Twins did fair. They need one of two things. Either a great outfield bat and or a true ace. Free agents would be hard to deal with because of cost. They probably won't spend more than 10 to 12 million more at most. There are only certain things that they could try. Trade away enough  players we feel we don't need to free up cash for a high profile player. Or do like you say and wait till the trade deadline. Then we could see . But that means we lose half a season without that star. Too many things can happen by the deadline. A novel idea is to take a page out of the Dodgers book. Find the star we want and defer some money for the first few years of the contract . I know people will say where will the defered money come from? Do you really think both Buxton and Correa will both be on the team in 3 or 4 years? Very doubtful. With the right management we could have several million available at that time.

I think given the absence (until now) of a TV deal, the Twins did reasonably well.  I do feel like they ought to be able to either trade talent to acquire a quality starting pitcher, or they could sign a frustrated Free Agent starter to a one year deal.  I hope they do so.

Since the end of the Twins season in 2023, there has been unanimous agreement among TD writers and contributors, that the Twins most pressing offseason need is a #1 or #2 starting pitcher to replace one of the top-producing starting pitchers which the Twins have had in many years, Sonny Gray. Until that "unanimously agreed upon goal"  has been achieved, no matter what else the Twins have done, or will do, during this off season, I deem the off season to have been a failure. And I say "Peanuts!" I would trade all of the current 2023-2024 offseason Twins' acquisitions plus lots of money, for 3 years more of Sonny Gray or 3 years of Blake Snell. As my high school wrestling coach used to say when we were not being aggressive on the mat and were just messing around, slapping our opponents' hands: "Peanuts! Gentlemen the fans are buying peanuts while you are not concentrating on your goals and messing around." 

I agree. Stop messing around! If ya wanna do something this year we need a #1 or #2 Starter. Bottom line. Pitching wins playoff games!!!

2 hours ago, PaulC said:

I agree. Stop messing around! If ya wanna do something this year we need a #1 or #2 Starter. Bottom line. Pitching wins playoff games!!!

 

And then it didn't...

If we sign MAT, or some other run of the mill CF, then it shows me that they have little regard if any for Martin. Time to let Martin play if he is any good. If he's not then lets stop pretending we have a top prospect.

I would guess no TOR to start the season. They are going with what we have. It would have been fun to see someone slide in behind Lopez but it is what it is.

Agree, let Martin play. I think he will do very well. Still, not signing a RH LF bat like Gurriel is going to be their downfall. The Sp & Bullpen should be OK. Santana basically fills the Solano role. Not enough. I guess Wallner plays LF this year. 

Castro, Farmer, Santana make an excellent utility group like last year.

But not addressing their two major needs sure looks like treading water and pissing away yet another window of opportunity. Buxton, Correa,  Kiriloff & Wallner &  a SP are going to have to have career seasons for them to have any chance.

On 2/6/2024 at 2:34 PM, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Since the end of the Twins season in 2023, there has been unanimous agreement among TD writers and contributors, that the Twins most pressing offseason need is a #1 or #2 starting pitcher to replace one of the top-producing starting pitchers which the Twins have had in many years, Sonny Gray. Until that "unanimously agreed upon goal"  has been achieved, no matter what else the Twins have done, or will do, during this off season, I deem the off season to have been a failure. And I say "Peanuts!" I would trade all of the current 2023-2024 offseason Twins' acquisitions plus lots of money, for 3 years more of Sonny Gray or 3 years of Blake Snell. As my high school wrestling coach used to say when we were not being aggressive on the mat and were just messing around, slapping our opponents' hands: "Peanuts! Gentlemen the fans are buying peanuts while you are not concentrating on your goals and messing around." 

Agree. The number of posts and comments suggesting one or another trade or signing has been nonstop. Seems like everyone (myself included) chimed in. Thing is, the Twins more or less stated a cut in payroll and spent months trying for this or that trade. Sometimes, it pays to wait but it looked like there was a deadline, thus the trade. There have been veiled comments about the roster being set for reporting. I don't think anyone should expect any more transactions of note. It is what it is.

"The Twins freed up just enough payroll space to sign Carlos Santana to a 1 year 5.25 million deal.  This is a solid depth move in that he is a good defensive 1B and he is a solid if unspectacular hitter.  He is a prototypical Twins hitter in the mold of a 20 HR hitter with 80 RBI potential and the Twins like to fill their lineup with these types of hitters because of their lower cost but with a full line up of hitters like this the lineup becomes stacked and that's how they remain a top 5 in the league offense year after year.  He also hits LHP well and is a switch hitter and can fill in as a DH as well.  lots of subtlety improvements and benefits with this signing.  (I still prefer JD Martinez) but Santana is an upgrade and if Miranda tears the cover off the ball and forces his way into Santana's role, we can trade Santana easily enough as well.   "

Santana plays First Base, not Third Base where Miranda plays, poorly.

Santana will probably be the starting First Baseman as he is  better at it than Kirilloff; Miranda is not even in the calculation.

Spring Training may determine who plays First most.