There's A-Rod to Twins speculation, but it makes no sense

Alex Rodriguez announced he would retire from playing baseball, right?

Well, technically all those headlines that indicated his retirement were assuming that much based on a couple things. First, his final game with the New York Yankees would be this week. Second, the Steinbrenner family had offered him the opportunity to shift into a special adviser role.

However, as ESPN's Buster Olney points out, during Sunday's press conference announcing the news about A-Rod's future in New York, Rodriguez never said his playing career is over. In fact, he indicated that he is still confident he can hit.

So where would he play now that Yankees have pushed him off the field? How about Minnesota?

Olney believes the Twins could be one of four possible matches for Rodriguez. Here is why:

"They are going through growing pains in the aftermath of Torii Hunter's retirement last year, and maybe Rodriguez could help young players such as Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton make the transition into being successful big league hitters," Olney wrote.

Miami, Tampa Bay and Houston also made Olney's list of possible matches that could land Rodriguez in the next seven weeks or sometime during the offseason.

The Twins current depth chart at these positions:

First base – Joe Mauer, Kennys Vargas and Trevor Plouffe.
Third base – Plouffe, Sano, Jorge Planco and Eduardo Escobar.
Designated hitter – Vargas, Mauer, Sano and Robbie Grossman.

And don't forget about the Twins' big investment in South Korean designated hitter/first baseman Byung Ho Park, who is currently trying to find his swing in Class AAA Rochester.

Olney points out that A-Rod could help mentor the Twins' young talent. He does have 22 years of experience in the major leagues and been praised and hated along the way. He also debuted in the league at 18 years old and was considered one of the best players by age 20. However, Rodriguez's character has come into question many times over the past decade and raises the question why any organization would want this presence around their young talent?