The Twins, in need of rotation upgrades, have been in touch with agent Scott Boras about left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, Darren Wolfson of 1500 SKOR North reports in his latest podcast (audio link, Twins talk beginning at 25:10 mark). It’s hardly surprising, as Minnesota figures to gauge the prices of virtually every top starter available, but the connection is nevertheless of some note. La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune also links the Twins to Ryu, and he adds that manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson have been involved in the early recruiting process for the team’s top pitching targets. The general goal of those efforts is to help paint a picture of the culture the Twins try to foster and the means by which they feel they can help pitchers improve. “Making sure that people are comfortable and are going to a place with the right people they want to be with and they want to work with,” Baldelli said of the process. “…I enjoy talking with guys. Some of them end up Twins and some of them don’t. All of those conversations are worthwhile in every way.”
Some more notes out of the Twin Cities…
- Also within his podcast, Wolfson adds that there’s some internal trepidation about paying first baseman C.J. Cron at the $7.7MM rate projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. They’ll have until 8pm ET tonight to tender Cron a contract, and it’s possible that they could try to bring him back at a lower rate. But the Twins have also continued to discuss the possibility of moving Miguel Sano from third base to first base, which would free up the possibility of acquiring a third baseman either via free agency (e.g. Josh Donaldson, Todd Frazier) or trade. If the Twins part ways with Cron, they’d be at $48.9MM in guaranteed contracts plus another $41.1MM in projected arbitration salaries and pre-arbitration contracts. That rough $90MM sum is well shy of the $130MM record payroll with which they opened the 2018 season, and the team’s 2019 attendance rose by nearly 250,000 over the 2017 season that preceded that record level of spending.
- Longtime Twins righty Kyle Gibson will embark on the next chapter of his career with the Rangers after agreeing to a three-year, $30MM deal last Wednesday. The former first-round pick apparently bet on himself in 2019, as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter) that Minnesota had tried to sign Gibson to a two-year pact worth $17MM a year ago. Gibson, however, spurned what would’ve been the first multi-year guarantee of his career and came out ahead as a result. He ultimately earned $8.125MM in his final season of arbitration eligibility and will take that home on top of the additional $30MM he’ll be guaranteed with Texas once his deal is formally announced.
I don’t know if the Twins can ever be champs again but it would be great to see it. They need pitching!
Huh?
What’s your vector Victor?
Twins need to get some pitchers that can beat the Yankees in the playoffs
If the White sox get 2 starters you are going to have to worry about them way way way more than the Yankees.. that panel on mlb.com just picked them over the cubs for the next 5 years because of the youth and contract control. The white sox have sooo much control over a plethora of young talent all they need is pitching. With how hard they worked during this rebuild no way they let the twins out bid them for any starter they are interested in. Twins proved they were more of a fluke with how they got man handled by a meh yankee pitching staff. With all the young talent on the south side and now Grandal, pitchers and players in general are much more likely to pick the white sox as a destination over the twins.
@purple I absolutely love what the White Sox are doing that team is going to be very good very soon maybe this year if they do get a couple of arms. Keeping Abreu was a great move and he’s worth every penny just for what he brings to the clubhouse. It doesn’t hurt that he also brings a nice bat. I just hope Giolito continues to progress as that’s key to the team moving forward as well. They can’t afford for him to go back to his 2018 form. I think Moncada is on the cusp of super stardom.
There’s a bit of chatter that the Sox are pushing hard to sign Gerrit Cole. Probably won’t happen, but if it did, the Sox become an instant championship contender. Can you imagine if they got Cole, Puig AND Encarnacion? That would be sick AF.
That would require those pitchers to throw complete game shutouts.
If you can’t hit, you can’t win.
Nooo We tried Sano at first it was Baaddd
In a very small sample size. Its also better than him being a liability at 3rd like he already is
First base defense is underratedly important. 1B handles the ball a lot more than 3B.
LOVE Baldelli’s attitude! I can’t help but think he has a great chance to remain a successful manager if he keeps thinking of more complete ways to build a team.
Agree completely .. We (twins) are so very fortunate to have Rocco as our field Manager .
If the Twins are serious about making a WS run they need to get one of the top 3B (Rendon, Donaldson, Moose) and two of the top FA starters (Cole, Stras, Ryu, Wheeler, MadBum, Hamels, Porcello). They have plenty of money to spend, so I’m not buying the small market thing anymore with them. They have a golden opportunity right now being in a division with three rebuilding clubs and an Indians team who’s contention window is closing.
Not sure how Porcello and Hamels make it into that group
To a lesser extent, obviously. But if they signed one of the top 2 or 3 from that list Porcello or Hamels would be a viable #4 with Orodozzi as the #2 and Berrios the #3.
Berrios is not pitching behind Odorizzi buddy. That’s crazy talk.
It sounds good saying a team with a low payroll should spend on a bunch of good players. It would be great if they committed $80m to Cole, Rendon and Bumgarner this season. But when it requires committing $60m+ to Cole and Rendon 7 years from now it does not sound quite as good.
Small market teams like the twins will always have a difficult time winning a World Series due to the difference in how much mony they have to spend vs big market teams like NY, LA, CHIC, BOS And HOS ! The playing field is Not Level by any means .
I have zero faith in Ryu being that good for an entire season ever again. I could be proven wrong, but the Twins would be safer pursuing other starting pitchers.
He’s been that good his whole career… when he’s been healthy.
For now, but after a while, if enough health erodes (it will), he is no longer good when healthy, he’s just hurt
Steve, none of those names in the title rock my socks off. Could you start some rumors about Cole, Strasburg, and Rendon? I know Cole and Strasburg live in Southern California, but I’m certain one of their wives has an uncle who has a cousin who once lived in Minnesota… something like that to increase the likelihood of them signing with the Twins. Dig deeper than these fluff posts!
I’ll check back later.
Do the Twins even need to go big on Wheeler or Ryu?? Why not go after much cheaper options like Pineda, Keuchel, and Porcello and then spend the remainder payroll on a corner infielder like Donaldson??
Because Porcello has no business in a playoff rotation anymore, Pineda pitched over his head last year, and… Okay I can agree on Keuchel but they hit 300 dingers (albeit in the weakest division in baseball) and need more pitching help.
While I definitely wouldn’t overpay to bring back Pineda, I wouldn’t say he “pitched over his head.” I’d say 1yr/$11M or move on.
When it comes to Porcello, despite being around for a while now, I gotta believe he’s still young enough to make improvements as a pitcher. While 2019 was a down year for him, if he atleast returns to form like I expect him to, he’d still fit in really well with the Twins given that he’s a fly ball pitcher with a high spin rate. 1yr/$10M or move on.
Not sure what to think of Keuchel, all I know is that I want him for atleast 2 years.
While we wouldn’t have an exact “ace,” I think a rotation of Berrios, Pineda, Odorizzi, Keuchel, and Porcello is capable of holding up in the postseason.
However, if the FO is insistent on signing Wheeler. I think this would make for a strong playoff rotation:
Berrios
Wheeler
Odorizzi
Keuchel
???
They can easily sign 2 of Bumgarner/Wheeler/Ryu and either Donaldson or Moustakas if they really wanted to make an impact. Same goes for the Rangers.
Dream on !! Will not happen with the Twins or any other team !! Get Real …
they have 3 holes in their rotation. presuming they fill one internally, they still need two arms, and they probably want another impact one to add a bit more punch to the rotation.
Good thought, Sign someone like Keuchel and Pineda and trade for a someone like Ray, Boyd or Gray with still having cash to spend on BP help and 3B ??
YES, Thank You .
Pirates and Twins line-up well for a really big trade: Josh Bell, Starling Marte and Keone Kela for Alex Kirilloff, Brusdar Graterol, Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton
So the twins are gonna give up their whole farm and starting centerfielder for a worse center fielder, a decent first baseman, and a terrible reliever.. That’s never gonna happen bud.
that is perhaps one of the most ridiculous trade scenarios I have ever heard of. I am sure if that was floated that the twins execs were on the floor laughing. Must be a Pirates fan.
Let Cron walk
I agree let Cron walk, but if Todd Frazier is the plan yikes. I rather keep Cron with Sano at first.
agree, Frazier is not the answer at 3rd. Plus I don’t know how good he is in the clubhouse,
Almost every single team will check on every pitching available including Ryu.
Do not overthink.
However I like how Rocco wants to take the initiative to shape the culture in the clubhouse.
Nice to take the thread off FA signings only and the impact on payroll. A trade seems to be a financially safer way to add a rotation piece, if FO is willing to peel some talent from the farm. I have agreed with the Pirates being a nice matchup, and thought that a J Bell/C Archer package might be worth shooting for. We can add a second SP via FA signing – I do like Madbum or Ryu for a lefty option. Or Keuchel, a groundball pitcher…all three battle tested. Or maybe build a trade around E Rosario for Robbie Ray and a prospect? Eddie would be reunited with Escobar. We’d have to find a corner OF to hold the fort until one of our AAA guys is ready.
If the Twins ever expect to win it all, they’ll need someone better than Jose (Five-inning) Berrios to anchor their rotation.
Hell… they didn’t get far with Santana and Radke!