The Twins made a splash by upgrading their DH slot with yesterday’s addition of Logan Morrison, but Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com takes a look at the organization’s continued need for rotation help. While Minnesota has made one mid-level addition by picking up Jake Odorizzi, the team will be without Ervin Santana for as much as a month and still lacks certainty in the starting group as a whole. Castrovince points out that the Twins’ primary (and perhaps only) competition in the AL Central, the Indians, are hardly a flawless team. While Cleveland still seems an obvious favorite, it is certainly worth giving chase for the Twins given the state of the rest of the division.
More from the AL Central…
- While the Twins are (and have been) as obvious a landing spot in the game as there is for one of the top three remaining free-agent starters (Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb Lance Lynn), La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune hears that the Morrison signing could be the Twins’ final move of the offseason. Minnesota isn’t enamored of Lynn’s statistical profile beyond his ERA, while Neal spoke to a scout who noted that Cobb’s changeup simply isn’t the same as it was prior to Tommy John surgery. The Twins would potentially jump into the Arrieta fray if he were willing to take a short-term deal, though that assuredly holds true of several clubs.
- Tyler Naquin became somewhat of a forgotten man for the Indians in 2017 despite a third-place finish in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2016, and he’s out to reclaim his spot with better health in 2018, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Naquin openly admits that he slowed in the outfield in 2017 as he battled back and knee injuries, and he understands how those ill-timed issues opened a door for Bradley Zimmer to step up and seize a spot in the big league outfield. “You could tell I’d lost that step because I was banged up or whatnot,” Naquin tells Hoynes. “But feeling good now and being able to run, you can tell it’s a lot different.”
- White Sox prospect Jake Burger was carted off the field in today’s game after he collapsed while trying to run out a grounder to first base. The team announced that Burger, the No. 11 overall pick in last year’s draft, has suffered an injury to his left Achilles tendon and is being taken for further evaluation. The Missouri State product hit .263/.336/.412 through 217 plate appearances last season in his pro debut and is considered among the organization’s best prospects, ranking seventh on the rankings of both Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law. The team added that they’ll have an update on Burger’s status tomorrow.
Disappointed to hear that the twins are likely done shopping. They still need rotation help, and they aren’t terribly far from being a pretty legitimate contender. With a pretty easy path to the playoffs to boot.
They made the playoffs last year… they are a “legitimate cantender”
And BleacherReport gives them a 50% chance at making the playoffs in 2018 – BEFORE adding LoMo.
They’re good, but they still aren’t in the same conversation as the Indians. Adding Cobb, Arrieta and/or Lynn will do exactly that. The Twins aren’t doing their fans right here, they have clear needs in the rotation and at least three perfectly good, but expensive, options available. Mauer’s coming off the books though, and they’ve been spending here and there. This is the perfect time to strike.
Expecting your back end of the rotation to be out of Hughes, Mejia and Gibson that’s not good. Santana and Berrios are good, but you need 3 more of them to contend. The Twins do not have that. They have Odorizzi. Yeahno.
They also have a $124 payroll for 2018, top of their mark.
I’d rather use the Hughes/Mauer money coming off the books next year to extend some of our existing talent, than have it locked up in some 75/5 for Cobb type silliness.
They better get someone to replace Sano
Haha word is Arrieta wants north of 200 million. Lynn wants over 150 million and Cobb wants something obscene in the neighborhood of 200 million. If that’s their price demands no wonder the Yankees, Twins, Rangers, etc. aren’t interested in any of them
Where are you getting those numbers from?
making the playoffs and being a legitimate contender aren’t exactly the same thing. Even after clinching their spot in the wildcard game last year, fangraphs had them at something like 1% chance of winning the world series if i remember correctly.
A “legit contender” typically implies any playoff team. It doesn’t normally require a club to be one of the 3-4 “favorites” to win the WS.
not sure why we are arguing semantics, but sure. So then I’m…
Disappointed to hear that the twins are likely done shopping. They still need rotation help, and they aren’t terribly far from being one of the 3-4 “favorites” to win the WS.. With a pretty easy path to the playoffs to boot.
I would have thought the last sentence about their path to the playoffs would have already implied to most people that I wasn’t just talking about making the playoffs…
Fair enough, good call on arguing semantics. I’m just of the mind that they’re already at $124m payroll (on $248m revenue last year), which is actually a pretty high ratio vis-a-vis other clubs. They have alot of money coming off the books NEXT year, and that provides alot of flexibility for a 2019-2023 window (extending existing young talent, other FA’s, etc). I’m not sure a “win now 2018” approach is a sound move, given it’d put us way over budget this year and put a sizable dent in our 2019-2023 opportunity.
Falvine have done well to make us contenders now – well ahead of schedule – no reason to get over eager and jeopardize the longterm big picture.
Was this comment from Spring of 2017?
Twins are either (1) posturing or (2) sincerely unenthusiastic. Either way, smart.
I’m rooting for Naquin to make the team. He’s a much better option than Upton, Davis, or Almonte.
i have a soft spot for rajai for obvious reasons, and i also love his speed.. but i’d clearly go with tyler over upton or abe. almonte is worthless yet keeps hanging around.
Did you see Almonte’s “attempt” at throwing out a guy at home today? It barely made it to the infield.
Pitiful.
If Almonte makes the 25 man again this year, that truly will be a sad commentary on the spring performances of his competition. The guy just doesn’t bring much value to the team, and it’s time to move on.
I really hope to see Naquin make the team and totally agree about Almonte. Not sure how he manages to find playing time. I think Raja will make the team due to his clubhouse presence.
It’s kind of crazy how important Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn are right now to fingey teams – either postseason fringey or championship-level fringey. Either one of those guys makes all the difference on many teams, and both of them together can turn a pretender into a contender. Minnesota would go from fringey contender to fringey titleist if they added both. I think those two, combined with the Twins awesome defense, really bring it to Cleveland and almost every team in the AL.
Berrios-Cobb-Lynn-Santana-Odorizzi is a postseason staff for sure. Hughes can go to the pen. Mejia and Gibson are fine depth pieces. No idea why the Twins just go all-in. Mauer’s coming off the books soon. Spend the money, you cheapskates, you might get a title out of it.
Twins spend a higher % of revenue on payroll (~124/240M) than the Yankees (~200/500M). How is that being “cheap”?
Just one of the two puts Gibson/Mejia to the fifth spot in the rotation…makes the rotation a strength rather than a question mark. Everything they’ve done this offseason seems like they’re just treading water, putting just enough in place to keep pace at 84-86 wins while hoping one of the dumpster treasures can prove he’s a serviceable performer. They’re a legitimate playoff contender, but they just haven’t done enough to be perceived as a serious threat for the World Series.
They’ve got an enviable crop of young talent with big upside – both in the majors and minors. They’re only a year removed from a 100 loss season. Why would any expect the front office to be trying to put together a serious WS threat this year? They’re eying 2019-2023 as their window to be a serious threat. No reason to jeopardize that by overreaching now.
Ordozzi is absolutely horrible, we will see if Santana recovers, Lynn is a 5 in most rotations and Berrios is young
Lynn is not a 5 in most rotations ! He’s a 3 in most rotations!
The Twins seemingly got better in terms of wins this season vs 2017 just because the Tigers got worse as did the Royals and the White Sox didn’t get much better. If the Twins win half of their games against everyone not named the Tigers, Royals and White Sox they should end up somewhere around 90 wins
Well that sucks. Hoping for a quick recovery for Jake.
I 2nd that. Very unfortunate, delaying his development by a year. On the positive side of things, at least he doesn’t have much speed to lose.
Sucks white sox have lost both burger and Adolfo which is not good for there development and this rebuild.
Burger to go. I ruptured my Achilles a few years ago, and it really did take 6 months of rehab and recovery before I could walk with minimal discomfort. Worst case scenario is Ryan Howard who was never the same after his Achilles rupture in the 2011 NLCS.