The Twins hoped to use 2019 to close the perceived gap between themselves and other teams considered to be the elites of the sport. They appeared to accomplish that with a 101-win campaign and meaningful steps forward from the majority of their young core.

That success indicates that Minnesota's window of championship contention could be opening wide, meaning that the Twins should face some interesting challenges this offseason as they are tasked with potentially rebuilding most of their starting rotation to complement a young, playoff-caliber group of position players.

"The way we look at some of the underlying statistics, metrics or WAR totals or things like that that try and align generally with the overall quality of the team, we felt like we improved this year," Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said following the season. "But I think we're going to need to find ways that we add to our pitching group."

With that in mind, what kinds of decisions will the Twins' leadership face now that the offseason is underway? Let's take a look with some frequently asked questions.

1. Who are the Twins' upcoming free agents?
Minnesota originally had six: Jason Castro, Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi, Michael Pineda, Sergio Romo and Jonathan Schoop. Martin Pérez also became a free agent when the Twins did not exercise his $7.5 million club option for 2020, and Sam Dyson also elected free agency when the Twins outrighted him off the 40-man roster.

2. Who received the qualifying offer? What does this mean?
Odorizzi was the only Twins player to receive the qualifying offer, which is a one-year, $17.8 million contract for 2020. Odorizzi was a first-time All-Star who was arguably the club's most consistent starter in 2019, when he posted a career-best 178 strikeouts and a 3.51 ERA, his lowest mark since '15, despite playing in the exaggerated-power environment of the '19 season.

If Odorizzi were to accept the qualifying offer, he would return to the Twins on the one-year deal, giving them one fewer vacancy to fill this offseason in their wide-open starting rotation. If he were to reject the deal and test the open market in search of a multiyear deal, the Twins would receive Draft-pick compensation in the 2020 MLB Draft in the case that Odorizzi signs with another team.

Odorizzi has 10 days to make his decision by the Nov. 14 deadline.

3. Which players have contract options for 2020?
Designated hitter Nelson Cruz and left-hander Martín Pérez have club options for the 2020 season. The Twins officially picked up their $12 million option on Cruz, who led the team with 41 homers in '19. Pérez also had a $7.5 million club option, but the Twins instead opted to pay a $500,000 buyout after he posted a disappointing 5.12 ERA in his first season with the club.

4. When is the deadline for the Twins to decide on qualifying offers and options?
Clubs have until five days following the conclusion of the World Series to extend qualifying offers and exercise options. Players who receive the qualifying offer then have 10 days to accept or reject the deal.

5. Which Twins are eligible for salary arbitration?
The Twins have a large class of arbitration-eligible players for 2020. C.J. Cron, Sam Dyson, Ehire Adrianza and Trevor May are eligible for the final time. Eddie Romero, Miguel Sanó, Byron Buxton, Taylor Rogers and Ronald Torreyes are set to enter their second year of eligibility, and Tyler Duffey, José Berríos and Ryan LaMarre will be eligible for the first time.

6. Who might be a non-tender candidate, and when does the club have to make that decision?
Torreyes and LaMarre could be non-tender candidates, with cheaper and younger prospects primed for more significant roles with the Twins. Dyson was also a non-tender candidate, but he was outrighted off the 40-man roster and rejected a Minor League assignment to become a free agent.

7. Where does the team's payroll currently stand?
Minnesota's adjusted payroll in 2019 was $124.8 million. As things stand, the only guaranteed salary on the books for 2020 is owed to Max Kepler ($6.25 million), Jorge Polanco ($3.83 million) and Marwin Gonzalez ($9 million), while the Twins have also exercised Cruz's $12 million club option for next year, for a total contractual commitment of $31.08 million so far.

MLB Trade Rumors estimates that Minnesota will owe an additional combined $39.8 million in salary arbitration to Eddie Rosario, Adrianza, Cron, May, Sanó, Buxton, Rogers, Duffey and Berríos.

8. Which notable prospects need to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft? What roster considerations might come into play?
Among the Twins' prospects ranked in the club's Top 30 by MLB Pipeline, those eligible for selection in this winter's Rule 5 Draft are shortstop Wander Javier (No. 7), outfielder Gilberto Celestino (No. 21), infielder Travis Blankenhorn (No. 24) and pitchers Jhoan Duran (No. 9) and Griffin Jax (No. 22). Outfielder Zander Wiel and outfielder/first baseman Luke Raley are also among other upper-level prospects that could require protection.

The 40-man roster is currently saturated with position players, but Minnesota could trim some depth in the outfield in particular to create some space. Javier is the most prominent prospect on this list, but due to his robust injury history and his .601 OPS in Class A this season, it appears unlikely a club would risk claiming him and stashing him in the Majors for a full season.

Otherwise, there's enough trimmable depth on the 40-man that the Twins shouldn't have too much trouble protecting the likes of Blankenhorn, Duran, Jax, Wiel or Raley if they so choose.

9. What will be the Twins' offseason priorities for acquisitions?
Starting pitching will be the name of the game for the Twins, who could see up to four of their five primary starters in 2019 depart in free agency, with Gibson, Odorizzi, Pineda and Pérez no longer under contract for '20. Falvey and general manager Thad Levine have said that they are feeling "more emboldened" to be more aggressive with acquisitions due to the team's success in '19, and Minnesota has the relative payroll flexibility and prospect depth to be splashy in both the free-agent and trade markets.

"I feel like we’re positioned pretty well to recruit certain types of players this offseason, talking specifically about free agents," Falvey said. "And then obviously there’s trade market and some other ways of accessing different types of talent, so I feel like our organization is in a very healthy position in terms of the ability -- people want to be here. They did want to be here last year. I think that’s only furthered with what we experienced this year."