Dan In Real Life

You even referenced my favorite Rogers Hornsby quote: “People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” —Rogers Hornsby Well played John.

I really like Cabrera, but losing all 3 you mentioned seems too much to me. Arraez is at career peak trade value right now. If you include him in a package, it's got to be for more than excellent potential. Maybe straight up for Cabrera, but I doubt the Marlins would go for that.

Actually I really like this idea, assuming you don't give up a lot for Crawford. Really the only one this wouldn't be good for us ... Crawford. Dang.

I'm less concerned about defense with Polanco at SS (although it was so nice to have Simmons there last year), but the Twins need Polanco's bat in the lineup every day. It appears that everyday SS takes too much of a toll on his ankles. All things considered, I'd prefer to have better defense at SS, and therefore have Polanco's better defense at 2B, but I'm more concerned in keeping him in the lineup.

Define "everyone." There's always going to be a vocal minority of fans that complain about this stuff. They are loud. But it's still a minority.

"The most forgivable one, in my opinion, would be if they extend Byron and he simply never lives up to his salary" Spot on. Of all the possible bad outcomes, this is the least bad. I've worked my butt off for 30 years to get to a point where I can now afford an annual Flex 40 plan. Don't make me want to give it up.

Yeah, I doubt that will be an issue this time around. Pitchforks for everyone if that somehow happens.

That was a great play. It's the one play where Sanó is very, very good at 3B. That's been true all along. It's likely why he stayed there as long as he did. Everything else at 3B? Eh, not so much. Don't forget that the reason they had to make that play is because of Garver's boot at 1B. Sanó makes that play and the game is over. I love Sanó and really hope he can find his hitting groove consistency with the Twins. And he is an overall below average 3B who has the ability to turn dribblers and bunts into outs more than most players. Nelson Cruz also has a cannon for an arm. He hasn't played RF for a long time for a reason.

The FO is in a very tough position. These are clearly not the "cheap Twins" of the past. There are only a handful of teams willing and able to pay someone $30M+ per year over more than 3 years. The Twins not being one of those teams doesn't make them cheap. The article doesn't give any details at all, other than an offer is being made, and they are seriously considering trading Buxton now or in the off season if they can't work out a deal. The only truly newsworthy point is that the Twins are negotiating during the season, which they NEVER do. Everything else is speculation and analysis.

Agreed. It's been fun disliking Cleveland the past few years, but there's nothing like that special hatred for the Sox. I didn't realize how much I missed it until last year.

As long as he doesn't cost so much that it limits what they can do elsewhere, then sure. Maybe $15M/2 years. No more than that. I also don't assume he's the closer. He's in the mix with Rogers and Duffey, but I'd rather see them all used based on matchups. None of them are superstar relievers that can be used against anyone. Hand is nothing special against RHB, while he dominates lefties.

Unpopular opinion: his trade value will probably never be greater than it is right now.

Castro will be offered multi year starting catcher contracts, so I doubt he's coming back. As much as we have devalued Gibson based on the heartbreak, Gibby will have a market. There will be more than one team willing to offer him 3 years as a #3 or #4 starter. I don't see the Twins getting him back at the 1 year contract some folks would like. I'd like to see them take a low risk flyer on Gibby, but I don't think that will be an option.

Great, comprehensive write up of the options. Can't agree on Kennedy, but I admit that has most to do with his history as a starter.

Hmm. Might be a good time to visit Pensacola.

Same comment I left on Twitter... This would be a huge letdown for the #MNTwins. Not just because he wore out his welcome last year, but also because it would be settling for, at best, a B level talent who is already at his highest possible ceiling production-wise.

I don't disagree. My point is that if healthy, he's still good enough to be very valuable, even with the occasional flailing at pitches.

I'm getting annoyed at the "is it time to give up on Buxton" messages out there. Do we all forget that he already had his breakout season in 2017? Sure, we all want him to be Mike Trout, but repeating his 2017 performance still makes him a perennial all-star candidate. My only concern is around injuries. Let's see the kid play injury free, and I expect we'll all be happy with the results.

It's time to move Polanco to 2B and look for a shortstop. Obviously Machado would look great there, but the Twins have more than payroll limitations in trying to get him. He'll be looking for a team that is already a championship front runner, or a team that is just Manny Machado away from being one. The Twins are neither. I'd be willing to re-sign Escobar and plug him in as the everyday SS. He's not much of a defensive improvement over Polanco. I'd keep Sano at 3B for now. I don't want to see Polanco or the prospect shortstops cutting their MLB teeth with Sano regularly at 1B. I'm much more comfortable with a Mauer/Austin platoon at 1B. If they could somehow get both Machado and Escobar, I'm much more comfortable having them take the left side of the infield with Sano at 1B. But that ain't gonna happen.

"While Cueto was a bonus for Kansas City, he certainly wasn’t the reason they won the World Series." I'd be interested to see some data on whether the mere presence of a bona-fide ace makes a difference. I have a hunch that it does help a team, especially in a playoff series, to know they have an ace waiting on deck. The way a game is managed can be very different if you know your next 2 starters are mediocre, vs when the ace is on deck. You certainly don't wait to give the game to the bullpen when a mediocre starter is struggling in the 4th inning, when you know you've got a stopper tomorrow. Data may prove that theory completely wrong, but I'm interested in an analysis. Either way, I'd feel a lot better about the upcoming season if there was a true #1 in the rotation. Can the Twins win without one? Possibly, but the odds have to go up sharply if they get one.

I just hope they're not done. Still not excited by this move, but I'm glad they got someone who has shown an ability to get big league hitters out within the past 5 years. This is the rotation I hope to see (once Santana is back): 1 <Legit MLB #1/#2 TBD> 2 Berrios 3 Santana 4 Odorizzi 5 Gibson There remains a pretty glaring blank spot at the top.

Am I alone in being far more optimistic about the bullpen going into the season? I get that last year is not a high bar to clear, but they've got the makings of a more-than-decent bullpen. I actually really like the idea of Hughes in the bullpen, if he's around at all.

Dammit Nick, just as I was coming to terms with the likelihood of missing out on Darvish, you come along and get my hopes up again. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

The Mariners gave a 30/31 year old Robinson Cano a 10 year $240M contract. It was a ridiculous contract on the team's part, but it gives a sense of what it might take to sign Dozier now. He's not getting Cano money/years, obviously, but I also think estimates that the Twins could extend him for 2 or 3 years at $14-15M per year are a pipe dream. My guess is that Dozier's agent starts the discussions at 5 years / $100M, maybe even 6 years / $120M. The minimum he'll end up with is probably 4 years @ $18M per year. Some team is going to drastically over pay him for the last couple years of his next contract. Should it be the Twins?

And what happened to Richard III soon after lamenting the lack of top tier starting pitching? May not be the best way to start off optimistically.