Twins general manager Bill Smith answered questions from Minnesota’s season ticket holders on a conference call tonight and Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has the details on what we should expect from the club this offseason:
- The Twins are looking for starting pitching, bullpen help and a backup catcher who can contribute offensively.
- It’s unlikely that Smith will try to re-sign Jim Thome, who collected his 600th career home run with the Twins before finishing the season in Cleveland.
- Even if the Twins don’t pick up Joe Nathan’s $12.5MM option for 2012, they’re interested in bringing him back next year. The right-hander has expressed a willingness to stay in the Minnesota organization.
- Though they’ll consider internal shortstop candidates such as Alexi Casilla, Trevor Plouffe and Tsuyoshi Nishioka, the Twins could acquire a shortstop from outside of the organization.
- The Twins have had some talks with prospective free agent Michael Cuddyer and hope to re-sign him. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes examined Cuddyer's free agent stock last month.
