Sign Kubel and Cuddyer, let Nathan leave, Thome retires:
I dislike this immensely. If they both miraculously accepted arbitration, that would be great--one year deals for these two would be fantastic, but it is extremely doubtful that either one is going to accept anything under 3 years. And the Twins should not do that.
Sign Kubel, let Cuddyer leave:
This would still require a RH bat to be added, and I really dislike Kubel doing anything other than DHing. It would not be terrible if the Twins could convince him to take a 2-year deal, but that is unlikely.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Scenarios
Let's run through the possible scenarios involving Twins free agents and personnel decisions:
1. Sign Cuddyer, sign Nathan, let Kubel and Capps leave:
Now what? Assuming the Cuddyer deal is for three years and the Nathan deal is for two, this real limits the Twins UNLESS the idea is to sign and trade Cuddyer. I could see keeping Cuddyer and trading him in July (buying OR selling, hopefully) for pitching help. Regardless, this would leave the Twins with two holes. Maybe Thome gets signed and Dustin Martin promoted? Other free agent possibilities include Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, and David DeJesus to fill this LH hitting gap.
Capps as a setup man could get replaced internally or externally, I suppose. The external options are a mess to think about here in early October, so I won't speculate. Carlos Gutierrez could be an internal option to accompany Glen Perkins in the setup role.
2. Let Cuddyer, Kubel, and Capps leave, sign Nathan (my personal favorite): I like this option as this eliminates the need to hope for some midseason trade of one or more of these guys and the fear of having these guys in unproductive times for multiple years. If there was a way to get Cuddyer and Kubel to resign for one year and a total of 16-20 million, that would be one thing. Not going to happen, though. I like the idea of replacing Cuddyer and Kubel with the likes of Bobby Abreu/Johnny Damon and Ty Wigginton/Brad Haupe (Wigginton via trade) on one year deals for likely about the same production given some kind of platoon. Likely cost is 10 million for this year only.
to be continued:
1. Sign Cuddyer, sign Nathan, let Kubel and Capps leave:
Now what? Assuming the Cuddyer deal is for three years and the Nathan deal is for two, this real limits the Twins UNLESS the idea is to sign and trade Cuddyer. I could see keeping Cuddyer and trading him in July (buying OR selling, hopefully) for pitching help. Regardless, this would leave the Twins with two holes. Maybe Thome gets signed and Dustin Martin promoted? Other free agent possibilities include Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, and David DeJesus to fill this LH hitting gap.
Capps as a setup man could get replaced internally or externally, I suppose. The external options are a mess to think about here in early October, so I won't speculate. Carlos Gutierrez could be an internal option to accompany Glen Perkins in the setup role.
2. Let Cuddyer, Kubel, and Capps leave, sign Nathan (my personal favorite): I like this option as this eliminates the need to hope for some midseason trade of one or more of these guys and the fear of having these guys in unproductive times for multiple years. If there was a way to get Cuddyer and Kubel to resign for one year and a total of 16-20 million, that would be one thing. Not going to happen, though. I like the idea of replacing Cuddyer and Kubel with the likes of Bobby Abreu/Johnny Damon and Ty Wigginton/Brad Haupe (Wigginton via trade) on one year deals for likely about the same production given some kind of platoon. Likely cost is 10 million for this year only.
to be continued:
Prospects for 2012: The First Edition
Without going into details, my preliminary rankings going into post-instrux and the AFL are:
1. Miguel Sano
2. Oswaldo Arcia
3. Liam Hendriks
4. Aaron Hicks
5. Kyle Gibson
6. Joe Benson
7. Eddie Rosario
8. Adrian Salcedo
9. Brian Dozier
10. Chris Parmelee
11. Angel Morales
12. Alex Wimmers
13. Max Kepler
14. Manuel Soliman
15. B.J. Hermsen
16. Carlos Gutierrez
17. Tim Shibuya
18. Niko Goodrum
19. Nate Roberts
20. Dave Bromberg
21. Daniel Ortiz
22. Tom Stuifbergen
23. Chris Herrmann
24. Pat Dean
25. Lance Ray
26. Deolis Guerra
27. Cole DeVries
28. Andrew Albers
29. Yangervis Solarte
30. Tyler Robertson
31. Jairo Perez
32. Anthony Slama
33. JaDamion Williams
34. Madison Boer
35. Steve Hirschfeld
36. Scott Diamond
37. Dakota Watts
38. Logan Darnell
39. James Beresford
40. Pat Dean
41. Kennys Vargas
42. Danny Rams
43. Kane Holbrooks
44. Evan Bigley
45. Michael Gonzales
46. Anderson Hidalgo
47. Daniel Santana
48. Nick Lockwood
49. Pedro Guerra
50. Rory Rhodes
Others to watch: Bruce Pugh, Todd Van Steensel, Bart Carter, Phillip Chapman, Kelvin Ortiz, Ryan O'Rourke, Clint Dempster, Tyler Grimes, Levi Michael
1. Miguel Sano
2. Oswaldo Arcia
3. Liam Hendriks
4. Aaron Hicks
5. Kyle Gibson
6. Joe Benson
7. Eddie Rosario
8. Adrian Salcedo
9. Brian Dozier
10. Chris Parmelee
11. Angel Morales
12. Alex Wimmers
13. Max Kepler
14. Manuel Soliman
15. B.J. Hermsen
16. Carlos Gutierrez
17. Tim Shibuya
18. Niko Goodrum
19. Nate Roberts
20. Dave Bromberg
21. Daniel Ortiz
22. Tom Stuifbergen
23. Chris Herrmann
24. Pat Dean
25. Lance Ray
26. Deolis Guerra
27. Cole DeVries
28. Andrew Albers
29. Yangervis Solarte
30. Tyler Robertson
31. Jairo Perez
32. Anthony Slama
33. JaDamion Williams
34. Madison Boer
35. Steve Hirschfeld
36. Scott Diamond
37. Dakota Watts
38. Logan Darnell
39. James Beresford
40. Pat Dean
41. Kennys Vargas
42. Danny Rams
43. Kane Holbrooks
44. Evan Bigley
45. Michael Gonzales
46. Anderson Hidalgo
47. Daniel Santana
48. Nick Lockwood
49. Pedro Guerra
50. Rory Rhodes
Others to watch: Bruce Pugh, Todd Van Steensel, Bart Carter, Phillip Chapman, Kelvin Ortiz, Ryan O'Rourke, Clint Dempster, Tyler Grimes, Levi Michael
Twins season wrap
There are many good things about the Twins season this year:
Jim Thome's 600th homer.
Harmon Killebrew tribute.
Joe Nathan's record-breaking save (even while the save stat is stupid--it isn't his fault!).
Francisco Liriano threw a no-hitter.
Glen Perkins established himself as an upper-tier setup man.
Chris Parmelee showed that he will be a legitimate contributor in the near future.
It became clear that Brian Duensing needs to be a situational lefty out of the bullpen.
Ben Revere showed that he's close, and even if that "close" just means close to Juan Pierre quality, that actually isn't too bad.
Michael Cuddyer had a good year.
Some young guys got a taste and showed intermittent signs of being able to contribute in 2012. These players are: Rene Tosoni, Trevor Plouffe, Luke Hughes, Joe Benson, Liam Hendriks, Lester Oliveros, and Brian Dinkelman. I don't think that some of them *should* contribute in 2012, but that is no matter.
Jim Thome's 600th homer.
Harmon Killebrew tribute.
Joe Nathan's record-breaking save (even while the save stat is stupid--it isn't his fault!).
Francisco Liriano threw a no-hitter.
Glen Perkins established himself as an upper-tier setup man.
Chris Parmelee showed that he will be a legitimate contributor in the near future.
It became clear that Brian Duensing needs to be a situational lefty out of the bullpen.
Ben Revere showed that he's close, and even if that "close" just means close to Juan Pierre quality, that actually isn't too bad.
Michael Cuddyer had a good year.
Some young guys got a taste and showed intermittent signs of being able to contribute in 2012. These players are: Rene Tosoni, Trevor Plouffe, Luke Hughes, Joe Benson, Liam Hendriks, Lester Oliveros, and Brian Dinkelman. I don't think that some of them *should* contribute in 2012, but that is no matter.
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