Could the Twins be close to pulling off another free agency miracle?

Just over a year ago the Minnesota Twins pulled off an absolute miracle and re-signed Carlos Correa after he had already agreed to two separate deals with two different teams.

We all know the wild journey Correa went on that brought him back to Minnesota, and the stars could be aligning for the team to pull off the same trick twice. Blake Snell is still on the market, and it seems the number of choices he has are dwindling by the day.

This week the New York Yankees had an injury scare with Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. He'll miss at least the first month of the season with an elbow issue, which created a situation that seemed tailor made to end Snell's free agency.

Instead the Yankees were used as leverage by the White Sox to move another starter -- Dylan Cease. Despite not having Cole and missing out on Cease, the Yankees are reportedly unlikely to sign Snell, even if the situation seems perfect for that very thing to happen.

That means two starter-needy teams are now out of the running for Snell. With Opening Day just two weeks away, the Twins might be able to once again jump in and stun everyone by signing a top free agent.

Twins could help Blake Snell finally end his free agency journey

Snell is coming off a dominant 2023 season in which he had a league-best 2.25 ERA and 182 ERA+. He also had a career-high 234 strikeouts in 180 innings of work. The Twins have Pablo Lopez locked in as the team's ace, but adding Snell at the front of the rotation would arguably give Minnesota the best one-two combo in the league.

It's more of a Severe Thunderstorm Watch than a Warning, but all of the elements are there for the Twins to swoop in and scoop up Snell on a decent deal. One thing working against this is Joe Pohlad declaring that the team won't spend $30 million on a free agent.

The good news is, Snell might not cost that much anymore.

At the start of the offseason it seemed like he was in for a monster deal, especially since he was coming off winning the NL Cy Young and pitchers like Sonny Gray were getting $75 million deals. Snell, who is 31-years-old but still an ace, was looking to be one of the top free agents to command a $300 million.

Cody Bellinger was another top free agent looking for that kind of money and didn't find it. After waiting all offseason, Bellinger ended up returning to the Chicago Cubs on what amounts to a one-year, $30 million deal.

That was a few weeks ago, which means that was the price a few weeks ago too. Snell isn't going to be signing for league minimum, but the clock is ticking for him to get on a roster in time for Opening Day which could drive his price down.

Here's another thing to consider in this little conspiracy fantasy -- Snell is repped by Scott Boras. Minnesota did business with Boras last offseason when it came to signing Correa, which was both a deal and a sort of favor. Given how gnarly the situation had become with his medicals, the Twins sort of did Boras a solid by agreeing to a deal that was still pricey but not unfair for Minnesota.

Could a similar situation be in store with Snell?

The Twins failed to replace Gray after he left for St. Louis, and a major gripe fans had was the lack of motivation to find a front-line starter. There was speculation the team would trade for a top starter, but that never ended up happening.

Now it could be that the reigning NL Cy Young winner falls right into Minnesota's lap to replace the AL runner-up. Teams like the Angels and Giants have been rumored to be landing spots for Snell, but until he signs it's foolish to not think about the possibility of the Twins sneaking in to once again poach a top free agent at a reasonable price.

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