The morale throughout Twins territory right now is very low, and rightfully so. We all had been waiting and hoping to sign Correa to that long-term deal to keep him in Minneapolis for the rest of his career. That is until the news broke that he signed a 13 year deal with the San Francisco Giants. There were mixed reactions, some taking shots at the front office, others feeling we dodged a bullet with the contract length. However, life still goes on and the Twins will have to find a different way to build a team in 2023, whether that includes pulling out the young guns, or getting creative in free agency to build a contender. In this article I will be building the team as if we are making a contender, as shown in the blueprint above.

Moves

Trade Max Kepler, Keoni Cavaco to Yankees for Frankie Montas

Trade Gilberto Celestino, Cole Sands to Athletics for Ramon Laureano

Sign Michael Brantley - 1 year, $16 million

Sign Jean Segura - 1 year $10 million

Position players

The Twins have a lot of young players they need to take the next step in becoming Major League Baseball players. Currently in the minors they have Julien, Martin, Wallner, Lewis, Lee, and others. It would be very risky to fully rely on them, which could lead to the 3rd disappointing season in as many years. In this blueprint, I have them sign a few veterans and make a few trades, allowing some certainty, but also providing wiggle room, so that they could still work in the young guys, while still having a safe option.

Catchers - No moves here, with the signing of Christian Vazquez it stabilizes the position. Vazquez and Jeffers should provide a very solid catching tandem for the next couple years.

Infield - Here is where there are a few changes. Jose Miranda is holding down the fort at third base, which was indicated that it was his position when they shipped Gio Urshela off to LA. At Shortstop, many are penciling in Kyle Farmer, which isn't a bad idea. Beyond Farmer though, there is nothing besides maybe Nick Gordon. I personally feel Farmer would be better settled as a utility option for the Twins, not an everyday shortstop, even as a stopgap. Jean Segura provides exactly that, a stopgap. He is manning the position until franchise savior Royce Lewis returns from injury. If everything goes perfect, Lewis will return in June/July and become the shortstop for the Twins until he retires, but as we all know, not everything goes perfectly. Segura gives the Twins a solid veteran option, with solid offense and defense to help ease any possible complications, and it allows one of Lee or Lewis to become the everyday shortstop starting in 2024, while being eased in during 2023. At 2nd we've got long-time Twin Jorge Polanco. As long as he is healthy you know he will be a top of the order bat for the Twins. At first base is Luis Arraez. He is the sparkplug of the offense, providing elite offense and above-average defense. He can also spend some time at DH and second base when needed.

Bench - First off the bench is Kyle Farmer, who will actually not spend a whole lot of time on the bench. He can play all over the infield, giving guys days off while still providing value to the team. Next is Alex Kirilloff. I believe 2023 is the year where one of Kirilloff or Larnach will break out and become a force in the Twins lineup. The only problem is that I am not sure which one it will be, making them interchangeable on this blueprint. Like many, I believe if he can get healthy, Kirilloff will be a better option at first base instead of the outfield, but that remains to be seen. Next is Ryan Jeffers. He is catcher 1B and Vazquez is 1A. He will still get plenty of time behind the dish, but as of now he is labeled as the backup. Lastly is Nick Gordon. He can provide at least average defense at any position, including shortstop and center field. He also has a very good bat, amounting to a 113 OPS+ in 2022. He will be the super-utility guy for the Twins for years to come.

DH - I signed Michael Brantley to a 1 year contract. He is as good of a hitter as they come, combining power, discipline, and average to be the ultimate Major League hitter. He is coming off an injury-plagued 2022, but I believe he will bounce back. He isn’t solely a DH, he still provides above average defense in left field, even at 35 years old. He will take anywhere from 60-100 games at DH, the others in left field while Arraez and others take the other games at DH. Brantley could provide a veteran spark in the lineup like Nelson Cruz did a few seasons ago.

Outfield - In left field I have Trevor Larnach, who is interchangeable with Alex Kirilloff like I mentioned above. One of the two will break out this year and answer many questions about the future of this outfield. Michael Brantley will also spend some time in left, and he can still give you above average defense. In centerfield we have Buxton. We can hope this is the year he stays healthy, but it is seeming increasingly unlikely that it will ever happen. As a Buxton backup we have Nick Gordon, or Austin Martin in AAA waiting for his opportunity. Laureano could also slide over and provide solid defense. Lastly, in right field there is Ramon Laureano. The Twins are getting him from Oakland for 2 players with moderate upside in Celestino and Sands. Laureano is coming off a down year, but there is definitely upside. He had a weird year in 2022 due to injuries and coming off a suspension, allowing the Twins to pick him up at a lower cost. His offensive floor is a Max Kepler type, which is who he is replacing, and his ceiling is providing around a 130 OPS+, which is what he did just a few seasons ago. He also provides very good defense in right field, almost to that of Kepler, with a cannon for an arm, and can hold his own in centerfield as Buxton insurance. He is fairly cheap and comes with 3 seasons of team control, which is why I think it makes all the sense in the world to get him from a rebuilding A’s team.

Pitchers

The Twins were in an odd spot with pitching during this offseason. People imposed “The Sonny Gray Threshold,” which implied that we didn’t need to add another starter unless he was better than Sonny Gray. Now with Rodon off the board, there really is nobody who clearly fits that bill, only maybe a healthy Nathan Eovaldi. The Twins have very solid backup options knocking at the door in AAA including Louie Varland, SWR, Jordan Balazovic, Josh Winder, and Ronny Henriquez. They may very well be the future of this rotation, but it is far too uncertain to rely on them this year while the Twins still have a shot to contend. In this blueprint, I have them swinging a trade with past target Frankie Montas, giving up longtime outfielder Max Kepler to the dark side. It will be interesting to see how the Twins attack their pitching in 2023, so let’s get on into it.

Rotation - It largely consists of returners, with one new face. The top of the rotation has former Red’s teammates Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle. I personally believe the Twins need to extend one of them this winter to provide certainty for next winter. Gray may be along the lines of 3 years/ $45 million, whereas Mahle may be about 4 years/ $64 million, but we can figure that out later. Joe Ryan will hopefully take the jump this year to become a top of the rotation starter, but to start out he takes the #3 spot. At #4 we have Frankie Montas. The Yankees have expressed their interest in Max Kepler for years now, and it seems pretty certain he will be dealt this offseason. I have the Twins sending Kepler, along with Cavaco to New York for Frankie Montas. Nothing is saying the Yankees would do this, but with the Rodon signing, their top 4 starters consist of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes, and Luis Severino. That is as good as any team in baseball. For the #5 spot they have a bevy of options, one of them being Montas. They get longtime target Max Kepler, along with former 1st round pick Keoni Cavaco, who has great tools but just hasn’t put them all together yet. Montas didn’t give a good first impression as a Yankee, pitching to a 6.35 ERA in 39.2 innings, but some players just can't play in New York. If the Twins believe his short Yankees tenure was a fluke, and the Yankees would do this trade, it would make a ton of sense. The Yankees have also expressed some interest in free agent Nathan Eovaldi, possibly providing more incentive to make this trade so they can sign him to round out the rotation. Finishing out the rotation in the 5 spot I've got Bailey Ober. In this blueprint, I moved Kenta Maeda to the bullpen, at least temporarily. I just don’t see the value of having him pitch 2-4 innings every start while building back up from surgery, and taxing the bullpen early on. Eventually, when he is built up, he can slide back into the rotation, but it just doesn’t make a ton of sense to start the season. In case of injuries a young arm could fill in for as long as needed, due to the Twins great young depth. Also later in the season they will hopefully get Chris Paddack back, who can provide a late season spark. Maeda will also pitch out of the rotation later in the season.

Bullpen - For the lower leverage situations we have arms like Jorge Alcala, Emilio Pagan, and Jovani Moran. They all have good stuff, but just don’t have the track record to warrant more critical situations. Pagan being here will probably draw some negative feedback, and I totally agree. I just don’t think the Twins will cut bait with him, so I kept him to make this as realistic as possible. We have also got Kenta Maeda in the pen to provide long relief, getting roughly the same number of innings he may get to start the season out of the rotation, hopefully pitching 2-3 innings every appearance as he builds back up. For the mid-high leverage arms we have Griffin Jax, Caleb Thielbar, and Jorge Lopez. These guys have all had success in the big leagues, and are very solid pieces to build your bullpen around. For the top guy/ closer it is none other than flamethrower Jhoan Duran. He will build off an outstanding rookie season and cement himself as top reliever in the league.

Overall, this blueprint gets the Twins around the payroll of recent years, while putting together a team that I feel could be very good. The AL Central is up for the taking right now, as the Guardians try to prove their young players are here to stay and the White Sox do whatever they are doing over there. An ideal lineup for this team would be:

1 - Luis Arraez 1B

2 - Byron Buxton CF

3 - Michael Brantley DH

4 - Jorge Polanco 2B

5 - Jose Miranda 3B

6 - Ramon Laureano RF

7 - Jean Segura/ Royce Lewis SS

8 - Christian Vazquez C

9 - Trevor Larnach LF

Obviously most of this probably won’t happen, but I sure think it would be great if it did. I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments, and what you would do differently. Thanks for reading, GO TWINS!