Which MLB teams should be all-in on Shohei Ohtani?

3. Minnesota Twins

Apparently the Twins are interested in pursuing Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish this winter. That’s cute. At this stage of the offseason, general managers can say literally anything they want with little to no repercussions. So, sure, the Twins can meet with Arrieta or Darvish at the Winter Meetings, just like every single NCAA FBS school sends a recruiting letter to the best player in the country. Shooters shoot.

It’s admirable that the Twins are going to feign interest in Arrieta and Darvish when they have no realistic chance to sign either of them. Minnesota is coming off an incredibly surprising season only a year removed from a 100-loss season. The current roster has been built largely following the same formula that delivered multiple playoff teams in the early 2000s — homegrown, scrappy hitters and passable starting pitching. To take the next step in the American League and become a contender that everyone will take seriously year in and year out, the Twins must have a bona fide ace.

If they can’t land a premier free agent, the Twins should focus their attention on trying to land Shohei Ohtani. For about what it will cost for one year of Darvish or Arrieta, they can have the most dynamic two-way player to come along in decades. Ohtani would complete a rotation that already has the solid Ervin Santana and up-and-coming Jose Berrios.

As much as the Twins might like Ohtani, getting him to Minneapolis is still a longshot. For starters, the Twins are not a team that can necessarily afford to sink their entire international budget into one player. Ohtani’s worth it, but a small-market team like the Twins needs a constant influx of talent in the minor leagues. They may also still be feeling burned by their last big Asian import, Korean slugger Byung-ho Park, who hit just .191/.275/.409 in 62 games in 2016 and did not play a single game at the MLB level in 2017.