Twins rumors: Club seeking "affordable" pitching

Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan said in a radio interview this weekend that the club is on the lookout for "affordable" starting pitching this winter, and that rebuilding the rotation and bullpen are the team's number one goal, reports Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN:

Ryan once again made it clear acquiring pitching is the top priority.

"Not just the starting pitching," Ryan said, "but the bullpen needs to add more people too....

"Zumaya, Marquis, Baker, Pavano, Capps, there were a bunch of them, there was quite a bit of peril with all those guys."

Ryan said the Twins will look at "a combination of every avenue" in their search for pitching.

With their 2013 payroll limit estimated to be between $90-$100 million, the Twins have roughly $15-$25 million available to spend on free agent pitchers this offseason. Ryan said the club would "pay attention" to the big-time names like Zack Greinke, Ryan Dempster and Jake Peavy, but it seems likely that those pitchers are out of their price range.

More likely in the team's price range are back of the rotation starters like Joe Blanton or Joe Saunders. If the club cannot find someone to fill their needs via free agency, the Twins do have a surplus of first basemen and outfielders they could utilize as trade chips.