If they think Sanchez is SP material like I do, then there's nothing else he can learn in Buffalo. He's never going to be an elite K/BB guy, but Shapiro has proven in the past that he sees the value in groundball pitchers, unlike most people on this forum.
I wouldn't say that, but he's got a good shot if he pitches well. Things get tight if you put a couple of starters like Chavez, Sanchez, and Floyd in the 'pen. There's also Delabar and a couple of others without options.
I think he's got a legit shot at one of the 3 open spots in the bullpen.
Storen
Cecil
Osuna
Chavez/Sanchez
_____________
Biagini, Venditte, Delabar, Tepera, Loup, Rowen, Leon, Schultz, Penny, Hutch, Floyd, etc.
Chavez has proven that he can transition to the rotation in the middle of the season, which is a pretty valuable skill that we shouldn't let go to waste. I'd like to see him get 25 starts and he surely will. I'd be mildly surprised if our top 4 starters all make their first start. Floyd to the 'pen is a no-brainer for me.
If I'm the manager, it's a competition between Hutchison and Sanchez. They can both be long term pieces so let's see what we have.
Holy crap, can we quit with this false narrative? Every team brings in minor pieces to compete for jobs. Did you forget about Colabello, Valencia, and Hendriks last year?
Anyways, Soriano's velocity was down to 90.7 last year, but maybe some health will help him pick it up a bit. Apparently he looked good in winter league.
I like this signing and advocated for it a few times earlier this offseason. This is just a gut feeling, but he feels like one of those late bloomer kind of guys. You just never know, it has happened for us a lot lately.
Sano, Buxton, and Kepler are also an exciting group of young talent, just like those three were before 2015. As for the pipeline, the Twins still have an elite farm and the Cubs are bottom half of the league.
I don't expect them to win 90 games or something. They just have an exciting group of young position players.
Why are people so down on the Twins? Fangraphs projections take the over on 77.5 and there's a lot of exciting players on offense. Sano, Rosario, Buxton, Dozier, Park, Kepler.
Don't take this as a direct comparison, but I think they're a bit like the pre-2015 Cubs.