The early Twins success is now looking more like a mirage,  Did we really expect a team with a bunch of spare parts on offense would continue to rake?

Now 5 games under .500 and being passed by the White Sox, it is clear we will be back in sell mode. I wish I was talking about the team here and not the players. Joe Ryan is obviously the #1 (and possibly only) quality trade chip.

One of the best trade partners is lining up to be a perfect fit. The Texas Rangers are currently right at the .500 mark, 1 game otu of an unusually weak AL West.  Seattle is struggling at 16-17 and the 1st place ATHLETICS????? are onyl 1 game ahead of Texas. While Texas has an overall team ERA that is 4th in baseball at 3.48, that is bullpen heavy.  Out of their 5 primary starters 3 of them have an ERA over 4.65.

Eovaldi 4.76,  Gore 4.67, Leiter 5.17

Adding a top starter to this rotation is a must for the Rangers to contend.

The Rangers have 1 prospect that may be considered untouchable, but he is also currently in Rehab, and is the number one prospect in the game that I would go after if I was the Twins FO. The Twins need to open a dialogue with the Rangers to trade Joe Ryan to the rangers for Sebastian Walcott.

Walcott is an absolute stud, our 3B/SS combo is a constant work in progress. Lee isn't a SS for the next decade, sure Culpepper looks fairly legit, but everyone does at AA and AAA.  I really naively thought Royce would be able to return to some form of capable hitter, but he just hasn't.

Trading for Walcott just reinforces our next young core.  While we have seen this movie before of a next core of young players to turn around our franchise, a group of Jenkins, Rodriguez, Culpepper, Tait, Walcott  would be quite impressive.

This move could make Walcott a potential future 3B. Which could allow us to try and move Royce to a team who may try and turn him around.

What team could that be? Well another perfect matchup would be the Yankees. The biggest glaring hole in that lineup is 3B. Lewis has the personality to thrive in New York. And the Yankees are on the verge of bringing back 2 Ace level starters to an already strong rotation. When Cole and Rodon come back to join Fried, Schlitler and Warren, that makes other young arms potentially expendable.  Luis Gil, while struggling currently could be a good add if he can right his ship, and what about Carlos Lagrange from the minors??  Yeah I doubt the Yanks would move a potential young stud, but Rodon and Cole are both not FA until 2029, Fried signed through 2032, and Warren and Schlitler are both still Pre-Arb so they are controlled long term.  If there is a team that can afford to move a top pitching prospect it is the Yankees. and if it fills the primary area of need on. If Royce can go on a hot streak and you can then package him with some other talent to acquire a yougn starter like Lagrange. This would make for an acceptable "gap year"