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I think I've read that a big part of Fangraphs' listed "ETAs" is eligibility dates for the Rule V draft or 40-man roster addition. Severino and Brink may be listed with 2023 ETA because they've been Rule V-eligible already.

MLBTR reports $20M, but still. A chunk of change. Too bad; it can't have been fun for Hicks to struggle the way he has recently after finding his stride in New York for a few years. As much as I may not like the Yankees on the whole, I was kind of happy to see Hicks succeed after the Twins sold low on him.

Fernando Abad! In my memory, he was already a journeyman in the later part of his career when the Twins had him six years ago or so.

Is the trade of Eduardo Escobar for Jhoan Durán et al missing from this list? Pretty striking to look at how many of the trades were minor deals involving players I don't remember or even haven't heard of. Cruz + for Ryan + may turn out to be the best in terms of value added. The Maeda trade still looks solid to me even after his injury issues. And the Arráez-López deal has time to swing either way, but if it ends up helping both sides as it looks to be doing right now, a win-win is still a win.

It may or may not be a sign of how things are going, but the White Sox made ELEVEN roster moves today:

For that matter, what does the future of this rotation look like? All four veterans in thee starting five are due for free agency at year's end. Just looked up López' status because I thought this didn't sound quite right, and he is indeed arbitration-eligible again in 2024. (Though I would guess he's the most likely to be extended, if any of these starters are.) Three out of five are headed for free agency. Good summary and plenty to be excited about!

Hoffman reassigned to minor-league camp, apparently, along with De León: The MLBTR post about Hoffman's signing mentions that the first opt-out is March 28. It'll be interesting to see whether he's on the move again in a few days.

The pitcher the article refers to as a (near) certainty to end up in the bullpen was Sands, not Ober. If they consider a non-roster pitcher for this role, Jeff Hoffman likely would be in consideration too. He also has been on the starter/reliever line. I remember reading that his minor league deal has opt-outs, which might motivate the Twins to give him a look, although coming late to spring camp also could mean he goes to the minors and waits to opt out at a later date.

And José De León, Brock Stewart, et al. Maybe Santana has a little more perceived upside since he's kept getting picked up on waivers, or Hoffman does because he's still somewhat in the process of converting to relief, but all these guys seem like they're loosely in the same "kinda interesting, not super-promising ex-prospect or reclamation project" bucket.

Today's listed lineup on mlb.com as of about 45 minutes before game time. I'm guessing that, between the very early stage of spring training they're at and this being an away game, they're filling the lineup with guys from the minor league camp (not even non-roster invitees), so the site doesn't even pull those players' names since they're "invisible" on the ST roster...?

One issue with going with three righty hitters at spots 2, 3, and 4 is that it makes it almost inevitable to stack 3 lefty hitters later in the order. Even if those are the hitters who would most belong at the top of the lineup in a vacuum, planning for matchups might call for mixing the order up.

Not the hardest joke to pick up on, either...even if I didn't.

I think there was a story last winter where Ober had 17 for a minute in the post-Berríos era, chosen because it was his lucky number or something, but then Archer got signed and wanted the number and they deferred to his veteran status. Was Trevor May still on the market when Jax vacated #65?

Signings of players of this profile—righty-hitting veteran outfielder, likely to be a platoon guy or part-time starter—are picking up. I'm seeing Tommy Pham to the Mets, Adam Duvall to the Red Sox, and Brian Anderson (part-time corner OF) all reported today. With all these guys going off the board, it seems like the Twins haven't been all that invested in adding a player for that role.

I was just going to say - a surfeit? An abundance?

Celestino being the "ideal backup for Buxton" doesn't necessitate him being on the major-league roster. When Buxton needs rest, Gordon or Gallo (who the Twins FO seems to believe in as a viable part-time CF) can start, or can move to CF in the late innings. If (.....when) Buxton gets hurt, Celestino is on call at AAA.

Other members of the starting staff are returning from injury, so it seems more likely for Gray to be traded over Kenta Maeda or Tyler Mahle Saying this in the context of trade options reveals a contradiction. If the Twins are (relatively) sure that Maeda and Mahle will come back at full strength from injury, then they have a strong and pretty well set starting five. And then they could trade Gray for some other impact player (position player or pitcher) but there are limited possibilities for such a deal to be a net gain. If they're uncertain about how Mahle and/or Maeda will come back and that's one of the main things fueling trade speculation (which I believe is the case), then trading Gray is likely to weaken the very part of the roster they're trying to reinforce.

My guess, totally just a guess based on this signing and the status of the younger players: They now are not going to trade anyone very impactful this offseason, but Lewis and Lee will be on the table for trades at midseason or next offseason. For now those guys aren't blocked by Correa yet. Lee can play his first full pro season, Lewis can rehab, and the team can see what they're getting from the current roster. If at midseason the hitters are underperforming or (more likely) the starting pitching isn't healthy or deep enough, they're better positioned to use one of the young infielders to make a big move.

"As recently as Saturday morning another offer was made, and Minnesota is not making the deal contingent upon a new physical." This seems like trouble.

Kimbrel was reported to have an agreement with Philadelphia on 12/23: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/phillies-to-sign-craig-kimbrel.html

First base would probably become Miranda’s long term home anyway, with reports stating the Twins front office has questions with his defense. While 3B is the more demanding position than 1B overall, the way I've interpreted the questioning of Miranda's defense has been that the Twins FO thinks he's better at 3B, in part because of lack of 1B experience. If the Twins do make this trade, a 300 plus million dollar contract might make more sense. This is suggesting a long-term deal for Devers, right? Miranda aside, 3B is also a position where Royce Lewis or (especially) Brooks Lee is likely to end up if/when either of them moves off SS. I still believe that one of Lewis or Lee can be the Twins' next non-stopgap starting shortstop, but it's maybe even safer to predict that the next longer-term starting third baseman is in the system and not far from the majors. I suppose the plan for a team signing Devers long-term is likely that he'd go to 1B before long. Investing in a good player who's proven it at the MLB level is absolutely worth it sometimes, but still, it's hard for me to see the Twins prioritizing the corner infield spots if they want to invest in a big contract. Rafael Devers will probably be the next homegrown talent to walk beyond the Green Monster Boston is still capable of running a big payroll, even if they seem to be operating with a more budget-conscious mindset lately. They've let a couple of marquee players go; that also could indicate that they'll try harder to retain Devers, so fans still have part of the last core to cheer for. It's an interesting proposition and I'm not trying to pick it apart! Just a few quick reactions as I read.

However, the new amount that Correa [accepted] is seemingly much closer to the level the Twins were willing to pay. Adding $15M per year over two years (perhaps on a player option?) for Correa when he would be 38 and 39 years old is still a significant risk. But by 2033 and 2034, even the Twins' payroll could be well north of $200M given MLB’s rising salaries. It might have been risky, maybe even silly, but $15M of dead money for those two years should not have been crippling to a franchise. Bingo. Whether the Twins decided not to take that risk, or whether the Mets, Correa and agent Scott Boras never game them that chance, is unknown. My guess, just a guess, is that this turn of events had much less to do with the Twins being hesitant about the risk than with the Mets being aggressive and opportunistic with the opening that the Giants hiccup provided. That doesn't excuse the Twins for not being more aggressive if they were even possibly willing to take the risk. As the Mets are sort of my second team, I guess I could enjoy this development - but more than anything I'm bummed that the Twins weren't the team to capitalize, and the Mets' approach is starting to teeter from "being aggressive to try to win more" to "buying a superteam" in a way that almost starts to remove the fun.

Since there have been reports that Rodón preferred to go to the Yankees, another team may have had to beat this deal at least by a bit — I'm not sure I would have wanted the Twins to go higher on both dollars and years, but $1M more per year, or a 7th year on its own? Sure, that seems reasonable, especially considering what they were willing to offer Correa.

From MLBTR, the Cardinals are "unlikely to meet" Rodón's asking price: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/cardinals-unlikely-to-meet-asking-price-for-carlos-rodon.html The Yankees "at one point reportedly hoped to limit any Rodón deals to four or five years in length," but Rodón and Boras were looking for seven years: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/carlos-rodon-rumors-yankees-twins-cardinals-giants.html Could offering six years get a deal done? I'm trying to believe the Twins are still in it, which may be folly.

Who was the last young core? In my view: Buxton, Berríos, Polanco, Kepler, Sanó, Rosario. Four of those six guys got extended before they hit free agency. A couple of those deals look really good for the team (/owners) now, and a couple look less so, but even with Kepler perceived as a bit of a disappointment, the trade rumors suggest that both the player and the contract have some value. Berríos...I don't know. I wanted to see him stay, and his extension from the Jays seemed like something the Twins clearly could have done. Then he was kinda bad this year. Is he going to bounce back, or did the Twins know something to suggest he wouldn't hold up, or did they get lucky? I guess we'll see over the next few years. I do believe the FO's claim that they weren't committed to trading him and had to really like the trade offer in order to do the deal. Rosario had some great qualities and some big faults. Fun player, but the Twins choosing not to get on the hook for the final year of arbitration salary for a player like that is not an uncommon kind of decision across the league. The Twins certainly have done their share of trading established players for prospects, but it's hard to look at recent years and see them truly dismantling any kind of core. Imagine if you were following the A's, say, or the Marlins when they traded their entire outfield a few years ago.