Falvey on offseason, rounding out roster

February 11th, 2021

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins' recent flurry of moves has given them meaningful additions everywhere from the starting rotation to the bullpen to shortstop to designated hitter, putting Minnesota's roster in much better shape entering 2021 than it looked a month ago.

The club feels good enough about those major moves to indicate that its major offseason work on the free-agent market is likely over.

"The heavy lifting, I think, is done," president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said Wednesday, later adding: "We’ve gotten a lot of our significant expenditures done, but we are in conversations maybe with some ways to round out the roster or other potential fits at a lower dollar amount. The big ticket items for our group, I think, we have completed at this point."

The most significant takeaway from that statement is that the Twins aren't likely to complete their starting rotation with another major free-agent addition, which would seem to rule out a reunion with Jake Odorizzi or the addition of another similar caliber of pitcher such as James Paxton. Odorizzi had expressed an openness to return to Minnesota following his injury-plagued 2020 campaign, which completed a three-year tenure with the Twins.

Instead, the Twins appear content to pencil Randy Dobnak into their fifth rotation spot for now, with the potential for some competition from other young internal options, non-roster invitees or other minor signings between now and Opening Day.

"I’m excited about the starting group that we have for sure," Falvey said. "I feel like we have some good depth, some young guys coming, guys we’re excited about, guys we didn’t get a chance to see as much last year in addition to what we’ve been able to add. ... We’ll have some other conversations about other potential guys as well, and non-roster fits and others that will compete in that space, but I feel really good about our pitching right now."

As the roster currently stands, the top four in the rotation are set with José Berríos, Kenta Maeda, Michael Pineda and J.A. Happ, while Devin Smeltzer and Lewis Thorpe could compete with Dobnak for the fifth spot. Jhoan Duran and Jordan Balazovic, the top two pitching prospects in the organization, are also likely to enter the starting conversation at some point this season, and fellow Top 30 prospects Dakota Chalmers and Bailey Ober are also available as starting depth on the 40-man roster.

Dobnak was a mainstay in the Twins' Major League rotation throughout 2020, before he struggled towards the end of the season and was optioned off the roster. Still, his 4.05 ERA and 3.96 FIP from last year would provide more than adequate production from a No. 5 starter, if he were to win back the role. It is worth noting that Thorpe is out of Minor League options, meaning he'll need to be exposed to waivers to move him off the active roster.

This doesn't rule the Twins out from continuing to round out their roster with smaller signings, particularly in the bullpen, where there could still be some depth need. Even the club's more significant additions in Hansel Robles (one year, $2 million) and Alex Colomé (one year, $5 million with a mutual option, pending a physical, sources told MLB.com) weren't massive expenditures, and the market for even experienced relief options has revolved primarily around one-year deals this offseason.

Keep in mind, too, that the Twins haven't shied away from making moves during Spring Training. Both Odorizzi and Lance Lynn arrived during camp in 2018, while more recently, Marwin Gonzalez was signed off the free-agent market during Spring Training '19.

"Until you really get to Opening Day, I think we’ve learned that, certainly, your team isn’t really complete or finished," Falvey said. "Even at that point, you’re worried about your depth and who’s going to help you going forward, and what’s the next wave or players in the event of injury."