Minnesota Twins: Three recently non-tendered players of interest
By Nick Stevens
The Minnesota Twins need back end of the rotation help.
The top three spots in the Minnesota Twins rotation is set, and very solid. With Cy Young finalist Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, and Michael Pineda claiming three-fifths of the rotation, the last two spots are up for grabs.
There are a handful of low-cost veteran free agents available on the market, but with Drew Smyly receiving a one-year/$11 million deal from Atlanta, the market for these types of arms may be more aggressive than originally thought.
Among the list of recently non-tendered players, the Twins could look into former Chicago White Sox first-round pick, Carlos Rodon.
While Rodon has yet to live up to his pre-draft hype, and very likely never will, pre-injury Carlos Rodon showed solid numbers in Chicago to be a backend of the rotation type starter.
He’s still just 28 and while Rodon has logged just north of 40 innings over the last two seasons, his wipeout slider is still intact and he saw a slight tick up in his fastball velocity, which dipped considerably in 2019.
A full offseason and another year removed from Tommy John surgery, along with a change of scenery, could be enough to aide Rodon in a rebound year in 2021 and provide a team like the Minnesota Twins a very cheap, low-risk, moderately decent-reward option.