The Minnesota Twins are in pursuit of starting pitching and recently there of been a few more rumblings of how the market is developing.
The Minnesota Twins front office has made it evident that they would like to upgrade their rotation from 2017 as they move into 2018. From the start of the offseason, many started drawing a line that connected the Twins to Yu Darvish based off of the relationship he has with Twins GM Thad Levine. The heat was then turned up on the Darvish-Twin rumors when the Twins front office came right out and said they have made Darvish their offseason priority.
The Twins have also been connected to trades for several other pitchers. Those rumors are headlined by the Tampa Bay Rays Chris Archer, but also includes others like Gerrit Cole and Jake Odorizzi. To this point, nothing has happened for the Twins as far as starting pitching additions outside of the signing of Michael Pineda who will miss most of 2018 as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
As every fan waits on the edge of their seats for any more of a sense of what is happening or for an actual move to be made, this week some more rumors have trickled out. One piece of information came from the Twitter account of Darren Wolfson:
Probably not surprising: It’s the sense of those close to Cobb, Lynn, etc. that the #MNTwins are waiting out the Darvish market before circling back on any of those guys. Trade talk continues too. But my hunch now is w/ so many FA starters still in play, that they can land one.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) January 2, 2018
This tweet confirms that the Twins are still keeping Darvish as their priority free agent target. It also confirms that the Twins have continued to keep some contact with Alex Cobb, Lance Lynn, and maybe some others. It may be nothing but it is slightly interesting that Jake Arrieta is not mentioned here.
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Bob Nightengale reported on what may be holding up Darvish or Arrieta from signing a deal. A piece of information that is important since those two pitchers hold up any movement it seems for that second tier of pitchers. Nightengale reports that both pitchers are likely waiting to see if they can get a team to give them a sixth or seventh year on a deal.
Another question has been raised is whether the Twins view signing a free agent starting pitcher or trading for one more beneficial for the club. The answer to that question may not be truly out there, but in his mailbag piece, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com gives us his take on the situation. Bollinger believes the Twins front office would prefer to sign a free agent, allowing them to hold on to some of their minor league assets. That isn’t a real shocker, but is interesting as it comes from a source somewhat close to the action.
To round out the rumors involving the Twins and starting pitchers. The Twins do have one hurdle yet to clear towards a deal with Darvish, a meeting.
Told tonight that the #MNTwins front office and free agent starter Yu Darvish (@faridyu) are still trying to match schedules to meet face-to-face.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) January 3, 2018
Next: Twins reportedly make offer to Korean infielder
That is an update on some of the rumblings around the Twins and the starting pitching market. The market is still moving dreadfully slow, but these nuggets of information hopefully at least give some satisfaction to any starting pitcher cravings you are having.