:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/24805935/177609122.0.jpg)
[Note by Jesse, 12/09/13 2:12 PM CST ]
According to Ken Rosenthal, things may be heating up between the Twins and Arroyo.
Sources: #Twins making push for Arroyo, talks gaining momentum.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2013
------
If you checked out my Twins Winter Meetings Primer from this morning, you'll remember that I made an argument for the Twins staying away from additional multi-year offers to free agent pitchers not named Matt Garza. But then came this:
I'm told the #MNTwins will meet with Arroyo's agent this afternoon.
— Darren Wolfson (@DarrenWolfson) December 9, 2013
Early indications were that Minnesota wanted Arroyo on a multi-year deal. Things have changed since then, being that those rumors were in place prior to the signings of Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes, so it has to be asked: how interested are the Twins at this point?
I have no doubt that the front office is committed to upgrading the starting rotation, and to be honest it wouldn't surprise me to learn that, perhaps, ownership was pressing them into more moves than might be necessary. If Minnesota has legitimate interest in Arroyo, and if that interest still involves a three-year contract (or even two), then it's a strategy I'd start to question.
It's possible that Minnesota's interest will have changed in light of recent happenings. I'd hope so. It's also possible that I was wrong this morning, and that my finger isn't as on-the-pulse of what the Twins should be doing as I thought I might have been. (Full disclosure: the Twins have also offered Mike Pelfrey a two-year deal. Nope, don't like that either.) It's also possible that, for whatever reason, the organization isn't as confident in Kyle Gibson being ready to take over a full-time rotation spot as we'd like them to be.
No matter what the case, the Twins need to free up some roster space pretty quickly. Whether that means outrighting Eric Fryer or Andrew Albers, or whether it means trading or releasing someone like Vance Worley or Kevin Correia, something needs to shift before Minnesota can do anything.
