Twins / deGrom

Wyatt Langford would look great in a Twins uniform 6 years from now…

Dutchboy wrote:

Why do you continue to believe they don’t already have their shortstop?

Why do you continue to believe that Farmer is? Everyone is saying that he won’t be playing full time SS. All the writers, Falvene, all the coaching staff. They wouldn’t be also going after Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson if they were playing to have Farmer be their SS. Pretty obvious to me.

When the dust settles it won’t be Correa, won’t be Bogaerts, won’t be Swanson.

Beyond that maybe they can get Punto or Gagne out of retirement.

That’s what I figured your response would be. I don’t know if they sign one of those three, but I’d bet it won’t be Farmer when the dust settles.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Everyone is saying that he won’t be playing full time SS. All the writers, Falvene, all the coaching staff.

To be fair, it wouldn’t be the first time the Twins signed someone to be the backup, then when they come up short on the better options all the Pohlad Pocket Protectors do a 180 and say the backup guy really has what it takes to be the main guy. If I were betting I’d bet on Dutch’s opinion

If we were talking starting pitching I’d agree with you Werm. But over the last couple seasons the Twins have paid for one quality position player.

Ken Rosenthal saying it’s down to the Giants and Twins for Correa.

Where would you go?

Twins Have Made Offer To Christian Vazquez
By Steve Adams | December 7, 2022 at 3:11pm CDT

The Twins have made a formal offer to free-agent catcher Christian Vazquez, reports Darren Wolfson of SKOR North Radio and 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).

Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said early in the offseason that his club hoped to bring in a catcher to split time with 25-year-old Ryan Jeffers — ideally one who can provide some offense against right-handed pitching, given the righty-swinging Jeffers’ stout .263/.344/.450 career batting line against lefties (which includes a .306/.377/.532 slash in 2022). The market is quite thin on lefty-hitting catchers, however, and the Twins aren’t necessarily interested in a strict platoon anyhow. Both Falvey and GM Thad Levine have spoken of a more even distribution of playing time between their two primary catchers next season, whoever the new addition might be.

Vazquez, 32, would give the Twins a strong defensive option who’s elevated his offensive profile in recent seasons as well. The longtime Red Sox backstop won a World Series ring following a summer trade to the Astros this season and hits free agency having batted .271/.318/.416 over the past four seasons combined. He’s thwarted 34% of stolen-base attempts against him in his career to date, been credited with a hefty 51 Defensive Runs Saved in parts of eight MLB seasons, and has drawn plus framing marks from publicly available metrics via Statcast, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus.

Now that Willson Contreras is off the board on a five-year deal with the Cardinals, Vazquez stands out as the top catcher on the free-agent market. (The Twins, for what it’s worth, did not pursue Contreras, according to Wolfson.) The trade market offers a handful of viable alternatives, headlined by Oakland’s Sean Murphy and Toronto’s Danny Jansen, though there’s been at least some mention of the Braves giving consideration to trading from their own stockpile of catching talent. (In that scenario, backup Manny Pina would be the likeliest to go.)

While Contreras removed the top name from the free-agent market for catchers, he also removed a viable landing spot for Vazquez, who’d been linked to the Cardinals in recent rumors. The Twins will still have competition, as Vazquez is said to be of interest to the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Padres and Giants — and other clubs are surely in play. Both Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic have previously suggested that Vazquez could command at least a three-year contract in free agency. The Twins have a projected payroll around $98MM, which sits well shy of last year’s Opening Day mark of $135MM.

I like Vasquez. Great defensively, would be the first catcher the Twins would have in 20 years that could throw out a baserunner. Hits pretty well too. Wouldn’t be a great platoon with Jeffers though. Both righties. I think they should pull the plug on Jeffers personally. I don’t understand why they have been so high on him.

Correa knows the Twins, likes the Twins, and likes the area. If the money is right I think there’s a solid chance he picks the Twins over the Giants. Giants don’t win much either for what it’s worth.

If I’m guessing correctly I would say the Giants offer to Judge was 8 years @ $40 million per causing the Yankees to go to 9 @ $40. If the Giants have $320 million for a 30 year old what do they have for a 28 year old short stop? I think Judge played the Yankees, I think Boras is playing the Twins.

Remember, Boras ALWAYS wants the highest paid guy either in years or dollars. If he gets $360 from the Giants for 10 years it’s a win.

Bogaerts went to San Diego for 11 years $280 million.

The price of poker is still high. It’s down to Correa or Swanson.

I don’t want Swanson for the price he is going to get. It’s Correa or nothing at this point. Hopefully it happens today so we can sign Rodon and some more pitching.

Bassitt signed with Toronto 3 years for+ million. Think Toronto figured out Berrios isn’t a ace? He’ll (Berrios) slot in at 3 or 4 for Toronto.

Yeah well we got a guy that slugged a whopping .316 last year for him so not sure who the should be referenced to.

Who did the Twins get?

Austin Martin.

Ah yes, Martin & Woods – Richardson. We should see Woods-Richardson this season I would think in the bullpen and maybe Martin as a utility guy in ’24 or ’25.

I forgot about them.

Reports are saying the Twins are signing Christian Vasquez to a 3 year contract. Very good defensive catcher (real defense like blocking balls in the dirt and throwing out runners), and is a decent hitter as well. He should be playing most days over Jeffers.

Any terms yet?

3 year, $30 million.

Dutchboy wrote:

So if you are the Twins are you giving him A) A long term contract that starts with a 3 or B) Another opt out and go through this again.

If you are Correa are you A) Going to sign with the Twins for $300+ million knowing they will NEVER drag in front line pitching or B) Sign another 1 year deal with a opt out or C) Go to a bigger market like Chicago where they have boat loads of cash.

Remember the Twins shot their wad on China Doll and struck out on the fat kid.

I’ll stick to my prediction that he is gone. It would be nice to be wrong but I can’t get there using logic.

Using LOGIC?! With this club……….

From the world of “Believe everything you see.”
This morning on on MLB Network Chris Russo was talking about the Twinks signing the catcher. On the right side of the screen was the Twins projected line-up. It listed Arraez at 1st, Polanco at short & Nick Gordon at 2nd.

And just like that, Arraez has been traded to the Marlins for SP Pablo Lopez.

Gonna miss Luis.

Honestly the only guy I tuned in for…
I am going to miss real at bats.

Lopez can pitch a little. I wonder what his contract is like?

Pailofperch wrote:

And just like that, Arraez has been traded to the Marlins for SP Pablo Lopez.

Gonna miss Luis.

Where did you see this? I’m not seeing it anywhere yet.

Thursday it reported by Ted Schwerzler of Twins Daily that the Minnesota Twins are “engaged in discussion” with the Marlins regarding Pablo López.

Today Dan Hayes of The Athletic wrote that “in their constant search for top-tier pitching, the (Minnesota Twins) have discussed trading batting champ Luis Arráez.

No deal announced by either team yet.

Typical spitballers throwing stuff against the wall.

Thank you.

HAHA. Yeah just rumors at this point. I don’t mind trading Arraez actually even though he’s the type of hitter the Twins desperately need more of. But he’s a nightmare for the lineup. As good as he is he’s a brutal DH because you need power and a guy that can drive in runs there. If we can package him for a 1 or 2 caliber starter I’m good with it. There are some other pitchers I’m interested in that are still available now though.

Eovaldi is still out there and still a solid 2 guy in the rotation and Ross Stripling is someone I really think they should target. Here’s what The Athletic wrote about him yesterday and is the second pitcher listed in their top 25 remaining FA:

Ross Stripling, RHP
Age: 33
WAR: 2.7 ERA: 3.01 IP: 134 1/3
2022 salary: $3.79 million

Ross Stripling’s best quality is his chase rate, which ranked in the 93rd percentile among starting pitchers last season. He has really learned how to mix his pitches effectively; opponents hit .237 against his four-seamer, .203 against his changeup and .212 against his slider.