Trade for more pitching unlikely; Derek Falvey says Twins’ rotation ‘probably in this room’
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Twins fans have been clamoring for a trade with the Oakland Athletics for one of two starting pitchers, Frankie Montas or Sean Manaea, since the free-agent pitching market dried up — or perhaps even before then.
But the odds of a trade with the A’s — or any team — seem slim at this point. A source said the Athletics have not made the Twins a concrete ask, despite the Twins showing interest in both starters, and it appears possible that Oakland will keep both of them to begin the season, despite selling off other players this offseason.
The Twins, meanwhile, brought in free-agent starter Chris Archer on Monday to slide into the rotation. Should the Twins not make another move this spring to bolster their rotation, they will enter the season with three veterans — Sonny Gray, Dylan Bundy and Archer — along with two young starters in Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan.
“I think as you get closer and closer to Opening Day, it’s really about the other teams as well,” Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “I think a number of teams probably are focused a little more internally than they are externally right now. That’s just my feel across the game.”
The Twins entered the offseason with no greater need than starting pitching, having traded José Berríos last July at the deadline, losing Kenta Maeda for most, if not all of the season, to injury — Maeda underwent Tommy John surgery near the end of last season — and letting Michael Pineda walk in free agency.
They addressed the holes in their rotation by trading last year’s first-round draft pick, Chase Petty, to the Reds for Gray, and signing Bundy and Archer to one-year deals. Both of the latter pitchers are looking to bounce back after difficult 2021 seasons — when Bundy posted a 6.06 earned-run average in 23 games, and Archer was injured for most of season.
Combine that with Ober and Ryan, who have a combined 25 games of major-league experience between them, and plenty of questions still remain about the Twins’ rotation.
Those answers, it appear, will come internally.
“We’ll always stay open-minded to everything,” Falvey said of trade talks. “I know I always say that, but that’s true. It’s just at this late stage as we approach Opening Day, it feels like the group is probably in this room.”
GRAY DEBUTS
Gray’s first start came on the backfields at the Lee County Sports Complex on Monday, and from all reports, manager Rocco Baldelli said the three-inning outing went “exactly as planned.” With the major-league team off, Gray went out and started a minor-league game, pitching to catcher Ryan Jeffers and in front of pitching coach Wes Johnson.
“He was hyped up and dialed in, and even though he’s not pitching in the stadium, I think he got a lot out of it,” Baldelli said. “… It’s what we needed to do, and it just happened to fall on the off day. There was no worry on his end about doing that. He just wanted to get his outing in on the proper day.”
As of Tuesday morning, Baldelli said they still needed to plan his schedule moving forward. Should he stay on a five-day schedule, Gray would be in line to start on Opening Day.
BRIEFLY
New shortstop Carlos Correa hit his first home run of the spring in Tuesday’s 4-2 exhibition loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Charlotte Sports Park. … Twins pitchers Jharel Cotton, Yennier Cano and Jhoan Duran struck out the final three batters of the game. … Major League Baseball and Apple announced the beginning of their “Friday Night Baseball” schedule on Tuesday. The Twins’ game against the Rays on June 10 in Minnesota will be broadcast exclusively on Apple TV+. Games will be available for a limited time even to those without a subscription. The Twins have yet to release a full broadcast schedule.
