Twins Video
Although the Winter Meetings kicked off on Sunday, there wasn’t any substantial action. Minnesota has yet to make a major-league move this offseason, but there are some storylines worth checking into.
Hall of Fame Takes Focus
While Joe Mauer is the primary reason for Minnesota fans to concern themselves with the National Baseball Hall of Fame this cycle, it was during Night One of the Winter Meetings that former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland found out he would be enshrined. Leyland managed 3,499 games during his career, and was a mainstay in the opposing dugout against Minnesota. He won a World Series with the Florida Marlins, and was named Manager of the Year on three separate occasions.
Although Leyland had enough votes to go in, fellow manager Lou Piniella came up just one shy. If you watched Ron Gardenhire get tossed by umpires over the years, it was Piniella who often came up as the gold standard for being given the heave-ho. Piniella also won a World Series and the same number of Manager of the Year awards.
When it comes to the player ballot, only eight have been added to the official tracker hosted by Ryan Thibodaux. Mauer has seen his name checked on five of them, with three coming through publicly revealed ballots. FanGraphs’s Jay Jaffe recently implored his fellow Baseball Writers Association of America members to do right by the Twins great.
Crew Makes it Official
Reported last week, Milwaukee Brewers top prospect Jackson Chourio’s eight-year extension became official on Sunday. That means he will be in center field on Opening Day, and it changes how they will construct their roster for 2024. Corbin Burnes has been a hot name to consider on the trade market, and if Minnesota is looking for options to replace Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda, he’d be among the best out there.
You can check out Brewer Fanatic to see thoughts on how the Brewers will handle the rest of their offseason, but it stands to reason that they will want to hold serve with the rest of the NL Central. Cincinnati has already agreed to deals with Nick Martinez and former Twins reliever Emilio Pagan. The Cardinals became Minnesota South from a pitching perspective, inking Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Gray.
Kepler to the Emerald City
As the night grew late on Sunday, Jerry Dipoto continued his magic and worked a trade. With Jarred Kelenic headed to the Atlanta Braves for pitching help, the Seattle Mariners found themselves with a hole in the outfield. Jon Heyman opined that a salary dump might help to acquire Juan Soto, but Jon Morosi noted a fit in the form of Twins right fielder Max Kepler.
It's certainly possible that Minnesota could match up with the Mariners. Second baseman Jorge Polanco also fits there, and the Mariners have pitcher Logan Gilbert that could work as a Gray replacement. How the two teams hammer out any sort of swap remains to be seen, but it's at least worth noting that the puzzle pieces make sense. Maybe Falvey is able to push for a swap while the representatives are all in Nashville this week.
Is Ohtani Imminent?
There hasn’t been much confirmed reporting when it comes to Shohei Ohtani’s next team, but we could reach a conclusion sooner rather than later. The Winter Meetings would be a great stage for the biggest free agent to announce his decision, and it seems that we may see the $500 million mark blown out of the water.
It’s unfortunate that Minnesota isn’t among those being considered, but that was simply never going to be the case. Once Ohtani gets his deal done, though, it could open the logjam holding the market back. This is the week always circled for Hot Stove season, and starting it with a bang only to continue the momentum would be a blast.
Last year Minnesota had already made trades for Kyle Farmer and Gio Urshela by this point. They didn’t sign Christian Vazquez or Joey Gallo until mid-December, but establishing some financial understanding soon may be beneficial with the television uncertainties. What are you hoping they accomplish in Nashville? Who got snubbed as Leyland got his props? And where will Ohtani end up? There's plenty to talk about, while we wait for the hard news to hit.
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now