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Spring Training: Jim Rich talks Twins baseball with Derek Falvey
Spring Training is underway for the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, Fla., and on Sunday, Fox 9 Sports Director Jim Rich caught up with front office head Derek Falvey ahead of Monday's first full squad workout.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A potentially major winter storm is ready to hit Minnesota this week, but it feels like baseball weather in Fort Myers, Fla., as the Minnesota Twins have started Spring Training.
The Twins had pitchers and catchers report last week, and they held their first bullpen sessions last Thursday. The team had its first full-squad workouts on the fields at Hammond Stadium on Monday. The Twins are coming off a 78-84 season in 2022, finishing third in the American League Central Division and missing the AL Playoffs for the second straight year.
That’s after leading the division until early August, but the Twins just couldn’t stay healthy. Fox 9 Sports Director Jim Rich caught up with Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey on Sunday.
"It fuels you every day. It has to, right? If it doesn’t fuel you, you should probably get out of this business at this point. It made us look at our team, it made us think about our process. How do we keep guys on the field more? How do we stay healthier? What can we do to improve the overall resources around the club and what can we add to it? What I think it tells us is we didn’t spend the whole year in last place in the division," Falvey said. "We felt we had talent on this team, it proved it for a good chunk of the year. Now if we can keep it healthy, we’ve added to it. We feel this is a good group, nothing is given to us. We need to go find a way to climb ourselves back to the top."
It was a busy offseason for the Twins, who brought back start shortstop Carlos Correa on a six-year contract after agreements with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets fell through due to medical concerns. The Twins also added Joey Gallo to the outfield, traded Luis Arraez to the Miami Marlins for starter Pablo Lopez and signed catcher Christian Vazquez in free agency.
The Twins’ first Spring Training game is a split squad with the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles.