Minnesota Sports Forum

Thought I start a winter meetings thread, I always get excited for this time of the year so many deals happen during this week.

Here's what ESPN rates us at the winter meetings insider report

Biggest team needs: Bullpen and rotation depth

Free agents they could be interested in: Mark Lowe, Tony Sipp

Trade options: N/A

Players on the block: Ricky Nolasco

Notable acquisitions to date: John Ryan Murphy, Byung Ho Park

Aggressiveness scale: 6

Thanks for that post Jester. I feel like at some point they could look at some sort of bargain vet FA position player. Ok sure idk where they would play and maybe they don't need a vet backup guy but it feels like that makes sense. I wouldn't call it a priority though.

It's interesting that Nolosco keeps being brought up. Is it because the Teins have made him widely available or teams have some legit interest or just complete speculation. Speculation sorta doesn't make sense to me he seems sorta hard to move to me but I could see some team being interested if they could get him for a prospect they don't care about and if the Twins pay some of his salary.

monsterpile wrote:Thanks for that post Jester. I feel like at some point they could look at some sort of bargain vet FA position player. Ok sure idk where they would play and maybe they don't need a vet backup guy but it feels like that makes sense. I wouldn't call it a priority though.

It's interesting that Nolosco keeps being brought up. Is it because the Teins have made him widely available or teams have some legit interest or just complete speculation. Speculation sorta doesn't make sense to me he seems sorta hard to move to me but I could see some team being interested if they could get him for a prospect they don't care about and if the Twins pay some of his salary.

Just think it's the old buy low and hope for results strategy. Same thing we did with Hughes and Pelfrey, we bought pretty low and hoped to get results.

"Rotation depth"

What do they think our whole staff is? We need a top end starter, not another depth guy. Our staff is all 3-5 guys with Santana and Hughes as the only ones really who have ever shown number 2 stuff at times albeit very inconsistently.

khans2k5 wrote:"Rotation depth"

What do they think our whole staff is? We need a top end starter, not another depth guy. Our staff is all 3-5 guys with Santana and Hughes as the only ones really who have ever shown number 2 stuff at times albeit very inconsistently.

Yeah, I found that comment rather odd too. We seem to have more 2-5 options than I can remember in a long time and that's good, but who are you going to give the ball to in Game 1 of the World Series? That's why the Jose Fernandez rumor is so intriguing, because he is a true #1 guy. I'm still not in favor of trading top prospects for him though unless we can lock him up long term first, and I don't know if that's even a good idea

I suspect that the Twins will not go after a #1 guy this year or next. The money that Samardzija got ($18 million per year for 5 years) is absurd for a 30-year-old guy coming off a 4.96 ERA year (3rd worse among all qualified starters). After getting burnt with Nolasco and Hughes, I don't see them as having an appetite for opening up the wallet again. I think their strategy will be rather to wait and see if guys like Berrios, Gonsalves or Jay can become a true #1 guy...they all have the potential. If none of them pans out as a #1, it might make sense to get one in free agency in 3-4 years as our young lineup studs are reaching their peak years.

longstrangetrip wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:"Rotation depth"

What do they think our whole staff is? We need a top end starter, not another depth guy. Our staff is all 3-5 guys with Santana and Hughes as the only ones really who have ever shown number 2 stuff at times albeit very inconsistently.

Yeah, I found that comment rather odd too. We seem to have more 2-5 options than I can remember in a long time and that's good, but who are you going to give the ball to in Game 1 of the World Series? That's why the Jose Fernandez rumor is so intriguing, because he is a true #1 guy. I'm still not in favor of trading top prospects for him though unless we can lock him up long term first, and I don't know if that's even a good idea

I suspect that the Twins will not go after a #1 guy this year or next. The money that Samardzija got ($18 million per year for 5 years) is absurd for a 30-year-old guy coming off a 4.96 ERA year (3rd worse among all qualified starters). After getting burnt with Nolasco and Hughes, I don't see them as having an appetite for opening up the wallet again. I think their strategy will be rather to wait and see if guys like Berrios, Gonsalves or Jay can become a true #1 guy...they all have the potential. If none of them pans out as a #1, it might make sense to get one in free agency in 3-4 years as our young lineup studs are reaching their peak years.

I agree that adding an Ace makes a ton of sense. I don't know the league all that well what ace type pitchers are actually available at this point? How comfortable would you be in giving them a deal that it would take to bring them in?

monsterpile wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:"Rotation depth"

What do they think our whole staff is? We need a top end starter, not another depth guy. Our staff is all 3-5 guys with Santana and Hughes as the only ones really who have ever shown number 2 stuff at times albeit very inconsistently.

Yeah, I found that comment rather odd too. We seem to have more 2-5 options than I can remember in a long time and that's good, but who are you going to give the ball to in Game 1 of the World Series? That's why the Jose Fernandez rumor is so intriguing, because he is a true #1 guy. I'm still not in favor of trading top prospects for him though unless we can lock him up long term first, and I don't know if that's even a good idea

I suspect that the Twins will not go after a #1 guy this year or next. The money that Samardzija got ($18 million per year for 5 years) is absurd for a 30-year-old guy coming off a 4.96 ERA year (3rd worse among all qualified starters). After getting burnt with Nolasco and Hughes, I don't see them as having an appetite for opening up the wallet again. I think their strategy will be rather to wait and see if guys like Berrios, Gonsalves or Jay can become a true #1 guy...they all have the potential. If none of them pans out as a #1, it might make sense to get one in free agency in 3-4 years as our young lineup studs are reaching their peak years.

I agree that adding an Ace makes a ton of sense. I don't know the league all that well what ace type pitchers are actually available at this point? How comfortable would you be in giving them a deal that it would take to bring them in?

There's always a couple that wind up being available, but rarely are on more than expiring deals. Price and Hamels both were moved last year and Hamels was the guy to dump top prospects for. He's signed at a now reasonable 23.5 million/year through 2018. The trick is to find aces on bad teams, but a guy like Sale for example is on a fantastic deal for the White Sox so they have no reason to move him. Archer is on a great deal for the Rays. Kluber is on a great deal for the Indians. I think Scott Kazmir would actually make sense for us to throw some money at. He's had number 1 stuff at times and puts a quality lefty in our rotation. He pitched really well for the A's before he was moved last year. Otherwise for future targets, Stasburg is a FA after next year. He could be a mid-season acquisition target, but he'd probably cost a pretty penny when he becomes a free agent.

Could add Sonny Gray to that list.

I think you go for an ace during the season when you have shown you can win and the pitcher is getting it done. I am always worried about the FA Ace that comes in and disapoints.

Twins trying to trade Nolasco
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/twins-seeking-to-deal-ricky-nolasco.html

Rumors are that Padres are interested. Tyson Ross or James Shields deal?