Comments on: Are We Seeing Bizarro Terry Ryan?

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:52:53 +0000

I can’t say I’m OK with much that’s gone on at Target Field over the past 2 years and if I could undo stuff that’s been done, I would. But I can’t. So now we deal with today’s reality and that reality is that the Twins are almost totally bankrupt of top of the rotation pitchers in their organization. They need some for 2013 and they need some for 2015 and beyond. Losing a very good player like Span in order to address the pitching problem is the price Terry Ryan is paying for the Twins allowing the situation to get to where it’s at today.

Span brought a pitcher with a LOT of potential. Now Ryan has to address 2013′s rotation.

By: frightwig

frightwig — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 08:23:26 +0000

Are you OK with that? Fangraphs puts Span’s value at 3.9 WAR this year (good defender, good baserunner, got on base at an above-average rate). Trading him without signing some lineup upgrade from outside the organization probably means a weaker lineup next year, unless one of the youngsters has a surprise breakout season, which could be taken as a sign that Ryan is already looking at 2013 as a rebuilding “let’s see how the kids develop” year.

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:31:22 +0000

I won’t be at all surprised to see Aaron Hicks playing CF by the end of 2013, rather than Revere, but I don’t expect Ryan to dip in to the FA pool for an outfielder unless he ends up trading some of the young OF prospects for pitching.

By: frightwig

frightwig — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:26:35 +0000

Although I don’t see Span as a star/cornerstone, he’s a good all-around player, and I doubt Revere or Parmelee will be worth as much as him next year. Do you expect Ryan to sign a FA to replace him in 2013, or would you feel fine about giving “the kids” a chance to play?

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:21:21 +0000

I’ll add one more thing (and I probably should just do a full post on all of this over the weekend)… Ryan knew there were a number of CFs available both in free agency and potential trades. If I were a betting man, I’d guess this is what went down:

Ryan had a deal in the works with Atlanta that he REALLY liked and his preference was to trade Span to Atlanta for whatever they were offering, but the Braves wouldn’t pull the trigger until they knew if they’d be able to sign Upton. If Upton signs elsewhere, the Braves would give Ryan what he wanted for Span.

But the Braves got Upton, meaning that while they still would like to have Span, too, they no longer NEEDED him… and their offer to Ryan for him was less than what he wanted.

Meyer was likely his second choice and even if he might have wanted to get a little more than Meyer in a 1 for 1 deal, he didn’t want to wait and risk having Washington trade Meyer to someone else or maybe sign one of the other FA CFs. So he pulled the trigger today.

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:14:50 +0000

If I were Terry Ryan and believed that Denard Span was my best trade chip, I would trade him for the best return I could get… whether that was a MLB ready guy or a high-ceiling SP like Meyer. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I believe Ryan had TWO almost equal objectives this offseason: 1a: Fix the current rotation by getting at least a couple of legitimate #2-#3 SPs, and 1b: Find a true potential “ace” to develop in a manner to have in place when Sano, Buxton, et al, arrive.

I would have traded Span for the best option available that accomplished either of those goals… knowing full well that I still will have to accomplish the other goal in another manner. If he had packaged Span in a deal for Shields, I’d be saying the same thing… “that’s great, now how are you going to improve the SPs in your farm system?”

By: frightwig

frightwig — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:56:19 +0000

He almost has to sign a few veteran pitchers, just because the rotation right now is basically Scott Diamond & the Mysterians. But I wonder if Ryan really thinks that he’s just a couple TOR pitchers away from contention in 2013. Would you trade Span for a prospect right now, if you were really planning to Go Big this winter?

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:01:43 +0000

I absolutely do NOT see the Span/Meyer trade as an indication Ryan won’t be adding real rotation help this year. In fact, the extra money should help in that regard and if the Rays or Reds still want to trade current pitching for young OFs, we still have some we can offer. As I’ve written a few places, there is NO reason this needs to be “either/or”… Ryan and the Twins have the money and trade chips to improve drastically in 2013 AND prepare to be very good in 2015 and beyond.

By: frightwig

frightwig — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 22:10:59 +0000

Well, Terry Ryan just made a trade that seems to be aiming at rotation improvement in 2014 and beyond. We’ll see if dealing Span is also meant to free up budget space to sign pitching upgrades this year, too.

A little while back, Nick Nelson said he had the feeling that Joe Saunders would be the Twins’ big signing this winter. I tweeted back, “Maybe Joe Blanton.” I was only half-kidding. He almost perfectly fits the mold of a Twins-type mid-rotation starting pitcher.

By: Jack Steal

Jack Steal — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:29:35 +0000

Great article!! We have officially entered panic mode in Twins Territory. I’m really confused as to why GM Terry Ryan is waiting so long. The Twins waited too long when they were shopping Johan Santana a few years ago and we all know how that turned out. I don’t see the Twins paying for an Edwin Jackson or Anibal Sanchez. My guess is you will see Brett Myers and Joe Blanton signed here instead of quality free agents. One thing to remember for optimistic fans, name the last time the Twins made a big move at the Winter Meetings. Not sure it’s ever happened. I believe the front office overvalues it’s players and nobody is willing to give up the haul Ryan wants in return.