FYI, the buyout totals for Sano, Bundy, and Archer are reflected in the 2022 payroll, not the following season. So they should be removed from the dead money category.
November is going to tell the real story about this team. This week was one I had in the win column. Now I’m quite concerned we’ll end the month 1-3 or 0-4.
There’s a reason why we’ve been a below .500 team the last 2 years. More questions than answers on the 26/40 man rosters. Some of these positions will require some faith and hope because you can’t solve everything in one offseason.
The only thing you can do is prioritize the needs and address the mission critical ones. How would you prioritize the 10 items?
The problem with using raw days lost to IL data is that teams use that as a loophole to keep a player in the organization instead of making a DFA decision. The Twins had that very scenario with Miguel Sano. It was very clear that he was placed on the 60 day IL a 2nd time because they were done seeing him in a Twins uniform. At the same time, I’m sure throughout the league there have been players who have exaggerated the extent of their injuries so they can continue collecting an MLB paycheck.
His last meaningful minor league stats are from 2019. What relevance does that have for the 2023 season? He’s clearly bulked up since that time and improved his command/secondary pitches.
His FB was this big as a starter. Here’s a video @Tom Froemmingmade from Duran’s 2019 season. He’s clearly bulked up over the last 3 seasons and his throwing motion is effortless. Now that he’s gained confidence with his secondary offerings, he can be even more valuable in a starting role.
Duran didn’t have an issue maintaining 98-100 MPH as a starter in the minors. He’ll be plenty effective even if he loses a tick on the FB and splinker.
Using Ranger Suarez as the example, his velocity and stuff remained the same moving from the bullpen back to the rotation. If Duran’s stuff remained the same increasing from 70 to 140 innings, why wouldn’t we want him starting every 5th game? IMO he put the injury concerns to bed this season by pitching all year with no decrease in velocity or bite on his breaking stuff.
In our pursuit for the mythical ace, Jhoan Duran should continue to pop up in discussions. There is no doubt he has the stuff and mental makeup to fill any role on the pitching staff.
2022 postseason hero Ranger Suarez is an inspiring example of what we could do with Duran. In 2020/2021 Suarez was a shut down reliever, and transitioned back to the rotation. He’s been a successful player in their rotation for 1.5 seasons now.
What do you think? Do you mess with greatness and move Duran to the rotation?