In past offseasons during the Derek Falvey PoBO era, the Minnesota Twins have consistently been reported as suitors for some of the highest-caliber free agents, even if they rarely came out with the star players they were chasing.

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Minnesota Twins patiently waiting…

But not this offseason. After announcing their intentions to slash payroll in 2024, all has been quiet on the Twins news front, even as the rest of the league cooks at Winter Meetings. But if you ask Falvey, that’s by design.

“What we continue to hear on the trade front, just to be very candid about this part, is ‘Hey, we have interest in some of your players. We’d like to talk about these guys, but we have to wait on a few other things to happen’ or free agent discussions to come to pass. When that happens, you’re constantly waiting to some degree.”

Derek Falvey (quote via Star Tribune)

Not only have the Twins admitted to their cost-cutting offseason plans, they’ve all but made it clear they do not plan on being very active in free agency, especially early on this winter.

Because they need to cut payroll, Falvey’s plan is to improve areas of weakness by trading away four position specific veterans, who are scheduled to make anywhere from $6 million to $11 million (total of ~$37 million), in exchange for more talent at SP, 1B and CF.

Related: Minnesota Twins Set on Trading These 4 Veterans

Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler drawing heavy trade interest

Two of those veterans, according to Bobby Nightengale (Star Tribune), are garnering a lot of trade interest from other teams at Winter Meetings. The problem: interested teams are waiting to see how things shake out in the early stages of free agency, before they get serious with possible trade partners.

Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco are the two Twins players drawing the most interest on the trade market, according to multiple people familiar with trade discussions. The Twins fielded interest in Kepler last winter, who some teams view as a potential fit in center field, and he had a stellar second half.

Bobby Nightengale – Star Tribune

If you’re waiting for big Twins news, it’s time to find a hobby for a couple of weeks. Unless, Falvey spins a 180 and does something unexpected, the front office is going to wait patiently for other teams to figure out what their rosters are missing, before moving their offseason poker chips around.

Related: 4 Starting Pitchers the Minnesota Twins Should Target in Trade Talks

In Nightengale’s same piece, he says Christian Vazquez is also drawing some reasonable trade interest, which is a very positive development for the Twins.

Unloading an aging catcher, for a net-positive return, isn’t the easiest thing to do. Especially when he’s coming off the worst season of his career and he still has two years and $20 million remaining under contract.

Lack of front end talent in their rotation isn’t a new problem. It’s something that has plagued this franchise for two decades. But it’s an issue that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine were hired to solve.

Twins open to trading Luis Arraez

Now reportedly, they want to shop in the deep end of the MLB trade market for the elusive ace they’ve been seeking. And according to Dan Hayes (The Athletic) their sales pitch to potential trade partners at the MLB winter meetings this week, includes dealing the 2022 American League batting champion, Luis Arraez.

The club’s future rotation instability currently leaves members of the Twins front office in an unenviable position where they have discussed the possibility of trading the 2022 American League batting champion. With few, if any, untouchables on the 40-man roster, some in the organization believe the Twins would deal Arraez if it helped bring back a top-tier starting pitcher.

The Twins would prefer not to trade Arraez, one of the toughest at-bats in baseball. But after seeing the Texas Rangers pay Jacob deGrom $185 million over five years, the soaring cost of top-tier pitching has the Twins re-thinking who may or may not be available in a trade.

Dan Hayes – The Athletic

Why Twins are shopping Arraez

Technically, this report by Dan Hayes doesn’t confirm external conversations between the Twins and other organizations, to trade Luis Arraez. But, let’s be real. This leak happened for a reason and, if Derek Falvey wasn’t already shopping the batting champ openly, he will be now.

According to this report, the Minnesota Twins are feeling pinched out of the current and forecasted starting pitcher free agency markets. If Jacob DeGrom is going for $185 million over 5 years, how are they going to afford anyone worthy of a #1 role in their rotation?

Well, they can… but won’t. So instead, the front office is opening up the roster for potential trade suitors who might offer an ace in return for one of their young position players. Arraez makes a lot of sense because his stock will never be higher than it is this offseason. He’s coming off of an AL batting title, career slugging numbers and (most importantly) he stayed healthy.

But in all reality, Luis Arraez is unlikely to ever see his OPS rise above .800 and his defense is mediocre, at best. If the Twins can swap him out for a legitimate ace, they’d have no choice but to pull the trigger.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan