Twins Hot Stove Report: Preheating

Three 2004 Twins are on the free agent market as we speak: RHP Brad Radke, 3B Corey Koskie, and SS Christian Guzman.

Radke has been offered a two-year contract but will wait until he can hear what other teams are offering (they can start making their offers on the 11th) before deciding. While the Twins are sure to receive a "hometown discount" for Radke's services, a particularly lucrative offer from another team might lure him away.

Whether they re-sign Radke, and for how much, will probably be the determining factor in whether and how generously they make overtures to Guzman and Koskie. Koskie appears to be attracting a lot of attention, while Guzman has the bad luck to be entering a free agent market filled to the brim with competent shortstops.

If Radke moves on, I expect to see the Twins re-sign both infielders, but if he stays one or both will be wearing a different uniform next season. There's not much to do now but wait and see where Radke lands.

Edit: Catcher Henry Blanco is also testing the free agent market, after exercising a clause in his contract which allowed him to file for free agency even if the Twins picked up the option on his contract (they did). After his heroic performance last season, he's no doubt hoping to pull in a bit more than the option value. His re-signing will depend, I believe, entirely upon how much he asks for. The amounts he could command aren't sufficient to derail the Twins' plans with regards to the other three free agents, and they do have a few catchers in the system ready to compete for Blanco's job in spring training if he should leave the organization.