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In the rubber match of this three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota will turn to Opening Day starter Jose Berrios. He’s had a poor 2020 to say the least thus far and turning things around as the calendar is quickly turning to September would be a big boost for Rocco Baldelli’s club. This could be circled as his most important start of the season.YESTERDAY’S GAME RECAP MIL 9, MIN 3: Hill Follows Maeda's Gem With a Clunker Today: Milwaukee @ Minnesota, 6:10 PM CT Betting Lines: Minnesota -115, O/U 9.0 Twins Starter: Jose Berrios, RHP (1-3, 5.92 ERA) To say Jose Berrios has been scuffling in 2020 would be putting it lightly. He’s been relatively ineffective, and ultimately inefficient. He’s failed to make it past four innings in two of his five starts, and his longest outing was six innings of one-run ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates. For a staff ace and an Opening Day starter, you need better. There’s been plenty written about what may be going wrong thus far. One thing of note is that Berrios has actually experience a career high spike in velocity with his fastball averaging 94.9 mph. His 11.1% whiff rate is near a career high, but the chase rate is down four percent from 2019. He’s dipped five percent on his first pitch strike rate, working from behind nearly 40% of the time. His hard-hit rate is where things are really going awry however, as the Puerto Rican is seeing the ball launched a whopping 49% of the time (33% is his career average). Download attachment: Berrios.PNG While watching him pitch it’s almost as if the mental makeup has taken a step backwards. Berrios has nibbled the strike zone often in outings, and it looks like he’s unaware of an option to miss bats. The homer has always been somewhat of a bugaboo, and if he’s going to pitch trying not to make mistakes, he’s already behind before the batter steps in. This is a guy the Twins are counting on, and a bulldog performance tonight would go a long ways. Brewers Starter: Brandon Woodruff, RHP (1-1, 3.16 ERA) Brandon Woodruff is a former top prospect that broke out in a big way during 2019. The Brewers Opening Day starter owned a 3.62 ERA across 121 innings and made his first All-Star team. So far in 2020, he’s followed it up with an encore that remain right on par. Through five turns Woodruff is still sitting down over 10 per nine innings, and he’s stingy on walks allowing just 2.5 per nine. His 1.052 WHIP is currently a career best, and his FIP of 3.26 is essentially in line. He’s been a bit more beatable in his last two outings, failing to make it through the fifth inning in either. On the year, his worst start was a three-run outing against the Cubs last time he took the ball. Download attachment: Woodruff.PNG Milwaukee’s ace has a heavy fastball that’s currently averaging a career best 97.1 mph. Coincidentally he’s using it a career low 30% of the time while turning to his sinker and changeup more often. Right now, he’s one of the best arms in baseball and Minnesota will need to solve him early to come out on top in this one. Transactions Lineup: Other Notes: Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brenammen made a horrific and abhorrent comment on air last night during the Royals game. While presumably thinking he was off air, a hot mic picked him up using a homophobic slur. He has been suspended by the organization. (Twins Daily forum)The Padres continue to slam the Rangers, and while this one wasn't on a 3-0 count, I'd assume Chris Woodward isn't any more thrilled with the result. San Diego is making noise in the National League.We made it just one day where every team was in action for the first time since June 26, Opening Weekend.Around the AL Central: KCR 4, CIN 0 (F/7 G1) CIN 5, KCR 0 (F/7 G2) CLE 6, PIT 1 CWS 5, DET 3 MIN 16-9 (+33 run differential) CLE 15-9 (+29) CWS 14-11 (+10) DET 9-13 (-25) KCR 101-5 (-11) Click here to view the article

Tonight, Rich Hill will take the ball for the Minnesota Twins and he’s being activated off the Injured List to do so. It will be his second start for Minnesota, and the first since July 29. He landed on the Injured List due to shoulder fatigue, and a night after Kenta Maeda was three outs from a no-hitter, Hill will look to provide an encore.YESTERDAY’S GAME RECAP MIN 4, MIL 3: Kenta Maeda Carries No-No Into 9th Inning; Twins Win In Extras Today: Milwaukee @ Minnesota, 7:10 PM CT Betting Lines: Minnesota -160, O/U 9.5 Twins Starter: Rich Hill, LHP 1-0 (0.00 ERA) In his lone start of 2020 Hill was nothing short of spectacular. He cruised through five innings of work against a good St. Louis Cardinals squad. Throwing 68 pitches, he recorded two strikeouts while walking one and allowing just two hits. Coincidentally that would be the final game for the Cardinals until just a few days ago, and Hill himself is just making a return to the mound tonight. Despite having a bottom of the barrel velocity on his fastball, Hill does everything else at an elite level. Because of his ability to spin the bender, Hill has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for quite some time. Yes, he’s 40 years old, and yes, he’s often injured, but when a team has had him on the bump, they can feel pretty confident about their chances. Download attachment: Hill.PNG Shoulder injuries are certainly tricky for pitchers, and while fatigue isn’t something requiring a procedure, it will be interesting to see what kind of runway Wes Johnson and Rocco Baldelli give him tonight. Minnesota’s bullpen was relatively taxed with the extra-innings affair last night, so getting at least five should be a must. Brewers Starter: Brett Anderson, LHP (0-2, 4.91 ERA) Much like his fellow starter, Anderson finds himself shelved quite often. Before pitching 176 innings for the Athletics in 2019, the Brewers left last topped 80 innings during a season back in 2015. Unlike Hill, Anderson’s results haven’t been nearly as good when he’s out there. At his best Anderson is a control guy that keeps the ball within the strike zone and within the yard. When he gets burned, it’s because the lack of strikeout stuff combined with the propensity for multi-hit games turns into deficits too stark to overcome. Download attachment: Anderson.PNG Anderson has yet to pitch more the one out into the fifth this season for Milwaukee, and he’s given up two earned runs in each of his three starts. He’s given up a single homer in each of the last two outings, and opponents have generated at least four hits off of him in each of his three turns. Lineup: Here's how the bullpen is looking heading into tonight's game: Download attachment: bullpen.png Other Notes: Barring any negative, last-minute, developments, today is the first day since July 26 (Opening Weekend) that Major League Baseball will not be dealing with a COVID-19 related postponement.Pretty exciting prospect matchup between the White Sox and Tigers tonight as Dane Dunning and Casey Mize will both be making their MLB Debuts.Around the AL Central:CLE 6, PIT 3 (F/10) CWS 10, DET 4 MIN 16-8 (+39 run differential) CLE 14-9 (+23) CWS 13-11 (+8) DET 9-12 (-23) KCR 9-14 (-10) Click here to view the article

Last night Randy Dobnak took the title of Twins ace and continued his mastery on the mound. Allowing just a single run in five innings of work, his MLB best ERA continued to get the job done for Minnesota. With the losing streak snapped, Tyler Clippard and the bullpen will look to keep the Twins rolling tonight.YESTERDAY’S GAME RECAP MIN 4, MIL 2: The Randy and Rosie Show QUESTION OF THE DAY How do you feel about the infield playing in early in a game? TODAY Twins at Brewers 7:10 pm CT Betting lines: Minnesota -105, O/U 9.0 Twins opener: Tyler Clippard RHP, 0-0 1.17 ERA Rocco Baldelli is going with an opener for tonight’s action against the Brew Crew. With Minnesota still putting together somewhat of a piecemeal rotation they have sprinkled pen games in. Clippard has been very good for the Twins this season allowing just a single run in his seven appearances thus far. When Clippard was tasked with taking the ball to start against Cleveland nine days ago he gave the Twins two innings out of the gate. They were hitless and walkless while he earned one punchout. How much length he gives the Twins, and who the bulk guy is, remains to be seen. Download attachment: ccs-8747-0-88117400-1597115532_thumb.png Last night Baldelli used each one of his horses in the bullpen. Only Taylor Rogers was taxed from a pitch total standpoint, and he struggled in back-to-back outings a year ago. Lewis Thorpe was hit around his last time out and has seen diminished velocity for most of the year. Devin Smeltzer could also be an option to follow Clippard with his start coming on August 7th. Brewers starter: Josh Lindblom RHP, 1-0 4.15 ERA This season is Lindblom’s first back in the major leagues since 2017. He spent the last two years overseas pitching for the Doosan Bears in the KBO. His sub-3.00 ERA’s and near 200 innings of performance were enough to have the Brewers enticed. Through two starts this season Lindblom owns a 12/4 K/BB and has given up four earned runs on seven hits in 8.2 IP. The secondary stats and numbers under the hood suggest there could be opportunity for the Twins to strike tonight. Lindblom has allowed a 47% hard hit rate while generating just a 21% ground ball rate. Giving up so many line drives and fly balls, the recipe for objects to start leaving the yard is there. Download attachment: Capture.PNG He’s a fastball-slider pitcher and the velo on his heater rests at just 90 mph. Minnesota’s lineup still hasn’t begun to click, but this is another opportunity for them to get going tonight. Lineup: News and notes: The Indians were off yesterday, but it didn’t stop more bad news coming from their club. Mike Clevinger was also with fellow dummy Zach Plesac in going out on the town in Chicago. Their rotation-mate, Carlos Carrasco, recovered from Leukemia last season. Both are now quarantined and have had their starts altered.St. Louis continues to look for a clean bill of health prior to any game action return. Their doubleheader with the Tigers on Thursday has been banged.Around the AL CentralDET 5, CWS 1 MIN 11-6 (+25 run differential) DET 9-5 (+4) CLE 10-7 (+22) CWS 8-9 (-7) KC 7-10 (-5) Tomorrow’s game Minnesota @ Milwaukee, 6:10 pm CT Kenta Maeda vs Eric Lauer See Also: Ranking the Twins' Current Injury Concerns Why Harder Might Not Mean Better for José Berríos Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins couldn’t get out of Kansas City fast enough. After a strong start to the season, they’ve now lost four straight and are fresh off a sweep by the Royals. Moving on to Milwaukee, the Brewers are hovering around .500 and are expected to be in the thick of the NL Central race when the dust settles.YESTERDAY’S GAME RECAP KCR 4, MIN 2: Bad Day for Berríos, Bats QUESTION OF THE DAY Would you rather the Twins had gotten off to a slower start, but have the exact same record? TODAY Twins at Brewers 7:10 pm CT Betting lines: Minnesota -114, O/U 8.5 Twins starter: Randy Dobnak RHP, 2-1 0.60 ERA This really isn’t just a cute story anymore. Randy Dobnak has pitched 43.1 big league innings and has a miniscule 1.25 ERA to show for it. His 0.60 mark in 2020 is the lowest in baseball, and eight starts into his Major League career, he continues to find ways to get the job done. Download attachment: D.PNG Dobnak doesn’t put the ball by many hitters, as evidenced by the 4.8 K/9 in 2020. What he has been doing this season is inducing a ton of ground balls. The 52.9% ground ball rate last year was nice, but this season it’s all the way up to 68.2%. His hard hit rate remains a consistent 45% but giving up so few fly balls (just 15%) negates possibility for those events to hurt him. None of his offerings are going to break the radar gun, but the heavy sink on his fastball and the frequency he goes to it is the name of the game. A 40% chase rate happens with much of those instances coming below the zone. If there’s a guy willing to let you get yourself out, it’s this type of pitcher. Brewers starter: Adrian Houser RHP, 1-0 0.75 ERA The former second round pick is off to a fast start for the Brewers in 2020. He’s given up just a single run in 12.0 IP and has won one of the two outings he’s been on the bump for. Like Dobnak, Houser doesn’t light up the radar gun, and his ability to generate ground balls is what sets him apart. It’s an incredibly small sample size thus far, but Houser is generating grounders on 74.1% of the balls he’s had put in play against him. The 40.7% hard hit rate is a career high however. Houser utilizes a sinker as well and has gotten a career best 11% whiff rate and 30.2% chase rate this season. Download attachment: Hous.PNG Free passes are something to keep an eye on with him. He’s allowed 5 walks in 12 innings already and owns a 3.1 BB/9 over the past two seasons. Lineup: News and notes: The St. Louis Cardinals season remains on pause as they deal with their COVID-19 outbreak. They have not played since the end of July and have just 5 games total under their belt this year. The series with the Pirates through Wednesday has been postponed.Indians starter Zach Plesac made a dumb and selfish decision over the weekend. He was told to pack his toys and go home. Around the AL Central DET 2, PIT 1 CLE 5, CWS 4 (F/10) MIN 10-6 (+23 run differential) DET 8-5 (0) CLE 10-7 (+22) CWS 8-8 (-3) KC 7-10 (-5) Tomorrow’s game Minnesota @ Milwaukee, 7:10 pm CT TBD vs Josh Lindblom See Also Jose Berrios, Velocity and Where Do We Go From Here The Starting Pitcher Trade Market at a Glance What’s Happening at the Alternate Site? Click here to view the article

Although we have grown accustomed to slower offseason activity when it comes to Major League Baseball free agency, that doesn't make the reality any more exciting. Sure, the Minnesota Twins have spent $30 million already in retaining Nelson Cruz and Jake Odorizzi, but the true free agents are still out there. Before adding new talent to Twins Territory the franchise gave fans something else they've been clamoring for over the past few years; the baby blue's. In 2020 Majestic is being replaced as the official Major League Baseball jersey provider. Initially Under Armour was set to take over the contract, but that deal fell through and now the Maryland based company has a whole different set of problems on their hands. At any rate, it's always been Nike that has pushed the boundaries and set the standard in trends. Before Minnesota made any moves, we got to see this in action. First up it was the San Diego Padres unveiling some new threads. Brown has made cameo appearances on their Swinging Friars jerseys for some time, but it is in 2020 that we'll see it in full force. I remember seeing these come across my timeline on Twitter and thinking that Nike was making a very nice first step. When news leaked that the Milwaukee Brewers would be going back to the ball-in-glove logo for the 2020 season it only made sense there'd be a new configuration. I'm a big fan of the alternate logo as well, depicting an "M" within the state of Wisconsin outline. The absolute highlight of that reveal though was the navy blue offering that set the stage ablaze. Not to be outdone by their eastern neighbors, the Minnesota Twins have decided to bring back the baby blue alternates for the upcoming season. Arguably the most-talked about jersey, and the one reminiscent of everyone from Kirby Puckett to Kent Hrberk, they'll be worn early and often in the upcoming season. Officially a home and road alternate, there is no stipulations as to where the new uniforms can be donned. On top of the colorway itself, the Twins are including patches on both sleeves. Minnie and Paul return to the jersey, as well as a 60 year anniversary logo. Both are very well done and should provide some added flair to a product that will likely fly off the shelves at 1 Twins Way. Although the cream alternates were a fan favorite as well, there's nothing more Minnesota Twins baseball than the baby blues. There has been a slight amount of pushback regarding the chest Swoosh, as opposed to the sleeve Majestic logo. As someone generally opposed to jersey advertisements, this seems hollow at best. The Swoosh is both iconic and aesthetically pleasing. Nike has and will continue to put the right foot forward when it comes to brand design, and there's certainly a company in New York (Hi, Topps!) that will enjoy another uniform patch. I don't think Nike will be controlling the Pohlad's pocketbook any time soon, but here's to hoping the jerseys are just the first of many new additions to debut at Target Field in the year ahead. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

After a brutal weekend series against the Cleveland Indians, the Minnesota Twins needed an easy win, along with some help from the Boston Red Sox, to regain the division lead. For a while it looked like that would be the case, as the Twins held a 4-1 lead over the Brewers and the Red Sox, a 6-1 lead over the Indians in the later innings. However, easy would not even come close to describing how things went down to give the Twins back the lead in the AL Central.Box Score Perez: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 61.4% strikes (54 of 88 pitches) Home Runs: Garver (22), Gonzalez (14) Multi-Hit Games: Rosario (2 for 4, BB), Gonzalez (2 for 4, HR) WPA of +0.1: Gonzalez .593, Perez .252, Rosario .153, Garver .128, WPA of -0.1: Harper -.670, Cron -.103 Martin Perez worked himself into a little bit of trouble in the first after allowing a couple of singles to Keston Hiura and Ryan Braun, though he was able to work out of it when Yasmani Grandal flew out to Eddie Rosario in left. The Twins were able to get a threat of their own going in the top of the second, thanks to a Luis Arraez base hit and a C.J. Cron hit-by-pitch, both coming with one out. However, with the game being played in a National League ballpark, the Twins' hopes of scoring in the inning relied almost entirely on the number eight hitter Marwin Gonzalez to come though with a hit. Once he flew out, Martin Perez, who has just one career hit, came to the plate and promptly struck out, ending the Twins threat. The Twins were able to get the scoring going in the top of the third thanks to a Max Kepler leadoff walk, followed by Mitch Garver blasting his 22nd home run of the season. Garver is now just three home runs behind Gary Sanchez for the most home runs by a catcher in the American League, despite having roughly 90 fewer plate appearances. After the Garver home run, the Twins bats were able to tack on another run. Eddie Rosario drew a rare walk, with one out in the inning, which was followed by a Miguel Sano groundball single, thanks to a lack of communication among the Brewers infielders. This set the table for Luis Arraez, who was able to bring Rosario in from third with an RBI-groundout. In the bottom of the third, the Brewers put together a two-out rally after a Ryan Braun walk and a Yasmani Grandal single. This brought Mike Moustakas to the plate, who appeared to have an RBI-single, before Jorge Polanco made this spectacular play to end the inning. After Martin Perez escaped unscathed through the first three innings, the Brewers were able to bring a run across the plate in the fourth. With one out, the Brewers number eight hitter, Hernan Perez singled, setting up an obvious bunt situation with Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson coming to the plate. Anderson was able to get the bunt down, and Martin Perez seemed to execute it perfectly, going to second to easily get the lead runner. However the throw from Perez sailed a bit and bounced off Jorge Polanco’s glove, and instead of a potential inning-ending double play, the Brewers had first and third with just one out. They were able to bring the run home on the next batter, when Lorenzo Cain just barely beat out the doubleplay relay throw. The Twins were able to extend their lead back up to three in the top of the seventh. Marwin Gonzalez got the inning started with a leadoff single, then Ehrie Adrianza came through with a pinch-hit RBI double. Unfortunately, Adrianza was stranded on the bases, preventing what could have been a big inning that could have burst the game open. That came back to haunt the Twins in the bottom of the inning, when Ryne Harper gave up four runs, without recording an out, capped off by this three-run home run by Yasmani Grandal. To make matters worse, at that exact same moment, the Cleveland Indians came back from a 6-1 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to a Francisco Lindor double. Fortunately for the Twins, the Red Sox were able to get out of the inning to force extras, where Jackie Bradley Jr. came up big with a go-ahead home run. In the bottom of the 10th, Andrew Cashner, of all people, came in and closed the door on the Indians loss. Back in Milwaukee, things still looked bleak for the Twins in the top of the eighth. Despite a leadoff double from Eddie Rosario, which was followed by a Miguel Sano walk, Luis Arraez and C.J. Cron were unable to even advance them. This set the table for one of the biggest at-bats for the Twins all season. With two-outs, and the tying run on second, the Brewers turned to shutdown closer Josh Hader to face Marwin Gonzalez, and on the first pitch, Gonzalez took Hader deep to left-center field for a three-run home run, putting the Twins back up by a score of 7-5. With Taylor Rogers apparently unavailable for tonight’s game, Rocco Baldelli had to turn to trade-deadline acquisitions Sam Dyson, who came back off the injured list tonight, and Sergio Romo, to close the door on the Twins victory. After Dyson went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Romo was able to finish off the save in the ninth, giving the Twins one of their biggest wins of the season. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wed at MIL, 1:10 pm CT (Gibson-TBD) Thu at TEX, 7:05 pm CT (TBD-Payano) Fri at TEX, 7:05 pm CT (TBD-TBD) Last Game Twins Game Recap (8/11): Frustrating Loss Marred by Heartbreaking Moments Click here to view the article

This is an excerpt of an article that appears at Zone Coverage, click here to read it in full! By the looks of it, it was going to be a battle reminiscent of David and Goliath. Well, that is, the way Vegas might have seen that battle before it happened. In one corner was the team everyone expected to be there. The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the year with a payroll of a touch over $187 million, and that was on the heels of spending $200-plus million in each of the previous five seasons. In the other corner was a team that hadn't spent that much in the previous two years combined. According to Cot's Contracts, the Milwaukee Brewers ended the 2016 and '17 seasons 30th in MLB in payroll, and opened this season with a total of just under $91 million on the books. Over the past two years, the Brewers had Opening Day payrolls of just a touch under $164 million -- combined. And the Brewers didn't just roll over, but push the NL's answer to the New York Yankees to the brink of elimination -- a decisive Game 7 at their own home park. Even if you didn't read the title to this piece, it isn't hard to see where we're going here. By comparison, the Minnesota Twins opened the season with a payroll of $128 million and change. They haven't had a payroll finish a season in the top half of MLB since 2012, and only once since the turn of the decade have they been among the game's top-10 spenders. That was in 2011 -- the year they lost 99 games. The 2012 team wasn't much better. People will label you a "Pohlad Pocket Protector" if you say it publicly, but ultimately it comes down to how a team spends rather than what it spends. Last season's AL Wild Card qualifier finished the year 21st in payroll. The team the year before that lost 103 games? They finished 20th. Money really won't be an issue this offseason no matter how someone slices it. The team only has about $30ish million hard committed for next year -- guaranteed money to Addison Reed, Jason Castro and Michael Pineda as well as dead money to Phil Hughes and buyouts of Ervin Santana and Logan Morrison's deals -- and the payroll estimator over on Cot's projects the Opening Day payroll at just a touch under $69 million as things currently stand. That includes the following arbitration figures, in case you want to do some back-of-the-napkin math about who you might non-tender if you were magically granted a seat at the table with Derek Falvey and Thad Levine. For comparison's sake, we'll put the estimates from MLB Trade Rumors in parentheses: Jake Odorizzi - $7.75 million ($9.4 million) Kyle Gibson - $6.75 million ($7.9 million) Robbie Grossman - $3.25 million ($4 million) Eddie Rosario - $3.25 million ($5 million) Miguel Sano - $2.75 million ($3.1 million) Max Kepler - $2.5 million ($3.2 million) Byron Buxton - $2.25 million ($1.2 million) Ehire Adrianza - $1.5 million ($1.8 million) Taylor Rogers - $1.5 million ($1.6 million) Trevor May - $1.25 million ($1.1 million) Add and subtract as you see fit -- for instance, Grossman could be a fairly easy non-tender with Johnny Field, Zack Granite and Jake Cave in the mix -- but this still doesn't put the Twins in any sort of payroll trouble. If the Pohlad family green-lighted an identical payroll from 2018 to 2019, the team has as much as $60 million to spend this offseason in a market that has depth and quality at a wide variety of positions. After a virtually identical team went from in the playoffs to stumbling for 95 percent of the season, how can the team get back on the path to frigid October baseball at Target Field? How about taking a page out of the Brewers' book? It's not exactly a copycat league and each team has different strengths and weaknesses, but here are a handful of ideas the Twins can embrace to push them in the right direction. 1. Don't be afraid to aggressively target improvements -- even in places of strength The Twins obviously like where their future lies in the outfield with Rosario-Buxton-Kepler, and Cave's emergence last season gave them a nice contingency plan as well. The same was true for the Brewers a year ago, when they gave the most playing time in their outfield to Ryan Braun in left, Keon Broxton in center and Domingo Santana in right. Brett Phillips made a cameo and acquitted himself fairly well. Lewis Brinson struggled but was one of the top prospects in the game. Like the Twins, the Brewers were flush with talent and youth in their outfield. So what did they do? They went out and signed Lorenzo Cain and traded for Christian Yelich. They locked down Cain -- once traded with Odorizzi, by the way -- for five years and still have the rights to the likely NL MVP through the 2021 season. If the Brewers exercise Yelich's 2022 option -- which right now seems likely based on the year he had and that he'll be finishing just his age-30 season -- they'll have five years of him for a tidy sum of $58.25 million. That won't even buy you two seasons of Bryce Harper. That's not to say that identifying the next Cain in free agency will be easy, or that his deal is guaranteed to pay dividends over the next four years. He's signed through his age-36 season, so while the early returns are good, it isn't without risk. But who might be a player like this in free agency? Michael Brantley (32) comes to mind, though perhaps the best fit would be A.J. Pollock. He's heading into his age-31 season, and his price tag will be kept down -- at least a little -- by the fact that he's played more than 130 games just twice in his seven-year MLB career. He's a terrific player and a great defender in center, and a nice fall-back plan to Byron Buxton's development -- and beyond that, would theoretically be an incredible corner outfielder defensively. Andrew McCutchen (32) could be a good fit in that respect as well. The days of him being a superstar may be gone, but even the last two years he's been a really nice player while finally seeing his way out of Pittsburgh. This dynamic isn't strictly limited to outfielders, either. Between Jason Castro, Mitch Garver and Willians Astudillo, the Twins have a combination that would amount to one heck of a catching clone. But each has question marks. Castro's coming off meniscus surgery, and it isn't the first time he's dealt with the issue. He's a great defender but the bat leaves a bit to be desired. Garver dealt with a concussion down the stretch, and has been more of an offense-first guy -- though that's not to say he hasn't worked hard at improving his defense. And Astudillo is a total wild card in more ways than one. Despite his second iffy October in a row, expect Yasmani Grandal to be a hotly contested commodity this offseason. He's a career .240/.341/.441 hitter, bats from both sides and the defensive metrics love him for his career. He also won't be 30 for a couple more weeks, either. Don't be surprised if he commands a four or five-year deal in the neighborhood of $18-20 million per season, but that's a small price to pay for a transformational catcher behind the plate and at it. The Twins should absolutely be in the discussion as a spot for him to land this offseason. 2. Understand that prospects are nice, but parades are even nicer To get Yelich, the Brewers had to go to a well-stocked cupboard and part with some nice pieces. Brinson was a consensus top-30 prospect prior to last season, and while his early-career MLB numbers are eerily reminiscent to Buxton's, it's way too early to give up on him. He won't turn 25 until a month into next year. Isan Diaz is a middle-infield prospect who has appeared in top-100 lists each of the last two seasons, and at 22 got a look at Triple-A last season -- albeit a bit of an ugly one (.639 OPS). Still, he was four-plus years younger than the average PCL player, so that's not too shabby. Monte Harrison was a top-75 prospect across all platforms and in his age-22 season took a bit of a step back this year in Double-A, hitting .240/.316/.399. Most concerning is that he fanned 215 times in 136 games (583 PA), but he was still nearly a 20-20 guy (19 homers, 28 steals) along the way. The physical tools are tremendous. The final piece was starter Jordan Yamamoto, a 22-year-old righty who doesn't project as a top-of-the-rotation guy despite eye-popping numbers in the minors this season. Across three levels, Yamamoto posted a 1.83 ERA, 11.1 K/9, a 0.83 WHIP and just 1.8 BB/9. He'll be 23 in May and could be pitching in the big leagues by then. None of this is to say the Twins should make Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff available or that another Yelich will be on the market this winter -- though Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto will almost certainly be dealt with two years of control left at reasonable rates -- but the overarching theme here is that creativity will rule the day.