The Minnesota Twins don’t have a solidified rotation and if they want to get deep into the postseason, they will need to improve the rotation.
Jake Odorizzi‘s decision to take the Qualifying Offer and go into a less-talented starting pitching market next winter certainly helped the Twins, who only have Jose Berrios as the only starter locked into the rotation with Odorizzi, but they will need more than that.
The New York Yankees proved to the Twins in the American League Division Series that having a high-powered offense isn’t enough, as they got swept in three games due to the lack of starting pitching.
Randy Dobnak, who was an Uber driver in Spring Training, started Game 2 and it was a good story and all but if you asked Thad Levine he would tell you that they don’t wish for that to happen again.
Zack Wheeler would be a great fit only if he wants to play in Twin Cities. He is going to get paid and there are going to be a lot of teams that are going after Gerrit Cole, so they might not have their attention on Wheeler, and I think Wheeler will just go to the team that is the most invested in him.
The Twins’ payroll isn’t too big (around $114 million) so the addition of Wheeler shouldn’t be that big of an ask from the front office to ownership.
As I mentioned earlier this month, I believe Zack Wheeler is one of those pitchers that can transform into one of the best in the game–sort of like Gerrit Cole did–if he gets paired with the right pitching coach.