Jeremy Zoll Explains How Twins Are Preparing for Uncertain Offseason

Dec. 1 is the date hanging over every team in baseball, and the Minnesota Twins are already planning around it.

If players and owners do not agree on a new collective bargaining agreement, a lockout would begin at 10:59 p.m. Central on Dec. 1, and the Pioneer Press reported Saturday that the Twins are preparing for that on several fronts.

The two sides are far apart, as owners want a salary cap and the players union is strongly against one.

Free agency still opens five days after the World Series, but nobody knows what the market will look like before the deadline, and general manager Jeremy Zoll said the front office has to be ready either way.

"We want to just make sure we're prepared for any and all scenarios, whether that means the market is hot and there's a lot of action or the market is cool and there's not as much going on," Zoll said in that report.

"Our job, and we've already had a lot of really productive conversations, these next few weeks is to make sure we're aligned and fully ready to go on a plan so that as opportunities present themselves, we can act."

Zoll also said the Twins will not chase style points by moving early or late just for the sake of it, while owner Tom Pohlad said the club plans to be aggressive when free agency starts.

The Twins finished 77-85 and third in the American League Central, eight games out of first place, so this is not a team that can afford a slow winter.

Pohlad has promised a payroll increase for next season, and the front office has big calls to make, including whether to bring back catcher Ryan Jeffers as he heads to free agency.

The last lockout showed how much can happen once the doors open again.

After it ended in March 2022, the Twins traded for pitcher Sonny Gray and signed shortstop Carlos Correa, which is a good reminder that the best moves do not always come in November.

Zoll's approach of staying ready for both a hot market and a slow one is the right one.

Injuries are a bigger worry.

During a lockout, players and team employees have to cut off contact, and that includes players working back from surgery.

Outfielder Byron Buxton, starting pitcher Pablo López and outfielder Walker Jenkins are all rehabbing from operations, and Buxton has taken his first step forward after hip surgery.

Manager Derek Shelton said the club plans to overcommunicate with those players in the weeks before the deadline, and the training and strength staffs have mapped out what their routines should look like.

Shelton added that a big part of it will be up to the players to keep things going on their own.

That is a lot of trust to put in a rehab plan, but with three important players on the mend, the Twins have no other choice.

If Buxton, López and Jenkins get through the winter healthy and the front office lands the right free agents, Minnesota can move past a 77-85 season fast.