We
are in the middle of Winter Meetings now, with plenty of rumors abounding of potential player movement and free-agent signings. Not much has changed for the Twins in terms of their personnel so far, but we’ll see as the offseason continues if the team will actually do anything to improve their roster in a meaningful way.
The Past Week on Twinkie Town:
- Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
- Ben Jones previews the Winter Meetings to see what Twins fans should follow.
- The MLB Draft Lottery was yesterday, and with the Twins having the second-best odds to grab the #1 pick, they unfortunately missed out and ended with the third pick.
- James Fillmore reviews last week’s Twinkie Town Movie night, A League of Their Own. Join us this week for Damn Yankees!
- We’re onto Round 7 of Zach Koenig’s list of the Best Twins moments!
- Zach also takes us through the unofficial start to the 2016 Twins season with the 2015 offseason.
Elsewhere in Twins Territory:
- Dan Hayes at The Athletic reports on a shift in the Twins’ approach to the offseason. This is after Ken Rosenthal, at The Athletic, also reported that the Twins do not plan to trade Byron Buxton or Joe Ryan.
- Betsy Helfand at the Pioneer Press checks in on Derek Shelton as he prepares for his first season as the Twins’ manager.
- Bobby Nightengale at the Star Tribune looks at where Derek Falvey might want to add to the roster.
- Matthew Leach at MLB.com looks at the Twins’ thoughts after getting the #3 pick in the MLB draft.
- Byron Buxton is also expected to be added to the preliminary World Baseball Classic roster for Team USA.
- Perhaps fueling a little fire for the “Buxton to LA” rumors, Rocco Baldelli is joining the Dodgers’ front office.
In the World of Baseball:
- Jeff Kent was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Era Committee. Kent holds the record for most home runs by a second baseman, with 351. Perhaps more notably, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens did not earn enough votes to be eligible for the ballot the next time the Contemporary Era Committee meets to elect players to the Hall of Fame.
- With the MLB Draft Lottery done, Jim Callis at MLB.com has his first mock draft of the season.
- Major signings in the MLB since our last update:
- Kyle Schwarber re-signs with the Philadelphia Phillies for 5 years, $150 million.
- Edwin Diaz signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 3 years, $69 million.
- The Los Angeles Angels and the Baltimore Orioles made a trade, sending Taylor Ward to Baltimore for Grayson Rodriguez.
- Devin Williams signs with the New York Mets for 3 years, $51 million.
