andy4butler

I would hate to be picking from this mess. Denying those club options requires pay out.) 2023 Salary Gray ($12 M - Club Option) Bundy ($11M - Club Option) Archer ($10M - Mutual Option) Mahle (Arb-3 ~$10M) Maeda ($3M + Bonuses for IP) Paddack (Arb-3) Dobnak ($1.5M) Ryan (Pre-Arb) Ober (Pre-Arb) Winder (Pre-Arb) Smeltzer seems to be an after thought. Balazovic, SWR, Henriquez, Sands, Varland, Strotman, Enlow I'm not sure how many 40 man roster spots are required to go to the "prospects" at the bottom ... but it sounds like an offseason trade will be necessary or many of these individuals have to go to the pen. It isn't like management is going to allow any of them to face a 19th batter of the game so maybe everyone should double up and tag pitch.

with the new rule on pitching change limitations, I would definitely alternate left and right handed batters. I like: Garver Polanco Rosario Cruz Donaldson Kepler Sano Buxton Arraez

You do realize we made the playoffs last year because we did keep Dozier? Let's say Santana isn't hurt and kept the early lead ... we are talking about even potentially moving on in place of a team that went to game 7 of the ALCS against the team that won the World Series. I'm not against trading Dozier this year. Personally I would have liked to offer him the one year contract and if he takes it ... so be it or I do like the top 100 draft choice over two AA players that will have to be kept on the 40 man rather soon. Yet, I can understand that we can have differing opinions on the return and hope our "lottery tickets" play out. The Dodgers had significant issues about staying above the luxury tax threshold this year and resetting their "penalty" for being a repeat abuser. We needed to take back Logan (or include money to offset the salary). Just don't say we needed to trade Dozier at last trade deadline. That would have be weird to me in hindsight.

As long as we are on the same page as to now it is 10m + incentives for 2019, we are on the same page. We are also on the same page with IF healthy. Pineda wasn't getting more than a one year contract coming off a layoff anyway going into next year so it wasn't like he would get offered much more. i agree that there is potential value there and am optimistic the Twins might have some thoughts on how to optimize the rehab. There is risk too which likely makes it a fair deal. Note he has a career ERA+ of 101 and is coming off injury. For comparison, Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb have career ERA+ as 114 aand 111 respectively. I appreciate the FO creativity, but we aren't talking like they did something out of this world. Finding 40m/3 yrs Cozart and using Polanco plus prospects for Cole or Archer (obviously the quantity and quality of the prospects matters), well that would have been stronger creativity in my mind.

Ha. Ha. It is going to cost more than that.

The point that the other poster was making is that you are ignoring the 2million spent in 2018 for no 2018 value making his 2019 salary 8 million plus this postponed 2 million = 10 million in 2019. Technically wince you are paying some now, time value of money makes this even more than 10 million. Then you add on the incentives. It is more or less not as favorable as being made out in your original blog.

I agreed with the Park signing at the time. With that being said, I can't imagine the "Japenese Babe Ruth" signing with this club that can't seem to figure out how to integrate players into a MLB roster without going through the traditional development process. It would certainly be in the back of my mind ... let alone the lack of marketing opportunities.

I'm going to disagree with the love for Garver. I'm not sure the FO is a fan of his defensive ability (and we know how important it is for them). While I agree that he could be a solid back-up / fringe starter, an already 26 year old "prospect" seems to be out of place on this list.

I'm still convinced the best idea is to trade Polanco while his value is likely at it's highest. No matter how much I'm a believer in the fact he can be a .280 / .330 / .400 hitter ... I'm really concerned about the glove. Sign Cozart who will be undervalued as a medium term replacement (check out his defensive ability) and wait for one of the prospects to pan out. I'm also not a fan of overpaying for Escobar (as much of a savior as he was) unless we determine that Sano is just going to be perpetually overweight and injured. Those $$$ should go elsewhere. With this said, I fully expect Eddie to be back on the team. As for Jorge, I probably am dreaming there ... but he should net a decent return from some team.

This is the key portion of my personal blueprint to the off season. I'm willing to trade Polanco for a decent middle reliever ... let alone starter. I understand the thought that personal issues may have impacted his play ... but his defense will always be suspect. In fact ... that is the key to this whole thing. Just sign Zack Cozart! He will give you what Polanco gave you on offense and is marvelous with the glove. We clearly invested in outfield defense. Now the time to do the same for infield. You improve the pitching this way as well. (If that forces one into trading Nick Gordon as part of another package ... go for it ... though I hear more than a three year contract won't be needed for Cozart.) This seems way more palatable than giving up a small fortune for Yu Darvish. Thoughts?

Is anyone worried like me that all the power and most of the lineup is right handed? I'm not as high on Rosario due to his low OBP. He has to hit lower in the lineup.