The 2018 MLB off-season officially started late last night when the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodger in the game 7 of the 2017 World Series. The 2018 off-season will be very interesting for the surprising good Minnesota Twins who made the postseason in 2017, but, alas, their participation in baseball lore lasted only one game. Several things need to happen for the Twins to improve and be competitive in 2018 well into the post season. We will be looking at these things in segments like this of "off-season thoughts". In addition, like past years there will a weekly (or more often) off-season transactions and rumors segment, as those starting to build.
A good starting point is to look at the Twins 40-man roster and try to analyze what it could look like as a baseline, before the Rule 5 decisions and trade decision will need to be made. Here is the Twins roster after the end of the season, including all 60-day DL players, as well as the free agents (uniform numbers included as well). There are as a total 45 players:
Pitchers (28) :
9 Matt Belisle
17 Jose Berrios
62 Buddy Boshers
67 Alan Busenitz
60 J.T. Chargois
40 Bartolo Colon
27 John Curtiss
56 Tyler Duffey
47 Dietrich Enns
35 Dillon Gee
44 Kyle Gibson
39 Trevor Hildenberger
45 Phil Hughes
76 Felix Jorge
65 Trevor May
49 Adalberto Mejia
58 Gabriel Moya
61 Ryan O'Rourke
15 Glen Perkins
57 Ryan Pressly
55 Taylor Rogers
77 Fernando Romero
64 Randy Rosario
54 Ervin Santana
53 Hector Santiago
50 Aaron Slegers
59 Michael Tonkin
66 Nik Turley
Position players (17) :
16 Ehire Adrianza
25 Byron Buxton
21 Jason Castro
2 Brian Dozier
5 Eduardo Escobar
43 Mitch Garver
38 Chris Gimenez
23 Niko Goodrum
8 Zack Granite
36 Robbie Grossman
26 Max Kepler
7 Joe Mauer
73 Daniel Palka
11 Jorge Polanco
20 Eddie Rosario
22 Miguel Sano
19 Kennys Vargas
The distribution between position players and pitchers clearly shows the issues with the team in 2017. The names of the pitchers will need to be trimmed.
Matt Belisle, Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Glen Perkins, Hector Santiago are all free agents. Perkins will not return Belisle Colon and Santiago should not. This will open 4 spots on the roster. Dillon Gee is an interesting player: He performed exceptionally as a reliever producing an 1.35 ERA (2.86 FIP) in total, which dropped to 1.01 (2.56 FIP) the first time through an order. In that split (26-2/3 IP) he allowed 22 hits and 5 walks, (1.01 WHIP & .286 BABIP) and struck out 20 (19.1 K%, 14.3 K-BB%). If I were the Twins, I would try to re-sign Gee who will be 32 next season to a 2-year contract and have him in the long reliever role, a role he excelled in 2017. He was not part of the problem last season. This drops down the roster to 41.
Buddy Boshers, Alan Busenitz, J.T. Chargois, John Curtiss, Dietrich Enns, Trevor Hildenberger, Felix Jorge, Gabriel Moya, Ryan O'Rourke, Fernando Romero, Randy Rosario, Aaron Slegers, Michael Tonkin, Nik Turley will be competing for 40-man space with the likes of Zack Littell, Stephen Gonsalvez, Lewis Thorpe, Kohl Stewart, Ryan Eades, Nick Burdi, Jake Reed, Luke Bard, Mason Melotakis, etc. For the names in this list, it would be all about who will be able to help the Twins more in 2018. I think that Buddy Boshers, Ryan O'Rourke, Randy Rosario, Aaron Slegers, Michael Tonkin and Nik Turley, will be in the losing part of the equation, with Alan Busenitz and John Curtiss, and potentially Ryan Pressly on the bubble, but making it. This will open 6 more spaces, dropping down the roster to 35, and potentially down to 32; but it is too early and likely unnecessary to do so in the first round.
As far as position players go, there is no much leeway; Niko Goodrum, and Daniel Palka as fairly certain cuts; Kennys Vargas who is out of options is on the bubble, but will likely make it through the first round of cuts. This will drop 12 spots of the roster, trimming it down to 33, allowing enough room to protect players as well as sign free agents before potential trades.
A good starting point is to look at the Twins 40-man roster and try to analyze what it could look like as a baseline, before the Rule 5 decisions and trade decision will need to be made. Here is the Twins roster after the end of the season, including all 60-day DL players, as well as the free agents (uniform numbers included as well). There are as a total 45 players:
Pitchers (28) :
9 Matt Belisle
17 Jose Berrios
62 Buddy Boshers
67 Alan Busenitz
60 J.T. Chargois
40 Bartolo Colon
27 John Curtiss
56 Tyler Duffey
47 Dietrich Enns
35 Dillon Gee
44 Kyle Gibson
39 Trevor Hildenberger
45 Phil Hughes
76 Felix Jorge
65 Trevor May
49 Adalberto Mejia
58 Gabriel Moya
61 Ryan O'Rourke
15 Glen Perkins
57 Ryan Pressly
55 Taylor Rogers
77 Fernando Romero
64 Randy Rosario
54 Ervin Santana
53 Hector Santiago
50 Aaron Slegers
59 Michael Tonkin
66 Nik Turley
Position players (17) :
16 Ehire Adrianza
25 Byron Buxton
21 Jason Castro
2 Brian Dozier
5 Eduardo Escobar
43 Mitch Garver
38 Chris Gimenez
23 Niko Goodrum
8 Zack Granite
36 Robbie Grossman
26 Max Kepler
7 Joe Mauer
73 Daniel Palka
11 Jorge Polanco
20 Eddie Rosario
22 Miguel Sano
19 Kennys Vargas
The distribution between position players and pitchers clearly shows the issues with the team in 2017. The names of the pitchers will need to be trimmed.
Matt Belisle, Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Glen Perkins, Hector Santiago are all free agents. Perkins will not return Belisle Colon and Santiago should not. This will open 4 spots on the roster. Dillon Gee is an interesting player: He performed exceptionally as a reliever producing an 1.35 ERA (2.86 FIP) in total, which dropped to 1.01 (2.56 FIP) the first time through an order. In that split (26-2/3 IP) he allowed 22 hits and 5 walks, (1.01 WHIP & .286 BABIP) and struck out 20 (19.1 K%, 14.3 K-BB%). If I were the Twins, I would try to re-sign Gee who will be 32 next season to a 2-year contract and have him in the long reliever role, a role he excelled in 2017. He was not part of the problem last season. This drops down the roster to 41.
Buddy Boshers, Alan Busenitz, J.T. Chargois, John Curtiss, Dietrich Enns, Trevor Hildenberger, Felix Jorge, Gabriel Moya, Ryan O'Rourke, Fernando Romero, Randy Rosario, Aaron Slegers, Michael Tonkin, Nik Turley will be competing for 40-man space with the likes of Zack Littell, Stephen Gonsalvez, Lewis Thorpe, Kohl Stewart, Ryan Eades, Nick Burdi, Jake Reed, Luke Bard, Mason Melotakis, etc. For the names in this list, it would be all about who will be able to help the Twins more in 2018. I think that Buddy Boshers, Ryan O'Rourke, Randy Rosario, Aaron Slegers, Michael Tonkin and Nik Turley, will be in the losing part of the equation, with Alan Busenitz and John Curtiss, and potentially Ryan Pressly on the bubble, but making it. This will open 6 more spaces, dropping down the roster to 35, and potentially down to 32; but it is too early and likely unnecessary to do so in the first round.
As far as position players go, there is no much leeway; Niko Goodrum, and Daniel Palka as fairly certain cuts; Kennys Vargas who is out of options is on the bubble, but will likely make it through the first round of cuts. This will drop 12 spots of the roster, trimming it down to 33, allowing enough room to protect players as well as sign free agents before potential trades.
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