3 questions for Twins to answer by Spring Training

This story was excerpted from Do-Hyoung Park’s Twins Beat publication. To learn the total publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it frequently in your inbox.

Let’s check out three questions going through the Twins forward of Spring Training.

1. Which items of the prevailing core are tradeable?
The free agent market is now largely depleted, and after the Twins set their sights excessive with a full-throated pursuit of Carlos Correa, they’ve (to date) emerged with solely Christian Vázquez and Joey Gallo — hardly the affect offers they possible envisioned to maneuver the needle.

There has been some acknowledgement of the concept that trades involving the Major League roster will possible be essential to accumulate affect expertise, contemplating what number of prospects the Twins have lately traded away for win-now items like Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle and Jorge López. Who on the roster may characterize an appropriate value for affect additions elsewhere on the group?

Even earlier than Gallo’s addition, it appeared possible that the Twins might deal from their left-handed nook outfield depth, the place Max Kepler has lengthy been a reputation speculated in commerce talks. But higher-ceiling depth like Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner additionally exists there. How deep will the Twins be prepared to go in a deal for, say, top-tier pitching? (And that’s to say nothing of Luis Arraez, coming off the AL batting title.)

This entrance workplace has proven creativity in such offers within the current previous, as when the Twins traded Mitch Garver to the Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez — however it’s a fragile stability of give and take, notably coming off a troublesome season.

2. Is Farmer a workable resolution at shortstop?
The Twins in the end missed out not solely on Correa, but in addition on the three different shortstops who represented the consensus high of the market on the place (Dansby Swanson, Xander Bogaerts and Trea Turner). Their commerce with the Reds for Kyle Farmer gave them an possibility, however supervisor Rocco Baldelli stated on the Winter Meetings that the Twins’ desire is for Farmer to stay defensively versatile.

Does that change now, when the Twins nonetheless have wants at shortstop, right-handed affect bats and presumably higher-end pitching — however a restricted pool of gamers from which to deal? President of baseball operations Derek Falvey couldn’t commit both means when requested if Farmer may very well be the beginning shortstop come Opening Day.

“I would say that as it stands today, with the way our current roster is, I would be shocked if this is exactly our current roster by the time we get to Spring Training,” Falvey stated. “So I would want to reserve the right to answer that specifically until we get closer to March.”

Farmer had a .716 OPS and 30 homers because the Reds’ main shortstop throughout the previous two seasons, so it might be a well-recognized position for him. But might the Twins nonetheless discover extra depth or goal an improve? They’ll must shortly determine that out.

3. How can they hold their gamers wholesome?
Regardless of the course of the offseason thus far, it was at all times the case that one of the vital outstanding pathways for the Twins to enhance upon their 78-84 report would come by getting extra from the core items they have already got.

They considered their collapse out of first within the AL Central in ‘22 as a poor reflection of the quality of their roster due to the rash of injuries, and that’s a part of why they employed veteran head athletic coach Nick Paparesta away from the Oakland A’s to carry recent management to the coaching employees.

This shall be a very pivotal season in that regard, because the Twins’ roster depends closely on gamers with previous and current harm considerations, from Kenta Maeda (Tommy John surgical procedure), Mahle (persistent shoulder points in ‘22), Jorge Alcala (coming off a misplaced season) and Jhoan Duran (one 12 months faraway from elbow troubles) on the pitching aspect to Byron Buxton, Arraez and Kirilloff among the many place group.

The Twins do have some prospect depth on the pitching aspect within the type of Josh Winder, Louie Varland and Simeon Woods Richardson to step in if essential, however the lineup loses a number of depth when Buxton and Kirilloff specifically aren’t obtainable — as was the case on the finish of final season. At a sure level, the Twins want these core gamers to point out they will, certainly, keep wholesome collectively, as a result of it’s powerful to contemplate them a core if they will’t stay intact.