap from the Jays? Why would they take him in the Tulo trade unless they wanted to use him to bolster their own bull pen.

Obviously Benoit would be a rental type player, but could be useful this year. Shields should be decent for 3 years and honestly, spending money on Shields would feel a whole lot better than spending money on Nolasco (although you know he'd probably be lights out in San Diego and finish 5th in the 2016 NL Cy Young voting). How about Benoit/Shields/Norris for Nolasco/whatever other prospects are needed.to get the deal done. If they could get Norris in return, I think we'd all feel better about the trade. How about Benoit/Shields/Norris for Nolasco/Fryer/Meyer/Stewart/Kepler? I guess if it were me, I'd go for it, but I'd understand if people didn't want to give up prospects like that. Would the Padres go for that? I don't know what positions they are looking for. I don't think losing Meyer, Stewart and Kepler would be a crippling blow to the future of the organization.

Molitor wasn't looking for the play to be overturned. He was saying that the ump should have asked the 3rd base up before calling it a strike. Later in the game, the ump nearly rung up Sano, but before he did, asked for help from the 1st base ump who correctly said it was a check swing and Sano got a walk. They still lost, but had Molitor not argued the first call, Sano would have been called out later in the game.

I agree with almost all of your assessment, although I don't know how you can say adding Polanco adds a mature bat to the lineup. I'd like the move, but there is no guarentee he'd light it up in the majors. More likely he'll struggle early on, but I would like to see what he can do. I agree with bringing Arcia up, but not at the expense of Robinson. The team doesn't need Escobar, Nunez and Santana/Polanco. I would use Escobar or Nunez as trade bait for a reliever, catcher or SS (obviously as a piece of a trade for a catcher or SS). As for Robinson, if Buxton comes back, rehabs in AAA and looks good there, then you could use Buxton to replace Robinson if you want. Stick with Rosario. Sure he's struggling in July, but even his July OPS is not Santana/Suzuki bad. Plouffe, Mauer and Hunter have had months just as bad as Rosario in July. Even Dozier has had months not much better.

I always forget that. Probably may, but if Pelfrey sticks around and is decent it could be him, especially if May becomes a lockdown bullpen guy. If May shows that he could be a stud 7th or 8th inning guy and Pelfrey doesn't completely flop, I'd throw Pelfrey in the rotation. How great would it be to have the 7th through 9th inning locked up if May and Fien could do that?

I actually think May's improvement started last year. In his final 7 starts for the Twins, his walk rate was just 2.2/9 innings.

I think #1 is all they need to and should go for this year. They can get some bullpen help without gauging the farm system. If they have a catcher upgrade fall into their laps, then go for it, but I wouldn't trade much for it. Suzuki is hitting .276 in July, so maybe he can be a .250 hitter the rest of the way, which isn't bad. I just don't see any SS options out there that I'd want. Tulowitzki is pricey and an injury risk. I wouldn't want to give up the prospects needed to get him with that risk. I doubt Boston would trade Bogaerts and if the did, the prospect price would be high. The guys out there who would be nice are very unlikely to be traded, or not that much of an upgrade. Santana had a good week, where he looked like Santana from last year. Maybe you ride him the rest of July and see if he's turned a corner. If not, you send Santana down to AAA, make Escobar your everyday SS, Nunez your backup infielder and call up Arcia to give you pop of the bench. I agree that you fix your bench from withing. When Buxton is healthy, you send him to Rehab in AAA. If Rosario and Hicks are still playing well, you leave Buxton in AAA until the end of August, then you setup your playoff roster with Rosario, Hunter, Hicks and Buxton as your OF, unless Buxton really struggles in AAA. Robinson either doesn't make the post-season roster or you keep him and go to 11 pitchers. IMO, you go with 11 pitchers and have Robinson or Santana fill out your roster. The following is not a bad playoff lineup: Dozier Hunter Mauer Sano Plouffe Rosario Hicks Suzuki Escobar With the following on the bench Fryar Arcia Nunez Buxton Santana/Robinson Rotation Gibson Milone Hughes Santana Bullpen Perkins Fien Boyer (get him rested up, or replace him if he struggles in July/Auguest) O'Rourke (or a better option, maybe Berrios) May Pelfrey (unless they have real relievers doing well) Graham (or a better option, but I say give him some high leverage opportunities)

I'm content with a guy who is making contact far more often than he has the last 2 years and is hitting for a reasonable .250 average despite a low BABIP. He's made significant progress this year and it might just be a blip on the radar, but he could be starting to live up to the potential of his talent, and if he is, an outfield of Hicks, Buxton and Rosario would make pitchers drool for the next 4-5 years.

Before today's game, he is 73rd in K rate out of 323 MLB players with 100 or more plate appearances. That is way above average.

When you go from being one of the worst players in the league for just making contact to an above average contact hitter, thats a big change and should be a sign that you shouldn't give up on a guy just yet. Especially considering that as a floor, Hicks would make a fantastic 4th outfielder (pinch running, defensive replacement).

Except there is evidence. His K% is way, way down this year.

I really like the idea of Rosario, Hicks and and Buxton in the same outfield. I think it would help the team tremendously. Assuming Buxton ends up being a .275+ hitter, our offense should be okay. Right now, Hicks, SS and C are kind of black holes offensively, but I really only think you need to fix 1 of those 3. You can live with 2 like that. Plus, Hicks is improving. The numbers say so. First of, I'm very encouraged by him showing the willingness to overhaul his approach at the plate. The changes he made as a left handed hitter show me a willingness to work. As for the numbers, in 2013, he struck out once every 3.7 plate appearances. In 2014, he struck out once every 4.0 plate appearances. This year, he struck out once every 6.7 appearances. That is a huge improvement. For comparison, Joe Mauer has struck out once every 8.3 PAs for his career (6.0 PAs this year), Brian Dozier has struck out once every 5.0 PAs this year. Plouffe is once every 5.6 PAs. Hunter is 6.24 PAs. Hicks has gone from poor to above league average. Currently he is 73rd out of 337 players with 100 or more PAs. His batting average is as high as its ever been, even though his BABIP is way below league average and near his career low. If his BABIP was around .275, his Batting Average would be .254 and if his BABIP was around .300 (like last year), he'd Batting Average would be .274. The only thing down for him this year is walks.

How about Ricky Nolasco for Ryan Howard and cash to make the money even? Both players have negative trade value. Ricky could rebound and have some upside for Philly in the NL and it gets Howard off the Phillies. Twins rid themselves of the Ricky headache, free up a rotation spot for Milone/Santana now and Meyer/Berrios or any of the other "close" minor leaguers. Twins take on Howard who either DH's or the get rid of him. Or, if the Twins want to take on all of Howards salary, maybe they get a low prospect or 2 from the Phillies to sweeten the deal. This really only makes sense if the Twins consider Ricky dead weight and no value. Personally, I think he is rebounding and will be a useful contributor.