I hate goodbyes and I hate hellos. Let’s just get to the #content.
I don’t really see it. Everyone who has considerable value is pretty essential to this team, and I don’t think it makes sense to make that sort of swap.
Keep an eye on Nick Gordon, though. If he gets to a decent start once he returns from the IL at Rochester, he could become a popular trade chip. I’m not saying he’d fetch a ton, but if the Twins become unhappy with what they’re getting out of Martin Perez as their fifth starter, he could possibly fetch some sort of upgrade — especially if it’s a bigger deal with another prospect further down the food chain.
I really don’t know. I would say maybe 20-25 percent, but even then I feel like that’s high. I think the sweet spot for getting him signed where it makes sense for the Twins is either a one-year deal after the draft — for draft pick reasons — or a two-year deal between now and then.
Three years is a really long time for a reliever, especially one with Kimbrel’s miles on his arm, but inserting him on the back end allows the Twins to use Blake Parker, Trevor May and Trevor Hildenberger almost interchangeably as the bridge to him.
Team Mackey.
So as near as I can tell, the median payroll is about $135 million. So do I really want to spend as much as Mike Trout will cost the next decade or so? Probably, but for the sake of this exercise it’s not as fun.
The first two names that came to mind were Francisco Lindor — my favorite visiting player at Target Field — and Cody Bellinger.
Lindor plays a terrific shortstop and won’t be a free agent until after the 2021 season. Bellinger can play both the outfield and first base — thus freeing up options to fill the rest of this team — and he won’t be a free agent until after the 2023 season.
He also won’t be 24 until July.
I don’t think it’s necessary. First of all, it’s 20-some plate appearances so it’s not really substantive. Secondly, he’s the kind of guy the Twins can rely on as much as they want to if he’s playing well but really don’t need to have produce in order for the team to be successful.
I’m going to take Marwin fairly easily in this one. THE BAT projection system agrees with me, forecasting a 92 wRC+ the rest of the way for La Tortuga and a 107 for Marwin.
If you want to more about THE BAT, listen to my recent podcast with Derek Carty, the creator of the system, here.
- Berrios
- Pineda
- Gibson
- Romero
- Perez
I think they re-sign Pineda and Gibson because the prices should be fairly reasonable and I don’t think anyone wants to hit free agency with how things are, but I also think they let Odorizzi test his market and he might get a better deal elsewhere — like San Francisco, which has a giant outfield — pun not intended — and a great center fielder in Kevin Pillar.
Perez is more or less a placeholder for Brusdar Graterol in this equation, and I think they really want Fernando Romero to be a starter over the long haul.
As things currently stand, the Twins are tied for eighth among outfields on the whole with a 125 wRC+ as a bunch (.273/.357/.491).
Who would I definitely take above them, assuming everyone was healthy?
- Yankees — Stanton-Judge-Hicks-Gardner-Frazier
- Dodgers — Bellinger-Pollock-Pederson-Taylor-Verdugo
- Red Sox — Bradley-Benintendi-Betts-Martinez (they don’t really have a fourth)
- Nationals — Soto-Robles-Eaton-Taylor
- Rays — Pham-Kiermaier-Meadows-Garcia
Another team who could make a case is the Milwaukee (Yelich-Cain-Braun), but I think the Twins are pretty likely to finish in the top-third here.
Oreos, coconut, graham cracker bits, hot fudge and whipped cream. Not necessarily all at once.
Buxton. The answer is always Buxton. Like Jake Odorizzi said in Tuesday’s column on Zone Coverage, he’s the team’s most important player.
He went to Fort Myers on Tuesday and is about to start a 10-14-day process to get back into baseball shape, and from there he’ll start playing in games. Feels like about three weeks away or so.
It all depends on how Tyler Duffey does with his new-found appreciation for tunneling, but the Twins could pretty easily DFA Chase De Jong to make room for a non-roster pitcher like Jake Reed to come up.
And it’s pretty hard to say he doesn’t deserve a look. Even with a questionable start to this season ERA-wise — 6.00 in six innings — he’s posted a 2.18 ERA in 95 career innings at Rochester with nearly a strikeout per inning and a 1.15 WHIP. If they don’t think he can hack it, it would probably be best to let him move on and find another team who’ll give him that chance.
Relievers with options:
- Rogers – 2
- Hildenberger – 3
- Harper – 3
- Romero – 1 (this year)
- Duffey – 1 (this year)
- Moya – 2
- Vasquez – 3
Relievers without options:
- Parker
- Morin
- Guilmet
- Magill
- Reed
- May
- Mejia
Pineda. He’s just monstrous physically.
Too soon to say. Someone could come up with a flat tire between now and then. As of this second? Probably Astudillo or Cave.
Really great. For those who don’t follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, I posted a video of my daughter playing in her bouncy castle at home — and she’s developed quite a leg drop:
It all depends on if you want guys who are especially young or really just interesting. At Rochester, obviously Vasquez and Romero are interesting, but so is Mike Morin (disappearing changeup) and Ryan Eades, whose stuff has really popped since moving to the bullpen more or less full-time.
I’m not completely out on Tyler Jay — who is not off to a great start at Pensacola — but at that level, Cody Stashak, Devin Smeltzer, Sean Poppen, Jovani Moran and Dusten Knight are all striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings.
Add to that the potential to use someone like Jorge Alcala or Jhoan Duran in the bullpen at some point in the future, and there’s still plenty of intrigue in the organization relief-wise.
