Trade Partners?

[Doctor Wu]

moved to the other forum. Sorry.

 

From diehard... apparently I cannot remove this first post after merging these threads. See the next post for the OPs orignal question.

[Doctor Wu]

I posted this already, but somehow it ended up in the Minor League Forum. Sorry for the repeat. Hope I manage not to screw it up this time.

This off-season hasn't seen much action in Twins Land. Sure, we signed Schoop and picked up Cron, but I was hoping for more activity by now, especially a few new arms for the bullpen. If free agents aren't deemed worthy of signing, what about a trade ... or two? Honestly, I don't have any great ideas, which is why I'm asking the more astute posters out there if they have any clever trade schemes. What are some possible/realistic trade ideas? Or even some far-fetched ones? I'll take anything at this point. And would it be a traditional 2-team trade or one of those increasingly common 3-team deals?

[nicksaviking]

I’d like the Twins to try to trade for Gregory Polanco. He kind of broke-out last year but I think there’s still more. He has a reasonable salary now but it escalates probably beyond Pittsburgh’s comfort zone quickly. The downside with him is he’ll probably have to be a 1B/DH type when his higher option year salaries kick in, however, with no DH, that also makes him a terrible fit for an NL team like Pittsburgh, the chintziest team in the league.

[Mike Sixel]

Major League Ready and I disagree on a couple things, but largely agree. One of our areas of agreement is to identify guys in AA or AAA or the majors that your scouts are convinced can break out, and to buy low. Now, that's hard, but I would be looking hard at guys with good numbers that weren't highly ranked to see if the outcomes are real. Or at formerly highly ranked guys that have struggled, that you think you can help turn around.

 

I don't have a list, sorry.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Detroit is trying to trade Castellanos. I wouldn’t be interested, myself. I prefer Sano at 3B, and though Castellanos might be a good OF platoon partner, his fielding is atrocious.

[Mike Sixel]

Detroit is trying to trade Castellanos. I wouldn’t be interested, myself. I prefer Sano at 3B, and though Castellanos might be a good OF platoon partner, his fielding is atrocious.

If he could field at all, he'd be pricey!

[Vanimal46]

I'd call San Francisco and see if they're ready to dump salaries for minor leaguers. Bumgarner, Crawford, Belt, Watson, etc.

 

I'd call the Pirates who are always game to shed salary... Cerveli, Marte, Polanco, etc.

 

Or if they think this is a non-contending year...

 

Call the Mets, Red Sox, Astros, Cardinals, etc. Start selling Gibson, Pineda, etc.

[gunnarthor]

I'd like the Twins to try and nab Dylan Bundy.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

If he could field at all, he'd be pricey!

exactly

[howieramone2]

 

I'd call San Francisco and see if they're ready to dump salaries for minor leaguers. Bumgarner, Crawford, Belt, Watson, etc.

I'd call the Pirates who are always game to shed salary... Cerveli, Marte, Polanco, etc.

Or if they think this is a non-contending year...

Call the Mets, Red Sox, Astros, Cardinals, etc. Start selling Gibson, Pineda, etc.

Why in the world would we trade Gibson and Pineda at this point in time? We need to trade for a 2-3, not trade our starters. Believe it or not, we're looking to win the Central. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I posted this already, but somehow it ended up in the Minor League Forum. Sorry for the repeat. Hope I manage not to screw it up this time.

This off-season hasn't seen much action in Twins Land. Sure, we signed Schoop and picked up Cron, but I was hoping for more activity by now, especially a few new arms for the bullpen. If free agents aren't deemed worthy of signing, what about a trade ... or two? Honestly, I don't have any great ideas, which is why I'm asking the more astute posters out there if they have any clever trade schemes. What are some possible/realistic trade ideas? Or even some far-fetched ones? I'll take anything at this point. And would it be a traditional 2-team trade or one of those increasingly common 3-team deals?

 

You probably won't see much activity until after the new year at this point... Seems like every year baseball gets really slow around this time.

 

I've been on record being happy with Schoop and Cron, and I do expect them to go out and get at least 1 reliever yet via FA... but back to your original premise. I think we could get Grienke without too much creativity if the team was willing to eat most of his salary. If AZ is looking for a nice return, then they will be eating a lot of it, but that doesn't seem to be what they want. They are talking about waiting until the deadline now, as apparently they haven't gotten much in the way of offers that they'd like. That's probably the easy target. 

[lukeduke1980]

 

I'd call San Francisco and see if they're ready to dump salaries for minor leaguers. Bumgarner, Crawford, Belt, Watson, etc.

I'd call the Pirates who are always game to shed salary... Cerveli, Marte, Polanco, etc.

Or if they think this is a non-contending year...

Call the Mets, Red Sox, Astros, Cardinals, etc. Start selling Gibson, Pineda, etc.

I think Van's point is that there's a limited ceiling to treading water - likely a one and done wild card.

 

I like how the Reds took advantage of the situation of a team trying to clear salary for the Harper/Machado sweepstakes.  Maybe the Twins can do the same with the Giants, though clearing money would likely mean giving away their actual talent, and not giving Harper any reason to want to be there.  Maybe you could work a package where you get Crawford, Melancon, but have to take Samardzjia.  For Polanco, Kohl Stewart, and Addison Reed; Melancon might be enough risk where Samardzjia isn't even necessary.

[Vanimal46]

I think Van's point is that there's a limited ceiling to treading water - likely a one and done wild card.

 

I like how the Reds took advantage of the situation of a team trying to clear salary for the Harper/Machado sweepstakes. Maybe the Twins can do the same with the Giants, though clearing money would likely mean giving away their actual talent, and not giving Harper any reason to want to be there. Maybe you could work a package where you get Crawford, Melancon, but have to take Samardzjia. For Polanco, Kohl Stewart, and Addison Reed; Melancon might be enough risk where Samardzjia isn't even necessary.

Yeah I like what the Reds did... They seized the opportunity to get a functional MLB player (Kemp) to match Bailey's salary who's no longer functional. And received an upside player in Puig who they would have no chance to acquire on the FA market in the future.

 

I would love to see the Twins take advantage of their financial flexibility and take on short term, bigger money commitments of established MLB players.

[Vanimal46]

And yes, to quote a famous 21st century philosopher on this website: "Pick a path."

 

I see no entertainment value with a team who sits somewhere between 77 to 85 wins.

[TheLeviathan]

I'd ask about Kyle Seager. Seattle wants to dump salary (he isn't even that expensive), plays better out of Safeco, good fielder, and he is a lefty infielder.

 

Oh...and Olney says if you part with good prospects you may entice them to include Haniger to absorb the whole Seager deal.

[Tomj14]

 

And yes, to quote a famous 21st century philosopher on this website: "Pick a path."

I see no entertainment value with a team who sits somewhere between 77 to 85 wins.

It seems they have picked a path, try to build from within, hope to catch lightening in a bottle with cheap(er) one year deals. If not trade for more prospects.

Which I think is exactly the 77 to 85 win plan?

[mike8791]

In this oh so boring off season, too bad we have to generate our own ideas rather than critique the FO's moves.  But that's the reality so here goes my two cents:

 

1. For a team to advance to the playoff level they must rely on all three resources: trades, FA and player development.

 

2. Assuming this org is still trying to be competitive in 2019, they must realistically assess the most glaring holes to fill and concentrate on those.  For better or worse, they've evidently filled their immediate holes at 1B and 2B.  While maybe not of championship caliber, their OF is in decent shape(nice to have a backup in the possible case of another Buxton flameout), catching is also fairly well manned, and the rotation might be viewed as a strength, at least compared to previous years.  But big holes do remain(in descending order): Bullpen(particularly late inning relief);  DH/cleanup hitter(for confirmation, just look at the final stats for the Twins best hitter last year, Rosario); and an ace, shutdown starter who slots in ahead of Berrios, Gibson, et. al.

 

3. In looking at the Bullpen, clearly FA seems the most opportunistic route to take.  Why give up prospects in a trade when the likes of Robertson, Herrera, Zach Britton, Allen, Ottavino, et. al., are available.  For possibly as little as $20 MM a year the Twins could add two quality relievers who would easily slot ahead of any current Twin relievers.  This is a no brainer unless the FO waits for the price to drop some time in February, at which any "upgrades" will be far more problematical.

 

4. Moving on to priority #2, a real cleanup hitter, there are several options open, involving both FA and trade.  First, as has been mentioned ad nauseum, Nelson Cruz, would make a welcome DH addition and all he would cost is $.  A no brainer to many of us, but not to the FO as they seek the bargain bin.  Arggh!  But admittedly, there are questions on Cruz, mainly that he will be 39 in July.  How close is he to the inevitable falloff?  Most of us would take that risk but clearly, his signing is not a slam dunk.  But at least he wouldn't cost players.

I was all in on Davidson, as he would have provided a big bat and insurance against another Sano meltdown at third.  No other FA come to mind to provide that sort of insurance and bat, but I would certainly be looking at trade possibilities in the persons  of Castellanos or Ernacion - two flawed players but with big offense potential and having some positional flexibility.  Neither player should cost top prospects nor in the case of the former, big dollars.  Seattle would likely have to be induced to fork over some salary help with the downside of getting better prospects, but there is little doubt they would be willing trade partners.  Unfortunately, Ernacion hasn't played 3B in years so he would be a DH/1B candidate only.  Castellanos would be my choice here.

 

5.  Lastly, I would try to nab a #1 or #2 starter.  This is still a big void in our rotation, especially if we have any intention of going beyond Round 1 of the playoffs.  There is obviously no FA still available who immediately come to mind so we'd look to the trade route.  Here, I would do a full court press who have 4 starters who should slot ahead of Berrios.  If Thor is still available(unlikely) he should be our first priority.  Yes, it would take a lot, starting with Lewis or Kirrilof, one of top 3 minor league pitching prospects and one major league ready starter.  I would offer Sano first, especially if we added Castellanos, but would substitute Kepler if that would get the deal done.

 

Anyway, its fun to dream, especially in an offseason so bare of creativity!

[jkcarew]

I agree with others that are suggesting the Twins might identify other teams wanting to clear money...and/or part with talent with short-term control (like Puig). The obvious reason being that it would cost 'less' in prospects (as it did Cincinnati)...while returning a very short-term benefit.

 

It seems pretty clear that the Twins are not going to part ways with big prospect capital at this time. As has been pointed out here many times on many threads the Twins are kinda stuck until they make a call on the current crop of young major league talent. I expect that by next year at this time, we are either dealing from a position of leverage (significant Buxton/Sano/Polanco/Kepler corners are turned), or are in full-blown rebuild mold. Sometime I think even the full-blown rebuild would feel better than this paralysis. I get the need to wait another year, but it's already seemed like forever.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

It seems they have picked a path, try to build from within, hope to catch lightening in a bottle with cheap(er) one year deals. If not trade for more prospects.

Which I think is exactly the 77 to 85 win plan?

if your path is to build from within, then you trade away expiring contracts. Gibson, Pineda, and Odorizzi all fit.

[ChrisKnutson]

Trade Gibby to Houston?? Pretty sure they have some decent prospects.

[Doctor Wu]

 

You probably won't see much activity until after the new year at this point... Seems like every year baseball gets really slow around this time.

 

I've been on record being happy with Schoop and Cron, and I do expect them to go out and get at least 1 reliever yet via FA... but back to your original premise. I think we could get Grienke without too much creativity if the team was willing to eat most of his salary. If AZ is looking for a nice return, then they will be eating a lot of it, but that doesn't seem to be what they want. They are talking about waiting until the deadline now, as apparently they haven't gotten much in the way of offers that they'd like. That's probably the easy target. 

I'd love to have Grienke. And he's a good enough hitter that he could DH too!