AL Central Discussion

[WiggyRuss]

He didn’t get as big of a raise as I’d assumed.

With the saving from him leaving and Miggy finally being done, they’ve got a lot of cash to throw around.

I think they figured they have a lot of good young pitching- and they know him best- he had some issues there for a while before having a good year in a "contract" year.

He got a good amount- but itll be interesting to see how he does now that he is locked in for a while again. Seems a little bit like a guy who gets comfortable when he gets paid and then gets his stuff together for his pay day. WE shall see.

 

[broncosmitty]

I think they figured they have a lot of good young pitching- and they know him best- he had some issues there for a while before having a good year in a "contract" year.

He got a good amount- but itll be interesting to see how he does now that he is locked in for a while again. Seems a little bit like a guy who gets comfortable when he gets paid and then gets his stuff together for his pay day. WE shall see.

I wonder how much contact they even had with him this offseason tbh.

Didn’t strike me a FO favorite once he invoked his no trade clause.

Would’ve been happy to see him back at the amount he got. Good signing for AZ imo.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I know the Guardians have a lot of question marks but I am already so anxious for baseball season.

I cant wait for:

1. To see how Kwan and Gimenez bounce back on offense- each of them have back-to-back gold gloves;

2. See what Manzardo can do to help the offense;

3. See what Josh Naylor can do now that he is full passed his very serious injury from 2022 that slowed him early on last year and a pretty significant injury last year that hit him right when he was raking;

4. See what Bo Naylor can do at the plate- he looked like he could be a nice impact bat from the catcher position;

5. See if McKenzie can stay healthy- this is a big IF- I almost think he should have just had TJ- I will be worried for quite a while on him;

6. See if they keep Bieber- or deal him- and what they deal him for; and

7. See if Williams, Allen and Bibee - or any one or a combination of them- can take the next step. Bibee is just a pitcher- but Williams I think has the best stuff.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Royals with a bunch of signings- and Detroit signing Flaherty.....

Absolutely nothing from the Twins yet this offseason.

 

[WiggyRuss]

not sure what to think of this Morris for Florial trade. I think Morris can be pretty decent. Florial has some tools but kind of looks like a 4A guy- but has never really gotten a long (even semi-long) opportunity.

Would be nice if the Guardians could develop this guy and he could take the CF job from Straw. Morris cant throw deep into games but I liked him as a spot starter/long reliever type with some upside.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Looks like the Tigers and Royals are the only teams making real moves in the AL Central thus far this winter. Shelby Miller was a nice bullpen signing by the Tigers that added to signing Maeda and Flaherty. Royals signed Lugo, Wacha, Renfroe, Stratton and Will Smith- 2 solid starters- 2 solid relievers and a decent bat.

Twins have lost quite a bit--- Gray and Maeda (about 300 innings and 52 starts)....Mahle is gone after trading some good players for him (Steer and Encarnacion-Strand) and what? 3 starts? Pagan and Floro are gone. Gallo, Taylor, Solano and Luplow unsigned.

Guardians have done basically nothing- just signed Hedges to be the backup catcher- and traded Morris for Florial.

White Sox have barely done anything at all- even less than the Guardians- signed DeJong- that about it- some other small guys. Anderson, Hendricks, Clevinger, Graendal....

 

[broncosmitty]

Royals with a bunch of signings- and Detroit signing Flaherty.....

Absolutely nothing from the Twins yet this offseason.

What’s your take on the Polanco trade?

Was he completely expendable on account of Julien being the best player in the division?

 

[broncosmitty]

@mr.hockey4242

 

[WiggyRuss]

What’s your take on the Polanco trade?

Was he completely expendable on account of Julien being the best player in the division?

LOL......I def. think thats what the Twins thought. Julien looks to be a good hitter but atrocious defensively. It is pretty much a wash this year with Desclafani $ wise- but Polanco has a player option for next year so the Twins cleared some longer term payroll if Polanco would pick up the option.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Guardians, Twins and Rangers came to terms with Diamond/Ballys. Now they have cost certainty. I think they will get about 85% of their contract value--- which comes to about 50+ million for the Guardians.

I wonder if this will give them some flexibility moving forward to pick up a guy.

Honestly- not sure what they would target. I think the bullpen is fine with the addition of Barlow. (Clase, Barlow, Stephan, Hentges, Karinchak, Sandlin, Morgan is a nice group).

SS is going to either be Arias or Rocchio I would expect with Freeman as a util infielder.

Rotation is set with Bieber, McKenzie, Bibee, Williams, Allen, with depth of Lively, maybe Carrassco, Cantillo, and eventually down the road Espino. They usually do not pay for SP on the market anyway. I doubt Bieber is traded at this point though I would not be shocked if he was dealt, or quite frankly if McKenzie was dealt if they got the right deal.

I would think 1B/DH is going to be Naylor/Manzardo- but I suppose its possible they keep Manzardo in the minors early and bring in another corner outfield/1B/DH bat.

Kwan in left--- Laureano/Straw/Florial in center sucks- right field ? Brennan and Laureano? sucks. But I am not sure they want to block taking a look at Valera and DeLatuer eventually. What a shitty total outfield.

So- my only guess for a signing would be a corner outfield/DH/1B type. Maybe an opportunistic signing of a reliever if they think a Clase deal is possible?

 

[VikingFan2k2]

Guardians, Twins and Rangers came to terms with Diamond/Ballys. Now they have cost certainty. I think they will get about 85% of their contract value--- which comes to about 50+ million for the Guardians.

I wonder if this will give them some flexibility moving forward to pick up a guy.

Honestly- not sure what they would target. I think the bullpen is fine with the addition of Barlow. (Clase, Barlow, Stephan, Hentges, Karinchak, Sandlin, Morgan is a nice group).

SS is going to either be Arias or Rocchio I would expect with Freeman as a util infielder.

Rotation is set with Bieber, McKenzie, Bibee, Williams, Allen, with depth of Lively, maybe Carrassco, Cantillo, and eventually down the road Espino. They usually do not pay for SP on the market anyway. I doubt Bieber is traded at this point though I would not be shocked if he was dealt, or quite frankly if McKenzie was dealt if they got the right deal.

I would think 1B/DH is going to be Naylor/Manzardo- but I suppose its possible they keep Manzardo in the minors early and bring in another corner outfield/1B/DH bat.

Kwan in left--- Laureano/Straw/Florial in center sucks- right field ? Brennan and Laureano? sucks. But I am not sure they want to block taking a look at Valera and DeLatuer eventually. What a shitty total outfield.

So- my only guess for a signing would be a corner outfield/DH/1B type. Maybe an opportunistic signing of a reliever if they think a Clase deal is possible?

Why did all 3 teams agree to continue to work with these damn crooks? Diamond told the teams that they had the money, they just didn't want to pay.

There has to be a better option long-term.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Why did all 3 teams agree to continue to work with these damn crooks? Diamond told the teams that they had the money, they just didn't want to pay.

There has to be a better option long-term.

its really disgusting. It's the bankruptcy court that keeps delaying and giving Diamond chances. All 3 teams have wanted to cut ties but the bankruptcy court keeps putting it out. This will be the last year for it with the Twins, Rangers and Guardians. Their are 9 other teams that are making a deal with Amazon backing Diamond and that separate deal might go forward after this coming year- but as I said- I think its almost guaranteed the Twins, Guardians and Rangers will have a different broadcaster next year--- possibly MLB itself.

 

[catman]

Carlos Santana to the Twins -- 1/$5.25MM.

 

[catman]

The Twins have to make a roster move to put him on the 40.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

@mr.hockey4242

His option was too good of value that he had to be picked up and then he had to be moved. Julien's D improved enough over the year that is way to early to make him DH only. And while its probably delusional thinking, Buxton is supposedly going back to CF. Twins dont want to have the DH tied to one guy. Hence the Santana move(even if mehhh).

My only disappointment is I thought Polanco could have gotten more of a true back end starter. It seems like we have been more set on making the bullpen elite(it should be a top tier AL pen) but I have zero expectations with desclafani or whatever his dumb fucking name is. I think the idea was that we get Topa potential prospects and have Varland waiting in wings as starter with potential to take the back end rather than a trade.

But a healthy Polanco is basically a lock for a 115 OPS+ with solid D so I had thought we could get some sort of starter especially with the Mariners having like 50 of them.

 

[catman]

When you look at fangraphs projections, you'll see that they consider Julien to be superior defensively to Betts, Polanco, Arraez, Marte, Altuve, Gorman and McNeil. While he is not an elite defender, Jullien is adequate.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Skubal hit 100 on the gun yesterday. What a find he became. If he can just stay healthy

 

[WiggyRuss]

His option was too good of value that he had to be picked up and then he had to be moved. Julien's D improved enough over the year that is way to early to make him DH only. And while its probably delusional thinking, Buxton is supposedly going back to CF. Twins dont want to have the DH tied to one guy. Hence the Santana move(even if mehhh).

My only disappointment is I thought Polanco could have gotten more of a true back end starter. It seems like we have been more set on making the bullpen elite(it should be a top tier AL pen) but I have zero expectations with desclafani or whatever his dumb fucking name is. I think the idea was that we get Topa potential prospects and have Varland waiting in wings as starter with potential to take the back end rather than a trade.

But a healthy Polanco is basically a lock for a 115 OPS+ with solid D so I had thought we could get some sort of starter especially with the Mariners having like 50 of them.

From what I have been reading, a lot of different scouting services and websites, etc. seem to think the Twins would be best served to put Varland in the rotation and give him a real chance. A lot of people really like his stuff and think he could definitely handle being a starter that starts in the back of the rotation with some upside to be a middle guy if things work out- or course there is also some real reliever risk there as well. He def. has a large disparity in possible outcomes.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Skubal hit 100 on the gun yesterday. What a find he became. If he can just stay healthy

I think the CY Young candidate prognostications are fully justified.

 

[WiggyRuss]

sounds like the Guardians are going to have Manzardo start in the minors to keep his clock from starting this year---- which is a shame but pretty much par for the course.

I am actually optimistic about Bieber this year- esp. since its his contract year- I think he is healthy and motivated and will have a very solid year.

I am less optimistic about the health of McKenzie-- he is healthy now- but I feel that it will be tough for him to get to 170 IP- let alone the 190 of a couple years ago......sometimes delaying TJ surgery is not the right thing to do.

I hope I am wrong because if Bieber and McKenzie are healthy- then the Guardians will likely have a very good rotation backed up by a very solid bullpen.....Bieber, McKenzie, Bibee, Williams, Allen is pretty legit- I expect Clase to bounce back- adding Barlow is helpful. Stephen and Hentges are good. Karinchak a wild card. Morgan good.

but man- what a bad outfield---while I think Kwan is going to hit better this year- CF and RF just do not move the needle at all.