Dead Of Winter

Just outside the nation's capitol, the Hot Stove is fired up at baseball's Winter Meetings. The biggest bombshell of the offseason dropped on Tuesday when the White Sox shipped ace Chris Sale to Boston in exchange for Yoan Moncada, arguably the game's best prospect.

The Minnesota Twins, however, have yet to take part in the festivities.

The biggest Twins-related news to emerge recently has involved organizational housekeeping. Last week James Rowson was announced as the team's new hitting coach, and this week Minnesota shook up the scouting department with a pair of promotions.

Outwardly, the front office has not been especially active in its roster construction efforts. There are reports of discussions between the Twins and Dodgers regarding Brian Dozier, but no indications of anything imminent. Minnesota hasn't been meaningfully connected to any free agents of note.

This is reflective of the general state of affairs. Right now, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are still amidst the process of getting their bearings. Hell, they just met Dozier in person for the first time. They are too busy gaining familiarity with the organization they've inherited to be fully focused on meeting with agents or engaging in constant trade talks. The Twins moved quickly on Jason Castro, because doing so was necessary to lock up the coveted catcher, but now there is little need for urgency.

The team is wise not to rush a Dozier trade and clearly the knockout offer hasn't yet come. They're also better off waiting out free agency for values now that they've addressed their most blatant need. Plus, they need to plan around one roster spot being occupied by whomever they select in Thursday's Rule 5 draft.

In dealing away Sale, the White Sox have apparently committed to a blow-up rebuild, with reports of Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier and Jose Abreu now being on the block. Some will look at this as the path the Twins should have taken, and maybe still should take. After all, the Sox lost 19 fewer games than Minnesota this year, and appeared far closer to contention.

By taking a step backward for the moment, they are positioning themselves for a full thrust push in a few years. I don't think the Twins would necessarily be mimicking that approach by trading Dozier – their offense can sustain his loss and they'd likely be getting MLB-ready pitching back. However, if they were to deal Ervin Santana, I believe that would be much more of a step toward building for the future at the expense of 2017.

Up to this point, we've heard no rumors of Santana being shopped, despite what is clearly a very receptive market for starting pitching. That might change, but it feels unlikely. One factor to account for is Paul Molitor's status as a lame duck manager. By all accounts the new CBO and GM have been working closely with the Hall of Famer, and they're surely empathetic to Molitor's desire to lead a rebound and keep his job.

Whether he can do so remains to be seen. But something tells me the front office won't do much to hinder him. Their hesitance to part with Dozier, along with their evident lack of interest in making Santana available, only underscores this.

Falvey sat with Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds for an interview on MLB Network earlier this week and it's certainly worth watching if you'd like to get a read on the new Twins baseball prez.

Want to play the role of Twins general manager? Check out our free-to-use "You're The GM" offseason tool and build your own Twins roster!