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It’s one of president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey’s favorite phrases: “Getting creative.”
As the baseball world prepares to descend upon Dallas for next week’s Winter Meetings, it’s sure looking like creativity will again be the name of the game for a Twins team that can really pick its own adventure through this offseason.
The division has gotten so much better — three non-Twins teams made the playoffs from the AL Central in 2024 and aren’t showing signs of slowing down — and Minnesota can’t exactly ignore the totality of its offense’s disappearance down the stretch of last season, especially from its core young hitters.
But if the Twins want to change that, they’ll probably need to — as they’ve often done in previous offseasons — find creative trade fits. What might they have to offer in need-for-need trades, as they’ve tried to find with some frequency? Let’s take a look.
The obvious veterans: Christian Vázquez, Chris Paddack
The pros: Salary flexibility
It would certainly help the Twins to free up some money, and these are the two prime candidates who might help them do that. Vázquez is due $10 million as part of a catching timeshare, and Paddack is due $7.5 million as either the No. 4 or 5 starter on the depth chart.
Those are the highest non-star salaries on the team (i.e. anyone not named Pablo López, Carlos Correa or Byron Buxton) and both are expiring deals. It makes a ton of sense.
The cons: Catching depth, questionable return value
On the other hand, over the past two years, the Twins’ pitching staff has had the luxury of working with only two catchers for the entire 162-game season. That consistency matters, and Vázquez is a solid defender and very well-liked veteran presence in the clubhouse.
Jair Camargo is the last catcher on the 40-man roster, and he got a few sips of coffee in the big leagues last year (it would be overstating it to even call it the quintessential “cup of coffee,” really). Parting ways with Vázquez to give Camargo (or a free agent) half of the timeshare adds a lot of uncertainty.
And even beyond that: Would the Twins even realistically get much by selling low on either of these players? Probably not.
Prime starting pitchers: Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober
The pros: Lots of return value, area of depth
Ober…
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