With the winter grinding on, I thought that this entry from NotGraphs’ Dayn Perry summed up perfectly everything I’ve ever wanted to say about baseball in January. “This has been a post about putting your hat in the dishwasher. This is the offseason.”

With the Twins’ roster construction turning towards the bullpen, Nick Nelson took at look at Free Agent relievers the Twins could sign, as well as internal options to fill the remaining spots in the pen.  Seth Stoh’s took his turn looking at available relievers as well, rounding up a large group of players that could be available for the remaining $2-$3 million dollars left in the Twins’ 2012 budget.    Twinkie Town’s Jesse does a great job of breaking down many of the advantages and disadvantages of the creme of the free agent relieving crop.

He isn’t a free agent reliever, but he is a free agent, and if the Twins are willing to stretch their budget, they could end up with Roy Oswalt on a one year deal, and if he pitches anywhere near his career numbers, he could help the Twins win another surprise AL Central championship.

More from Baseball Outsider where Edward Thoma continues dissecting the Bill Smith Era, checking in this week on the J.J. Hardy – Jim Hoey trade as well as looking closer at the rest of the trades from 2010.

The Twins Fan From Afar makes a case that signing Francisco Liriano to a long term deal this winter is a smart move and allows the Twins to Buy-Low on a guy with tremendous upside.  When healthy and pitching well, Liriano is one of the 5 best pitchers in the American League.  Even when he isn’t at his best, he can still manage to luck into a no-hitter, right? (Francisco Liriano took the hill last night for the first time this winter, throwing for Escogido.  He threw 1.2 innings, gave up 2 hits, a run, a walk, and struck out two.  Not great, but it’s something.)  (more…)