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Generally speaking, this has been an eventful and exciting offseason for Major League Baseball. We've seen plenty of big names sign in the first two months, including Juan Soto's historic deal with the Mets. Top free-agent starter Corbin Burnes recently inked a $210 million deal with Arizona. A huge proportion of the premier talents on the market have signed. We've also seen a number of big trades.
Through it all, the Twins have sat on the sidelines, with not one notable acquisition as we venture into the new year. The extent of their action has amounted to procedural arbitration moves, minor-league signings, a Rule 5 draft pick, and a modest trade. Whatever moves are still to come will likely be more focused on reducing payroll than adding impact talent.
While highly irritating, this is not surprising. Twins officials have made no secret of their intent to stay the course after slashing payroll by $30 million a year ago. What is more surprising is that the rest of the clubs in the AL Central have been so complacent in taking advantage of the situation.
Coming out of 2023, it looked like the Twins might be poised to reign over the Central, with a strong core and a lack of serious competition. They breezed to a division title with 87 wins, then broke through with a postseason advancement.
At a high point for the franchise, ownership abruptly chose to slash spending, which played a role in the tables completely turning for the AL Central in 2024. The division sent three teams to the playoffs, and none of them were the Twins. Two of those teams (Detroit and Cleveland) advanced, with the Guardians reaching the ALCS.
While aspiring to sell the team, the Pohlads reportedly remain committed to their payroll constraint. This theoretically opens the door for the rest of the division to build on its collective momentum and make a push. Instead, no one is doing much of anything, and spring training is officially closing in. It's a bit weird, but from the Twins' perspective, you sorta have to view it as a good thing.
In a recent piece at Bleacher Report, Kerry Miller named the AL Central as one of the biggest losers in this MLB offseason. "After producing multiple teams with winning records for the first time since 2020," Miller wrote, "this division might be taking a big step backward in 2025."
No kidding. The other teams have been more active in acquiring talent than the Twins, but that's not saying much. Let's take a look at each AL Central club and their offseason activity thus far. (Info courtesy of MLB's official tracker.)
Chicago White Sox
We knew the Sox weren't going to do much this offseason as they embark upon a rebuild from the wreckage of a 121-loss season. Their biggest move thus far has been trading away ace starter Garret Crochet to the Red Sox, shipping out the only remaining player on the team who was worth more than 2 fWAR last year. However, they've at least been active in adding players from a quantitative standpoint.
Departures:
- LHP Garrett Crochet (trade with Red Sox)
- RHP Michael Soroka (Nationals)
Additions:
- OF Austin Slater (1-year deal)
- OF Mike Tauchman (1-year deal)
- RHP Bryse Wilson (1-year deal)
- 3B Josh Rojas (reported 1-year deal)
- LHP Tyler Gilbert (trade with Phillies)
- C Matt Thaiss (trade with Cubs)
Kansas City Royals
Following a 30-win improvement, the Royals made a pretty emphatic early statement by re-signing free agent starter Michael Wacha to a three-year contract at the start of the offseason. Shortly after, they made a trade, sending pitcher Brady Signer to Cincinnati for second baseman Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Weimel.
Fine moves, sure. But hardly the assertive, all-in types of statements that some thought we might see from an emergent franchise angling for a new stadium and led by a young MVP runner-up.
Departures:
- RHP Brady Singer (trade with Reds)
Additions:
- 2B Jonathan India (trade with Reds)
- OF Joey Wiemer (trade with Reds)
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers are another team from which many were anticipating a bold and aggressive offseason. They've been big spenders in the past while in competitive windows, and at last they appeared to hoist theirs open last year with a magnificent second half that lifted them to the playoffs.
Alas, Detroit has made two notable moves through two-plus months of the offseason: signing infielder Gleyber Torres and right-hander Alex Cobb to a one-year contracts. Torres is a solid pickup with upside, though he's coming off a mediocre year in New York. Cobb made all of three starts last year and he's 37.
The Tigers have reportedly been in on some big fish, most prominently Alex Bregman, but thus far nothing has materialized and insiders express doubt that they'll do what it takes to get him, as much as A.J. Hinch might yearn for a reunion. I'm guessing Detroit has some type of splash in store but a lot of those opportunities have come off the table already.
The Tigers didn't lose anyone significant to free agency, and they have arguably the best starter in the league in Tarik Skubal. Still, they seem to be putting a lot of faith in their torrid second-half hot streak turning into legitimate sustained success with the pieces that have. Personally I have doubts.
Departures:
- None
Notable acquisitions:
- 2B Gleyber Torres (1-year deal)
- RHP Alex Cobb (1-year deal)
Cleveland Guardians
The defending division champs have predictably gone into right back into cost-control mode, which has been their M.O. much longer than it's been Minnesota's. Coming off a breakthrough campaign, the Guardians traded two of their top five position players in Josh Naylor and Andrés Giménez, shedding plenty of salary in the process.
These quality players brought back some solid young talent with long-term potential, of course. But do either of these trades make Cleveland a better team in 2025? Tough argument to make. I'm not sure re-signing Shane Bieber or bringing a 39-year-old Carlos Santana is going to be enough to offset the losses of those two veteran regulars along with the regression looming for a team that outperformed expectations thanks to a historically great bullpen.
Departures:
- LHP Matthew Boyd (Cubs)
- RHP Alex Cobb (Tigers)
- 2B Andrés Giménez (trade with Blue Jays)
- RHP Nick Sandlin (trade with Blue Jays)
- RHP Eli Morgan (trade with Cubs)
- 1B Josh Naylor (trade with D-backs)
Additions
- C Austin Hedges (re-signed; 1 year-deal)
- RHP Shane Bieber (re-signed; 1-year deal)
- 1B Carlos Santana (1-year deal)
- RHP Luis L. Ortiz (trade with Pirates)
- RHP Slade Cecconi (trade with D-backs)
The Twins Are Keeping Pace with the Pack
The fact that the AL Central division as a whole has been standing mostly idle this offseason does not excuse Minnesota's decision to stand still completely. If anything, it underscores the lost advantage they could be gaining if the front office were afforded the flexibility to address a couple areas of need meaningfully.
However, fears that the rest of the division would push their chips in and start distancing themselves from a stagnant Twins team have not been realized, and it's not clear they will be. Say what you will about ownership's effort level, but if we're viewing the matter strictly through the lens of payroll, Minnesota's been trying harder than the rest of the AL Central for the past seven years and it looks like that might be the case once again.
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