Creativity to drive Twins' offseason goals

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What does the Twins’ road map to this winter look like?

As president of baseball operations Derek Falvey spoke with media at the General Managers Meetings in San Antonio on Tuesday, he obviously mentioned the need to move on from the 12-27 finish that plummeted the Twins out of contention in 2024 -- but he also indicated that much of their assessment of their core group indicates those players will pave a large part of the path forward.

At the same time, he noted the uncertainties around the specifics in how those pieces will fit together -- and if that picture is to be shaken up, he acknowledges the math of the situation. If his budget remains largely similar to that of 2023 -- and that’s with the backdrop of a potential ownership sale -- there will need to be give and take.

“The math is fair, right?” Falvey said. “Like, I think that we're going to have to be creative if we want to make a lot of tweaks to the group. But in some ways, I do believe that the group we have as constituted is a really good team, a really competitive team.”

Falvey described the Twins as approaching the offseason from a “pretty good baseline” of a full group of starting pitchers that they hope will be bolstered by a healthy Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack, in addition to a bullpen anchored by Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax and Cole Sands.

Matt Wallner will be in place to step in for the departing Max Kepler -- and with Byron Buxton having surpassed 100 games last season for the first time since 2017, they hope to have a blueprint from which to build on in ‘25.

As for specifics? It will depend on how creative they can get.

“From a financial standpoint, you know, that's our level of commitment right now that we have to look at,” Falvey said. “We have to remain creative through the offseason. That might mean exploring trades. That might mean looking at ways that we can reconfigure some spots, so we can't rule anything out.”

For one, they have internal options like Jose Miranda or Edouard Julien to slide to the now vacant first-base spot due to Carlos Santana’s free agency and Alex Kirilloff’s retirement -- but Falvey said the Twins are “not ruling out” a reunion with Santana, the club’s '24 home run leader and AL Gold Glove Award winner at his position.

How will Louie Varland presumably transfer to the bullpen as the Twins look to replace Caleb Thielbar, along with a host of acquisitions made ahead of the ‘24 season that didn’t work out? Falvey said that such positional switches and specifics, too, would depend on how the offseason shook out.

But for the Twins to have that level of flexibility, trades seem like a necessity, with Christian Vázquez, Paddack and perhaps Willi Castro standing out due to the salaries they would presumably free up in trades. The Twins could obviously seek such moves for financial flexibility or, particularly in Castro’s case, bring back MLB pieces to fill their needs if they find a willing suitor on a need-for-need deal.

But the bottom line, as always, is creativity -- the mantra that Falvey has stressed over the last few offseasons.