clone52

Interesting. What would Twins fans have thought if that was Milone and Abad for Travis Demerritte?

Thats the thing, to get Profar, Texas would need some high end talent. You've got to give up something to get something. Honestly, I think Santana, Suzuki and Stewart would have got it done (before today's trade). I just suggested adding Nuneze and Abad to the trade for the Rangers needs and getting some additional lower end minor leagues in return.

3 years of a SS. 2017, 2018 and 2019. If Gordon flies through the minors, then Profar can be shifted to 2B (if they trade Dozier), or 3B (if Sano is DH or 1B and Plouffe is gone). It actually gives them extra insurance to trade Plouffe and not really having to worry about what they would do at 3B if Sano doesn't pan out. He has position flexibility. Is it really that much to give up? The Twins have Stewart, Jay, Gonsalves and Jorge all basically at the same level. The Twins are probably never going to get all 4 of them into the rotation, so why not use one of them to pull off a better long term deal. I'm also not suggesting that its 6 Twins players just for Profar. There would be some lower end minor leaguers as part of it as well. What about some sort of deal centered around Kyle Gibson for Jurickson Profar? Both guys are free agents in 2020. Maybe you could even do Ricky Nolasco and Kyle Gibson for Jurickson Profar (plus whatever minor league filler to make it work). I just see that AA Starting Pitching as a point of depth for the Twins. Another point of depth is OF, so if you could package one of the Twins ML trade pieces with Adam Brett Walker to get a much better return, I'd do it to. On maybe a more realistic note, what would people think of a Ervin Santana for Reese Mcguire deal with the Pirates?

But that could just be what he says publically, not what he's actually doing.

Jurickson Profar would be a 3 year guy. He can play all over, but for the Twins, he would be their starting SS, a huge position of need. Not sure he'd be a guy looking to sign an extension that bought out his first FA year but I'm guessing probably not. The Twins could actually help out the Ranges a lot this year and the Rangers have stuff the Twins might want. The Rangers could use SP (lots of injuries) and RP (worst ERA in American League) help. The Rangers have not gotten much production from the Catcher. With Prince Fielder out, they could use some POP at DH and offensive production. If they trade Profar, the definitely need a utility IF and DH help. So what if the Twins offered Santana, Suzuki, Nunez or Escobar, Stewart or another of their top SP prospects and maybe Abad/Kintzler for Profar and a lower end minor leaguer or 2?

What is "market value" for a trade? Its whatever teams are willing to offer you. If Antony gets 10 trade offers for a 23 year old in A ball, thats market value, but Antony shouldn't trade him for that. If you look at the rotation next year, it should be Gibson, Duffey, Berrios and 2 other guys. I think you should dump Nolasco and Milone and fill those last to spots with Santana and May or some other young guy. However, if they get an offer for for a minor league P that would be Top 10 in the minor league system, or a controllable major league catcher, I'd be up for it. Or how about this idea something like this as framework for a deal? Santana, Kohl Stewart + filler for Profar + filler?

I think 2017 is a very realistic goal to be in Wild Card contention. Considering the Twins were in contention at 83-79 last year, you really only have to be a .500 team to be in contention. Add that to the fact that the Twins are 16-14 in their last 30 games, it appears as though they might be back to the same level as they were last year. You would expect growth from the young guys next year (Sano, Buxton, Kepler, Rosario mostly) and other than a continual decline of Mauer, you wouldn't really expect a big step back on the offensive side of the ball. To me, they need to clear Nolasco and probably Milone to open up rotation spots for Berrios and someone else deserving, but beyond that, they should at least be back in contention this year. If the Twins are near .500 the rest of the way, i think that reflects really well on Molitor for not completely losing the team after a disastrous start.

Really? You have first hand knowledge that the Phillies GM drove that trade? How do you know he wasn't bombarded with trade offers and took the best one? Plus, comparing Hamels to Santana is ridiculous. First, even if the $/WAR is the same, by getting doulbe the WAR at double the cost means you still have 4 more rotation spots to fill. You can fill the rest of the rotation with lower WAR guys at a lower cost and still come out ahead in total WAR for your rotation. Probably the biggest difference is that Texas was getting 4.5 years of Hamels. Santana only has 2.5 years left.

Why do you think the Twins are overvalueing their players? Do you have inside information? Maybe the best offer they have gotten is some 23 year old in A ball. Its a nice narrative for people to have. If the Twins don't get a return you like you can blame how they passed on all the better trade offers, waited too long and got garbage.

If they can dump some guys for some decent return at the deadline, I'll be happy.

I agree give him more time. I believe Corey Koskie was pretty stone handed when he started at 3B and was able turn into a good defensive 3B. The one good thing about Sano is that he has shown he can make the spectacular play, so there is hope. He just needs to figure out the routine plays.

You all act like its just the Twins choice on when to make these trades. The problem is, the Twins don't have amazing trade pieces. They only have solid trade pieces. No one is going to trade for Suzuki until they know they can't get Lucroy. No one is going to trade for Santana or Nolasco until they know they won't get Cashner, Rich Hill, Ororizza, Moore or in a pipe dream, Sale. No one is going to trade for Abad or Kintzler until they miss out on Chapman (already done), and possibly other relievers. There are some other infielders on the marker that might make it tougher to move Nunez. You could move them all super quick if you wanted to make garbage trades, but buyers have lots of other options out there right now and until those options are depleted, that is going to affect the kind of offers the Twins will get.

Pitchers don't get 8 practice pitchers with a batter in the batters box either.

What games are you watching? Pinch hitters can basically take as many practice swings as they want before coming to the plate. Easily at least 8.

I actually like the idea of limiting the number of pitching changes in a single inning to 1.

7 errors in 15 games is a damn fine 3rd baseman?

Probably easier to sign him if he's still on the team. They could sign him in September to a contract extension (basically make his option next year guaranteed). If traded, they'd have to sign him after the year and maybe he wouldn't want to come back. That said, if you get a good offer for him, trade him. If you get terrible offers for him, don't trade him. He's not holding up a sure thing prospect that needs to be playing every day.

I'm sorry, but DO NOT trade Park yet. You aren't going to get crap for him. Leave him in AAA the rest of yeah. If he can't figure out major league pitching, you can trade him for the same crap next year that you can trade him for this year. Why trade Grossman? He's cheap and controllable and far, far better than what we usually have as a 4th outfielder. I'd much rather keep him around than see Matroianni back up in the majors. Plus, he's not a high end prospect so if he only plays 2 games a week, who care. I would trade Nolasco and Plouffe for almost anything. However, if Mauer wants to leave and can be traded, I'd be okay keeping Plouffe. I'd trade Suzuki for a something, but are you willing to go into next season with Murphy and Centeno as your 2 catchers? Honestly, it might make sense to pay him $6 million next year. He shown this year that he produces better with more rest. If they trade him, make Murphy the starter and see what he can do. If they keep him, send Centeno down, call up Murphy and give him 2--3 starts per week to see what he can do. If Murphy does well, let Kurt go and live with Murphy. If Murphy stinks, maybe hang on to Kurt. I would be complete open to trading Santana. Not for garbage, but for something decent. I would be perfectly happy trading Abad, Kintzler and Ramirez. I'd be perfectly okay keeping them all as well. Relatively inexpensive and not doing horribly. Dozier is a tough one. I think Polanco is a 2B and needs to play every day. However, I'm way down on whether he will actually be a good long term replacement. Dozier is fairly cheap, signed through 2018 and a good player (maybe about to make the leap to elite if he has figured out how to go the other way for real). If they trade him and Polanco craps out, what do the Twins do? Nunez, Escobar, D. Santana - I'd be okay with any of these guys being traded. I'd make sure only 1 or 2 would be traded. Personally, I would trade Nunez because he would probably net the biggest return and Escobar has 1 more year of control. Milone would be available for a low minor prospect. If you can dump Nolasco and get a good trade for Santana, keep Milone because I think its hard to fill all 3 of those rotation spots this year. I feel its too late to switch May to SP this year. Maybe let him stretch out in the minors this year if you want to try him out next year. Bring Berrios up and let him finish the season in the rotation. Bring Chargois up for the rest of the season.

I may not know the rules to Rule 5, but I thought it was all based on minor league service time based on their age and when they were drafted. I don't think there is any way to "hide" a player by not promoting them to AAA.

Not this year, but I don't think you just dump Santana for garbage. You dump if if you can get a decent return, but $13 million in 2017 and 2018 isn't a terrible price to pay for a pitcher of his caliber.

There are areas in the Twins minor league system that are just too full of prospects. Take OF for example, do you see major league experience coming for Adam Brett Walker, Daniel Palka or Travis Harrison coming soon? Why would you say any of those guys are off limits in a trade. They might also have players that need to be put on the 40 man roster in the next year or 2, but know that they won't be able to put them on the 40 man roster. Why not make them available in trades if you already know you might risk losing them for nothing in a Rule 5 draft. Even starting pitching is kind of a dept in the minor league system. Do you see major league spots for all of these guys in the next 3-4 years: Berrios, Duffey, Rogers, Dean, Stewart, Jay, Gonsalves, Slegers, Eades, Thorpe, Jorge.

Honestly, it depends on the prospect. If a Santana+Adam Brett Walker netted a higher end pitching prospect plus some low level guys, I'd absolutely let Adam Brett Walker go. With Buxton, Kepler, Rosario and now Grossman clogging up the outfield (and Santana as a fill in), ABW is probably not going to get a shot in the majors for awhile. He'd be a guy I would consider expendable if you can net a better prospect at an area of bigger need.

Santana and Nolasco aren't going to bring back top end prospects, but they could bring in young quality guys who aren't a sure thing. Look at the Dan Heran or Mark Lowe trades last year. Those pitchers are not as good as Santana, but were much cheaper. They pulled in some low ball prospects who are certainly not sure things, but not bad pieces to have in the system to try and develop. Obviously the Twins would have to eat a big chunk of salary to make that type of thing happen.

A Platoon would have been a good idea. Sending Park down to AAA would have been a good idea too, but that will happen when they activate Sano. Its way to early to give up on Park.

Arcia has no fit with the Twins at all. He's not good in the OF and blocks Kepler if he does play out there. DH is filled by Park or Sano. Santana at least has value as a late inning pinch runner or defensive replacement.