Major leaguers began reporting to Spring Training earlier this week, no matter that many notable players remain on the free-agent market.

And several of them used to play for the Twins.

While this post isn’t necessarily meant to nudge Derek Falvey and the Twins toward bringing back any of these guys to the Twin Cities (or their minor league affiliates), perhaps getting their names out there might encourage a front office somewhere to offer them work for the upcoming season.

Hitters

Miguel Sanó:

There’s probably a fan or two out there willing to give Sanó a three-year deal with opt-outs, but even a single big-league season seems like a long shot anymore. Sanó, who turns 32 in May, sat out 2023 entirely before hitting a meager .205/.295/.313 with two home runs in 95 plate appearances with the Los Angeles Angels in 2024.

He was released in July, and has yet to join a new team. A top-10 overall prospect at one time, Sanó slashed .234/.326/.482 with 162 homers in 694 career games with the Twins from 2015-22. His best season came with the Bomba Squad in 2019: 34 home runs and a .576 slugging percentage.

Sanó was able to hit tanks and draw some walks, but he couldn’t keep a defensive position (third base or first), and struck out more than anyone else in the league.

Robbie Grossman:

A switch-hitting outfielder, he finished the 2024 season with the Kansas City Royals but was left off the playoff roster after going 4-for-32 with five walks in 16 games in September. Grossman, 35, has hit .242/.345/.374 with 93 homers, 590 walks and 9.6 bWAR in parts of 12 seasons.

He won a ring with the Texas Rangers in 2023 and has played with eight major league teams overall, but a plurality of his time has been spent with the Twins (2015-18).

Manuel Margot:

 Nobody would dare forget Margot in 2024 going 0-for-30 (with five walks!) as a pinch-hitter, the most hitless at-bats in that capacity in MLB history.

Twins fans were hoping Margot would make a solid right-handed complement in the outfield and leading off.

Instead, he batted .238/.289/.337 with four homers and five stolen bases in 343 plate appearances, a career-worst overall performance as well. He did hit lefties pretty well (.269/.322/.391) as advertised.

Still just 30 years old, Margot could afford to wait for another team to call. He is still due a $2 million buyout (thanks, Rays) for 2025.

Eddie Rosario:

 Now 33 and still a popular guy among Twins fans for his 2015-20 run, it’s possible Rosario has hit the end of the road after 10 seasons in the majors.

He batted .175/.215/.316 in 319 plate appearances for the Nationals and Braves in ’24, and was released by the Mets in late August while at Triple-A. (Don’t look up those stats.)

In two of the past three seasons, Rosario has produced the worst results of his career. But he also has a way of bouncing back, batting .255/.305/.450 with 21 homers in 2023.

And remember how he finished 2021 with the Braves, slugging .573 down the stretch and getting a bunch of big hits in the postseason? Is he Every-Other-Year Eddie now?

It’s 2025, so fire up.

Aaron Hicks:

He seemed to have found new life in 2023 surrounded by a young cast in Baltimore, but the Angels released Hicks on May 1 a season ago after he batted .140/.222/.193 in 18 games. Now 35 and having made about $85 million playing ball for 12 seasons, Hicks could just hit the golf course and stay there.

Ten years have passed since he was traded for John Ryan Murphy and Yankees GM Brian Cashman declared: “The Twins got themselves an everyday catcher.”

Well, no.

As for Hicks, he seemed to be known more for slumps than success, but the middle of his career with the Yankees was pretty good.

Pitchers

Kyle Gibson:

Quick quiz: Since the start of the 2014 season, Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole are 1-2 in innings pitched in Major League Baseball. You can probably guess who is third with 1,814 2/3 innings, based on the context of this paragraph.

That’s right, it’s Gibson, who certainly isn’t the third-best starting pitcher of this span (he’s 20th in fWAR among active players), but he’s someone who can give a team at least six innings more often than not.

Those guys are becoming rarer and rarer, so someone should be interested in Gibson, who posted a 4.24 ERA with 151 strikeouts and 169 2/3 innings with the Cardinals in ’24. His BB% jumped a little, and his HR% was a hair higher than league average, but his strikeouts remain solid.

He’s got a great reputation in the clubhouse, too, a trait he forged with the Twins from 2013-2019.

Anthony DeSclafani:

It seemed like he was never here, with the Twins specifically, because he never appeared in a major league game. After coming over from the Mariners in the Jorge Polanco trade a year ago in January, he sustained an elbow strain that led to forearm flexor tendon surgery in late March.

DeSclafani, who turns 35 in April, is approaching the end of a 13-month timetable for recovery.

In 180 career appearances that include 169 starts with the Reds, Giants and Marlins, DeSclafani has 4.20 ERA. He’s posted three excellent individual seasons, but none since 2021.

Lance Lynn:

He appeared to be effective in 23 starts for the Cardinals in 2024, posting a 3.84 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 117 1/3 innings over 23 starts, but there has been talk of “Lance Lynn: closer” this offseason as he looks for a new home.

Nearing age 38 and 13 years into his career, Lynn might be far removed from All-Star capabilities. But he’s logged 2,000+ innings with a 3.74 ERA, and threw 183 2/3 innings as recently as 2023. If he’s in shape (don’t think about 2018) he might have one more charge up the hill left in him.

Dylan Floro:

He has managed to get positive results consistently over seven seasons with eight different MLB teams despite having a mid-percentile fastball.

Last season was a low point with velocity, though, and he might have to show he can do better than 89.9 mph to get another shot at age 34.

He really got knocked around with the D-backs, allowing four homers in 16 1/3 innings while striking out just eight before getting released in September. He had shoulder soreness in Spring Training (as one does), but a late-season injury wasn’t obvious.

Floro’s turn with the Twins in ’23 wasn’t all that memorable, even though his poor outings seemed confined to 2-3 appearances. Still, they didn’t remember to put him on the postseason roster.

Jay Jackson:

The Twins released him in July after he posted a 7.52 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings. He’s pitched all over the world, in addition to parts of six seasons in the majors, after being drafted in the ninth round by the Cubs in 2008.

Now 37, he’s still just two seasons removed from getting positive results. Jackson has a good clubhouse rep and seemed to bring good vibes to the Twins.

There’s more to life than ERA.