Poll: How Much Roster Turnover Will the Twins See This Winter?

A term like "roster turnover" can encompass all of the transactions that help you build or take down your roster: trades, free agents, drafting, waivers. How a front office manages their roster turnover can make all the difference in a season. The Twins have been the posterboys for the good and bad side of that equation.

Looking past this week and into November, what kind of roster turnover could the Twins be staring down? Some significant changes will be made, particularly on the pitching side. Here are three of the bigger question marks for me.

1. Scott Baker

Even with the lack of quality starting pitching on the books for next spring, it seems unlikely that the Twins would choose to pick up Baker's option at $9.25 million. Judging by the conversations we've had here, most people wouldn't mind seeing the Twins bring him back for $2 to $3 million, but not wanting to pay the option for the season following Tommy John surgery is justifiable.

2. Matt Capps

When it comes to veteran players getting hurt and missing time that stretches toward season's end, it's uncommon to see them brought back so close to the finale of what has been a bad season. Yet there Capps is. Mostly I put the decision to come back and pitch squarely on Capps, who team officials have said time and again is just one of those guys who will pitch unless he catches the plague and his right arm falls off. But the Twins also have a say in whether or not he was going to come back. Maybe they wanted to give him the opportunity to show baseball that he was healthy. Maybe they wanted to see for themselves. Whatever the case may be, Capps pitching the final few days of a lost season is about more than just him wanting to get out there.

3. Carl Pavano

Pavano seems a bit like The Lost Player. Which isn't even a real thing, it just seems like it applies. He hasn't pitched since June 1, and even when he was on the mound he was having a pretty bad season; it was the kind of season we all knew was in the cards based off his peripheral numbers the last few years. His empty locker in the corner of the locker room, one of the four pillars, embodies The Lost Player as much as his absence from the hill. Anyway - it wouldn't surprise me to see the Twins bring him back on a one-year deal. He'd probably come cheap. But I'm ready to part ways with The Stache.

Beyond these three pitchers, how many additional spaces do you expect the Twins to work with?