Where do the Twins sit in the Carlos Rodon sweepstakes?
The Twins need and ace and there's only one true No. 1 starter left in free agency, but who's going to pay up for the services of 30-year-old Carlos Rodon?
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, teams that have "expressed interest" are the Dodgers, Rangers, Mets, Twins, Orioles, Yankees and maybe the Blue Jays. But Heyman says "The Twins are more eying superstar shortstop Carlos Correa," the Dodgers and Giants may not want to go long term and Rodon's "probably rich for the Orioles."
Throw in the fact that the Rangers (Jacob deGrom) and Mets (Justin Verlander) have already splashed in free agency and that leaves the door open for the Yankees, according to Heyman.
If the Twins want Rodon they're going to have to go big. Jon Morosi of MLB Network says Rodon could wind up getting $200 million guaranteed. A six-year deal for $200 million would pay Rodon $33.3 million annually. It's a risk for a 30-year-old with injury history, but he was healthy in 2022 and posted elite numbers:
- 178 innings
- 14-8 record
- 2.88 ERA
- 237 strikeouts
- 52 walks
- .202 opponent batting average
If the Twins are able to bring back Carlos Correa, which is undoubtedly going to require a $300 million contract, would they also dive in for a $200 million ace?
Both are clients of super agent Scott Boras, who said this week the Twins are "fishing in the ocean" with the big boys. For now, we wait.
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.