Twins pitchers and catchers report to spring training Feb. 13

One day after the World Series ended, the Twins are thinking about next year.

Pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, Fla., on Feb. 13, with their workouts beginning the following day. Full squad workouts start Feb. 19.

The Twins announced their spring training "home" schedule. It's a 17-game slate that begins Feb. 22 with an exhibition game against the University of Minnesota.

Gophers coach John Anderson and Twins manager Paul Molitor, who was an All-America for the team, are close friends.

The Twins' Grapefruit League home opener will be against Tampa Bay on Feb. 25, with the Cardinals visiting the next day at CenturyLink Sports Complex.

The Yankees will make their only appearance of spring on March 22, with newly crowned World Series champion Houston coming in on March 23. The final spring home game is March 25 against the Red Sox.

The Twins open the regular season in Baltimore on March 29.

Free agency is about to begin — the day after the World Series ended, 149 players officially became free agents. But they aren't actually free. There's a five-day period in which teams have exclusive negotiating rights with the players they can lose to free agency.

So Tuesday, the free agents will be unveiled. Five Twins are on the list: Matt Belisle, Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Glen Perkins and Hector Santiago.

Unlike other major pro sports, there isn't likely to be a lot of early action. Usually the signings are strung out until spring training begins.

Gametime temperature for Game 1 of the World Series in Los Angeles was 103 degrees. It wasn't as warm for the other games of the series, but warmth wasn't a big problem as the teams moved between Los Angeles and Houston.

What if the Twins had gone on a magical run, knocked off the Yankees, vanquished the Indians and toppled the Astros to reach the Fall Classic? Games 2, 3 and 4 would have been played last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Twins President Dave St. Peter was asked if all three games would have been played on schedule.

"Guessing we would have had to postpone Friday's game due to snow/rain/cold," he said via text. "It would have been chilly, but I believe we would have played Saturday, Sunday and Monday."