With the World Series kicking off Friday night in Los Angeles, it’s almost time for the offseason to begin in earnest.

The Twins have already made some moves — firing four coaches and hiring a new head coach, Matt Borgschulte — but player movement won’t begin until after the World Series is over.

After a late-season collapse, this offseason should provide more intrigue than most as the Twins try to figure out how to chart their path forward. That being said, here are five questions facing the Twins this offseason:

In a surprising twist, the Pohlad family, longtime owners of the Twins, announced plans to explore a sale of the team earlier this month. The decision was made “after months of consideration,” executive chairman Joe Pohlad said in a statement.

But does that mean the Twins will have new owners by Opening Day of the 2025 season?

The answer is probably no. Team sales typically take about six months in the short term, so it’s unlikely the Twins have changed hands at this point.

After payroll was cut by nearly $30 million last offseason, the Twins’ upcoming payroll is expected to stay roughly around the $130 million mark next season, meaning that president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and company will have to get creative with their budget.

Last year, they did this by creating some payroll flexibility by subtracting first.

The Twins traded Jorge Polanco and his $10.5 million salary to the Seattle Mariners in January for a package that included two major league players and two minor league prospects.

Although the majority of the deal hasn’t exactly worked out as planned – starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani had surgery and hasn’t thrown a pitch all season, and reliever Justin Topa has dealt with injuries , returning at end for only three games – outfield prospect Gabriel Gonzalez has always been the biggest prize in the trade.

And in addition to adding him to the system, the Twins were able to create space to add to their payroll, which they used to sign Carlos Santana, who could very well win his first Gold Glove Award this year.

If the Twins were looking to cut payroll this year, Christian Vázquez’s $10 million could be a good place to start if another team wants to take it on. Chris Paddack, who spent much of last year injured, is owed $7.5 million and they could also consider moving him to free up cap space.

While trading someone like, say, Vázquez could create some salary flexibility for the Twins to get more involved in the free agent market, they could also address their needs by trading down from their core .

First, the Twins will have to decide whether they can rely on that core after a late-season slump that saw many of their young players — Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Edouard Julien and Brooks Lee — slump for an extended period. .

While Matt Wallner emerged from his own early season struggles to become one of their best hitters and Trevor Larnach was relatively solid throughout the year, Alex Kirilloff had the worst season of his career at home plate and missed much of the year due to injury. .

Can the Twins trust this group moving forward, or will they choose to trade some to strengthen the roster?

There aren’t many glaring position battles heading into the offseason, but the Twins will have to answer that question, either externally, as they did last offseason, or internally .

For $5.25 million, Santana, 38, gave the Twins everything they could ask for, playing Gold Glove-caliber defense and leading the team with 23 home runs and 71 RBIs. The switch hitter played in 150 games.

If the Twins move on from the veteran free agent position, Miranda and Kirilloff are internal options at first base, although Kirilloff, in particular, hasn’t done much to inspire confidence of late.

The Twins’ pitching depth was depleted late last season.

DeSclafani was injured before the start, Louie Varland began the year in the rotation as an ineffective starter, and as the year progressed, Paddack and Joe Ryan got injured, pushing out three rookies – Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa and Zebby Matthews – in the match. rotation.

Pablo López, Bailey Ober and Ryan should top the rotation next year. Paddack, if healthy and not traded, should be back. Woods Richardson and Festa should also be in the running for a spot, with Matthews likely returning to the minors to start the year.

But will the Twins try to add to this group? And what about the bullpen?

Varland has demonstrated his effectiveness out of the bullpen in two straight seasons and could be ready to move there full-time. But the Twins will need more to add to a group led by Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran, especially since they can’t yet count on the health of Brock Stewart.

The Twins made a number of moves to address the bullpen last offseason (and one at the trade deadline) that didn’t work for one reason or another – Topa (injury ) and Jay Jackson, Josh Staumont, Steven Okert and Trevor Richards (ineffectiveness). ). Will they be as active in adding pieces to the outfield bullpen this offseason?