Rockies hire prized former Twins scout who was part of early offseason budget cuts

An overarching theme -- or more accurately a cloud hanging over everyone's head -- this offseason for the Minnesota Twins has been budgetary concerns. The team slashed its playroll back in November due to ongoing TV rights drama and the fact that the Twins don't have a deal in place for the upcoming season.

That's expected to change very soon, but the result has been concerns over lost future revenue that has given an lready frugal franchise an excuse to hide in its financial shell. Luckily it's been a slow market this year, but the Twins have gotten their ears boxed by other teams in a similar position and it hasn't exactly inspired much hope among fans.

Minnesota's anemic approach to the offseason meant watching free agents like Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda exit stage left, and sitting out the pursuit of mid-tier additions like Hunter Renfroe, Marcus Stroman, Jack Flahrety, and Michael Wacha.

It feels like the sort of offseason where the Twins could have made any number of those players key additions, but instead waited until this week to make a big move.

Whether the Twins would have actually been in on any of those players is up for interpretation, but other teams are no doubt benefiting from how Minnesota is operating. The Cardinals signed Gray, Detroit added Maeda, and the Royals have been cleaning up Twins-esque signings all winter.

Now the Colorado Rockies are going to have to send out a Thank You card to the Twins for gifting them some perfect personnel.

Rockies hire longtime Twins scout who was part of early offseason budget cuts

Billy Milos might not be a name that rings a ton of bells across Twins Territory, but the players he's brought to Minnesota might. Milos worked as a top pro scout for the team over the last 29 years and helped bring in players like Johan Santana, Pat Neshek, and Randy Dobank.

He's had a keen eye for unheralded talent over the years, but he was shown the door back in November due to the Twins need to trim the budget. Now the Rockies are bringing him in to try and help grow their farm system.

According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Rockies and Milos agreed to a deal this week and the overwhelmingly positive reaction is a bit of a sting for the Twins.

Milos isn't the first non-roster loss the Twins suffered this offseason. Boston poached a top pitching coach from Minnesota's system, adding Justin Willard as the Red Sox Director of PItching. They also tried to hire away Derek Falvey, but ultimately failed to do so.

It's a feather in the cap of Minnesota that so many teams are looking at pieces within the machine to try and steal for themselves, but it also highlights how critical this next season will be. The Twins experienced as great of late season success as we've seen since 2002, but the entire offseason has been marred by inactivity.

In addition to not improving the roster, the Twins are now dealing with key administrative losses like Willard and Milos, and it's only puts more pressure on everyone still in the building to try and find a way to nagivate the path ahead.

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