Mauer

[bleedspeed]

I am not a big Bryce Harper fan. I would rather find some gems then pay him 30M. Look how good the Nationals are with him and tell me he instantly will change make this team win. It won't happen.

Good teams are built with a core and players added around. We have not been good at building that core or adding around them and I don't blame Mauer for that. It honestly was bad luck with both him and Morneau. If Mauer, Morneau and Koskie avoid concussions this team would have had a great core to build around. It all fell apart to a degree.

[Monster]

I am not a big Bryce Harper fan. I would rather find some gems then pay him 30M. Look how good the Nationals are with him and tell me he instantly will change make this team win. It won't happen.

Good teams are built with a core and players added around. We have not been good at building that core or adding around them and I don't blame Mauer for that. It honestly was bad luck with both him and Morneau. If Mauer, Morneau and Koskie avoid concussions this team would have had a great core to build around. It all fell apart to a degree.

I'm thinking along the same lines as you Bleed. Kinda funny about LTST being happy to be done with one long term deal and jump into another one. Harper coming here is a expensive pipe dream.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I am not a big Bryce Harper fan. I would rather find some gems then pay him 30M. Look how good the Nationals are with him and tell me he instantly will change make this team win. It won't happen.

Good teams are built with a core and players added around. We have not been good at building that core or adding around them and I don't blame Mauer for that. It honestly was bad luck with both him and Morneau. If Mauer, Morneau and Koskie avoid concussions this team would have had a great core to build around. It all fell apart to a degree.

I'm thinking along the same lines as you Bleed. Kinda funny about LTST being happy to be done with one long term deal and jump into another one. Harper coming here is a expensive pipe dream.

Yeah, I'm wary of long-term contracts too, but the Twins are in a very attractive position with $23 million coming off the books and need to turn those available dollars into something productive. Harper is having a terrible season (for him), but his OPS is still 150 points higher than Mauer's. He is even 25 points higher than Joe in Joe's one claim to fame...on-base percentage. Over the last 4 years (including this season) Harper has averaged 31 homers and 89 RBIs per season, compared to Joe's paltry 8 homers and 56 RBIs...and he's only 25. Spending $23 million on Harper rather than Joe has to make this team much better...both by the additional run production, but also by the protection he would give our other hitters.

It doesn't have to be Harper. His name just jumped off the page for me when looking at run-producers who will be free agents. All I know is this...the Twins can contend if they use the Mauer freed-up money to get someone who can help this offense. I've been patient with them the past few years because I knew Mauer's contract made it impossible to do anything big in free agency, but I will be really disappointed if they don't go big this off-season.

[Monster]

The Twins have an absolute ton of of payroll flexibility next year regardless of Mauer. There are a lot of ways this roster could use that to get better.

Expiring money

Forsythe
Lynn (traded but Inthink paying a lot of it)
Morrison
Santana
Mauer
Rodney (traded)
Hughes (paid a draft pick to get rid of him and his 2019 money)

That's a herd of elephant's poop ton of money.

For next year's are basically looking at paying Reed, Castro and Pineda plus raises for Odorizzi and Gibson and that's about it for money beyond a couple million for guys on the roster. The Twins are in a VERY good place going into this offseason. Sure they need to sign some players to add to what they have but money isn't a problem it's just how they spend it and who they spend it on.

[bleedspeed]

I agree. They have there chance to make a huge impact on next years team.

They can't afford to make the same mistakes we made signing guys like Hughes and Ricky Nolasco signings to longer deals that bomb.

Found this old article. It is an interesting read.
https://www.twinkietown.com/2016/7/6/12101434/where-the-twins-have-gone-wrong-a-history

[bleedspeed]

We also have Michael Pineda that could be healthy next year.

http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/08/twins-shut-michael-pineda-knee-injury/

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

We also have Michael Pineda that could be healthy next year.

http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/08/twins-shut-michael-pineda-knee-injury/

A 94 MPH cutter, more K's than IP for his career, a career ERA around 4, only 29 and apparently recovered from his TJ surgery. I'll be surprised if he's not in the rotation next year, and another reason we need to spend our available payroll on a big bat rather than pitching. Gibson, Berrios, Odorizzi, Mejia, Gonsalves and Pineda are all ready to be in a big league rotation...maybe even May.

[Monster]

We also have Michael Pineda that could be healthy next year.

http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/08/twins-shut-michael-pineda-knee-injury/

A 94 MPH cutter, more K's than IP for his career, a career ERA around 4, only 29 and apparently recovered from his TJ surgery. I'll be surprised if he's not in the rotation next year, and another reason we need to spend our available payroll on a big bat rather than pitching. Gibson, Berrios, Odorizzi, Mejia, Gonsalves and Pineda are all ready to be in a big league rotation...maybe even May.

I agree the starting pitching probably doesn't need supplementing. Compared to last year Berrios has taken a step forward and is now a legit top rotations starter. Gibson isn't a half year fluke and Odorizzi is at least a decent rotation guy and some of the young guys like Romero Gonzsalves etc will at least have had a taste of MLB. May returning this season to throw some good innings is a real boast. I could see them signing another 1 year deal for someone kinda like they did with Lynn or maybe even bring back Santana on a cheaper 1 year deal.

I'm legitimately curious LST what is your list of big bats? All you have named is Harper. I want to see more. To me this team has 2 infield positions (1b 2nd or...maybe 3B if you move Sano to 1b which I'm not in favor of yet) plus DH available. Could someone that's signed play in the outfield? Sure but the Twins have like 356 options throughout the organization. IMO it doesn't make a ton of sense to me to sign a guy of the ilk you are suggesting to an outfield spot.

To me this team has to sign at least one veteran middle infielder because nobody else is ready in the pipeline. Whether that's bringing back Escobar or resigning Forsythe or another vet FA they need something there. The other place they need to spend is to get at least one pretty good proven vet reliever if not more. I like the young guys they have but they need some help. If May ended up in the Pen long term (I don't know what will happen but that's possible) it would be plenty intruiging and help this group but he isn't a sure thing either.

[bleedspeed]

Great point. We have a lot of young guys in the pipeline at 1B/OF that are close to coming up. Not sure you want to block them. Short contracts seem to be more attractive to me. I think we could still use RP, C, and 2B.

[Monster]

Great point. We have a lot of young guys in the pipeline at 1B/OF that are close to coming up. Not sure you want to block them. Short contracts seem to be more attractive to me. I think we could still use RP, C, and 2B.

I just read an article on startribune (pretty interesting stuff) about Garver and it sounds like he has made some legit strides behind the plate and working with pitchers. At the plate he has done pretty well for a guy that's just over 300 MLB ABs. Castro will probably be healthy next year and for a backup he is pretty good. I don't think we need to sign a FA C at this point (except maybe for organizational depth especially since whoever we sign will probably be a Castro level guy not top 10 catcher type. Plus we may have something with Astudillo who we should see some of behind the plate the rest of the season. Garver isn't a proven guy yet but he has taken some strides forward which is another positive sign for this organization in a tough season.