With Archer addition, Twins rotation likely set

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Newly signed right-hander Chris Archer will now fill the fifth slot in the Twins' rotation, and though he'll bring veteran experience and upside to the starting depth, it's also likely not the finishing move the Twins had in mind to put a bow on their splashy series of spring transactions.

With Opening Day now only nine days away, is there still time for Minnesota to land another front-line starter to join Sonny Gray atop the rotation?

Likely not, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said Tuesday.

"We’ll always stay open-minded to everything," Falvey said. "I know I always say that, but that’s true. It’s just at this late stage as we approach Opening Day, it feels like the group is probably in this room."

There it is, then: The Twins appear poised to open the season with a starting rotation of Gray, Dylan Bundy, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Archer in some order, especially with the team seemingly confident that Archer is ramped up to about the same pitch count as his new rotation-mates and poised to fit seamlessly into the starting rotation.

It initially seemed likely that the Twins would make another big move to acquire another front-end pitcher after signaling their intent to make a big push in '22 by trading away 2021 first-round pick Chase Petty to acquire Gray before inking Carlos Correa to the largest free-agent contract in Twins history. In the immediate aftermath of those moves, reports continued to connect the Twins to the A's, who appeared willing to deal starters Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea.

But it takes two to tango, and a source indicated that the A's had been moving slowly in those discussions despite Minnesota’s interest and hadn't made an actual ask of the Twins with regard to a possible return in such a deal.

In fact, recent reports from MLB Network insider Jon Heyman and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal have indicated that Oakland might be comfortable moving forward into the regular season with one or both on its roster, with the trade status of Montas in particular less certain. None of this precludes a deal from taking place at some point, of course, whether in the coming weeks or at some point during the season.

The Twins might still have been comfortable moving into the season with right-hander Josh Winder in the rotation to give the organization's No. 7 prospect a clear runway and chance to prove himself, with manager Rocco Baldelli indicating several times that Winder could be ready to have an impact on the MLB team early this season.

Now, there's less pressure on the 25-year-old to perform immediately for a team with ambitions of winning now -- especially considering he only made four starts in Triple-A last season before he was shut down with shoulder fatigue.

"It adds just another veteran guy to the rotation, for sure, which just adds to our depth," Falvey said of the Archer signing. "I would say it wasn’t a necessity in my mind, but it certainly just helps to add another guy with his kind of upside in the mix."

The Twins also made it clear that Archer's readiness to pitch now contributed to the signing, and that's an important factor considering top starting prospects Winder, Jordan Balazovic (No. 5), Simeon Woods Richardson (No. 8), Cole Sands (No. 17) and Drew Strotman (No. 19) headline a group of talented young starters that should start making noise in the big leagues sooner rather than later.

It's members of that group that the Twins will count on to emerge and anchor their pushes of late '22, '23 and beyond, and without another pitcher like Montas in the mix for now, one or more of those youngsters might simply get an opportunity earlier than he otherwise would have, whether due to injuries, underperformance or something else among the current rotation.

And frankly, with the shortened ramp-up to the season increasing the need for stretched-out bullpen arms behind the starting five, that time might be now for guys like Winder and No. 6 prospect Jhoan Duran.

"I think some of those guys are going to be part of the mix maybe from the get-go, so we get that, and we know you’re going to need more than five starters through the course of a season," Falvey said. "You’d love for it to be just five, but that’s just not the way this works."