Last winter's Major League Baseball lockout halted transactions for 99 days. For the Twins, it only took a couple of whirlwind days to sign top free agent Carlos Correa to a three-year deal.

Well, it was really more like a one-season affair. Correa made $35.1 million playing elite defense and solid hitting in addition to becoming a valued leader and mentor in the Twins' clubhouse. But he recently told El Nuevo Dia, a newspaper in his native Puerto Rico, that he will exercise his 2022 opt-out to try the larger free agent market once again.

He left the door open for the Twins, but he's made it abundantly clear he wants a long-term, big money commitment. So should the Correa era snuff out when the decision becomes real five days post-World Series, the Twins will need to find another option to lead the infield.

"The reality is, this next month, there's not much you can do outside of talking to your own players, in terms of other teams, or free agency obviously hasn't even kicked off yet," said Derek Falvey, the Twins' president of baseball operations. "So we're going to have a Plan B, C, D, E and F for, probably, a lot of these things."

Falvey added that the Twins already began their free agent prep meetings through the dying weeks of the season, as the Twins fell out of playoff contention with several weeks still to play. The player personnel department ran through all the shortstops on the market, as well as other potential positions of need, and began forming a plan to bring to the team's owners.

Without a free agent shortstop signing, the Twins will look to players in the organization. Jorge Polanco has significant experience at short, having played there for the Twins in 501 games, including a few this past season. The consensus has been that Polanco flourished when he settled into a second base role. But barring no major developments in the coming month, his return to starting shortstop seems the most likely outcome.

Gio Urshela has made 43 appearances at shortstop through four seasons, mostly in 2021 with the Yankees. Urshela was the Twins' third baseman this year, combining with Correa to lock down the left side of the diamond. But there is some question if the Twins will continue their relationship with Urshela at all, considering he's due a pretty substantial raise in arbitration this offseason, which could up his salary from $6.55 million to around $10 million.

"He finished in a really good spot. Obviously, he played really well down the stretch, and he was a great teammate, great person in here," Falvey said of Urshela. "All of those are conversations we'll start to have as we get closer to November and December."

Prospect-wise, it was always assumed Royce Lewis would ascend to be the Twins starting shortstop by this point. But him missing minor league ball in 2020 because of the pandemic and then tearing his ACL in 2021 necessitated the Correa move. The two share the same agent, Scott Boras.

Lewis did make his MLB debut this season, filling in for Correa early in the year when he took a pitch off his finger. He then transitioned to center field to help cover for hobbling Byron Buxton but re-injured his knee in his first game in that spot. That eventually led to his second right ACL surgery, meaning he won't be available to start 2023. But perhaps an Urshela or Polanco could manage the first part of the year at shortstop until Lewis can return.

Class AA prospect Austin Martin has played some shortstop, though Falvey qualified him as more of natural center fielder or second baseman.

Moving around Polanco or Urshela would open up some infield possibilities in other spots for the likes of Jose Miranda and Luis Arraez. Miranda had an incredible rookie year at the plate, driving in 66 runs and smacking 15 homers. Arraez won the American League batting title at .316.

But both were sort of position-less. Miranda is usually a third baseman. Arraez has always been a utility player but focused on just the infield in 2022. Both ended up playing a lot at first base because of Miguel Sano's knee injury that kept him out most of the year. Falvey said he definitely wants Miranda to continue gaining experience in both corners. Arraez could continue to play a mix of first, second and designated hitter.

"The DH rotation, playing some of that, was good for him physically and allowed him to kind of sustain through the course of the year," Falvey said. "…He's willing and open to being flexible there, but obviously his bat is what's significant here, and we want to keep him as healthy as possible, so I think that will all factor into it."

The Twins drafted a shortstop, Cal Poly's Brooks Lee, with the eighth overall pick last summer.

"We're really excited about even, this is getting ahead of ourselves a little bit, but what Brooks Lee did all the way through Double-A at the end of the year and watching him play shortstop," Falvey said. "… You can never really have too many good middle infielders. I think the reality is some guys end up playing in other spots. We've seen that over time.

"The good teams around baseball, the teams that are still playing in these playoffs, are finding ways to maybe play a shortstop at second, at third, in other places. I don't think it rules out anything on that front. We have to continue to be creative and think about ways to do that."