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The Twins are unlikely to sign a big-name free agent shortstop. Here are three creative ways Minnesota could address its shortstop need. If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get stuck in patterns of familiar thinking when considering possible moves the Twins front office could make to fill a need. Let’s take shortstop as an example. The need is clear. Andrelton Simmons was incredibly limited in what he offered the Twins offensively in 2021. The dichotomy I jump to when considering shortstop next steps is this: Target a big-name free agent from the greatest-ever free agent shortstop class, a move doomed to failure OR I resign myself to the inevitable reunion with Simmons which will result in me not being savvy enough to recognize his defensive wizardry while screaming at my TV while he plays fruit ninja at home plate during each at-bat. Neither is satisfactory. It doesn’t have to be this way, however. One of the beauties of the off-season is considering creative possibilities. To escape the painful reverberation in the Twins twitter echo chamber in light of recent Byron Buxton-related developments, I decided to think through some outside-the-box options for the Twins to plug their shortstop-sized roster hole. These moves are predicated on a simple, but important assumption: The Twins are seeking a short-term solution. Whether because they don’t want to, or simply can’t, sign a big-name free agent, I’m going to assume the Twins long-term answer at shortstop is internal, be it Royce Lewis or someone else. So who, or what, are some options we might not have considered? Sign Chris Taylor to a 3 or 4 Year Deal This isn’t exactly a secret. Taylor has been a popular, much-discussed option among Twins fandom this off-season. Let’s add to the context. Taylor has averaged 2.8 fWAR over the last five seasons. Impressive. Last season he played at least 20 games at four different positions (SS, 2B, LF, CF) and is solid defensively in all of them. The Twins have shown in recent seasons, that they have multiple cornerstones in their lineup who are extremely injury prone. This makes so much sense. The beauty of signing Taylor to a three or four-year deal, is if your shorstop of the future is Lewis and he’s ready, the Twins will undoubtedly have a role that needs to be filled with a strong hitter. Taylor isn’t a super-utility player, he’s just a super baseball player. Trade for Arizona Diamondbacks SS Nick Ahmed Nick Ahmed is and has been, one of the best defensive shortstops in the league for some time. In 2021, he massed 19 OAA (Outs Above Average), good for third in the league behind Nicky Lopez and Francisco Lindor and three better than Simmons. Lopez is not a strong hitter and has averaged around a 90 wRC+ for Arizona in the last four seasons (and averaged 1.25 fWAR in that same span). The Diamondback are going nowhere soon and Ahmed should be available at a pretty acceptable price. He will be a free agent in 2024, so if the Twins are confident that Royce Lewis is ready, he immediately becomes a defensively excellent utility infielder. Trade for Tampa Bay Rays Infielder Joey Wendle Joey Wendle is a curious case who doesn’t get much shine because he’s chronically under-utilized. In 2021, Wendle was called into action, playing over 130 games for the first time since 2018. He played at second base, but was primarily at shortstop and third. Wendle was 17th among all infielders in OAA with 8 on the season. Offensively, Wendle is no slouch either, amassing 2.6 fWAR and a 106 wRC+. Indeed, over his last five seasons, Wendle has averaged a 111wRC+. In three of those four, however, he’s played less than 80 games. Like Ahmed, Wendle isn’t a free agent until 2024 and would be an excellent fill-in at other infield positions if he was no longer needed as a primary shortstop. Which of these options do you like most as a potential target for the Twins? What are other names do you like that have not been mentioned to fill needs on the Twins roster? MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

Watching the stars shine in the playoffs is fun, especially when they’re approaching free agency. Future pitchers, shortstops, and sluggers are all fun to dream about. A utilityman, however, shouldn’t be in the Twins offseason cards. Let's just be upfront about this. The utilityman market isn’t incredibly ripe with players this winter. This is directly referencing Dodgers star Chris Taylor. After years in the October spotlight with Los Angeles, yet another standout postseason performance in 2021 has Twins fans dreaming, and for good reason. It’s a fun idea and Taylor is a great player who would make any team better, but the Twins shouldn’t be chomping at the bit to bring him in. Taylor was a marginal minor league player in Seattle before being traded to LA for a guy who wound up throwing 12 MLB innings. Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto later called the trade “clearly the worst deal I’ve ever made”, as Taylor’s current career line sits at .261/.337/.443, 11% above average offensively. That doesn’t even tell the story of Taylor’s ability to play just about any position on the diamond as needed. So why shouldn’t the Twins plan to bring in such a player? To state the obvious, the team is an absolute mess. I do believe their needs can be addressed this winter in a way that returns them to contention, but a utilityman is far from the top of the list. There are currently two starting pitchers in the 2022 starting rotation. I’d guess the Twins want to bring in at least 4 candidates to fill those vacancies, which is going to cost a decent amount of money if done correctly. In addition, they’ll likely also want at least a proven bullpen arm or two. Taylor Rogers will be a question mark if brought back due to his finger injury and Tyler Duffey’s 2021 made him a much bigger question mark than in years past. You’d have to hope they plan on signing legitimate pieces this winter rather than cheap bounce back candidates and players all 29 other teams have passed on. That’ll cost a good bit of cash as well. It could be argued that the vacancy at shortstop could be filled by the versatile Taylor. He was fine defensively there in 2021 to be fair although at 31 he’s nearing a point where shortstop defense tends to decline rapidly. Taylor has surely earned himself a long term deal, however, which may not be in the Twins best interest in the future. The hope is for someone like Royce Lewis to take the reins at shortstop relatively soon, and what becomes of Taylor then? Sure, he can cover most other positions, but that kind of versatility may be less valuable to the Twins than other teams. People already raise the concern of Luis Arraez getting enough at bats across a full season due to not having a full time spot. He gets his starts spelling Josh Donaldson, Jorge Polanco or one of the corner outfielders in order to get into the lineup regularly. The only other position Taylor would be truly needed at is backing up in center field, a job that can be filled for much cheaper in free agency. To be clear, Taylor would absolutely make the Twins better. They would likely prefer a stopgap type shortstop, but he would be useful at other positions if their plans with Royce Lewis come to fruition. After all, having too many options is a good problem to have. That being said, I think now is the wrong time to sign a player like Chris Taylor. Nobody can say exactly where this team is in their contention window and there are significant question marks around highly impactful players like Byron Buxton. There are gaping holes across the roster and unless ownership is truly willing to throw down some dollars, it’s not worth shortchanging themselves elsewhere for added versatility. If they run into a 2019 Marwin Gonzalez situation where come Spring Training he’s still looking for a place to go, there would be nothing wrong with being opportunistic if it’s in the budget. The Twins have bigger needs to address on the front end of free agency, however, and Chris Taylor should be nowhere near priority number one. Now just isn’t the right time. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here View full article