The list of “needs” for the Minnesota Twins is a long one this off-season. After winning back-to-back American League Central titles in 2009 and 2010, they have now suffered three consecutive losing seasons, finishing 30 games under .500 (66-96) for the second season in a row.

The batting line-up is full of veterans but the whole franchise is threatened by the lack of quality in the starting pitching rotation and that has to be the biggest need for the Twins this off-season.

The Minnesota Twins went bargain hunting in an attempt to fix their starting pitching problems last offseason, and the result was a 96-loss season and an MLB-worst 5.26 ERA from their starters.

Kevin Correia will be back, and the duo of Andrew Albers and Samuel Deduno showed flashes of being capable starters last year, but the team needs to add at least a couple more arms.

Who would be the likely names in the frame as the Twins bid to pluck a name from the free agent market?

Josh Johnson might be a guy that the Twins take a look at; he’s just completed an injury-plagued campaign with the Blue Jays but, if you look before that injury, his numbers were solid with a 44-27 record between 2008 and 2012.

As a player coming of an injury, fans betting MLB World Series know he is a gamble but with numbers like that he could be a gamble that the Twins feel is worth taking.

It looked like the MLB journey was coming to an end for Ubaldo Jimenez; after all, it had been a long time since he had shown anything like his 2010 form, but the summer he had with the Cleveland Indians may well have changed all that. He went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA for the Tribe.

Now, that late season form may just have been a blip or it could have been a resurgence in form but the Twins might have to pay to find out. It’s not likely to cost them that much to do so, however.

To round out the trio of prospects that the Twins should or could be looking at, how about Phil Hughes?

It’s easy to point at his 4-14 2013 season and wonder why his style of pitching isn’t suited to Yankee Stadium (a hitter’s paradise). However, with a sound record on the injury front, Hughes has some potential.

Certainly, the surroundings would be more conducive at Target Field and the feeling among many MLB betting pundits is that, with his 2013 statistics, he may well come cheap to the Twins but carry plenty of upside in a pitching rotation that needs to gain some impetus and zip.