\n\tOne of the most familiar feelings for Twins fans each winter is watching the calendar flip to January (and be there for a couple of weeks) while the roster still looks unfinished. Other teams make splashy moves in December. The Twins, under Derek Falvey, tend to wait. That patience can feel maddening in the moment, especially after a quiet Winter Meetings, but recent history shows there is at least some method behind the madness.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tLooking back at the past few offseasons is a helpful reminder that impactful additions do not always come early, and that value can still be found after the initial free-agent rush has passed.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t2024-25 Offseason \n\tBader could not have worked out much better. Expectations were modest, but he delivered more production at the plate than anticipated (113 OPS+) while continuing to play elite defense. His move from center field to a corner outfield role helped the defense. Coulombe was a low-cost addition at $3 million, but he gave the bullpen a veteran left-handed presence and bridged the gap to the late innings. France was below average offensively (87 OPS+), but his steady defense at first base was outstanding, culminating in a Gold Glove award. Waiting did not hurt the Twins last winter. In several ways, it helped.\n<\/p>\n \n\t2023-24 Offseason \n\tFebruary brought Carlos Santana<\/a> and Jay Jackson<\/a>. Staumont and Jackson struggled and provided little value, but Santana eventually found his footing. His bat took time to warm up, but he finished the season as a productive contributor (109 OPS+). Defensively, he had one of the best seasons in team history, earning a Gold Glove. The late timing of these signings did not guarantee success across the board, but it did allow the Twins to address needs without overcommitting early.\n<\/p>\n \n\t2022-23 Offseason \n\tIn hindsight, that aggressive approach did not produce better results. Gallo was unplayable by the end of the season, with a .686 OPS in the second half. V\u00e1zquez provided defensive value behind the plate but saw his offense collapse during his time in Minnesota (60 OPS+). Correa\u2019s contract has since been unloaded, leaving the Twins paying $10 million per year for him to play for the Astros over the next three seasons. Acting early did not insulate the team from risk or disappointment.\n<\/p>\n \n\tSo, what does all of this mean for the rest of the current Twins offseason? It means that silence in even the early part of January does not automatically signal failure. The front office has repeatedly shown a willingness to wait out the market, target specific fits, and strike when prices and roles make sense. That approach has frustrated fans plenty of times, but it has often led to solid outcomes.\n<\/p>\n \n\tPatience does not guarantee success, and it does not remove the need for meaningful additions. However, history suggests that the Twins are comfortable letting the board come to them. As February approaches, the lesson from recent winters is simple. The offseason is not over yet, even if it feels like it has been dragging on forever.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWill the Twins make any meaningful additions in the coming weeks? Leave a comment and start the discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most familiar feelings for Twins fans each winter is watching the calendar flip to January…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2388],"tags":[5,3225,1717,1250,7792,7045,8652,365,10250,2060,822,60,3190,4,148,3197],"class_list":{"0":"post-530888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-twins","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-carlos-correa","10":"tag-carlos-santana","11":"tag-christian-vazquez","12":"tag-danny-coulombe","13":"tag-derek-falvey","14":"tag-donovan-solano","15":"tag-harrison-bader","16":"tag-jay-jackson","17":"tag-joey-gallo","18":"tag-minnesota","19":"tag-minnesota-twins","20":"tag-minnesotatwins","21":"tag-mlb","22":"tag-twins","23":"tag-ty-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115933371657944762","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Last winter might be the cleanest example of how this approach can work. None of the Twins’ three notable free-agent signings arrived until February. Harrison Bader<\/a>, Danny Coulombe<\/a>, and Ty France<\/a> all came aboard late, and all three ended up providing real value.\n<\/p>\n
The 2023=2024 offseason followed a similar timeline, though with more mixed results. The Twins technically got started in late December, by signing reliever Josh Staumont<\/a>. Still, the offseason did not truly take shape until the end of January, when Jorge Polanco<\/a> was traded to the Seattle Mariners. That deal is still being evaluated through the long-term lens of Gabriel Gonzalez<\/a>\u2019s development. At the same time, Justin Topa<\/a> could still play an essential role in the bullpen, especially if the Twins don\u2019t make other additions this season.\n<\/p>\n
The outlier in this pattern came during the 2022-2023 offseason. That winter, the Twins moved quickly. Christian V\u00e1zquez<\/a> (3-year deal) and Joey Gallo<\/a> (1-year deal) signed in December. Then an unexpected opportunity arose in early January, when Carlos Correa<\/a> became available again after failing physicals with two other clubs. The Twins pounced, reshaping their roster well before spring training. Even during a more aggressive winter, the front office still made a late addition, signing Donovan Solano<\/a> near the end of February.\n<\/p>\n