twins/mlb

"Are we frustrated?" Smith said. "We're not angry about it. We'd love to be able to sign both guys, but they've earned the right to [test free agency]."

Re-signing Silva might not be a priority if the Twins viewed the rest of their pitchers as untouchables.

But if they trade Garza, Baker and/or Slowey to obtain the hitters they want, keeping Silva would make even more sense.

"We have good young pitchers that other teams covet," Smith said. "I think there are a lot of teams that would like to have the stable of young arms that the Twins have."

The Devil Rays are among those searching, and they have been spotted meeting with the Twins in Orlando.

Upton (24 home runs, 82 RBI, .300 batting average last year) remains a Tampa Bay favorite, but Young (13 HR, 93 RBI, .293) had a well-publicized blowup with manager Joe Maddon in late September.

"We're not good enough ... to say that anyone is untouchable," said Andrew Friedman, the Devil Rays executive vice president of baseball operations. "Obviously, there are players that we're much less likely to talk about and it would be much harder for us to deal. That being said, we have to listen to anything and everything."

The Twins hope they have some ideas teams want to hear.