Minnesota Twins winter meetings primer – what should fans expect?
The Minnesota Twins are headed to Orlando, but they hope to return with more than just a pair of Mickey ears!
The Minnesota Twins are headed to the winter meetings in Orlando, Florida that start today. In an offseason that has already been fairly exciting, what more can Minnesota Twins fans expect from the upcoming week?
Minnesota Twins offseason thus far
The Twins have been in the news plenty this offseason. They were heavy into the market for Shohei Ohtani before he signed with the Los Angeles Angels.
The big thing that many fans have noted this offseason so far has been the players who were lost when the team attempted to create space on the 40-man roster. Daniel Palka, Randy Rosario, Ryan O’Rourke, Niko Goodrum, and Nik Turley were all claimed by other clubs, and Michael Tonkin chose to leave to pitch overseas.
The primary acquisitions for the Twins have been minor league signings in catchers Bobby Wilson and Willians Astudillo, infielders Brock Stassi and Gregorio Petit, outfielder Ryan LaMarre, and pitchers Myles Jaye.
After missing out on Ohtani, the Twins pivoted with their international funds and traded international funds for prospects by sending $1 million to the Angels for outfield prospect Jacob Pearson and the same amount to the Mariners for catching prospect David Banuelos.
Finally, on Friday, the Twins dipped into the recently-released Atlanta Braves prospects and signed infielder Yunior Severino, one of the best players available in the group of prospects that were let go.
So, mostly prospects and minor leaguers have been brought in. What current holes are on the Minnesota Twins roster?
Next: Current holes
Current roster holes
The Minnesota Twins really entered the offseason with the same three major needs as they still have – reliable starting pitching, reliable bullpen help, and right-handed power that likely would profile in the DH role. Let’s take a look at how they could fill each spot internally if no one else was signed.
Starting pitching
The Twins certainly have depth in their rotation, and they could go with a similar approach to the Colorado Rockies in 2017, using Ervin Santana, Jose Berrios, and Kyle Gibson in the first three spots in the rotation and then using the last two spots to audition a number of their young arms that are either major league ready or knocking at the door in Aaron Slegers, Adalberto Mejia, Dietrich Enns, Stephen Gonsalves, Felix Jorge, Zack Littell, and Fernando Romero. They could also utilize Phil Hughes once Hughes is healthy in the 4/5 spots.
However, outside of the Rockies, that method has not been successful in recent history. Finding a front line starter would be an ideal fit, and that is where the team is focusing its attention in the free agent market.
Right-handed power
The Twins have developed plenty of excellent young hitting, and the lineup performance from August to the end of the season showed just how dynamic that lineup can be.
However, right now the Twins really only have Miguel Sano among their young core that is right-handed with power. Brian Dozier is right handed, but he’s also a free agent after 2018, so relying on his power long-term is not something that would be wise roster construction.
The Twins have given Kennys Vargas many opportunities at this point, and he’s now out of options, so if he isn’t in the starting lineup, he’ll be a pretty inflexible bench piece, which has very little value.
On the other hand, Mitch Garver made his way to the major leagues last season, and his ability to catch and hit well could allow the Twins to technically carry three catchers, but to have the ability to DH Garver or play him at first with some power from the right side.
Bullpen depth
In depth, the Minnesota Twins have it in their bullpen. Many analysts consistently referred to the Twins bullpen as the “no names” as they worked their way to the Wild Card in 2017. While there are plenty of exciting young arms in the bullpen, the team certainly could use an arm or two that they could be sure would give them consistent quality innings.
Internally, there really is not that guy available outside of one of the minor league options, like Tyler Jay or J.T. Chargois really taking off and taking a spot with their high pedigree.
So with those holes, who would the Twins possibly move if they were to trade to fill those spots?
Next: Trade chips
Minnesota Twins trade chips
In looking to fill the holes on the roster, the team could choose to move some of their organizational depth in order to upgrade the roster rather than pursuing just free agents.
Vargas
The Twins have given Kennys Vargas many opportunities to claim a starting spot on the roster. Some would say that he’s not been given a true, unabated shot at the starting job, but he’s had 175 or more plate appearances in 4 straight seasons, yet he’s put up a 102 OPS+ and struck out 29.2% of the time while slashing .252/.311/.437.
The Twins would have a hard time trusting a “power bat” that has put up a slugging that low for a full-time position. That said, Vargas has been shown to have some positive launch angle statistics and is able to provide power from both sides of the plate, so he could have some trade value.
Arbitration guys
The Twins tendered a contract to all six of their players who were arbitration-eligible, but that does not mean that they’ll open 2018 on the major league roster.
Kyle Gibson had an impressive finish to the 2017 season, and he turned plenty of heads. If the Twins were able to snag multiple starting pitchers, they very well might choose to shop Gibson for some salary relief in a likely package deal.
Ryan Pressly has always had a very good repertoire of pitches but not gotten the results one would expect until the second half of 2017. The Twins could utilize him as a piece of a package deal as well.
While the team could possibly entertain a move for Eduardo Escobar in the right deal, most likely of the hitters that are arbitration-eligible that could be traded is outfielder Robbie Grossman, coming off arguably his best season as a pro, showing an ability to be a 4th outfielder or low-level starter in the outfielder.
Prospect depth
The Twins are blessed with exceptional depth in their upper minors in both starting pitchers and relief pitchers, which could be very good trade chips. More attractive, however, could be the tremendous depth in middle infielders that the Twins have.
In the rankings we had at Puckett’s Pond in October, we had 4 middle infielders in the top 15 ranked players, and new signee Yunior Severino would likely figure into that as well, which really gives the system depth at an area where most teams are desperate to have any level of depth.
Big chip
Certainly there are plenty who would be upset that this guy is even mentioned, but with a future 9-figure contract that the Minnesota Twins likely won’t be able to give him after 2018 when he becomes a free agent, making a move with Brian Dozier would not be a crazy decision by the Twins this offseason, if the return was right.
Dozier is one of the most popular players in Minnesota, and he’s incredibly impressive as a team ambassador for certain, but the team is, after all, a business, and the Twins may have to make the tough business decision to move Dozier.
Now, if they choose not to fill their roster holes via trade, what players would they be aiming for?
Next: On the radar