Article: Trade Eduardo Nunez: Would You?

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Even without a consistent home defensively, Eduardo Nunez has put up some very impressive numbers over the first two and half months of the season. Settling into the leadoff spot, Nunez has hit a career-high nine home runs and is fifth in the majors with 17 stolen bases. Being paid only $1.475 million this year, Nunez also one more year of team control before entering free agency.

 

With the Twins continuing to spin their tires - and sporting the worst record in all of baseball - it’s probably time for the club to start gauging trade interest in a player like Eduardo Nunez.

 

Nunez offers versatility. While he’s not elite (or even average) defensively at either third base or shortstop, he could be an upgrade at either position for a number of teams that are currently in the race for a playoff spot.NEW YORK METS (38-32)

 

The Mets need to fill the hole at third base left by David Wright, who may miss the rest of the season following neck surgery. While there has been talk about the club’s interest in Cuban free agent Yulieski Gourriel, which demonstrates their need at the hot corner, we should all know that if the Dodgers are interested in the Cuban - which they are - he’ll end up in L.A.

 

So who could the Mets have that interest the Twins?

 

Marcos Molina, RHP - Molina has a 92-94 fastball that tops out at 96, a plus changeup and a developing slider. He also has a fresh scar on his right elbow as the result of Tommy John surgery which occurred in September. He won’t pitch in 2016 and when he returns in 2017 - to high class-A no less - he’ll still be three promotions from the major leagues.

 

Robert Gsellman, RHP - Gsellman is nearly a clone of Kyle Gibson, who relies primarily on a low-90s sinker. He also has a changeup, curveball and slider in his arsenal, none that excite scouts a whole lot, but he doesn’t walk many (2.0 BB/9) and was recently promoted to AAA. Could profile as a back-end type.

 

Gabriel Ynoa, RHP - Ynoa, who is currently on his second option, has yet to make his MLB debut. He’s long been known for his control. (He’s always had a sub-2.00 BB/9… up until this year). He sits in the low-90s with his fastball and offers both a changeup and a slider. His ceiling is as a back-end starter, but he’s struggled thus far in AAA.

 

KANSAS CITY ROYALS (38-33)

 

Yeah, they are a divisional opponent. And yes, there have been rumors of them pursuing Jose Reyes. But Nunez would offer the versatility that the Royals love and he can play third base while Mike Moustakas is out for the year.

Matt Strahm, LHP - Strahm missed 2013 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he’s had a K/9 over 11.0 in each of his three spots since then. He’s struggled in AAA to start the year, giving up seventy hits in seventy innings so far, but still has a 8.5 K/9 and is walking less than two per nine. Strahm throws a low-90s fastball with a curveball and a changeup.

 

Alex Mills, RHP - Mills made a spot-start for the Royals in May and is now pitching in AAA after starting the year in AA. Mills hits the mid-90s with a plus changeup and also throws a curveball and a slider.

 

Ricky Araceno, SS - Aracena doesn’t fit the close-to-bigs mold I’ve tried to set with the rest of the names on the list, but the 5-8 shortstop is an 18-year-old playing short-season ball and has an advanced bat with the chops to stay in the six-hole.

 

CLEVELAND INDIANS (41-30)

 

Juan Uribe has been better as of late, but the Indians could still use another bat to lengthen their lineup. And if they’re serious about competing with the Royals, they will need to make moves.

 

Juan Hillman, LHP - Hillman is a long way from the big leagues. In fact, he’s only thrown 30 professional innings including one start this year in the New York/Penn league. One draw of Hillman - besides that he’s a high-ceiling starter with loads of potential - is that he was a high school teammate of Nick Gordon and Tom Gordon is his legal guardian. The elder Gordon has helped groom Hillman, who just recently turned 18.

 

Rob Kaminsky, LHP - Kaminsky was drafted by the Cardinals and traded for Brandon Moss. After dominating both low- and high-A ball, he’s struggled with his first taste of AA this year. The 5-11 southpaw has walked (22) almost as many batters as he’s struck out (28) in 51.0 innings. But there’s still hope that he can be a back-end starter if he continues to hone his very good curveball.

 

Those are just a few teams that the Twins could talk to about Nunez. What would you do?

 

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[Comrade Bork]

Those are all teams that need third basemen I think we'd all prefer to trade Plouffe before Nunez. I wonder if any teams would be interested in a package deal? We'll give ya Nunez but you have to take Plouffe as well.

[wsnydes]

Aside from no reasonable return, I'm having trouble identifying reasons not to.  It would be nice to sell high versus sell low for a change.

[mazeville]

I'd prefer trading Plouffe over Nunez. 

 

Plouffe is injured (again). But I'd trade Plouffe and Dozier. Then I'd have my infield of Sano-Escobar-Jorge Polanco and Mauer.

[Vanimal46]

The Royals are looking into Jose Reyes? Ick.... 

Any of those names would work for me as far as a return for Eduardo. Thanks for putting together this list so we can think about a realistic target for trading Nunez. 

[nyazbeck]

Any low level decent upside player for Nunez would be good also I heard the Red Sox are looking into Ervin Santana any details on that end

[twinsnorth49]

Yes

[Vanimal46]

 

I'd prefer trading Plouffe over Nunez. 

 

Plouffe is injured (again). But I'd trade Plouffe and Dozier. Then I'd have my infield of Sano-Escobar-Jorge Polanco and Mauer.

I'm sure we can all agree to prefer trading Plouffe over Nunez. What other team in the MLB would want Plouffe over Nunez is the question. I can't imagine many do. 

[Mike Sixel]

I'd do it for any of those players. I don't know the other teams would....but maybe.

[mazeville]

 

I'm sure we can all agree to prefer trading Plouffe over Nunez. What other team in the MLB would want Plouffe over Nunez is the question. I can't imagine many do. 

 

Plouffe is a better defender and has a history as a decent middle-of-the-order bat. His price tag is probably the biggest problem right now. 

 

The whole problem is that teams just don't trade much for those guys. But I would trade him for something just to balance the roster.

[ALessKosherScott]

A: Yes. If a good offer came in. 

[Post-Concussive Blues]

Yes, any of these would be ok

[Vanimal46]

 

Plouffe is a better defender and has a history as a decent middle-of-the-order bat. His price tag is probably the biggest problem right now. 

 

The whole problem is that teams just don't trade much for those guys. But I would trade him for something just to balance the roster.

That is true, Plouffe has a longer track record than Nunez. The team that would acquire either or of these players are just looking at them as rentals for the next 3-4 months. That's why I'm skeptical why a team would prefer Plouffe's .662 OPS over Nunez's .816. 

[Jeremy Nygaard]

I started with a list of five teams that have a need at 3B or SS. I guess I eliminated the two that needed a SS... I think the Twins would prefer to move Plouffe too, but I'm guessing all they'd get is salary relief.

[d-mac]

Of course, this team needs to sell high when it can. Trade Nunez, bring up Beresford. Trade Abad, bring up Chargois. Trade Dozier, bring up Polanco. Trade Plouffe if for nothing other than to clear space for Sano. Could we get anything for Suzuki at this point with his resurgence?

[FunnyPenguin]

Walt...um...okay.....it would make total sense, but how are we going to be kept from being no hit every game?  We just keep him so the history we make isn't so bad

[Brandon]

if there is one thing I trust the Terry Ryan to do is raid others minor league talent.  We've made some real good trades in that department.  While I am in no hurry to necessarily trade anyone as I think we have a core to build off of, we more than anything need the younger players to develop.  Buxton, Polanco,Kepler, Duffy, Park, Rosario, Berris, Meyer, May. Chargois and others.  we also need health too.  we lost Perkins, Plouffe, Gibson, Santana, Escobar, and Santana for parts or most of the season. 

 

This is most of the reason for our team failure this year. 

 

Yes a few players slumped, Ervin Santana, Plouffe, Dozier, Nolasco May, Gibson, and Millone

 

But a few are doing well Nunez, Abad, Tonkin, Grossman while Escobar and Mauer are solid

 

the only real failures this year are Jepsen and Fien. 

 

I said all of that to say this.  I don't think we need to trade anyone at this time but I wouldn't be against it either. 

[jimbo92107]

If I'm the Mets, Royals or Indians, my first pick for 3rd base is Plouffe, not Nunez. Plouffe is a much better 3B fielder, and his power (usually) is better than Nunez, who still profiles better as a utility infielder. 

 

As for the price of either of these guys, I don't look for anybody near the MLB level. I look for athletic teens that can fill up the lowest levels of the minor league system, then invest in better training. This season already is completely shot, and the next wave of Twins talent is already emerging from AAA and AA. We don't need any more blocking by mediocre veterans. 

[dgwills]

Fire Sale! All veterans must go! No reasonable offers refused. You want mediocre players? We got'em.  Come down today to beat the rush.

[ashbury]

Nunez doesn't spring to mind as a guy who would bring us a lot. But we traded a legitimate SP prospect to get a solid (we thought) reliever last year. I suppose Nunez is the position player equivalent to a good reliever, so if someone offered something like that I'd listen.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Unless teams are low balling offers and treating Nunez as a futility option, I probably trade the guy.

 

He's not a .900 OPS guy - at least I don't think he is - but he has shown enough spark over the past two seasons that I don't give the guy away.

[Darius]

They're not getting anything for Nunez.

[h2oface]

Didn't I see an article like this for Escobar? Did it get cold feet?

[jorgenswest]

Gourriel and Valencia might need to go first before teams look to Plouffe or Nunez. Escobar and Solarte are probably also available and might be better fits.

 

The Royals value defense do it is hard to see them taking Nunez. I don't think they would equate versatility with having played several positions poorly. They probably have a better solution in Cuthbert than Plouffe or Nunez.

 

The Indians have some flexibility. They can put Jose Ramirez at 3B.

 

The supply might be greater than the demand. The best option could be to keep Nunez for 2017.

[bird]

Chris Herrmann got us Daniel Palka, who some are now touting as a top 10 prospect for us. Butera got us Shawn Gilmartin. Hardy got us Hoey. (Sorry Brock, had to.)

 

Dangle the whole damn bunch of 'em if they're over 26. Take any overpay in prospects that comes along, and reel back in the ones who will get you nothing of possible future value at the moment.

[markos]

 

If I'm the Mets, Royals or Indians, my first pick for 3rd base is Plouffe, not Nunez. Plouffe is a much better 3B fielder, and his power (usually) is better than Nunez, who still profiles better as a utility infielder. 

I think there is a decent argument that Nunez is actually the more valuable player going forward. Nunez is younger, is significantly cheaper, offers the same amount of team control, has more positional flexibility, and has actually out hit Plouffe both last year and this year. Plouffe has the better track record, and when healthy should have more power and better fielding, so it isn't a slam dunk. But I could definitely understand a team willing to play more to get Nunez than Plouffe.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I read the article and the first thing I thought was that each of these teams would be suitors for Plouffe too.  I doubt you could unload both on one team as it gets redundant (unless they are really hurting for a starting 3B and a versatile infielder).

 

That said, for some reason I really like Juan Hillman. Of all the names, that's the one I want the most.  I think I'd prefer the ceiling over some one closer to the big leagues that's just going to end up adding one more less than top ceiling guy to a young core of AAA/MLB pitchers in Gibson, Duffey, May, Meyer, and Berrios.

[TheLeviathan]

I'd trade him, but only after I sold the hell out of Plouffe first.

 

Nunez would be fine to keep around.  Plouffe and Dozier are the ones that need to go.

[sftwinsfan]

Do I believe this is the real Eduardo Nunez?  Not really.  But I'm not going to trade him just for the sake of trading him to get yet another possible back-end of the rotation option for the pitching staff.  If you don't get anything decent in return he's at least a decent bench bat/pinch runner with some versatility that doesn't cost much. The guy did have a .758 OPS last year, so maybe his is getting better.

 

If I can get a reasonable lotto ticket in return then I'd do it.  Of the guys mentioned I'd consider a guy like Marcos Molina or Juan Hillman.  Or maybe see if they could package one their many mid-level minor league pitching prospects with Nunez for a little higher-ranked prospect back.  

 

 

[Oldgoat_MN]

Nunez has gotten better at fielding every year, pretty much. He's not league average at SS, but he isn't the two mittened pussycat that the Yankees let go. He is solidly at a point that his bat more than makes up for his fielding deficiencies. 

 

A team that has playoff hopes knows to go after the hot hand, and that is Nunez. Personally, I'd be sorry to see him go. As Brock says, he's likely not a .900 OPS guy, but he's gotten better each of the last three years and has been a fun distraction for us this year.