2019-2020 Minnesota Twins Off-Season Thread

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short ornery norwegian said:
Wheeler and Hamels off the board. One report claims the Twins and White Sox are the top two teams after Madison Bumgarner. But - could take a 5-yr, $100-million deal to land him. For a 30-year old pitcher, that would make me nervous.

At this point, I might be more inclined to focus on a trade that brings in a younger pitcher with potential. I would rather get a 25-year old guy on the way up as opposed to a 30-year old guy who may be on the way down.
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We can't be cautious all the time. MadBaum is only 30. If we sign him to a 5 year deal, we'll probably get 3-4 good years. I'll take a dead contract in 2024 for a chance at a WS in 2020. They can also make a trade for a younger starter. But they need two more either way.
 

Pineda coming back, $20 million for 2 years (minus suspension).
 





So now that the big boys are off the market let's see what the Twins decide to do. I still think they make a trade for a higher end starter (maybe Robbie Ray or Chris Archer) plus a reliever (Ken Giles). I think they will sign a 3B in free agency and then hopefully another reliever.
 

They diddled around too long on MadBaum, so he'll likely go elsewhere while Falvine puts out the "we tried so hard but he didn't want to live in MN" BS line to Doogie and friends.
 

Twins leave winter meetings with same holes they had when they arrived

There were many conversations with agents and a few talks with other teams.

But the Twins left the winter meetings Thursday with the same holes in their roster that they had when they arrived. They remain in need of a starting pitcher — an impact arm, if possible — a capable reliever and a corner infielder.

Derek Falvey, the Twins President of Baseball Operations, doesn’t feel as if he’s working under a tight deadline. He signed Marwin Gonzalez after camp opened last season, so he knows how long things can play out. While the market this offseason appears to be moving more quickly than last offseason, he knows he still has to fill those holes.

“We have a lot of our winter to work through some other pieces,” he said. “I feel really good about a lot of the guys that are on our team. We brought back a lot of what we already had, but I think there’s still some work to be done.”

www.startribune.com

Twins leave winter meetings with same holes they had when they arrived

Meetings end, but Falvey and Levine will continue to pursue roster upgrades.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Win Twins!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Twins leave winter meetings with same holes they had when they arrived

There were many conversations with agents and a few talks with other teams.

But the Twins left the winter meetings Thursday with the same holes in their roster that they had when they arrived. They remain in need of a starting pitcher — an impact arm, if possible — a capable reliever and a corner infielder.

Derek Falvey, the Twins President of Baseball Operations, doesn’t feel as if he’s working under a tight deadline. He signed Marwin Gonzalez after camp opened last season, so he knows how long things can play out. While the market this offseason appears to be moving more quickly than last offseason, he knows he still has to fill those holes.

“We have a lot of our winter to work through some other pieces,” he said. “I feel really good about a lot of the guys that are on our team. We brought back a lot of what we already had, but I think there’s still some work to be done.”

www.startribune.com

Twins leave winter meetings with same holes they had when they arrived

Meetings end, but Falvey and Levine will continue to pursue roster upgrades.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Win Twins!!
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LaVelle has a great job. Go to the Winter Meetings. Pull up last year's article, change the dates/names of GM as necessary update the "golly gee we tried so hard" quote and submit. Then party time.
 



Chip: After raising the ante, Twins must make major splash

A summer of record bombas and 101 wins reinvigorated the interest of a sports market once beaten to a pulp by bad baseball. We care again. We’re invested now.

If the Twins stood pat in the offseason during their years of irrelevance and did nothing to upgrade their on-field product, the reaction was a collective yawn. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Things changed this past summer. The same playbook doesn’t apply anymore. Inability or unwillingness to make a splash won’t be greeted by a yawn.

The Twins front office returned from the winter meetings Thursday without fixing a glaring roster flaw. The Twins still lack “impact pitching,” as baseball boss Derek Falvey describes it.

That development has triggered a mixture of panic, anger and resignation within the fan base. Can’t blame them, though the offseason isn’t over, so the verdict can’t be written yet.

www.startribune.com

After raising the ante, Twins must make major splash

The organization needs to change the fans' belief that it has been cheap.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Win Twins!!
 

MadBaum to the D-Backs. Falvine sit on their thumbs, as they've been doing since last July.
 

Shama: No Twins Are Trade Untouchables

Who will the Twins offer up in trades for either pitchers or other players? St. Peter said the club doesn’t so much target specific individuals in their organization for potential trades as it does looking at where the organization has strength and depth. Although he didn’t mention left fielder Eddie Rosario as trade bait, Sportingnews.com reported three days ago other teams are asking about Rosario, and the Twins do have a terrific minor league prospect and possible replacement in outfielder Alex Kirilloff. It appears sooner (perhaps next year) or later Minnesota will need to make room for the 22-year-old Kirilloff who has a .317 minor league career batting average.

When asked, St. Peter couldn’t think of any Twins currently under contract who have no-trade clauses in their contracts. Does he believe any Twins are untouchable? “No, I don’t think so,” he answered. “…The reality of it is, there’s probably some players that practically speaking you’re just probably not going to move because I’m not sure that another team could offer us enough.”

Twins front office personnel decision makers Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have won St. Peter’s confidence since being hired in 2016. St. Peter said their relationships with other front office leaders are so important to the Twins as they search to make a team with 101 wins last season even better.


Win Twins!!
 

Was Madbum truly unwilling to move to the AL? I find it hard to believe a 101 win team couldn’t overpay a bit to lure him. $85MM for a credible arm is chicken feed in the MLB now. There’s still time, but it looks like they’re going to have to go the trade route. Why not overpay a bit and not have to give up anybody? Then you still have that ammunition for a trade deadline deal later.
 



forever a gopher said:
Was Madbum truly unwilling to move to the AL? I find it hard to believe a 101 win team couldn’t overpay a bit to lure him. $85MM for a credible arm is chicken feed in the MLB now. There’s still time, but it looks like they’re going to have to go the trade route. Why not overpay a bit and not have to give up anybody? Then you still have that ammunition for a trade deadline deal later.
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Rumor has it Arizona was his target destination and he wanted a 5 year deal. Even if the Twins offered 5 and more money he would have taken the AZ offer. He is a guy who likes to hit so I'm not surprised he wanted to stay in the NL anyway.

Twins option of landing a top pitcher will come down to trading. I think they can sign another bat in free agency and will likely have to trade for a starter and reliever.
 

tmvander said:
Rumor has it Arizona was his target destination and he wanted a 5 year deal. Even if the Twins offered 5 and more money he would have taken the AZ offer. He is a guy who likes to hit so I'm not surprised he wanted to stay in the NL anyway.
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Some fans really have a hard time understanding things like this. They think real life is like a video game and all it takes is to offer the most money to sign someone.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Some fans really have a hard time understanding things like this. They think real life is like a video game and all it takes is to offer the most money to sign someone.
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Exactly...sometimes I wonder if the front office just decides not to let fans know that a player just straight up doesn't want to play in MN and instead just plays it out like they were out bid.

Better to be a cheap team than an undesirable one? Personally I would love to know if a guy just wouldn't ever have us on his radar even if we offered 50 mil a year.
 

tmvander said:
Rumor has it Arizona was his target destination and he wanted a 5 year deal. Even if the Twins offered 5 and more money he would have taken the AZ offer. He is a guy who likes to hit so I'm not surprised he wanted to stay in the NL anyway.

Twins option of landing a top pitcher will come down to trading. I think they can sign another bat in free agency and will likely have to trade for a starter and reliever.
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Certainly he wasn't coming here for an equal offer. But apparently we weren't even willing to go 5 years at all. Much less beat their offer. But we wanted him so bad!
 

tmvander said:
Exactly...sometimes I wonder if the front office just decides not to let fans know that a player just straight up doesn't want to play in MN and instead just plays it out like they were out bid.

Better to be a cheap team than an undesirable one? Personally I would love to know if a guy just wouldn't ever have us on his radar even if we offered 50 mil a year.
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Everything has a price. Maybe what it would have taken to get him here would have been unreasonable. But I suspect 5/$100 million would have gotten it done. We'll never know, we didn't try.
 

howeda7 said:
Everything has a price. Maybe what it would have taken to get him here would have been unreasonable. But I suspect 5/$100 million would have gotten it done. We'll never know, we didn't try.
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I also heard that they weren't willing to go 5 years which is absurd...5/$100 mil should have been enough in my mind too...just be prepared for either an awful, desperate trade or 2 rookies pitching most of the year.
 

Looking like we'll have to go hard after Ryu. Who, I think will regress this year pitching in a colder climate to start the season as well. And, due to age. I am guessing we'll add a guy like Julio Tehran in the end. The low-budget analytical fix type of thing like we tried with Martin Perez last year.
 

howeda7 said:
Everything has a price. Maybe what it would have taken to get him here would have been unreasonable. But I suspect 5/$100 million would have gotten it done. We'll never know, we didn't try.
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This. Yes, some players realize the real-world effect of having $85MM and $100MM is the same, as the extra $15MM isn’t going to change your life. However, if free agency has taught us anything, is the VAST majority of players will go to the highest bidder and/or best terms.
At some point, they have to overpay and accept that’s the nature of the business. Offer another year on the end, knowing you’ll probably have to eat the money.
I find it convienent that writers will use the “nobody wants to come to MN” bit. But then it comes out after the fact that the offer wasn’t up to snuff. They were supposedly really low on the Wheeler offer. I know he took a bit less to go to Philly, but still. Either offer something competitive or just admit you aren’t signing anybody good. That’s the most annoying part- it’s that they admit there’s a problem, they say they’re going to fix it and then don’t follow through. Just own up to it and admit we’re not getting anybody like that so we can move on.
 

tmvander said:
I also heard that they weren't willing to go 5 years which is absurd...5/$100 mil should have been enough in my mind too...just be prepared for either an awful, desperate trade or 2 rookies pitching most of the year.
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They won't make a major trade. They're talking to the Marlins, I suspect they'll flip either Cave or Rosario there for a marginal young pitcher no better than what we already have. If they can get Alcantrara from the Marlins that would be an upgrade, but they would have to add a couple top 10 prospects to the deal. They cling to their prospects just as tight as Terry Ryan did.

They'll sign another reclamation attempt like Sanchez/Perez. Perhaps Ervin Santana.
 

howeda7 said:
They won't make a major trade. They're talking to the Marlins, I suspect they'll flip either Cave or Rosario there for a marginal young pitcher no better than what we already have. If they can get Alcantrara from the Marlins that would be an upgrade, but they would have to add a couple top 10 prospects to the deal. They cling to their prospects just as tight as Terry Ryan did.

They'll sign another reclamation attempt like Sanchez/Perez. Perhaps Ervin Santana.
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I'd be ok giving Teheran a shot in terms of reclamation. As far as prospects go I think Kirilloff is the only one I would place as untouchable. Was hoping Robbie Ray would be a trade option but with them signing Mad Bum I'd expect them to look to sign him longer term (they should). Although they have some lineup guys up after next year so maybe Ray is an option.
 

tmvander said:
I'd be ok giving Teheran a shot in terms of reclamation. As far as prospects go I think Kirilloff is the only one I would place as untouchable. Was hoping Robbie Ray would be a trade option but with them signing Mad Bum I'd expect them to look to sign him longer term (they should). Although they have some lineup guys up after next year so maybe Ray is an option.
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I have nothing against the reclamation projects. And they're 2/2 or at least 1.5/2. But it should be as an add on, not the primary acquisition.
 

Sergio Romo back for $5 million. Not a bad move onto itself. But tick-tock on the rotation.
 

forever a gopher said:
However, if free agency has taught us anything, is the VAST majority of players will go to the highest bidder and/or best terms.
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I just don't think that is true anymore. It happens a lot but not the vast majority IMO. Location and best fit seems to have become a very big deal for a lot of players.

There's a lot of things behind the scenes with negotiations that we (the public) will never know about. For instance with Wheeler, there is a good chance that what he signed with Philly for wasn't the original offer but they negotiated to get where he signed. So in the end, yes it looked like the Twins offered very low. But for all we know that was similar to what Philly originally offered but Wheeler only negotiated with them and had no interest in the Twins. All speculation of course, but I think it's possible.
 

The Pohland's are fine with mediocrity which is really upsetting. They seem okay having a playoff team every 5-7 years that gets swept by the NYY. They haven't done shit in the off-season that's worth talking about and I don't expect them to do anything but add a few meddling starters to fill out our rotation. Prove me wrong you cheap asses! Please excuse the brevity, but this is really annoying.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I just don't think that is true anymore. It happens a lot but not the vast majority IMO. Location and best fit seems to have become a very big deal for a lot of players.

There's a lot of things behind the scenes with negotiations that we (the public) will never know about. For instance with Wheeler, there is a good chance that what he signed with Philly for wasn't the original offer but they negotiated to get where he signed. So in the end, yes it looked like the Twins offered very low. But for all we know that was similar to what Philly originally offered but Wheeler only negotiated with them and had no interest in the Twins. All speculation of course, but I think it's possible.
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The problem with giving the Twins the benefit of the doubt is that they have given us zero examples to prove otherwise. The biggest FA contract they've ever given out is Ervin Santana for $54 million.
 

howeda7 said:
The problem with giving the Twins the benefit of the doubt is that they have given us zero examples to prove otherwise. The biggest FA contract they've ever given out is Ervin Santana for $54 million.
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I'll give them the benefit of the doubt because it's a completely new front office. What happened prior to the 2017 season is irrelevant to them as they had no control then. But what they've done in other areas (analytics, building up the farm system, 101 wins, etc) has convinced me they're different than the old front office. I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt forever but I'm going to give them more than a few years. We'll see I guess.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt because it's a completely new front office. What happened prior to the 2017 season is irrelevant to them as they had no control then. But what they've done in other areas (analytics, building up the farm system, 101 wins, etc) has convinced me they're different than the old front office. I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt forever but I'm going to give them more than a few years. We'll see I guess.
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You are a much more understanding and patient person than I. Terry Ryan always claimed he didn’t have a “cap” and that he had the freedom to sign a free agent if it made sense. Nothing ever happened. Now Falvine are saying the same thing. Which of course they are, as who is going to publicly call out their employer saying they’re cheap bastards? Until proven otherwise, I think you have to look at the common denominator, which is ownership, not the GM as to why these deals aren’t happening.

It’s not that I expect them to have signed Cole and Rendon. Nor for them to make a splash all the time. But mid market teams generally have smaller windows to win within than a large market team, because they can generally only afford minor injuries or FA busts that a larger market team can buy their way out of. The window is now, and won’t stay open forever.
 

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