Twins Hot Stove: Dozier trade talk, Terry Ryan, Justin Masterson, and other notes

The Twins new front office signed catcher Jason Castro (officially, as of today) and three special front-office assistants, but what else have they been up to?

Here’s a rundown of the rumors swirling about:

• There’s a lot of Brian Dozier trade rumors out there, obviously, since he’s a second baseman who just hit 42 home runs (that doesn’t happen much, FYI). The most frequently named team is the Dodgers, although some rumors about the Angels and the Phillies being interested are out there too.
• Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press has noted that the Twins would not take dealing Brian Dozier lightly.

• ESPN’s Jim Bowden rated the chances of the Twins trading Dozier at 45%.
• The Twins are also not interested in packaging Phil Hughes with Dozier in any kind of salary-relief trade. Phil was injured most of last season, but is said to be healthy now.
• The Twins have reportedly shown interest in starting pitcher Justin Masterson. Remember him? Used to be a pretty good pitcher for the Indians (you know, the good old boys club Derek Falvey came from) and apparently also a pitcher for the Cardinals and Red Sox. Masterson is 31 years old and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2015 due to some sort of injury. He could be a cheap option, although
• Details about Jason Castro’s deal were released today with his official signing. His deal is slightly front loaded, with him earning $8.5 million in 2017 and $8 million in both 2018 and 2019. It’s the biggest free agent signing of a position player the Twins have ever made.
• Castro wasted no time making waves in Twins Territory, as he revealed during a Twitter Q&A he has no idea what “hotdish” is.
• Some interesting ‘Old Friend’ news: The Phillies signed former Twins GM Terry Ryan to be a “Special Assignment Scout.”

As always, you can keep track of all the off-season happenings over at MLB Daily Dish’s Free Agent Tracker.