MLB Hot Stove Rumors: Twins not done chasing pitching, still in on top free agents

The Twins have already fortified the bullpen with Addison Reed, and now they want to address the rotation

Last season the Twins claimed the second AL wild-card berth despite ranking just ninth in the 15-team AL in ERA 14th in strikeouts. As well, default ace Ervin Santana seems like a strong regression candidate in 2018. On the pitching front, the Twins have already signed reliever Addison Reed, and that may wind up being one of the canniest additions of the offseason. However, they still need help in a rotation that presently includes Santana, the promising Jose Berrios, and a lot of unknown quantities. As such, this may not come as much of a surprise ... 

Derek Falvey said signing Addison Reed for $16.75M over two years does not affect their budget for a starting pitcher. He said they're still in on the top 4 starters available, which essentially means Darvish, Cobb, Lynn, Arrieta.

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) January 19, 2018

We've known for a while that the Twins had eyes for Yu Darvish, and now you can add Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn, and Alex Cobb to the list of possible targets. Skeptical that the Twins can land such a needle-mover? Here's this ... 

There are folks with other teams who believe that the Twins have a real shot to sign Yu Darvish. They've got a ton of payroll flexibility, they have a rotation need, and they're well-positioned to compete in a weakened AL Central in the next few years.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) January 19, 2018

The glacial pace of the offseason might wind up dropping the going rates, and that would certainly benefit the mid-market Twins. Doing so certainly wouldn't make them division favorites, but with the White Sox, Tigers, and possibly Royals at various stages of rebuilding there's an opportunity to feast on the back end of the AL Central and perhaps emerge as a wild-card contender once again.