Mauer

[bleedspeed]

I did a quick look at FA catchers. There is not one that I would splurge on in FA next offseason. Maybe the Dodgers catcher, but doubt he is going anywhere.

Manny Machodo would look good here, but I am very leery of signing a guy for over 5 years even if he is 26 years old. Those contracts don't seem to be good investments in the long term for teams.

[bleedspeed]

Here is an interesting take on top 50 starting pitchers.

19. Jose Berrios (youngest in top 20)
31. Kyle Gibson

https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-starting-pitcher-rankings/

It is crazy to see Cleveland with 4 top 20 starters. I am pulling for them to win a title this year.

[Monster]

Here is an interesting take on top 50 starting pitchers.

19. Jose Berrios (youngest in top 20)
31. Kyle Gibson

https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-starting-pitcher-rankings/

It is crazy to see Cleveland with 4 top 20 starters. I am pulling for them to win a title this year.

Interesting stuff there. Its worth a look at the other categories. CLeaveland has #1 and #4 in position players and they added Brad Hand who is ranked #6 in RP. Rodney is #18.

[bleedspeed]

They have a solid team. I am still surprised they traded that young catcher.

[Monster]

They have a solid team. I am still surprised they traded that young catcher.

That bullpen was basically a disaster. They had to do something. Maybe they didn't have to do that but they had to do something.

[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.

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.

Unfortunately, I don't see a lot of big bats on the 2019 list, monster. I mentioned Harper because I clearly see him as the most obvious difference maker out there, and he would be a great replacement for Kepler in RF. I might also take a run at Machado if he were willing to move to DH or even third. Escobar is a possibility at a lower price tag, but he may be bitter about us unloading his best friend Dozier. But beyond Harper and Machado, I don't see anyone that really excites me as a (young) middle of the lineup run producer.

[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.

Unfortunately, I don't see a lot of big bats on the 2019 list, monster. I mentioned Harper because I clearly see him as the most obvious difference maker out there, and he would be a great replacement for Kepler in RF. I might also take a run at Machado if he were willing to move to DH or even third. Escobar is a possibility at a lower price tag, but he may be bitter about us unloading his best friend Dozier. But beyond Harper and Machado, I don't see anyone that really excites me as a (young) middle of the lineup run producer.

I probably come off as dogging you for wanting to add one of these guys and that's not the case. Adding a player like this would obviously be a big addition. Having said that I'm hesitant to give either of those guys (Harper and Machado) the type of money and length of contract people have been suggesting the last few months they will command. Machado there have been reports about him being a bit of a problem in the past. Maybe there isn't much there but it's a concern. Harper is either an corner OF or 1b and those positions are either strengths pf the organization or relatively easy to sign a pretty good player for much less money.

As for Escobar I think he would be open to coming back but it's going to be interesting what the market is for him in terms of money and length of contract. I'd guess if the price was somewhat reasonable and we were willing to offer what other teams were this is a good situation for him. If this franchise didn't seem to be willing to really look to lock Dozier up on some sort of deal it makes me wonder what position players they are really willing to hand out a ton of money too. I don't blame them on the Dozier situation because...

The Twins have been and are still in a tough position. They have young players they likely believe can be part of a very good team going forward but some of those guys are not ready yet. Bleed mentioned Rooker which I had forgotten about him as a 1b option. He might not be too far off. This is why resigning Mauer (or someone else) to a 1 or 2 year deal (2nd year for Mauer could have player and team options) as a bridge guy to the 1b of the future along with Austin.

I agree with the idea that sometimes it's worth the money to just go after 1 top end guy instead of splitting it up spending it on a couple guys. The Twins have not exactly had the best luck with those deals. Morrison is an example BUT we also don't know know how long he was playing with a bad hip. It honestly sounds like it was something that bothered him quite a while. Maybe he has a pretty solid season if he was more healthy and that invest meant looks decent. The Twins could spend more than 5-6 million a guy this offseason if they want a vet power bat that more legit. You mentioned in one of your posts that hopefully the Twins spend the money they have available wisely. I agree and I've been saying for a while that I don't envy this front office in the tough decisions they have to make with this roster. I think there will be some tough decisions to make with the 40 man roster this offseason. So far it seems like the guys this team has let go for nothing the last few years amounts to a couple promising relief pictures and some solid bench players. It's been a while now but Aaron Hicks is probably the deal that really hurts and trading for a promising young catcher made a ton of sense and the Twins had OF depth then also. They shouldn't have rushed Buxton which was another likely mistake of the deal. Hopefully Moya turns out to be a good reliever and they are looking smart for moving on from John Ryan Murphy.

[Monster]

Mauer actually talked about the possibility of retiring the other day. I'd say that bumps the chance that this is his last season up quite a bit since Joe doesn't talk much.

[bleedspeed]

Mauer actually talked about the possibility of retiring the other day. I'd say that bumps the chance that this is his last season up quite a bit since Joe doesn't talk much.

Agreed - I doubt it is much fun for him on a losing team and having another concussion this year.

[Monster]

Mauer actually talked about the possibility of retiring the other day. I'd say that bumps the chance that this is his last season up quite a bit since Joe doesn't talk much.

Agreed - I doubt it is much fun for him on a losing team and having another concussion this year.

Yeah I would imagine what this team does in FA (both competitively and maybe a guy like Escobar coming back) could have some effect on whether he wants to come back. I mean it's not like this team is looking like it's gearing up for a championship run or something and leading up to this season...you could say they were very much moving in the right direction and added some legit vets to the team.

Honestly I'd like to have him come back for one more year and play well but what really does Mauer have to prove at this point other than a HOF case which I'm not sure is a big priority for him. As one commenter mentioned sometimes it's best to leave when you think you might have one year left than play a year too long.