Minnesota Twins: Holiday Wish List for the rest of the Offseason

The holiday season is in full swing, but the Minnesota Twins have been very stingy in giving their fans gifts this offseason. After missing out on the big name free-agents like Carlos Correa and Carlos Rodon, they’ve only made two additions, and the 2023 offseason is starting to look less merry and bright and more scary with fright.

The team has a good enough rotation, bullpen, and lineup to be competitive, but only if everyone stays perfectly healthy and performs to their ability, but we already know that won’t happen. Instead, the team needs to make some additions to boost their depth and their talent level more than just Christian Vazquez and Joey Gallo.

With this in mind, we put together a sort of holiday wish list for the front office to help make the fans happy, prepare the team for contention in 2023, and avoid a disastrous offseason (like many before).

Making a holiday wish list for the Minnesota Twins to complete this offseason.

On this list, we didn’t put things that were overly unrealistic. I’m not looking for a Shohei Ohtani trade or a mega deal that nets the Twins a superstar. These are all realistic options that help fill the Twins’ remaining issues, so we’ll get started with one of the biggest.

Minnesota Twins Holiday Wish List Item No. 1: Sign Elvis Andrus to a one year deal.

After missing out on Carlos Correa, the Twins need a starting shortstop. Royce Lewis seems destined to be the guy after his incredible start to last season, but as we’ve mentioned before, he won’t be ready to start next season.

The team won’t let Jorge Polanco play short any more, and with Nick Gordon and Kyle Farmer best served as utility players to bolster the team’s paper thin depth, they still need a shortstop to man the position until Lewis returns. Enter Elvis Andrus.

Though he is mostly a shell of the player he was in his prime, Andrus is a great locker room leader, solid defender, and showed some offensive spark in his time in Chicago last year. If the Twins can find even a little bit of that here, he’s the perfect stopgap to hold the position over until Lewis can return.

If you’re not sold on Andrus, there’s always the trade market, but at this point the Twins shouldn’t be looking to give up assets to acquire a shortstop that probably is on the same par as Lewis. Grab Andrus (or Iglesias if you strike out on Andrus) and wait until July for Lewis to return.

Minnesota Twins Holiday Wish List Item No. 2: Trade at least one left-handed outfielder

The Twins only two offseason additions have come in the form of catcher Christian Vazquez and outfielder Joey Gallo. Vazquez made a lot of sense, as he filled an extremely important need, but Gallo (while I do like his power and glove) create an even more crowded outfield made up almost entirely of left-handed bats.

While designating Mark Contreras for assignment helped, the team still needs to move at least one more outfielder and possibly add a right-handed one in his place. At this point, that seems to almost certainly means trading Max Kepler.

The 29-year-old lefty has drawn a lot of trade interest over the past month, and despite a poor past couple of seasons, Kepler offers a lot in terms of defense and will benefit from the shift being banned.

He likely won’t be the centerpiece of a major trade, but he could definitely fetch a prospect or two, clear out some money, and most importantly add another roster spot for another bat, whether outfield or not.

Minnesota Twins Holiday Wish List Item No. 3: Add a right-handed bat

After moving Kepler and creating some wiggle room, the next addition should come in the form of a right-handed bat. Whether it be picking over what’s left in free agency or scooping one up in a trade, the team needs a lot of help in this category.

Luis Arraez, Alex Kirilloff, Nick Gordon, Trevor Larnach, Joey Gallo, and Matt Wallner are expected to see a good chunk of the innings at first base and in the outfield. Outside of Kyle Garlick, the team has no other right-handed bats to play those positions. The team could use an upgrade.

Guys like Trey Mancini (who can play first, corner outfield, and DH) and A.J. Pollock (who can play all three outfield positions) could fill that need well and maybe add some veteran leadership to a lineup that looks like it will be one of the youngest in baseball yet again.

If they go the trade route, they might be able to pull in an even bigger fish that that, but it’s evident that the lineup needs another bat to help replace Carlos Correa, and Kyle Farmer just isn’t going to cut it.

Minnesota Twins Holiday Wish List Item No. 5: Sign Andrew Chafin or another high-level reliever

The last need the Twins have is a very clear one: bullpen. In order for the Twins and Rocco Baldelli to operate their rotation by the numbers, the team needs more relievers. Almost every team in baseball likes to pull their starters after 5-6 innings, but the Twins struggle to do it because of how thin their bullpen in.

Jhoan Duran, Jorge Alcala, Jorge Lopez, and Griffin Jax should make up a fearsome foursome. Caleb Thielbar, Jovani Moran, and Josh Winder offer more talent. It’s a good group when everyone stays healthy, but they could still use one more arm.

The bullpen market isn’t very deep, with several of the best options already off the board, but there are still a few pitchers that could offer a big boost. Andrew Chafin has been one of the league’s best setup men for a while now and would solidify the rotation.

Aroldis Chapman could bring a legit closer that allows some flexibility in how Baldelli uses Duran (if he rebounds). Brad Hand would be fun to have back in Minnesota. Regardless of which specific player they add, the team has the cash to add anyone, and with not many options left, they shouldn’t be afraid of spending it.