Hunter Barco effective in final Triple-A start

As Twins GM Jeremy Zoll put it, “It’s something that we need to be open-minded to, knowing that it feels like an area of surplus but also want to be mindful of not eating into that too much since we know we’re going to need real depth to attack the season.” Assuming that Pablo López is ready to go after elbow surgery, the Twins would likely open up with a rotation of he, Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Dean Kremer and Bailey Ober, with Connor Prielipp, Mick Abel and Zebby Matthews in reserve. If they add a starter, that might push Kremer or Ober to the pen for a spell and perhaps lead to the team seeing what potential Prielipp or Matthews might have in short relief.

Plesac did play a little outfield at Ball State, though he hit a modest .276/.361/.429 in 125 plate appearances over his three seasons in college. It’s hard to imagine Plesac performing as a legitimate two-way player, but a non-contender could sign him as a pitcher, give him 20 starts in the outfield or at DH and get him officially designated as a two-way player, potentially making him interesting to contenders looking for the advantage of being able to carry a 14th pitcher as a position player. At least, it’s only a matter of time until some team tries that with some pitcher. The problem with trying it with Plesac, though, is that he hasn’t been a useful major leaguer since 2021.

Rogers only mentioned the Dodgers, but Jon Heyman said earlier this week that the Yankees, Mets and Blue Jays were all interested. Last winter was the time to sign Loáisiga, who now seems likely to command a two-year deal coming off the second completely healthy season of his nine-year major league career. He had a 2.42 ERA in 67 innings for the D-backs last season.

Santana still isn’t ready to call it as he approaches his 41st birthday in April, so he’s playing winter ball for the first time in 13 years in an effort to show he still has something left. Santana opened last season with the Diamondbacks, but he got hurt right away in April and Arizona chose to release him once he was ready to return in late June. He went on to sign with Atlanta and hit .292/.385/.382 in 27 games in Triple-A, but the Braves never called him up.

Luciano’s homer was a 447-foot blast off Orioles reliever Yaramil Hiraldo. Luciano is batting .274/.376/.438 with three homers in 19 games this winter. Although they never gave him a look last season, the Yankees added Luciano to their 40-man earlier this month to prevent him from becoming a free agent. He’s out of options, so they must feel like he has some chance of winning a spot in spring training. Formerly a shortstop and then a left fielder, he played second base nearly exclusively last season, and he’s remained there in winter ball.

De Los Santos is hitting .270/.352/.397 with two homers in 17 games for the Gigantes. It doesn’t seem like the Marlins are really looking at him as their first baseman of the future at this point, but he does have the pop and he managed to lower his problematic groundball rate some in Triple-A last season. At 23, he can’t be written off yet.

Cruz has retired all nine batters he’s faced since joining the Gigantes, striking out six of them. The 27-year-old was a little disappointing after joining the Nationals in the Luis García Jr. trade with the Yankees, posting a 6.75 ERA in 13 relief appearances, but he has the arm to contribute as at least a setup man.

Miranda had a nice spring for the Padres, but he lost out on a bench job to Ty France, which was certainly the right call for San Diego, and he ended up playing in Mexico for a time. Now he’s off to a 7-for-20 start in his native Puerto Rico. At 28, the former Twins third baseman still has time to resurface in the majors. He came in at a solid .284/.322/.441 in 121 games in 2024 before a disastrous 2025 season got him let go by Minnesota.

Ortiz is still looking for his first homer in Puerto Rico, but he’s batting .441 with nine RBI and just four strikeouts in 38 plate appearance. The Nationals have a tough call this winter on whether to leave first base open and let Ortiz, Andrés Chaparro and Yohandy Morales compete for the job or to go find a veteran solution. Ortiz didn’t help his cause by hitting just .188/.228/.344 over 44 games in his first taste of the majors.

Vargas has nine steals in nine tries while hitting .286/.384/.440 in 25 games in Mexico. The 21-year-old reached Double-A last season, hitting .282/.363/.407 in 53 games. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible this winter and doesn’t seem likely to be protected by the Mets, since he’s clearly not ready for the majors yet, but as a left-handed hitter with versatility, he has the potential to be a nice utilityman in a few years.