Who won't be on the Twins next year?

[IFallsRon]

Terry Ryan was looks pretty smart now for not signing gas cans Eddie and Hawkins. There seems to be plenty of trade bait left to make room for young, low-cost players next year.

Pitchers
Grant Balfour
Joe Beimel, done even though he's a lefty.
Jesse Crain
J.D. Durbin, he'll get a shot to be a starter
Aaron Fultz
Matt Guerrier
Kyle Lohse
Terry Mulholland, he'd be good to keep
Joe Nathan
Brad Radke, new contract or Frankie V. treatment
Juan Rincon
Joe Roa R/R
J.C. Romero
Johan Santana
Carlos Silva

Catchers
Henry Blanco, he might be back
Pat Borders, time to retire
Matthew LeCroy, he can't play every day

Infielder/outfield
Jason Bartlett
Cristian Guzman
Corey Koskie, may be last year with Twins
Justin Morneau
Augie Ojeda
Luis Rivas
Terry Tiffee, nice bat
Michael Cuddyer
Lew Ford, needs to play every day
Torii Hunter
Jacque Jones
Jason Kubel, could be your new centerfielder
Michael Restovich, another year in AAA
Shannon Stewart, needs to find stroke
Jose Offerman, time to retire

[bigbucks]

Offerman, Borders, Beimel, Roa, Fultz, are gone.

Most likely Jacque, LeCroy, Restovich, & Mulholland will be too. I think they'll resign Radke. It's too soon to give up on Lohse because of one bad year, Durbin probably takes the 5th spot. Who knows maybe Mays will surprise us & return to pitch well, but don't hold your breath.

Koskie probably will be gone unless he signs fairly cheap, which he may have to. His injury history will scare most, if not all teams.

Rivas could be gone, but more likely will become the bench player behind Cuddyer at second if Koskie stays. He should be pretty cheap to resign. A slick fielding 2nd baseman with 10 HR looks pretty good until you see he's only gotten about 50 other hits (exaggeration I know).

Ojeda's back to the minors to wait for another injury or possibly released, if they're comfortable with Bartlett. Bartlett will be back in the minors waiting for an injury as well. Tiffy will be here if Koskie's gone otherwise same as Bartlett. Rob Bowen will be in the minors too, assuming Mauer can catch.

[The Grebe]

Lohse, Borders, Restovich, Jones, Lew Ford,
(Just kidding, I knew that would get a rise) LeCroy, Fultz, in no particular order.
They also might have to throw a name or two into the mix.

[SCCO9803]

Restovich needs to be gone, if he isn't going to play everyday in the Bigs. This is for his own sake, the guy has done all there is to do in AAA and is ready to produce with power somewhere else, if not here. I only hope we don't regret it. This is a guy at 260 that can steal 20-30 bases in a full season.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Pitchers
Grant Balfour, KEEP HIM AND HIS SERIOUS POTENTIAL.
Joe Beimel, done even though he's a lefty.
Jesse Crain
J.D. Durbin, he'll get a shot to be a starter
Aaron Fultz
Matt Guerrier
Kyle Lohse NEEDS TO FIND HIS GROOVE AGAIN, WILL BE BACK.
Terry Mulholland, he'd be good to keep
Joe Nathan, KEEP
Brad Radke, new contract or Frankie V. treatment
Juan Rincon
Joe Roa R/R
J.C. Romero
Johan Santana GOOD LUCK BUT TRY TO RE-SIGN.
Carlos Silva

Catchers
Henry Blanco, he might be back, SHOULD BE BACK.
Pat Borders, time to retire. AGREED
Matthew LeCroy, he can't play every day

Infielder/outfield
Jason Bartlett
Cristian Guzman
Corey Koskie, may be last year with Twins
Justin Morneau
Augie Ojeda
Luis Rivas
Terry Tiffee, nice bat
Michael Cuddyer PROBABLY OUR NEW 2ND BASEMAN
Lew Ford, needs to play every day
Torii Hunter
Jacque Jones WON'T ACCEPT WHAT THE TWINS OFFER
Jason Kubel, could be your new centerfielder
Michael Restovich, another year in AAA, TRADE.
Shannon Stewart, needs to find stroke
Jose Offerman, time to retire

[bigbucks]

Question I have for a few of you. Why do you keep saying Kubel could be our new centerfielder?

JJ might be gone at the end of the year, but Hunter's not going anywhere & certainly Kubel isn't even in the same league as him defensively. The guys the best defensive outfielder in baseball!!

From what I've heard defense is the part of Kubel's game he needs to work on some more.

[soldoncass]

Won't be back:
Fultz
Lacroix
Borders
Offerman
Beimel
Mulholand- may sign for some kind of coach for young pitchers

Trade bait:

Lohse
Restovich
Gerrier
Rivas
Jones
Lacroix

Minors:
Bartlet
Bowen

Predictions:
Blanco will back up Mauer- If Joes Knee doesn't shape up for everyday catching,they'll trade for a catcher if they can
Platoon Tiffee and Koskie one year
If Shannon Steward's heel can't handle the turf, they will keep Restovich for left field and trade Steward
Ojeda, Punto, and Cuddyer will battle for second base job- If Cuddyer gets it who backs up first?Can they train Restovich to play first? ala Killebrew.
Starters:
Santana- until Yanks buy him
Radke- same as above
Silva
Durbin- gets his shot
Lohse or Mays or new, traded for guy

Relief:
Roa- spot start?
J.C. Romero
Crain
Balfour
Nathan
Rincon
need lefty yet
Kubel will be DH and spell right field
I like JJ in rf defensively, but his bat is inconsistent
They WILL have Kubels bat in lineup somewhere for sure, so it could be in rf, then JJ is out
I like the sound of Morneau and Restovich alternating at first and dh- oh yeah
Lew Ford remind anyone else of Moliter, the way he plays the game?- If he plays left instead of Steward, who leads off?
Could be an interesting post season and off season.

ps. forgot a couple spots: Hunter WILL be in center, and Guzman will be ss

[This message has been edited by soldoncass (edited 09-25-2004).]

[Jarrod32]

Next year's lineup will be Stewart in left, Hunter in center, and the season will probably start with Ford in right, but Kubel will have the job before the end of June. Restovich will be gone, as will Jones (he is a free agent after this year).

Morneau has first base, they may bring Guzman back at SS, Koskie will probably be gone...Cuddyer will get first shot at 3B, and Rivas will be gone...2B will be between Bartlett, Punto, and maybe Ojeda (my money is on Punto, at least to start the year). If they bring Koskie back, Cuddyer gets into the 2B mix.

Starting rotation will be Santana, Radke, Silva, Durbin, and the 5th spot is up for grabs (maybe Lohse, but don't count on it). Hopefully they can lock up Santana long-term soon...

Crain, Balfour, Romero, and Nathan will anchor the bullpen.

[Fish Tales]

Santana will be back he isn't eligible for free agency. Santana will go to arbitration and become very wealthy. The Bronx Bombers will have to sit back and grind their teeth because they cant have him. All that money into Santana means a couple of starters may be gone. alla J.J. and C.K but hopefully not Radke. Look at what great pitching can do for you.

[knoppers]

twins should be in good shape next year, nomatter who we lose, unless its santana, which I think will not be possible. we have some very good players in the minors, many of our top minor leaguers were top trade talks, but the twins would not budge. twins know how to make a good team with little money, which I think is better because you get better team chemistry. twins could be a playoff team for years to come, but the sad thing, is they may never win the world series again, when you have teams like new york who basically buy the thing. it would be nice to see a salary cap.