The Minnesota Twins haven’t had much action over the first four months of the offseason but the drumbeat is getting louder.
While reports have circulated over salary dump candidates to a former Cy Young Award runner-up in the past 24 hours, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is the latest to believe that talks are stirring into motion, telling KSTP’s Darren Wolfson he expects several moves to be made before Opening Day.
“Rocco did tell me…he anticipates plural moves before…let’s just say Opening Day,” Wolfson said during an episode of SKOR North’s Minnesota Sports with Mackey and Judd on Thursday. “Not singular, but moves. He didn’t promise me it’s a first baseman. He didn’t promise me it’s a righty-bat that can play some center field. But he does anticipate multiple moves to take place over the next handful of weeks.”
Twins seeking first baseman, right-handed outfield bat in trade talks
The Twins still haven’t signed a major league free agent this offseason and their moves have been limited to minor league deals and a pair of trades that acquired infielder Mickey Gasper and catching prospect Diego Cartaya. But as Spring Training has approached, several reports have indicated talks have picked up, falling in line with Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey’s tendency to strike in late January.
While Dan Hayes reported the Twins talked to the San Diego Padres about a trade involving Chrisitan Vázquez, no deal is imminent. Although payroll restrictions also hang over the team, Falvey also sounded optimistic while speaking at the Baseball Old Timers Hot Stove League annual banquet on Wednesday.
“The reality of the baseball offseason is it feels like each year I come here, there’s a lot more ahead of us than behind us,” Falvey said via the Minnesota Star Tribunes Bobby Nightengale. “We’ve made trades,and acquisitions in February and March. That’s just the way baseball works these days. Ultimately, I feel like it’s the midway point to the offseason. We have a lot more work to do.”
Nightingale suggests some familiar names as Chris Paddack, Vázquez and Willie Castro are rumored salary dump candidates. But he also cautioned that none of the three are expected to net a significant return in a trade.
Wolfson added the Twins are looking for a first baseman and a right-handed outfield bat while floating out the names of Ryan Mountcastle of the Baltimore Orioles and Jake Myers of the Houston Astros as opposed to free agent options such as Michael A. Taylor or Harrison Bader.
It remains to be seen whether these talks will translate into an actual deal. But the buzz is more than Twins fans have heard through the first four months of the offseason. For what it’s worth, Falvey admitted trades are harder to come by and it could lead to the Twins having a largely familiar team – even if their manager is expecting something else.
“I like the team we have,” Falvey said. “I like a lot of the group we have. Obviously, you’re going to get hit on certain players and there are going to be some interesting conversations that come up that you weren’t anticipating. But I really like the group we have. I’d love to find ways to add to it if we can. Right now, it just really hasn’t happened.”