What's on Twins' radar for Winter Meetings?

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The buzz around this week’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., will surely revolve around the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes, the competition for Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the big movers and shakers in the league -- but that’s not where the Twins’ focus will be as they look for ways to improve the roster that broke the playoff losing streak.

Instead, they face both financial constraints and the need to replace the lost production of AL Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray and veteran Kenta Maeda from a starting rotation that unquestionably fueled their 2023 success -- with both having signed early with other teams.

The importance of the baseball world descending on one location is perhaps de-emphasized in the era of text messaging and Zoom meetings, but the Twins can certainly use this time to feel out more of the trade market in person, given that’s where they’ve been most active over the past several offseasons (not counting, of course, two very notable Carlos Correa signings).

Perhaps Minnesota's trade last offseason of Luis Arraez for Pablo López could be the type of deal that comes to the forefront on a smaller scale -- taking away from an area of depth to address an area of need -- but there’s no obvious path forward for president of baseball operations Derek Falvey, general manager Thad Levine and their group, and they could lay the groundwork here and be responsive to the market as the offseason progresses.

Key events
• Sunday: HOF Contemporary Era ballot results released (Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson, Jim Leyland, Ed Montague, Hank Peters, Lou Piniella, Joe West and Bill White)

• Tuesday: Draft Lottery

• Wednesday: Rule 5 Draft

Club needs
This front office will never say no to more pitching depth, the importance of which became extremely clear during the Twins' run to the AL Central title, during which their rotation served as the anchor of the team. Gray is gone now, as are Maeda and Tyler Mahle (who didn’t factor into much of the season). Minnesota can still put together a five-man rotation on paper, but it often feels that’s not enough.

Most significant among the Twins' other needs is likely trying to find another Michael A. Taylor type of player who can serve as key insurance (and an everyday fill-in, if needed) for Byron Buxton, who never stepped foot in center field in '23. They also have needs at the right-handed sides of platoons at first base and in the corner outfield.

Potential trade candidates
The Twins have quite a few, and the direction of their offseason could revolve around which players they move for salary relief, which players they could add to fill holes in their MLB roster -- or both. Part of that is self-evaluation, and part of it is seeing which of their players are in demand.

In a market weak for middle infielders, Jorge Polanco could be an intriguing draw, especially since he has two years of control remaining and Minnesota has Edouard Julien and other top prospects ready to take over second base. Max Kepler’s name has come up in trade talks for years. Kyle Farmer was likely a borderline non-tender candidate, and the Twins could look for a way to move his salary in his final year of arbitration eligibility.

Prospects to know
The safest bets likely to impact the Twins in 2024 are organizational No. 20 prospect Austin Martin, who is more or less MLB-ready, and No. 2 prospect Brooks Lee, who shouldn’t be too far behind him. Martin came over from the Toronto organization as an infielder, but the Twins like his flexibility, and he could be a piece of the puzzle in center field as well as the middle infield. Lee, drafted as a shortstop, could offer versatility around the infield.

On the pitching side, keep an eye on David Festa (No. 9), who soared up the Twins’ prospect rankings and finished the year in Triple-A. He could become an option sooner rather than later, alongside Simeon Woods Richardson (No. 16), who is still finishing his development.

Rule 5 Draft
It would be quite a surprise to see the Twins select a player in the Rule 5 Draft. The Falvey-Levine front office made its last (and only) Rule 5 selection back in 2017, and their preferred active-roster churn using all 26 spots would make it very difficult for them to keep a fringy player on the roster throughout an entire season.

Minnesota largely took care of business with its Rule 5 protections. Former first-rounder Aaron Sabato was left unprotected, but it would be a surprise to see him go. A team looking for a fourth outfielder with speed could perhaps take DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who had a breakout season across Double-A and Triple-A in '23.

Burning question
How can the Twins walk the tightrope of improving upon their 2023 performance -- featuring an AL Central title and a run to the ALDS -- given their self-professed constraints of likely needing to trim down on their payroll for '24? It’s not the strongest division, but Minnesota certainly wasn't without its flaws last season -- and that’s before the Twins lost their pitching depth and key role players on offense.