Magicgames II » The Minnesota Twins have locked up a pair of you

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — ng position players for the long term by agreeing to five-year contracts with right fielder Max Kepler and shortstop Jorge Polanco.The contracts were announced Friday Wei-Yin Chen Jersey , a day after they were reached as pitchers and catchers went through their first workout in Fort Myers, Florida.Kepler’s contract is worth $35 million and includes an option that could increase its value to at least $44 million over six years. Polanco’s deal is valued at $25.75 million, has two options that could make it worth at least $47.25 million for seven seasons.Kepler, who turned 26 on Sunday, had agreed last month to a $3,125,000 salary for 2019 in his first year of arbitration eligibility. Entering his fourth full season as a regular in the lineup, Kepler won the team’s defensive player of the year award in 2018. He never found a rhythm at the plate, batting a career-low .224, but he set his major league career high with 20 home runs.Raised in Berlin and signed by the Twins as a 16-year-old, Kepler has long been considered a late bloomer by the organization who has only scratched the surface of his potential because of his roots in Germany where baseball is mostly an afterthought.With this contract, the Twins could buy out his first three years of eligibility for free agency. With so many unsigned stars still on the market around MLB, the Twins have expressed caution toward such commitments with their not-there-yet status. So chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine turned inward to begin assembling a core of what they’re targeting as a future contender.Kepler and Polanco will now be the only players on the books for 2020 and beyond. Designated hitter Nelson Cruz and starting pitcher Martin Perez have club options for next season, but they can be bought out.Polanco, who will turn 26 in July, wasn’t going to be eligible for arbitration until next year. Entering his third season as a regular, Polanco batted a career-best .288 last year in 302 at-bats after serving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug .One of the team’s top prospects, Royce Lewis, is a shortstop who was drafted out of high school with the first overall pick in 2017, so Polanco could always find himself at a different position near the end of this deal. Another recent first-round pick, Nick Gordon Jeff Locke Jersey , was selected fifth overall in 2014 as a shortstop out of high school. He has already begun to play some second base, having finished last year with Triple-A Rochester.Polanco’s deal calls for $3,958,333 in each of the next two seasons, $4,333,333 in 2021, $5 million in 2022 and $7.5 million in 2023. Minnesota has a $10.5 million option for 2024 with a $1 million buyout, and the option would become guaranteed if he has 550 plate appearances in 2023 and Polanco is found to be healthy. If the 2024 option is exercised, the Twins can exercise a $12 million option for 2025 that has a $750,000 buyout.Base salaries in both option years would increase by $500,000 each for All-Star selection or winning a Gold Glove or Silver Slugger in each of the previous two seasons, with a $1 million maximum increase. He also can earn award bonuses annually for All-Star selection, finishing among the top six in MVP voting, or winning a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, the World Series MVP or the League Championship Series MVP.Kepler’s new deal calls for $6 million this year, $6.25 million in 2020, $6.5 million in 2021, $6.75 million in 2022 and $8.5 million in 2023. Minnesota has a $10 million option for 2024 with a $1 million buyout, and the option price would increase by $500 Cameron Maybin Jersey ,000 each for All-Star selection or winning a Gold Glove or Silver Slugger during 2022 and ’23, also with a $1 million maximum increase. He has a similar awards package to Polanco’s, and he gets a suite on road trips in 2023 and ’24. Or, would you rather the Rockies pursue "sustained success"?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Scaling the RocksPebble ReportRockpileRockies Game ThreadsRockies Fan ExperienceScaling the RocksShould the Rockies go all in for 2019?New,68commentsOr, would you rather the Rockies pursue “sustained success”?MSTShareTweetShareShareShould the Rockies go all in for 2019?Question: Would you rather the Rockies be very good — playoff-level good — for an extended stretch, or would you rather put all your resources on one big season, knowing that when the season was over, it might be awhile before the Rockies were competitive again?On Friday, NBC Sports’ Craig Calcaterra tweet-stormed this question: “Do fans really want ‘sustained success’ . . . ?” (I recommend reading entire the thread.) As examples, he cites the 1990s Braves and the current Dodgers, teams that won a lot but with fleeting championship success. (The Braves won 14 consecutive division titles but just one World Series during the shortened 1995 season.) In contrast, he cites the 2015 Royals and 2016 Cubs, teams that went all in and won a World Series, spending money and prospects when the moment was right. (The 2018 Red Sox provide another example.) These are the teams fans remember, not the ones that were very good but not quite good enough. Calcaterra acknowledges there’s no “right” answer, but he does add this:The ways in which teams justify spending less money is a topic for another day, but consider for a moment the Rockies and the notion of sustained success.This is obviously their model — look at the ways in which they protect prospects. The most notable prospects the Rockies have traded in recent years are Forrest Wall and Kevin Padlo. MLB.com’s Thomas Harding makes this especially clear in a recent question-and-answer article, “Do the Rox Need Big Move for a WS Push?” Here’s the passage that stood out, especially after Calcaterra’s argument:This strikes me as the Rockies’ definition of “sustained success,” built on young players and what Jeff Bridich has termed “responsible growth.” Harding points out that in filling positions Lewis Brinson Jersey , “[n]eed has to line up with player,” which suggests that if a given Rockies team is good enough to be contenders, only then will the front office look to fill gaps and make the team more competitive (e.g, Jonathan Lucroy, Pat Neshek, and Seung-hwan Oh). But this is a reactive strategy, as opposed to going all in. (It also probably has the added benefit of ensuring “sustained attendance” since fans are more likely to pay to see a contending team than a tanking one.)(By the way, it’s not an issue of money. As Maury Brown has reported, in 2018 MLB saw a record 10.3 billion in revenues. Moreover, David Roth points out, “Your favorite baseball team can afford any free agent it wants.” Presumably, that includes the Rockies.)But here we are: It’s the last guaranteed year with Nolan Arenado, and the starting pitching rotation is the best in Rockies history. The Rockies are in a perfect position to spend money and prospects to complement a strong club, and yet they have (apparently) decided to take their chances with the outfield and hope Ian Desmond is going to find his swing in center field while Daniel Murphy brings the missing offense and becomes an effective first baseman. That sounds like “fiscally responsible sustained success.”I was a bit surprised to find that I was #TeamAllIn. Usually, I’m big on keeping my pantry full, saving what I can, and planning for tomorrow. But not this time. Wouldn’t it be amazing for the Rockies to be absolutely ripped contenders from the opening game of the season, even if it meant wandering in the baseball wilderness for a few years? By all appearances, this year the NL West will be very winnable. Granted, going all in doesn’t guarantee a World Series series win — it just adds a little to the odds. But I’d argue it would be easier to live with having lost out on a championship knowing the Rockies went all rather than settling for sustained success. It’s time to put all our purple chips on 2019 and win.What do you think?