Report: Twins already talking to Zack Wheeler's camp
The Twins' offseason pursuit of quality starting pitchers is no secret, and the club is already speaking with reps for free agents at the general managers' meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona.
According to Darren Wolfson, the Twins have already had talks with free agent right-hander Zack Wheeler's camp.
Among folks the #MNTwins have had conversations with in the last 24 hours at the GM Meetings in Scottsdale: the Zack Wheeler camp. Took a few days to register interest, but it's now there. He's a very logical free agent fit here.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) November 12, 2019
Wheeler was a stud for the Mets last season, but his track record prior to 2019 is filled with injuries. He missed the 2015 and 2016 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, then posted a 5.21 ERA in 2017 before putting together a really good 2018 with a 3.31 ERA in 182.1 innings.
Wheeler followed that up with a 3.96 ERA in 31 starts last season, and now he's likely going to get a healthy, multi-year contract as one of the top free-agent starters on the market.
While those numbers do not compare to those of Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg, Wheeler could be considered the third-best pitcher in this year's free-agent crop with a powerful fastball that averaged a career-high 96.7 mph last season, according to FanGraphs.
New York tendered Wheeler a $17.8 million qualifying offer, but MLB.com's Jon Paul Morosi reports that Wheeler will not accept it by Thursday's deadline.
The Twins will also find out Thursday if Jake Odorizzi accepts or rejects a $17.8 million qualifying offer for the 2020 season.
Meanwhile, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Twins are interested in bringing back 37-year-old, right-handed reliever Sergio Romo.
Have heard the #MNTwins are interested in bringing back reliever Sergio Romo. Pitcher appeared to enjoy his time in Minnesota. No word on if any progress has been made on reuniting for another season.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) November 14, 2019
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.