The State Of The Lefty Reliever Market

* According to Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press, the Twins "definitely have interest" in bringing back veteran Neal Cotts, who became a free agent at season's end after joining the Twins in August. Cotts, who turns 36 in March, posted a 3.41 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 68 appearances this year, including 3.95 and 1.39 in 14 late-season appearances with Minnesota. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal with Milwaukee last offseason and figures to get something similar this time around.

Cotts has been decent over the past of couple years but if the Twins are truly trying to craft a power pen, they should aim higher for their top lefty option.

* In the same article, Berardino reports that free agent Brian Duensing hasn't heard from the Twins. Once a solid southpaw specialist, Duensing has declined steadily over the past few seasons to the point where he was roundly ineffective in 2015. The Twins are expected to move on.

* Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweeted that the Twins have been in contact with Tony Sipp, who ranked as the No. 2 free agent left-handed reliever in the Offseason Handbook following a fantastic season with the Astros. It would probably cost a fair amount to get Sipp signed, but Ryan might be more inclined to meet his asking price given that the 32-year-old is effective against both lefties and righties, providing Paul Molitor more late-inning flexibility. Wolfson mentioned that he didn't get the sense an offer has been made to Sipp.

* The best free agent lefty reliever is Antonio Bastardo, who has averaged 11 K/9 in his career and is only 30. In the Handbook we estimated that he would get a three-year, $21 million contract but there has been no public steam surrounding his market up to this point. It looks as though Darren O'Day, a righty who is one of the top relievers in free agency, is poised to sign somewhere soon, and once he does, I'd expect a bunch of other dominos to start falling.

* The Rule 5 Draft takes place next Thursday. Ryan and the Twins have used this avenue to add bullpen arms twice in the past three years, though both Ryan Pressly and J.R. Graham were righties. Could the club target a left-handed reliever next Thursday? Baseball America's J.J. Cooper listed several names to remember in his Rule 5 preview last month, and among them were a few hard-throwing southpaws: Chicago's Onelki Garcia, Houston's Reymin Guduan and Kansas City's Sam Selman. All have posted big strikeout rates in the minors, but also have significant control issues that would inhibit their chances of finding fast success in the majors. Another to keep in mind: 22-year-old Cardinals prospect Luis Perdomo, who shares a name with the righty reliever who made 15 appearances for the Twins back in 2012.