With pitchers and catchers set to report to Fort Myers in less than a month, the Minnesota Twins still haven't made a meaningful roster move.
The Twins have made excatly one free agent signing, adding former Kansas City Royals reliever josh Staumont on a classic low-risk, high-upside deal. In fact, those are the only contracts Minnesota has handed out, and they're more akin to buying lottery tickets than roster-building moves.
It's been hammered into the heads of every Twins fan at this point, but the whole ordeal with lost revenue from Diamond Sports Group going bankrupt has thrown a wrench in things if not wrecked Minnesota's entire offseason plan. The franchise is historically frugal, but it has been put in a unqiue bind thanks to there being no television deal and no money to add to the payroll.
That's resulted in a reduction in spending, but doesn't mean there aren't moves to be made. SInce November we've been waiting to hear where Jorge Polanco will be traded, as he and guys like Max Kepler and Kyle Farmer are currency for a team so strapped for cash.
As it turns out, we might have to wait a while to hear anything.
Twins might not trade Jorge Polanco until after Opening Day
Twins insider Dan Hayes dove into the offseason situation as it stands now, and detailed how the front office is going to remain patient, even if that potentially means not trading Polanco -- or anyone -- until the season begins.
"Multiple team sources said the Twins won’t simply dump the salaries of Polanco, who’s set to earn $10.5 million this season with a $12 million club option for 2025, or Farmer, who avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $6.3 million contract earlier this month," Hayes wrote. "The Twins instead are looking to swap need for need, which means the club could head to spring training or even into the season with one too many infielders."
That doesn't mean the Twins will wait until the season to trade Polanco, but it reinforces the idea that the team doesn't have to rush into anything. Having Polanco on the Opening Day roster has always been one of the many ways this offseason plays out, and the Twins would be absolutely fine if that happened.
Even with a logjam of infielders, the Twins telegraphing that they won't be goaded into a trade simply to make one is huge. Patience is a virtue the front office has used to pull off meaningful moves in the past, such as waiting until the end of last January to trade for Pablo Lopez or until March to acquire Sonny Gray in 2022.
Carlos Correa was a top free agent on the market and got handed the biggest contract in franchise history, but that didn't happen until three months after the season ended.
The point is, the Twins made their bones by waiting things out, and they've established the sort of endurance that suggests they'll hold their cards as long as they have to in order to do what's best for the team's future.