mnfireman

Salas has played at 2 levels so far every year as a pro, and I would expect him to do so again this year. He played 48 games at High A last year and the Marlins High A team is in the same league as the Twins High A team, so he's seen a lot of the competition already. The development/advancement of Lee, Julien, Lewis, & Martin may hinder his advancement though. Miami is talking about moving Chisholm to CF and playing Arraez at 2B, I don't think that makes them a better team. Also, they traded a starter who gave them 32 starts and 180 innings and are moving forward based on health and potential. If we are going to go forward based on health and potential, I like Kirilloff, Joulien, Lewis, Larnach and Polanco, teamed with Farmer and Miranda over Arraez to cover the UT/DH role.

Perpetual Minnesota sports critic Patrick Reusse disapproves of trading Arraez, imagine that. That right there is enough for me to think the team made the right move.... Didn't remember the contract offer last off-season, but found the MLBTR link: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/05/twins-luis-arraez-avoid-arbitration.html

MLBTR has reported the Minnesota Twins may be in on aging slugger Yuli Gurriel. The former Astro slumped in his age 34 season, dropping to an 84 OPS+ after posting an impressive 131 mark in 2021. To the Twins, Gurriel likely looks like a rebound candidate but even despite his bad overall offensive performance last season, he posted a slightly above average .740 OPS against left-handed pitching. Though he can slot into the short side of a platoon with Alex Kirilloff, Gurriel is not an outfielder, which would help his playing time on the Twins roster. With right-handed Jose Miranda already roaming the infield and able to play third base, the most natural fit is for Minnesota to pursue a righty outfielder to complement Max Kepler, Trevor Larnach, Nick Gordon, and Matt Wallner. View full rumor

The skill set may age well, but the player may not. Arraez has missed time almost every season, if not every season, due to leg issues, mainly his knees.

Cleveland's "pitching pipeline" wasn't just developed through the draft, they traded for minor leaguers and developed them, they traded for veterans to be placeholders, and signed FA's, some of them coming off of injuries hoping to re-establish themselves.

MLBTR says the Twins are also getting two prospects, one of which is Jose Salas a 19 year old IF, Miami's 4th/5th rated prospect, the other is Byron Chourio, a 17 year old OF. According to BTV this deal is weighted heavily in favor of the Twins, so far. I'm very curious who else the Twins had to include to make this deal happen.

Right!! The league is full of players that come up injured or don't pan out, a fact that seems lost on some (most??) TD users.

Looks like both targets from last summer (Montas & Mahle) have shoulder questions. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/frankie-montas-expected-to-miss-first-month-of-season.html

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/twins-outright-blayne-enlow.html

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/twins-sign-ryan-lamarre-chance-sisco.html

This one is closer to the Lewis play. I'm just trying to show that not all plays at SS are routine ?. An additional threat on these types of catches are collisions with OF's, of which we see ever year. Much like Buxton he plays aggressively and the team can't put him in a protective bubble. https://www.mlb.com/video/akil-baddoo-lines-out-to-shortstop-jorge-mateo

Here's one by Correa that's close. https://www.facebook.com/BallySportsNorth/videos/carlos-correa-elevates-for-the-great-catch/1712103212493289/

I see $151 MM on FanGraphs....

He could just as well have hurt the knee chasing a flyball to short left or center from SS. It was a fluke injury. But, yes, I would rather see him in the INF, but last year's rash of injuries required putting healthy bodies where they could.

Arraez's legs couldn't handle 1B/DH last year, I don't like the odds of them holding up at 2B.

He actually turned 28 towards the end of the season. Regarding the prospects, Lewis and Lee have more upside than Miranda and are both younger, but neither will be MLB ready until June or July. I would also say Martin has more upside than Miranda, but his defense and SLG needs to improve. You didn't include Julien, but he is also affected by the Correa signing. If Martin and Julien start hot in AAA it will be a good problem to have to figure out. No decisions have to be made concerning this group until Lewis is ready in June or July, unless Martin and Julien light AAA on fire. Anyway you look at it, it's a good problem to have and doesn't need to be resolved until the trade deadline.

Casualty of the Carlos Correa signing. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/twins-designate-kyle-garlick-for-assignment.html

Barring any trades, I feel Gordon makes the roster over Celestino; better MLB results, more positional flexibility. At this point I would have Larnach and Wallner ahead of Celestino also, but Celestino is a RH bat and plays CF. I would also hope that they are stretching Duran out to be a starter and compete with/compliment Maeda, maybe he becomes the next Corbin Burnes or Chris Sale (the good years). If he fails, he's a helluva fall back option as closer. However, I think some combination of Kepler, Larnach, Kirilloff, Polanaco Arraez, Miranda, Celestino and possibly Gray and Thielbar will be traded before ST.

According to Baseball Trade Values (not my favorite site, but gives reference values), those 4 aren't enough to get Lopez. According to my baseball knowledge/common sense, the phone gets hung up before you finish the sentence.

Maybe Correa will buy a house in Kirk Cousin's neighborhood and Kirk will introduce him to this neighbor. https://www.fox9.com/news/vikings-fan-neighbor-makes-sure-kirk-cousins-driveway-stayed-clean-during-snowstorm

Twins win because they were able to go higher AAV. The Mets halved their offer, 6/$157.5 MM, with the last 6 years being conditional on his health.

Thanks man, I appreciate it!!

Go with the original 10/$285, but no opt-outs/player options. After 5 years, vesting/team options and/or performance based incentives could increase contract value, something along the lines of Buxton's. Reportedly 6/$200 MM with vesting options of up to 4 years and $70 MM - total 10/$270 MM Other than 10 guaranteed years, I was pretty close

Neither the total $$$ or the AAV of the current offer with the Mets are Top 10 MLB.