Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine have made sweeping changes since joining the organization following the 2016 season.
They have replaced scouting and player development personnel; overhauled strength and conditioning staffs; revamped strategies from the majors through the minors; built up a research and development department; and have shaken up the major league coaching staff — with their most notable move coming in October, when they replaced manager Paul Molitor with newbie Rocco Baldelli.
However, there's one area the dynamic duo have not revised with the same vigor — the major league roster. So, as the pair enter their third offseason in charge, is it the right time to make significant roster moves?
The Twins are several players away from catching Cleveland in the AL Central and have payroll flexibility — they have $24.5 million committed to their own players next season, plus $5.95 million they owe from the Phil Hughes trade to San Diego — to add talent.
Or will the priority be to let Baldelli work his magic with the players who already are here?
The Twins still believe there's a developing young core, but they will look to strengthen the areas around that core as the hot stove league heats up. The general managers meetings take place next week in Carlsbad, Calif., where the groundwork for trades and free-agent signings is often laid. Then the winter meetings take place Dec. 9-12 in Las Vegas, where deals could be culminated.
"I always view free agency as a supplement to the core of your team," Falvey said. "If you look at the playoff teams and the teams that have won, they have built around a key core. We've talked a lot about our group, and some of the setbacks that we've experienced with that collection of players. We still believe that group has a chance to impact us the way it did down the stretch in 2017."
Still, when a team has around $30 million in commitments one year after making a run at starting pitcher Yu Darvish — they offered a five-year deal of at least $100 million — it would appear the Twins could take another big swing at free agency.