terrydactyls

Once again, Doc Bauer stole my thoughts. I've been seeing a lot of comments about LF still being a need. If so, Kirilloff to the outfield and Miranda to the infield solves the dilemma.

Quick thought from out east... The payroll is about $90M right now. Sign Pineda for $10M, sign Kris Bryant for $18M, sign a glove-first shortstop for $3M, and a bullpen guy for $5M. The payroll is now at $126M. That completes the offseason. As the midseason trade deadline approaches, evaluate the where you are as far as competing in 2022, and either trade prospects for additional pitching, stick with what you have, or trade whoever is hot (Donaldson, Sano, Kepler, Bryant, Pineda come to my mind).

Most of those numbers are gibberish to me. I'm too old too figure out what Rtot, Rdrs, RF, etc mean or how to interpret what is good. All I know is what I read and that is Arraez was bad at second and good at third. That I can understand.

Where is Palacios?

My ideal post-lockout scenario would be Donaldson, Sano, and Kepler packaged and sent to either Miami for Alcantera and Bleier or sent to Oakland for Montas and any decent reliever. I would also like to see Martin in LF and Lewis in RF, with Buxton between them. Sign Iglesias to play SS and have Palacios around as a utility IF. Low payroll, lots of youth getting a chance, and maybe some excitement at Target Field. Who knows, maybe by mid-season the staring rotation includes Winder, Balazavic, Sands, and Strotman???

Oakland has three. I would start there.

My mother travelled all over Minnesota watching my older brother and I play high school and college hockey. And I'm talking outdoor games in the 50's and 60's. But so did thousands of other parents. To me, that makes this article a just one of many such stories and a good indication that there ain't no good things to discuss.

We certainly are getting desperate for stories this offseason.

Okay. Then sign Iglesias to play SS.

$48M left and here is how to spend it. Add Miranda and Celestino to the roster as DH and 4th OF. Add a rule 5 excellent glove SS and ride him all year. Fills the position players and you still have $46M remaining. Sign Kikuchi and Pineda for the starting rotation and Tepera and McHugh as relievers. Then trade prospects for a good young arm to fill out the roster. Easey Peasey.

Mark G - I agree 100%. I posted a very similar comment in "Owner's Lockout? Fans must boycott". I don't want to cut and paste it to this thread. I'm using a tablet and that entails a lot of work.

I think you are underselling his HRs and average. I'll bet he hits closer to .280 and averages 25-30 HRs.

"So, I would certainly think that the Twins quest for high-level starting pitching will likely have to be acquired via trade. The Twins certainly have the prospects or big-league players to acquire pitchers. It's just a matter of if they want to give up their own young arms or give opportunities to their internal candidates." Why give up young arms for old arms? The Twins have a surplus at DH/1B/OF in the minors. Trade those guys for pitching.

Let's assume the Twins have about $50M available to spend after the Buxton deal in order to stay at a $130M budget. They could add Ray ($25M), Stoman ($18M), Iglesias at SS ($3M), and Iglesias as a relief pitcher ($8M). That gets them to $134M. If the Twins were willing to think big and push the budget to $145M, they could also add Danny Duffy or Alex Cobb. That would make for a nice offseason.

It is my humble opinion that this had to be Off-season move number one. Now the available budget is finalized and the remaining moves can be made. Let's hope the Twins land Robbie Ray, Jon Gray, and Craig Kimberly to fix the pitching.

I have been a strong defender of the front office since they arrived. I truly felt they were the wave of the future and would lead the Twins to respectability. But, today - Sunday, November 28th, I formally raise my white flag and surrender. Between the inactivity regarding the Buxton extension, the apparent disinterest in pursuing any significant free agents, and the total lack of information from this front office, I give up. I see no path forward. I see no sense of urgency (or even interest) being shown by the front office. I also see no way the Twins are relevant in baseball while they are running things. Even this website is becoming boring because we have nothing to discuss. Instead, we resort to talking about past no hitters, the Cooperstown chances for mediocre former Twins, and hoping for a humorous article from Randballs. I will continue checking in but it will be done as a "bottom of my list" event, not a highlight of the day. I live in Maine now and I may have to look into supporting the Red Sox (they signed Michael Wacha yesterday - at least they did something). Please don't make me do that!!!

Sounds like me speculating about finding a Prom date.

With $51M available (and stay under budget), the Twins could sign DiSclafani, Cobb, and Wood and still have plenty left for a good glove SS and a Buxton extension. That would give them a competitive team for 2022.

Several posters have mentioned Miami as a possible trade partner. By happy coincidence, MLB radio today was discussing the Miami offseason with the beat writer from the Miami Herald. He was saying that the Jeter-run front office is willing to do whatever it takes to get a good catcher, more offense, and some veteran leadership. Sounds like a perfect match to me. I say the Twins start the negotiations with an offer of Garver and Kepler for Alcantara and Bleier. If they accept, fine. If not, try to find some add-ons to get the deal done. Ideas??

Everyone Can Calm Down Now. I figured Out the Front Office Strategy. It came to me late last night. It all became crystal clear. The Twins front office does know what they are doing and here is the explanation. The first step is to trade Buxton immediately. He and his agent have no interest in Minnesota so we ship him out. The trade partner is the San Diego Padres. They need a center fielder and have some decent minor league talent. But there is only one that is important and that is C.J Abrams, their #1 prospect and a shortstop. Along with Abrams the Twins also get the Padres #12 prospect, LHP Ethan Elliott and their #21 prospect, RHP Steven Wilson. But as I will show below, they are not important to the Twins as players but only has trade bait. The second step is to contact the Oakland A’s and offer a nice package for Chris Bassitt. The package is to pick four players from a list provided by the Twins. The list is divided into two levels and the A’s can pick any two from the first level and any two from the second level. Level 1 Luis Arraez Max Kepler Jordan Balazovic Keoni Cavaco Blaine Enlow Misail Urbina Level 2 Brent Rooker Aaron Sabato Drew Strotman Alerick Soularie Cole Sands Spencer Steer Charlie Barnes The Prospects obtained in the San Diego and Washington trades The third step is to contact the Miami Marlins and offer them a similar package for RHP Sandy Alcantara and LHRP Richard Bleier. For this pair, however, the twins offer the Marlins their choice of three from the first level 1 and three from the second level (picking from whatever Oakland left behind). The fourth step is to off Josh Donaldson to the Washington Nationals along with $15M for any prospect in the 15 to 25 ranks. The fifth step is to take fill out the empty roster spots with the money the Twins have freed up. And here is how they do it. Contact Marcus Stroman and offer him $22M/4 years. Contact Raisel Iglesias and offer him $8M/3 years. Contact Corey Knebel and offer him $7M/3 years. Contact Collin McHugh and offer him $6M/2 years. That fills out the pitching side. For position players, the Twins lose both Kepler and Arraez in the trades above so they need replacements. Abrams will fill the SS position and Miranda takes over 3B. Celestino takes Buxton’s spot in CF until he proves he can’t handle MLB pitching and then either Martin or Lewis take his spot. Kirilloff takes over in RF for Kepler. They still need a left fielder and a 1B. Contact Anthony Rizzo to play 1B and sign him at $20M for 4 years. Contact Mark Canha to play left field and sign him for $10M for 3 years. The Twins now have a $130M budget with plenty of pitching and a lot of power. And that is what the front office is thinking. Below is the 26-man roster after all these moves. All Dollars Shown in Millions Position Player $$$ Position Player $$$ C Garver $3.50 SP1 Alcantara $4.50 1B Rizzo $20.00 SP2 Bassitt $8.80 2B Polanco $5.50 SP3 Stroman $22.00 3B Miranda $0.60 SP4 Ober $0.60 SS Abrams $0.60 SP5 Ryan $0.60 LF Canha $12.00 CF Celestino $0.60 RP Rogers $7.00 RF Kirilloff $0.60 RP Duffey $3.50 DH Sano $9.25 RP Thielbar $1.50 RP Alcala $0.60 4th OF Larnach $0.60 RP McHugh $6.00 Utility Astudillo $1.00 RP Knebel $7.00 Utility Gordon $0.60 RP Bleier $2.50 2nd C Jeffers $0.60 RP Iglesias $8.00 Other Lost $$$ Maeda - SP (injured) $3.00 Colome - RP (buyout) $1.25 Donaldson (buyout) $15.00 TOTAL Payroll $132.30 BUDGET $130.00 AVAILABLE -$2.30

I'm glad I now live in Maine. I can pick a new team to follow from a wide selection of "local" teams. I have Boston, New York (2 teams), and Philadelphia relatively close. And they are teams which are often talked about on the MLB channel on Sirius radio (unlike the Twins which are seldom mentioned). Unless the front office does something pretty dramatic happen soon, my interest in the Twins may end its 60 year run.

Exactly, If you "lock in" incentive payments and Buxton and has a very good year in 2022, he would be guaranteed a huge contract based solely on having one good year. There would be no incentive left after that.

Here is my theoretical letter to the Twins ownership and to the agent for Byron Buxton concerning to current negotiations to extend Buxton’s contract. A Letter to Falvey/Levine/Pohlad and B.B. Abbott Dear Sirs: It is my understanding that all of you are in basic agreement concerning the base salary for an extension for Byron Buxton and that the holdup is the incentives. Because your negotiations are done in private (as they should be), I have no idea what the concerns of each side might be. Here are my suggestions. Make the base salary $12M per year beginning in 2022 and extending for an additional seven years for a total base contract of 8/$96M. The incentive plan should be have a base with achievable goals and extending to difficult to reach goals with significant rewards for attaining them. Below is a table showing some possible goals and bonuses attached to each goal. The minimum amount of bonus that can be earned would be $8M and is based on Buxton having an above league average season for an outfielder. The maximum attainable bonus would be $21.5M but would mean that Buxton would be the best player in baseball. But the amount of the bonus would be offset partially by increased revenues caused by every baseball fan in America wanting to see Buxton play in person. Games 100 120 130 140 150 160 Bonus $1.0M $1.25M $1.5M $1.75M $2.0M $2.5M Hits 140 160 180 200 220 240 Bonus $1.0M $1.25M $1.5M $1.75M $2.0M $2.5M Home Runs 20 25 30 35 40 45 Bonus $1.0M $1.25M $1.5M $1.75M $2.0M $2.5M Stolen Bases 20 25 30 35 40 45 Bonus $1.0M $1.25M $1.5M $1.75M $2.0M $2.5M MVP Voting 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st Bonus $1.0M $1.25M $1.5M $1.75M $2.0M $2.5M $3.0M $3.5M $4.0M $5.0M Gold Glove Voting 3rd 2nd 1st Bonus $1.5M $3.0M $4.5M Platinum Glove Voting 1st Bonus $2.0M I understand that this commitment would be a significant financial investment but only if Buxton provides the level of performance that should be rewarded. If you have any questions, I can be reached through Twins Daily.

"Inaccurate"? I'll accept that. But get real. Does anyone really think that the union will try to push through a rule change that says an MLB manager must designate someone as the authorized starter in every game he pitches and he can't be replaced until he proves himself unworthy of continuing pitching in that game (a paraphrase of what an actual rule would need to be)?

Deciding to use pitchers in a unique or unconventional manner would not be a change in the rules. Therefore, the union has no say in the matter.