DALLAS -- The Twins didn’t arrive at this week’s Winter Meetings expecting to do much. Still, they left with a few subtle Minor League bullpen pickups, signing Huascar Ynoa and Rule 5 Draft pick Eiberson Castellano. Their bigger work will come further into the offseason, but these Meetings were about laying the groundwork, particularly to see if there’s any match in potential trades.

As president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said, the Twins are in wait-and-see mode but ready to act. They like the young core they’ve assembled but need to be prepared to put talent around it.

“We’re having more conversations,” Falvey said Monday. “I think the more the free-agent market progresses and some things fall off there, the more likely it is that it picks up on the trade market. It’s just rare in my experience that the trade market is the first to go. Usually, a few free-agent dominoes fall, and then you start the trade market conversation. That typically happens after the Winter Meetings.

“We’re having a lot of dialog around that at this stage. That’s probably our primary focus while we’re here, just making sure we’re connecting with teams about if their needs are shifting based on different free-agent dynamics that have either occurred or feel like they’re about to occur with different players.”

Thus, what’s next for the Twins is similar to what their to-do list looked like coming in:

BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS

1. First base: Carlos Santana remains a free agent, and the Twins have left the door open for bringing him back. If he signs elsewhere, they’ll have to figure out who can fill Santana’s shoes. Edouard Julien and Jose Miranda are in-house options, but both play primarily elsewhere around the infield.

2. Right-handed bat: This hasn’t changed. The Twins have the flexibility of looking at options at various positions thanks to the versatility of Willi Castro, Austin Martin and even Royce Lewis. But with Kyle Farmer and Manuel Margot gone, manager Rocco Baldelli and the front office will have to weigh how much platooning they want to do around young left-handed hitters.

3. Lefty relief: Caleb Thielbar is a free agent, and Steven Okert is an Astro, leaving Kody Funderburk as Minnesota's main returning southpaw. They could use depth to deal with the left-handed hitting in the AL Central, though that could wait until late in the offseason.

RULE 5 DRAFT

Castellano was the Phillies’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2024. The 23-year-old Venezuelan right-hander struck out 136 batters over 103 2/3 innings to go with a 6-5 record and 3.99 ERA over 22 games between High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading. His 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings was the highest rate of his career. He’ll try to find a spot in the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever, but the Twins hope he can develop into a starter long-term.

“[He] took a really big step forward in the Phillies organization this past year,” general manager Jeremy Zoll said. “Sitting around 95 miles an hour, touching 97, really good curveball, gets a ton of swing-and-miss. All really stood out to our group.”

GM’S BOTTOM LINE

“We’re in wait-and-see mode, but we want to make sure we’re ready to act on anything that is going to happen," Falvey said.