With Correa gone, what’s next for Twins?
MINNEAPOLIS — Well, what occurs now?
The Twins bucked all franchise precedent with an earnest pursuit of Carlos Correa on the very prime of this free-agent market — however in spite of everything that, the celebrity shortstop who made an outsized influence on the group finally received’t return to the Upper Midwest, as Correa reportedly agreed to a 13-year, $350 million take care of the Giants that can make him the cornerstone and face of the franchise in San Francisco for the subsequent decade-plus.
If the Twins have been ever going to make a splash of that magnitude, the celebs had seemingly aligned for Correa to be that associate.
Both sides stated all the proper issues as they navigated a stopgap deal for the 2022 season, and Correa had nothing however optimistic issues to say about his expertise in Minnesota, exhibiting an openness to the group uncommon amongst free brokers of his caliber. He took an curiosity in creating youthful Twins. He and Byron Buxton grew shut. Teammates vigorously campaigned for his long-term return.
But the Giants finally swept the rug out from below the Twins with the fourth-largest assure in MLB historical past. The Twins reportedly provided near $285 million over 10 years, in response to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, greater than double the membership’s earlier free-agent data for years (4 for Josh Donaldson and Ervin Santana) and cash (Correa at $105.3 million).
But none of that can matter come Opening Day, as a result of the Twins have to maneuver ahead.
“I would say I don’t feel a specific pressure, [where] if there’s no Carlos, then there’s one other player we have to get,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey stated on the Winter Meetings. “We have to just be thoughtful and in the market and make sure we know what is moving. If we find there’s another good way to make our team better, we’re going to have that conversation.”
So, the place do they go from right here? Here are a number of choices.
The Twins nonetheless want a shortstop, and solely one of many prime skills on the place stays in the marketplace in Swanson, who was second amongst all MLB shortstops with 6.4 WAR final season, per FanGraphs. But this pursuit received’t be simple.
Unlike with Correa, the Twins don’t have a historical past with Swanson, and there’s no scarcity of shortstop-needy groups remaining, together with some doubtlessly huge spenders within the Cubs, Dodgers and Red Sox, who will likely be extra motivated than ever. Swanson hit .277/.329/.447 with 25 homers in 2022 and led all shortstops (by a large margin) with 21 outs above common, per Statcast — although he has solely posted two full seasons with an above-average OPS+.
Swanson will likely be getting into his age-29 season, and the market has been primed by 11-year offers for each Trea Turner (Phillies) and Xander Bogaerts (Padres) together with the eye-popping 13-year dedication to Correa, so the bidding might get costly. Still, he’s the one shot remaining for the Twins to make use of their payroll flexibility on an influence shortstop in free company.
2. Make a giant pitching transfer
The Twins aren’t any strangers to creating a giant pivot. That’s what they did forward of the 2020 season, once they missed on free-agent pitching and as an alternative made a four-year, $92 million dedication to Donaldson to additional complement an offense that appeared to want much less assist.
This is what it would come to, with Carlos Rodón and Nathan Eovaldi representing the 2 prime beginning pitchers remaining on a rapidly dwindling market. The Twins have already got a full rotation on paper, with depth to spare, however elevating the ceiling of the group with a pitcher like Rodón would clearly make a distinction — and a longer-term deal would make sense past 2023, with Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle and Kenta Maeda sure totally free company.
This possibility would additionally contain both taking part in Kyle Farmer at shortstop or signing one other stopgap on the place, then hoping that both Royce Lewis (coming off a second ACL surgical procedure) or Brooks Lee (drafted 5 months in the past) rapidly emerges because the clear long-term resolution — which leaves the Twins with a lot much less certainty within the quick time period.
3. Get aggressive on the commerce market
The Correa negotiations took lengthy sufficient that many of the prime free brokers have already signed elsewhere, and the Twins had way more flexibility this offseason in payroll than in commerce belongings, contemplating the variety of prospects they traded away within the final calendar yr to accumulate win-now items like Gray and Mahle.
With the farm system much less sturdy, the Twins might need to deal from areas of extra on their Major League roster, which principally exists within the nook outfield and amongst younger beginning pitchers. Max Kepler’s title continues to return up in commerce rumors, however a real influence addition would possibly require transferring a youthful participant like Trevor Larnach or Matt Wallner. Could defending batting champion Luis Arraez, who lacks a transparent defensive match, additionally enter that dialog?
