Well, Twins pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in 22 days ...— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) January 22, 2018
And counting.
The buzz at TwinsFest reportedly was that the decision makers expect to land a free-agent starter, but on their terms, not those of Yu Darvish or Jake Arretta or Lance Lynn or Alex Cobb (the four most notable FA starters this winter). Time is dwindling, however.
The other route to bolster the pitching staff, of course, is a trade. I took note of this from the Tampa Bay Time's Marc Tompkin during the weekend:
Could #Rays play with roster they have now? Sure. But they have a higher payroll and less talent than last year, which means changes are still coming. https://t.co/zLnlVheLfS— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) January 20, 2018
The Rays have a pair of starters, Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi, who fit pretty well with the free-agent foursome.
I have amused myself by imagining what kind of Twins package it might take to land either of those guys. Archer would be considerably more costly; he's better than Odorizzi and comes with four years of control (signed through 2021).
Start with Nick Gordon and Fernando Romero. If the Rays have an interest in a controllable catcher, add Mitch Garver. Toss in Kyle Gibson and the cash to pay him (Gibson becoming a bit redundant with the addition of a veteran starter). I would think that enough to get Odorizzi.
The Twins might not want to part with enough of their system to land Archer. Royce Lewis and Wander Javier should be no-goes. But I can think of a few past first-rounders I'd certainly be willing to toss into the Gordon-Romero-Garver-Gibson package if the Rays want to go there: Kohl Stewart, Tyler Jay, maybe even Alex Kirilloff.
There are reports that the Twins and Rays are talking about Archer, with the idea being that that's Plan B if Darvish signs elsewhere. I'll say this: If the Twins should do both -- sign Darvish and trade for Archer -- they are definitely going for it in 2018.
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