GM admits Twins have 'a little bit of a hole' in starting rotation
If the Twins don't make any more moves they will begin the 2024 season with a starting rotation featuring Pablo Lopez, Chris Paddack, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Louie Varland. The first four names are locks, while it appears Varland will enter spring training with an opportunity to win the fifth spot.
Twins general manager Thad Levine was a guest on Sirius XM MLB Radio over the weekend and suggested that Varland will compete for the job and that the Twins are still scouring free agency and the trade market for starting pitching depth because the losses of Kenta Maeda, Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle "leaves a little bit of a hole in our starting rotation."
"[Varland will] get a chance to compete in camp as well, but I would say like so many other teams we're still in the starting pitching market. we'e looking at free agents, we're looking at trades," Levine said. "It's been a little bit of a later free agent class this year, there are still guys who are out there.
"I would just say we're having some active dialogue behind the scenes right now but right now our starting five, and we're really excited about them, would be Pablo Lopez, Chris Paddack, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Louie Varland. We need to build out some depth there, we're certainly going to be focused on that between now and opening day."
Last week, a report out of Seattle suggested that Twins veteran second baseman Jorge Polanco could fill a big need for the Mariners. Could the Twins trade Polanco for a Seattle starting pitcher?
"They just still feel like they are a position player, or two, short in that group," MLB Radio's Mike Ferrin said. "We've talked about Jorge Polanco being a fit for Milwaukee. Jorge Polanco would solve a lot of problems for the Mariners. If the Mariners were willing to deal from one of those Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo, Emerson Hancock group – and Hancock probably a little farther back because of the injury history – they might be able to add Jorge Polanco to the mix."
- Bryce Miller (25, RHP) - 8-7, 4.32 ERA, 131.1 IP, 119 SO, 26 BB
- Bryan Woo (23, RHP) - 4-5, 4.21 ERA, 87.2 IP, 93 SO, 31 BB
Miller and Woo made their MLB debuts last season and possess solid upside and they would be exactly the type of pitcher who could compete with Varland for the No. 5 job in Minnesota.
The free agent market isn't void of talent, but it isn't super deep, either. Among the names mentioned by MLB Trade Rumors are Michael Lorenzen, Mike Clevinger, and Hyun Jin Ryu are among the mid-level rotation options still available this winter. Here's how each performed last season...
- Lorenzen: 5:51 ERA in 11 games, including a no-hitter for the Phillies
- Clevinger: 3.77 ERA in 24 starts with the White Sox
- Ryu: 3.46 ERA in 11 starts with the Blue Jays.
Lorenzen is the youngest of the three at 32 years old. Clevinger is 33 and Ryu is 36.
Big-name starters who are still on the market or at one point were rumored to be available include Dylan Cease of the White Sox, Shane Bieber of the Guardians and Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported over the weekend that Cease and Bieber are probably going to start the season with their current teams while the Brewers don't appear destined to trade Burnes.
"Corbin Burnes is almost surely staying in Milwaukee now, and Shane Bieber seems likely to stay in Cleveland, as well," Heyman reported Jan. 25. "The O’s talked a lot about Dylan Cease but still don’t seem close."
Jun 6, 2023; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli (5) comes to the mound to take out starting pitcher Louie Varland (37) against the Tampa Bay Rays during the seventh inning dat Tropicana Field.
Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
