{"id":1930,"date":"2016-11-15T23:07:21","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T04:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=1930"},"modified":"2016-11-15T23:07:21","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T04:07:21","slug":"minnesota-twins-2016-offseason-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2016\/11\/15\/minnesota-twins-2016-offseason-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Twins 2016 Offseason Moves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After a promising 2015 season that appeared to usher in a new era of<strong> Minnesota Twins<\/strong> baseball that was void of being a basement dweller in the <strong>AL Central<\/strong>, the 2016 season was anything but that.\u00a0The Twins lost\u00a0103 games, causing baseball\u2019s most loyal ownership group to move on from <strong>General Manager Terry Ryan<\/strong>. A new group will have to bring the team back from the depths of despair. Let&#8217;s take a look at some off-season moves that may help guide them to success once again.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Deal or No Deal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s likely that second baseman <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doziebr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian Dozier<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>&#8216;s value is never going to be higher than what it is currently. Although he is undoubtedly the leader of this team, \u00a0lets face it, the Twins are in dire need of pitching.\u00a0Dozier is unlikely to be part of the next winning team in Minnesota, so it would make perfect sense to trade him.\u00a0If an organization comes calling with the right package of prospects and a pitcher at the center of the trade, the Twins absolutely should entertain the offer.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Arbitration\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Twins have six arbitration-eligible players this season. Assuming the club proceeds with all of them, these are the projections according to MLB Trade Rumors:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>3B <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/plouftr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trevor Plouffe<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> \u2013 $8.2 million<\/li>\n<li>SP <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?results=santihe01,santia002hec&amp;search=Hector+Santiago&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hector Santiago<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> \u2013 $8.6 million<\/li>\n<li>MR <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kintzbr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Kintzler<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> \u2013 $2.2 million<\/li>\n<li>IF <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/e\/escobed01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eduardo Escobar<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> \u2013 $2.9 million<\/li>\n<li>SP <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gibsoky01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Gibson<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> \u2013 $3.5 million<\/li>\n<li>RP <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pressry01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Pressly<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> \u2013 $1.1 million<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It seems wise to be tendering all of them in the grand scheme of things. Plouffe is excellent insurance for <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sanomi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miguel Sano<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> at third base and has the tools to play all over the diamond. He also hits lefties pretty well. It&#8217;s likely to get 300 plate appearances out of a guy like that. If things go well, it&#8217;s also possible to move him in the middle of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Escobar can also play all over the infield and has good pop in his bat for a guy his size. Not only that, he is considered a good clubhouse guy who is well-liked among teammates and in the community. It&#8217;s also worth noting that he is good shortstop insurance.<\/p>\n<p>Mostly the reason behind\u00a0tendering <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?results=santihe01,santia002hec&amp;search=Hector+Santiago&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hector Santiago<\/a><\/strong> is not only wanting <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/berrijo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jose Berrios<\/a><\/strong> to force the team\u2019s hand during the season, but also how scarce the starting pitching market will be. That means the Twins could in theory spend all winter shopping Santiago around in trades with the plan that they\u2019re also content to have him at the back of their rotation.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Free Agency, or Lack Thereof<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The market is absolutely barren for teams looking to make additions at any price, let alone a reasonable one this off-season. The starting pitching is exceptionally bad.\u00a0Teams are going to spend money, but it doesn&#8217;t mean it is going to be wisely spent.<\/p>\n<p>With the Twins deciding to part ways with <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/suzukku01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kurt Suzuki<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>, there&#8217;s a need to add a new catcher. The best option to replace Suzuki would be <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/castrja01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Castro<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>.\u00a0He is a cheaper option and could help bridge the gap between some younger catchers in the Twins farm system.\u00a0<strong>StatCorner<\/strong> lists him as their No. 4 pitch framer in the league last season. Whether or not Castro hits is minor compared to getting a defensive catcher who can go a long way in rejuvenating a pitching staff from the jump.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carlos\u00a0Gomez<\/strong> is coming off a couple of inconsistent seasons, but could make a lot of sense for the Minnesota Twins. He\u2019ll come at a price far lower than he would have at any other point in his career.\u00a0Catching Gomez on the proverbial rebound seems logical for the Twins, who could formulate a respectable outfield consisting of him, <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/buxtoby01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Byron Buxton<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> and <strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/keplema01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Max Kepler<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> out there with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rosared01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-lastwordonbaseball.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eddie Rosario<\/a><\/strong> who is more than capable of backing up all three spots.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Closing Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Despite finishing with MLB\u2019s worst record in 2016, the new Twins\u2019 front office may feel that a complete demolition isn&#8217;t necessary. It\u2019s possible to see the core of a contending team among the group. A return to contention in 2017 doesn\u2019t seem especially likely unless they receive good fortune next year. However, with the right pitching moves, the 2018 season could be a good one for the Twins.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/615762136\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/615762136?et=SGHw1fhHRq1Y3ZvBQGkemQ&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=0quCNsSEy7YR9V-YHZs6eyLzdyx-3gL9KbCUJh52VHY=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a promising 2015 season that appeared to usher in a new era of Minnesota Twins baseball that was void of being a basement dweller in the AL Central, the 2016 season was anything but that.\u00a0The Twins lost\u00a0103 games, causing baseball\u2019s most loyal ownership group to move on from General Manager Terry Ryan. A new [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":313,"featured_media":1940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[68,660,264,666,667,511,69,665],"class_list":["post-1930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-twins","tag-baseball","tag-byron-buxton","tag-carlos-gomez","tag-jason-castro","tag-kurt-suzuki","tag-max-kepler","tag-mlb","tag-trevor-plouffe"],"modified_by":"Sean Couch (Senior Editor)","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/313"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}