An even 100 years after the most influential trade in baseball history, let’s check out some items from around the majors…
- After being fired by the Red Sox as their president of baseball operations last September, Dave Dombrowski chose to take some time away from the sport rather than enter what he felt could be “sort of an awkward scenario” of another front office role, the longtime executive tells Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Since Dombrowski hopes to land another GM position in the future, “to sit there and be a consultant, some people may view it as you’re sitting over their heads — which would not be the case, but I understand [why it might seem that way]. I think I would look more into that if something doesn’t work out as far as being a general manager. I think I would look more into that in the future, but not this year.” As a result, this has been a unique winter for Dombrowski, marking the first time since 1978 that he hasn’t been involved in normal offseason business working for a team in some capacity.
- The Twins have “kicked the tires on the top remaining starters,” as per SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson (Twitter links), and also looked at several other pitchers who have since signed with other clubs, though “never really pursued any aggressively.” Minnesota entered the offseason with a severe need for starting pitching, and while the club has brought back Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda, at least one rotation spot must still be addressed. With so many top arms already off the board, Wolfson feels the Twins might need to swing a trade in order to add any further pitching upgrades. In another tweet, Wolfson notes that the Twins didn’t have any interest in left-hander Matt Moore, who is off to Japan after signing with the SoftBank Hawks earlier today.
- The 2020 season is expected to feature some new rules, perhaps most notably the addition of a 26th player to every active roster. Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser talked to some managers and GMs about how clubs are preparing to deploy this extra roster spot, particularly given the additional regulations expected to limit teams to 13 pitchers per roster. If a team wanted an extra hurler at its disposal, they could have a roster of 12 position players and a two-way player, with that two-way player being subject to criteria from the league before being officially designated as such. “We have some players like Jake Cronenworth (and) Javy Guerra who can go both ways, pitch and get on the field,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said. “We talked about specialists — pinch-hit, something like that. It just depends how your roster ends up being finalized when you get to the end of spring training.”
In DD We Trust
Just don’t trust him with a lot of $$. You’d think he was a swabie in port after 3 months at sea.
Twins really blew this offseason so far. Massive failure if they have to deal their top tier talent for pitching when they could have just signed what they needed. This front office isn’t serious about winning and it shows.
I’d suggest you investigate what young players have a chance to come up in 2020, as well as investigate just how Wes Johnson, Rocco Baldelli, and the FO feel about the pitchers throughout their organization. Teams have to develop their own players in order to compete. Overpaying because a so-so pitcher has ML experience is a recipe for wasting your budget and subsequently falling out of contention.
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Anther thing – Jeff Todd mentioned the (perhaps long-shot) possibility of the Mets looking at moving Steven Matz. A great observation! They have 6 starters, and Lugo would be better off in a set rotation due to his arm issues. He can’t be used 3 days in a row most of the time, and if he goes even 2 days in a row he often needs 2 days off. The Twins have some very good young players that would appeal to the Mets – and it doesn’t have to be pitcher for pitcher. Mets can pick up a position player or two and then move them or one of their own for some solid relief pitching. And there are other possibilities.
Quit whining. Spring Training is still 2 months away. Lots is going to happen before then.
‘They have 6 starters’
Two of them are major question marks in Wacha and Porcello.
As if 6 starters is enough in today’s game. Particularly when your AAA depth is nonexistent. It takes that many to get through a year.
The Twins are still reeling from their signing of Phil Hughes….Maybe theyll target Stroman next year.
jbigz12;
I wrote last week that teams typically need 7-8 starters to get through a season. Some of that’s due to injuries. Some due to projected starters not pitching well enough to keep their jobs. Pitching is at a premium in MLB as there is not enough to go around for 30 teams (yet expansion is always talked about). “Bullpen Games” or “Openers” are being used by all teams – necessity being the mother of invention.
What I wrote that got by you because whenever someone writes something you size on it to take one thing out of context and rip them (have you thought of writing for the US news media?). I wrote that Lugo (a potential 7th starter) would be better off as a starter. You ignored that. That would free up Matz for trade.
As far as knocking the Mets starters – as of today, they look far better then the Twins. In fact, far better then any team in the ALC other then the Indians. In their division, better then the Phillies, Marlins, and Braves (although they have a far better bullpen).
The object is to get into the playoffs. Period. Once there, the object is to have 3 quality starters, as well as 3 very good relivers. The manager /FO can work around the remaining pitching needs. Add that contending teams almost always make moves during the season, as that’s when they know what they have and what’s missing (as opposed to in October-March when they’re simply projecting). I know you haven’t figured this out – but most contending teams think ahead – they’ll build up a reservoir of depth in the off-season that they can use in-season to make necessary trades.
No one knows how the 2020 season will unwind. That’s why as fans we watch.
I can’t possibly read all your posts. Maybe change your username to Sensitive Love Handles? You made a comment about 6 starters. I made mine. Really no big deal. I didn’t say it like an Asss. Sorry if you took it that way. 6 starters is the minimum. And I’m not sure Wacha is even a starter. He’s been torched recently and has probably been fortunate that his numbers weren’t any worse.
The biggest upgrade the Mets need is a Center Fielder and maybe a SS if they aren’t in love with Rosario. That’s not coming from Minnesota. They have gobs of corner outfielders. Matz really isn’t trading from a surplus. The Mets comparative advantage is their rotation. That’s why you keep it that way.
@ jbigz12;
No. You did say it like an Asss. You always do. To me and others.
You seem to think you know a lot about every team. I don’t have time to follow every team. But I do watch 8-10 teams games a year – and see other teams when they play them. Your observations about the teams I watch are shallow, superficial, and basically stereotypes that I can read from any writer 2 years out of college.
Observations I make are not only from what I see in the games I watch, but from observations I’ve picked up from many of the teams better broadcasters – which I’ve found are the best sources for information, as they watch every inning of every game.
If you truly understood where teams are and what they’re trying to accomplish under what considerations, you’d understand my posts.
Vandals you start half your posts with an all caps “LOL.” Then talk down to people because you have “vast baseball knowledge”. Please spare me. I don’t generalize your opinions though. I’m not that shallow. I’ll judge them on a case by case basis. I agree with you sometimes and I comment that on your posts. When I don’t—I don’t. Not everyone has to agree with me (they don’t—imagine that?) and everyone certainly does not have to agree with you. (And they don’t.) It’s alright. .
I know what they have in the minors and it would be a stretch to think anyone is ready for a full-time rotation spot. You’re kidding yourself if you don’t think this team needs pitching help and you’re quite INSANE if you think steven matz is the upgrade they need to make noise in the playoffs. Plus they would have to TRADE to even get him and that’s a sham cuz most if not all of the free agents that went elsewhere are better than Mr. Matz.
Huge stretch to say the Twins are going to pull from their minor league depth for the rotation this year. Duran only threw 110 innings and hasn’t passed AA. Graterol only threw 70 innings last season. And Balazovic is in A ball.
there’s a ton of backend and rebound options out there. Walker, Smyly, Rich Hill (for half a season), Jimmy Nelson, Alex Wood… I would assume the Twins bring in at least one of those names. Wood seems like the most likely to me.
Again that’s not where this team is right now. We shouldn’t be bargain hunting to find the next Martin Perez who resurrects his career only for half a season. None of those guys are going to provide the workhorse front of the rotation arm they desperately need. If you’re a twins fan, a true twins fan, you should cringe and be borderline angry if that’s all they do regarding the rotation this offseason. Bring in a reclamation project on the hope he turns in meaningful innings. We’ve deserved better for decades!
It’s not what you want; I get that. I was just focusing on the reality of the situation. Unless they’re swinging a deal for Robbie Ray or David Price—that’s probably what it’s going to be.
“We’ve deserved better for decades!”
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Moneyballer;
Don’t take this as only being on you, but I’ve grown tired of reading comments from fans of a dozen teams that are upset at their FO’s because they didn’t sign Cole or Stras. Bumgarner is already fixed for life financially, and wanted to pitch in Arizona where he and his family have a ranch. Wheeler and his family live in Jersey where they have friends, and wanted to stay there. As for Wheeler – he can pitch terrifically in spurts. Most of the time there’s little difference between what he and Matz do….both are inconsistent. Yet many Twins fans thought Wheeler was the answer. We don’t know how the Twins evaluate Matz, and what they think they can do to improve him. And that’s what teams have to do – develop guys they have rights to.
Almost all teams fans want a TOR starter. Even fans whose teams have one (as the Twins do).
There are 30 teams in MLB. They can’t all win the WS each year. Fact is that of the 3 major American professional sports, MLB has spread around championships far better then the NFL or NBA for over 50 years now…..but with 30 teams, many fans have been shut out.
Vandals, I think the point that you have missed on is that the FO for the Twins said they were going to out and get “impactful” pitching, since their “window” for a championship is now wide open. Now bad on us Twins fans if we all mistook “impact pitching” to mean a true ace in every sense of the word. But so far, the only “impact pitching” that they have signed is almost of the “non-impact” variety. If you think that Berrios is a TOR starter right now, you haven’t really watched many (if any) Twins games. He is a strong #2 on a contending team, not a #1. And so far, they haven’t ADDED ANYTHING that improves their starting rotation. Do I expect Berrios to better this upcoming year? Yes, I do…but even if he improves tenfold, he cannot pitch every game. As it sits right now, the 3rd pitcher in their rotation has to miss the first month and a half for a suspension. That is not the way a contending team should be working their off-season.
Just shut up! I hate everything you write, just a bunch of ramblings and pointing out the obvious.
I’ll be the first to join the BOYCOTT!!! I wanna support the guys we have, but this really sucks!!!
Have to agree with Moneyballer’s assessment. Bumgarner, Wheeler and Keuchel all have their “warts,” so I can agree with the crowd that agrees that Falvey has been patient. Saying that, I’m sick and ^$%$ tired of being patient! In this current market you HAVE TO OVERPAY for FA starting pitchers! Sitting back and concocting “just the right trade”–is not what this fanbase deserves from ownership and management. Where this team is at DEMANDS management and ownership to take the next step. To this point, Falvey and Pohlad have earned a big far “F”! Although a trade could bring in a decent #3 SP (Robbie Ray), I wonder what the cost will be? Pohlad is one of the top 6 richest owners in baseball and has to understand that RISK vs. REWARD is the game you have to play. The White Sox and their ownership group have taken that risk and have significantly upgraded their team. What have we done? Signed up a washed up backup catcher and a 35 year old RP who’s best days are behind him. Good luck Pohlads of getting the fans fired up for Twins Fest. Oh, I know what’s next—the best remaining bat on the FA market- Twins killer Josh Donaldson will sign with ATL or the Nats and we’ll hear from the front office how “we made a strong effort at signing Josh, but it just didn’t work out.” SOS.
Dombrowski…Padres next GM? Knows how to leverage prospects for talent…loaded system…can negotiate for the right talent…perfect fit.
Oddly enough makes sense. I’m sure they’d drain the farm for their 1st world series title if they can.
I would say at least 90% of teams would sell every prospect they have for 1 championship
This is so true it effing hurts
That’s not really what the Padres are built for though. They’ve committed big money to a couple of guys and can’t really afford more big names.
That and the talent they have coming is worth hanging onto, at least some of it. Gore should be untouchable.
I think by the time they’d bring him aboard Gore and Patino will be up. They may have another wave of talent available and no room on the roster.
Trade from surplus and Dombrowski is the perfect guy for that.
Padres should fire Preller and hire DD
No, they really shouldn’t.
Should fire Preller for sure. The Machado, Hosmer and Myers contracts have really hamstrung them.
Agreed
Why don’t the links to Baseball America never work!!??
It’s just hard seeing all the other clubs (especially ChiSox) adding known quality pitchers/ players. Really thought Twins fans deserved something..when Chicago wins AL Central and we barely win 80 games, maybe dumb Twins fans will quit going to games..I’m ready to BOYCOTT NOW!!!
Patience, One-Hopper. Try to snatch the snowball from my hand. Yes, it is still December. But once the snowball melts, you will see a new left-handed starting pitcher in a Twins uniform. And two new hitters in the starting lineup. However, one of your favorite players, an outfielder, will need to be among those sacrificed by MN for this to happen.
Or, if they stand pat, maybe the ticket prices will be reduced a bit.
No one is hiring DD again. It should be very telling the team he won a title with fired him 10 months later.
friedman needs a little dd in his system.
Nah in 5 years he hasn’t hoarded 1 prospect that turned out to be a bust.
AL teams should be looking at developing DH/relief pitchers for the 26th spot 1 guy fills 2 roles at once. Fastball split change up slider some combination of those pitches developed correctly.
Lefty hitter righty pitcher. Could pay huge dividends.
Pitches 7th DHs goes out for 8th if need be.
“Pitches 7th DHs goes out for 8th if need be.”
Not sure what you are saying here. If a player is DH’ing and then takes the field as a pitcher the DH is terminated for that team for the rest of the game.
Correct me if I’m wrong but say player A is the DH 1st through 6th inning.
Can’t a team put player A in at pitcher for the top of the 7th, go to bat bottom 7th, then pitch if need be again at top of 8th.
Yes, but “Once a Designated Hitter assumes a position on defense, such move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for that club for the remainder of the game.” Rule 5.11 a (12)
Once the DH takes the mound there is no more DH so if it goes extra innings either the pitcher hits or or you turn to your bench for a pinch hitter.
There are a lot of things that terminate a DH in game like “If a player on defense goes to the mound (i.e., replaces the pitcher), this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter’s role for that club for the remainder of the game.” Rule 5.11 a (14) or “Once the game pitcher is switched from the mound to a position on defense, such move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for that club for the remainder of the game.” Rule 5.11 a (8)
Some DH rules may be amended with the advent of the “two-way player” but as far as I know the official 2020 rules haven’t been released yet.
How hard can it be to develop a guy who can both hit and pitch? Why don’t more teams do this?
Where in my comment did I say it would be easy? I said they should be looking into it, as in all AL teams should; currently the Rays and Angels have someone venturing down this avenue.
What does it hurt to try an experiment with a decent hitting prospect and have him practice fastball change slider? Dudes gonna pitch maybe 1 inning, not start and be expected to go multiple innings.
Would anyone be willing to take MikeS2 to a NL game? I think this would answer many of his remaining foundational baseball questions.
It’s not a simple answer. There are elite youth traveling teams with coaches who’d rather DH a pitcher who can hit to get as many players involved in a game. When pitchers do not have at bats against good pitching prior to college or the draft they do not improve. Now, some become the exception and they are too good to DH. Only a select few get the opportunity to do both.
Dombrowski’s had a huge amount of success in baseball with multiple teams, going back to the Expos that should have played the White Sox in the 1994 World Series. Leave the dude alone.
one of the all time greatest teams
We do not know if the 1994 Expos could have reached the World Series. Let’s stop with that rhetoric. The 2001 Mariners didn’t reach the World Series despite winning a million more games than that Expos team would have. Countless 100 win teams haven’t reached the World Series, let alone win it.
He destroyed the Marlins and Tigers, Boston just has the payroll to not go into a rebuild.
And he won the Marlins a world series title and got the tigers to 2 world series.
Seriously. People act like he’s destroyed teams and handicapped them long term for no reason and with nothing to show for it……
Dabofus is 100% correct. If “destroying” teams means reaching and/or winning a World Series, sign me up.
Last I checked, Boston isn’t destroyed. They’re choosing to save money this year and hope for a playoff berth. They are still a dangerous team.
I said it last year, before the 26th man was added and before Preller traded for Cronenworth, but an UTIL guy that could also toss 20-30 IP of mop up in blow outs would be a huge boost to most major league pens. The quality bar is low – it’s already a 5 run game in the 9th, so an ERA around 5 is all it will take – but saving actually good pitchers from having to pitch in junk situations will keep bullpens so much more fresh. Plus, you have a guy that you can PH, PR, double switch, etc with. They say Cronenworth might even have the upside to be a serviceable opener, which would be an even bigger boost, but i’m just satisfied if he can save another arm once a week or so. I don’t think we’ll start seeing a lot of 2 way stars like Ohtani, but I think we could see the emergence of UTIL/5th OF types that also pitch in 15-25 games.
Im just dumbfounded that the twins FO told tbe fans they’d go for the jugular “once the window was open”… then when the team wins over 100 games, they do nothing more than “kick the tires” (like literally every other year) and not aggressively pursue anyone. This team deserves a better FO. I’d can Falvey and Levine immediately.
And before they get a pass for making the playoffs, the core of this team was made 10 years ago when Bill Smith was in charge
Disagree,
Nelson Cruz had a MVP type season. Odorizzi was best pitcher. Cron & Schoop were recent additions. Bill Smith had nothing to do with those acquisitions and others.
The core of this team has nothing to do with Bill Smith. Get your facts straight.
Buxton, Sano, kepler, and several others were all Smith acquisitions that have come up together. Those were the guys that the plans have been built around for years now, and their ascension to the big leagues just happened to coincide with this FO, but this FO isn’t who put that ball in motion. My facts are very straight
The off season is not even close to being over. They shouldn’t spend on Cole and Strasburg. Do you really think Kuechel is the answer? By the way the player has to want to come to Minnesota. Where a major mistake was made was not putting a roof on Target Field 20 years ago. March baseball in Minnesota doesn’t work. Not sure why MLB keeps upping the start.
The roof is on fire
Every FA pitcher pretty much got a massive deal. The real winners might be those who sat out…. And the Yankees. Because they have plenty of money and Cole is great. But you know other than that; a lot of money was thrown around at guys with question marks for one reason or another.
I could not disagree with that more.
The Cole comment was meant to rile people up a bit. He’s a fantastic pitcher and if any team can pay the deal it’s the Yankees though. The deals every pitcher At the top was fatter than expected…. We’ll see how they pan out.
I know Rosario has been mentioned in trades. Maybe when Puig & Ozuna is signed We can trade him for a pitcher.
They had the money to compel starters to join a division winning team. How they didn’t close the deal on ANYONE is a front office failure plain and simple.
Yes. Selig should have insisted on a roof!
The “nobody wants to come to Minnesota” narrative is an excuse, generated by Minnesota itself. Multiple times players have said that’s a lie, right after it came out of Minnesota. Ryu most recently. Don’t buy the excuses, the twins just aren’t putting up the dough
Dumbroski AKA “ let me ruin your farm system and way over pay any marginal player “.
This article talking about the top remaining SP available is unny. Below a certain point, a relative term like top is absurd! The top pitchers have been signed! What’s left is the hamburger helper of SP. the Twins are going to have to scramble to fill another rotation spot. I’m really surprised the Twins couldn’t land Ryu or Keuchel based on what they ended up taking. This talk of pursuing Donaldson is, I suspect, the main reason the Twins cheaped out on obtainable, affordable SP.
Don’t kid yourself, they won’t get Donaldson either
DD is terrible
DD came in and cleaned up baby Ben’s mess. Then won 3 division titles and a WS. He got screwed by Henry. Henry could have told DD to lower the payroll down to $208 next year or it is your last year. Unbelievable Henry canned him at 7PM on Sunday night baseball against the Yankees? What did DD do, slip it to Henry’s wife?
To be fair his wife is relatively hot
I love the Twins but some Twins “fans” frustrate me. Everybody wants the team to go out and spend lavishly on one free agent pitcher and claim that the “cheap Pohlads” never spend any money. When the team had a young hometown kid catcher coming off an MVP season and was perhaps Cooperstown-bound (speculation), the same fans cried, “Don’t let him go to the Yankees!” So the team signed him to the largest contract in team history to keep him, Did the Twins have a crystal ball where they could see into the future and know he was going to have his once brilliant career slowed down significantly by concussions? No. Did that stop the same fans from spending the next seven years whining and crying about paying a player that much? No. Bottom line is that the team can spend, spend, spend and get absolutely nowhere (See LA Angels for reference) or they can play it safe, sign some players that fit the team mold, trade some of the talent from the minors for upgrades, or trust the process of developing talent of their own,
The Twins have never been a big “throw money at the wall and see what sticks” type of ballclub. They have spent big money on players that were worth it (Puckett was the highest paid player in MLB at one time). They’ve also spent big money on others (Mauer, Hughes, Nolasco, etc.), just to get burned. Trust the team to do the right thing. If you don’t want to buy tickets, don’t buy them – more for me. Saying you’re going to boycott because they didn’t feel like betting the farm on another pitcher is asinine!
BTF, I love the optimism, but the facts are that the starting rotation was a HUGE area of concern going into this off-season. And the fact that nothing has changed in improving the rotation has happened. Yes, keeping Odo and Big Mike help fill some spots…but that’s called running at status quo, not improving. And with the Twins being linked to getting Price as their “ace”, that should be every Twins fans nightmare. He has not been an ace in a couple of years now. Getting Price from the BoSox would just be helping out the BoSox and not really improving an area of need for the Twins. I am hoping that the Twins are still working on something to help out the BoSox, but with Chris Sale in mind. He’s 4 years younger then Price and has 400 less innings on his arm.
Armchair opinions are a dime a dozen. We can fairly judge this FO on their own goals. Have they improved the starting pitching since the trade deadline? Arguably no. So by their own standard they are not succeeding. Fans can hold them accountable for that until we see the desired results. Maybe they have a plan in action, maybe they dont and are reacting to the market. Doesnt change much.
It would be a very poor showing if they do nothing or slot in a sub par FA option and bank on the rookies to step up. None of the inside talent is forcing their way into the rotation. That would be a waste of the opportunity and of all of our time and money. Also a clear sign the owners arent very interested in winning another championship or the FO isnt capable.
They should know after decades of dealing with it that the top free agents arent dieing to come here, and they should have a plan around it. Maybe its hoarding picks and investing heavily in development of the farm. If that’s the choice, show the darn results! Where are our other ace internal options out of the farm!? Maybe it’s working magic with pitchers like oddorizzi and pineda, getting more out of them than others could. Still, show the results! Are they really going to bank on a chance reclamations pan out when a sure thing would be so much better and they have the money? I hope not.
The Twins front office is very consistent despite massive changes in personnel. It’s clear the ownership is dedicated to the philosophy of aim for .500 and hope to catch lightning in a bottle.
There is no team in baseball more risk averse than Minnesota. The Twins front office seems to operate on the premise it can find “deals” in free agency. Essentially trying to dictate to the players what their value is rather than accepting the market (29 other teams) dictating the player’s value. Teams should always expect to lose in free agency. Every single time. Free agency exists because teams cannot develop all the talent they need to compete so they need to supplement their own farm systems with outside talent. 29 other teams have the same problem and many of the teams will be bidding for top talent because it’s rare and extremely valuable.
“Nobody wants to play for Minnesota” is a very damning statement. It’s not a concession, it’s proof the ownership and front office is broken. It’s also unproven and likely false. If Minnesota were to actually put in an offer significantly exceeding other teams’ offer and the player still signed elsewhere, there might be some merit to the statement, but I suspect that will never happen.
“Nobody wants to play for Minnesota so very badly they’d take a 25% discount on their contract to go there” is probably the accurate statement.
Perfectly stated.