Or not adding Jamie Garcia

Reports of the Twins trading for Jamie Garcia proved to be greatly exaggerated. The Mexican lefty started Friday night in Los Angeles, allowing three runs in seven innings to the mighty Dodgers and even hitting a grand slam -- for the Braves.

The supposedly imminent deal was on the rocks by Friday morning, with the Braves said to be shopping the 31-year-old around to other clubs. I'm in no position to evaluate what went wrong, but with so many reporters -- national and local -- all reporting the same thing Thursday night, I have to assume there was fire behind that smoke.

And this presumably near-deal suggests that the Twins are indeed in the market for a rental starter, despite Thad Levine's earlier statements that the front office is focused on players who would help in 2018 and beyond. (Garcia is a free agent after this season).

A rental makes sense (properly priced, of course). The Twins need to deepen their rotation; right now the fourth and fifth starters are Kyle Gibson (6.29 ERA coming into tonight's start) and Bartolo Colon (8.18 ERA between Atlanta and Minnesota). News flash: Those ERAs are not good.

Assume for the moment that the Twins pick up a rental starter akin to Garcia. Even with Rental X joining Hector Santiago in free agency after the seasons, and even assuming that the Twins nontender Gibson, the Twins would still enter the offseason with:

• Three effective 2017 starters (Ervin Santana, Jose Berrios, Adalberto Mejia)
• Two rehab projects (Phil Hughes, Trevor May)
• Five good to reasonable prospects currently in Double A or Triple A rotations and thus presumably nearly ready (Fernando Romero, Stephen Gonsalves, Felix Jorge, Kyle Stewart, Aaron Slegers).

They'd probably like to add a veteran arm on a one-year deal to open the season. That would allow them some flexibility with the rehab projects and not be forced to rush a prospect. But that list has 10 2018 starters. They can afford to target a 2017-only addition, especially if that rental doesn't cost them Romero or Gonsalves.

Adding Jamie Garcia

News broke Thursday night that the Twins were about to complete a trade with Atlanta that would bring veteran left-handed starter Jamie Garcia to Minnesota for a prospect.

The deal was not complete when I went to bed, and there was no indication of who the prospect would be. And without knowing who the Twins are giving up, there's no way for me to say yeah or nay.

I will say this: Garcia is a step up for the backend of the rotation. The Twins have started 11 different pitchers so far, and three -- Ervin Santana, Jose Berrios and Adalberto Mejia -- have been good to decent. The rest ... ugh. The best ERA of the other eight belongs to Nick Tepesch, 5.40.

No, Garcia isn't a star and isn't going to be a star. That's neither the point nor the goal. Competence is the goal.

He's 31 and in the last year of his contract, which contradicts Thad Levine's statement a week or so ago that the Twins weren't interested in rentals. I always took that as a preference, not a commitment; there is a price point at which you take a rental even if it doesn't fit your long-term blueprint.

We'll see, soon enough, not only who the Twins traded away but who gets bounced from the rotation. Kyle Gibson or Bartolo Colon?  Perhaps there was indeed some credence to the ESPN report that Colon was considering hanging it up after his start Tuesday deteriorated.