Twins look to lay groundwork at Winter Meetings

MINNEAPOLIS — The Winter Meetings begin on Monday, but don’t expect the Twins to make any major splashes at the annual event, which runs through Thursday.

The Twins solved their catching situation on Wednesday, signing catcher Jason Castro to a three-year deal worth $24.5 million, and they will mostly be looking for pitching help this offseason. But new chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said he doesn’t expect any significant moves to come during the Winter Meetings, as it’s more about setting the groundwork with agents and other clubs, while also getting a chance to learn more about the organization internally.

“Candidly, I don’t think the Winter Meetings is where we have to execute everything,” Falvey said. “We’re not in the business of winning the Winter Meetings with a firestorm.”

• Hot Stove Tracker

MLB.com and MLB Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of the 2016 Winter Meetings from the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center outside Washington, D.C. Fans can watch live streaming of all news conferences and manager availability on MLB.com, including the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 8 at 8 a.m. CT.

One big name that’s sure to come up as a trade candidate during the Winter Meetings is second baseman Brian Dozier, who is coming off a 42-homer season and has two years and $15 million left on his deal. The Twins will continue to listen on Dozier, but they will need a strong return to make a deal.

“He’s a guy that other teams have checked in on,” Falvey said. “There’s no question. But I think that’s fair to say about a number of guys on our team. We’re not going to shut any door until we hear what’s on the other side. So we’ll have conversations, but we don’t have any urgency to make that move.”

Club …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com