We've officially reached the offseason, which means the hot stove is going to start heating up as the Winter Meetings approach.
Already rumors about what will happen this offseason are starting to fly, and front offices across baseball are starting to set in motion plans to hopoefully piece together a contending roster. In a season where the Texas Rangers spent their way to a World Series, more than a few teams might try to follow suit.
For the Minnesota Twins, the plan is to reinforce a roster that ended a 19-year playoff losing streak this October. It feels like the team is just a few pieces away from truly contending for a title, but that only makes this offseason even more important.
Rather than signing players, it sounds like the Twins will use positional depth to try and acquire new pieces. That's where the team picking up the option for Jorge Polanco comes into play. He's a top-tier player at his position and has another year of team control on his contract which makes him a valuable trade chip.
Both the White Sox and Tigers need help at second base, but it's very unlikely the Twins make a deal with either of those teams. Minnesota doesn't need to trade Polanco, so moving him within the division to a rival that could end up chasing the Twins over the next few years doesn't make a ton of sense.
That's the big crux here: Minnesota doesn't need to move Polanco this offseason. If he returns, he'll be a key member of the starting lineup and hopefully tap into the guy he was late in the season for longer stretches of the year. If the Twins do decide to use Polanco as a trade chip this offseason, a few teams make sense as potential landing spots.
Toronto Blue Jays
One possible destination is a team the Twins have done business with before when it comes to flipping a fan favorite. Jose Berrios was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2021, netting Minnesota Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson in return.
Could the Twins look to make another deal north of the border?
It's more likely that the Blue Jays look to add a third baseman given the internal options they have at second, but you never know. Polanco did spend some time at third this year, although the results were less than impressive and Minnesota moved Royce Lewis back as soon as it could.
That doesn't rule Polanco out as dual-position for Toronto, but it doesn't make him a slam dunk candidate either.