Trading for a starting pitcher

[Brandon]

It’s been well documented who is available in Free Agency to replace Sonny Gray in the rotation including Gray himself.  But which starting pitchers are available in trade?  We have many assets available to trade for a good starting pitcher.  I would like to use this thread to develop the list of available pitchers in trade and we can write articles of trade proposals later.  We have all offseason.  Let’s come together and figure out who might be legitimately available for Minnesota to acquire this offseason.  Who do you know that is available to be acquired in a trade?

[jorgenswest]

One possibility is a buy low on Alek Manoah. The Cardinals may be interested but I think the Twins are a good fit. The Twins have the corner OF depth and 2B depth that will help the Blue Jays who are losing Merrifield, Chapman, Belt and Kiermaier.

Davis Schneider will fill one of those spots. He was drafted as a 3B but has also played a lot of 2B and LF. It is hard to know where the Jays believe he fits best. The Twins could offer Polanco or Kepler or Larnach and maybe add a lower level prospect. They could offer Wallner and maybe seek a prospect in return. The Twins have the depth to make this work if they believe they can get Manoah on track. 

[NeverSeenATwinsPlayoffWin]

There are a few options for controllable starters:

The Mariners have holes at 2B and RF with a surplus of SP. Gilbert, Castillo, and Kirby are (probably) off the table, but Gonzalez, Ray, Woo, and Miller are likely fair game. 

Rebuilding teams like the Angels (Canning and Sandoval), Brewers (Ashby), Marlins (Cabrera and Rogers), Pirates (Keller), and Rockies (Marquez) have options, but I'd rather make a major-leaguer for major-leaguer trade if we're going for controllable starters.

 

For rentals:

-Corbin Burnes

-Tyler Glasnow

-Shane Bieber

-Jose Quintana

-Andrew Heaney

 

With how much Pablo Lopez improved last year, I like the idea of trading for a talented young starter that the Twins can turn into a top-20 pitcher in baseball. If the Twins think they can fix Edward Cabrera's control issues, he could turn into a true superstar. 

[tony&rodney]

Edward Cabrera should be available if the Twins are serious and make a strong offer (something like Larnach, Winder, Schobel).

Seattle? I would like Kirby or Gilbert and offer quite a bit for either one Also interested in a trade for Bryce Miller.

Offers? That is unknown because I'm not in on what Seattle finds worthy. Kirby or Gilbert for Polanco, Kepler, Lee, 2 minor leaguers ? - Z. Matthews, Y. Mercedes). Might sweeten by taking on Evan White and his contract for Kirby. For Miller, trade Polanco or Kepler, maybe both. 

I'm looking for starting pitchers with stuff that includes velocity. 

[JYTwinsFan]

I've been wondering if Luis Castillo might actually be an available and worthwhile target. Given Seattle's young pitching depth and reported interest in Ohtani, would they value a Castillo trade that could free up salary and plug some other holes on the field? I don't know much about the dynamic in Seattle, nor Castillo's prospects for continued success into his mid 30s, so maybe not realistic, but crossed my mind.

[clone52]

I would be all over Mitch Keller, headlining a trade with whatever SP prospect they want (Festa or Raya).

 

Pittsburgh might do it since they might not think keeping Keller is feasible after 2025.  

I would be fine trading any SP prospect.  The Twins don't have a great history of turning highly rated Prospects into quality major leagues.  In the last 5-10 years it's pretty much Berrios and crickets.  Balazovich, Romero, Gonzales, Jay, Stewart.  Trading any of them at a certain point of their careers would have seemed bonkers.

Even the prospects they have traded haven't turned into huge losses yet.  Graterol is a great reliever, but I think Maeda and Camargo turned out well.  Petty looks awful good, but he is still super young and probably wouldn't be helping the Twins for another 3-5 years at best.

[chpettit19]

13 hours ago, JYTwinsFan said:

I've been wondering if Luis Castillo might actually be an available and worthwhile target. Given Seattle's young pitching depth and reported interest in Ohtani, would they value a Castillo trade that could free up salary and plug some other holes on the field? I don't know much about the dynamic in Seattle, nor Castillo's prospects for continued success into his mid 30s, so maybe not realistic, but crossed my mind.

That's a really interesting thought. The price tags on their young arms are going to be astronomical (way higher than what people are talking about here). Going after the expensive arm may actually be the way to go there. He's controlled through his age 34 season with a pretty high mark to hit to vest his age 35 season (180 innings in his age 34 season) so it's not like he's locked in until he's 40. You may actually be able to center a package around Polanco if you go after him because they want to clear money for Ohtani. I have no idea what their payroll goal is for 2024 so it's hard to say if saving money would be a motivator for them, but I think Castillo is certainly a name they should bring up on their call to Seattle about their arms. I think the bigger hurdle with them is going to be that they want to make the playoffs in 2024, and without Ohtani pitching, Castillo is probably a pretty important part of the reliability of their rotation. But, man, Lopez and Castillo both locked in a the top of the rotation through 2027 would be nice.

[nicksaviking]

14 hours ago, JYTwinsFan said:

I've been wondering if Luis Castillo might actually be an available and worthwhile target. Given Seattle's young pitching depth and reported interest in Ohtani, would they value a Castillo trade that could free up salary and plug some other holes on the field? I don't know much about the dynamic in Seattle, nor Castillo's prospects for continued success into his mid 30s, so maybe not realistic, but crossed my mind.

I'm up for trading for any of Seattle's starters. But Castillo would need to be up for the trade too:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/report-mariners-sign-luis-castillo-to-five-year-108m-contract-extension/

 

[Doctor Gast]

21 hours ago, NeverSeenATwinsPlayoffWin said:

There are a few options for controllable starters:

The Mariners have holes at 2B and RF with a surplus of SP. Gilbert, Castillo, and Kirby are (probably) off the table, but Gonzalez, Ray, Woo, and Miller are likely fair game. 

Rebuilding teams like the Angels (Canning and Sandoval), Brewers (Ashby), Marlins (Cabrera and Rogers), Pirates (Keller), and Rockies (Marquez) have options, but I'd rather make a major-leaguer for major-leaguer trade if we're going for controllable starters.

 

For rentals:

-Corbin Burnes

-Tyler Glasnow

-Shane Bieber

-Jose Quintana

-Andrew Heaney

 

With how much Pablo Lopez improved last year, I like the idea of trading for a talented young starter that the Twins can turn into a top-20 pitcher in baseball. If the Twins think they can fix Edward Cabrera's control issues, he could turn into a true superstar. 

Pretty extensive list Never, I like it. IMO any of them could be had & impact the Twins. My favorite is Cabrera, too. He should come pretty cheap. Here again like you said if they think that they could improve on him. 

Marquez's option is pretty high especially for what you're getting, so I'd pass on him. Maybe CO won't pick up his option? 

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, clone52 said:

 

Pittsburgh might do it since they might not think keeping Keller is feasible after 2025. 

Pittsburgh has put out a memo that they are only looking to add pitching and trying to find a match to fill 2B from trading from other positions. That might put a dent in calls to the Pirates, but I like the idea of adding a guy like Keller.

[tony&rodney]

8 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

The Mariners have holes at 2B and RF with a surplus of SP. Gilbert, Castillo, and Kirby are (probably) off the table, but Gonzalez, Ray, Woo, and Miller are likely fair game. 

Prefer shooting for the moon (Kirby or Gilbert), but adding a Bryce Miller would work. The Mariners might want both Kepler, Polanco, and a non 40 person player.  That creates a hole in the Twins outfield, but maybe the money saved is used to sign Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

[RpR]

23 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Prefer shooting for the moon (Kirby or Gilbert), but adding a Bryce Miller would work. The Mariners might want both Kepler, Polanco, and a non 40 person player.  That creates a hole in the Twins outfield, but maybe the money saved is used to sign Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Trade Julien and Wallner.

[tony&rodney]

17 minutes ago, RpR said:

Trade Julien and Wallner.

... a little more detail here .... like for who.... 

[Brandon]

16 hours ago, JYTwinsFan said:

I've been wondering if Luis Castillo might actually be an available and worthwhile target. Given Seattle's young pitching depth and reported interest in Ohtani, would they value a Castillo trade that could free up salary and plug some other holes on the field? I don't know much about the dynamic in Seattle, nor Castillo's prospects for continued success into his mid 30s, so maybe not realistic, but crossed my mind.

Castillo is owed 24.15 million in each of the next 4 Seasons.  As nice as it would be to add him to our rotation, At his price we might as well sign a free agent starter.  

16 hours ago, JYTwinsFan said:

[RpR]

51 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

... a little more detail here .... like for who.... 

They should bring a better quality pitcher, from where ever one might be available, add in Miranda and you are giving a team a younger Left Field, 3rd and ? 2nd ? baseman.

[JYTwinsFan]

3 hours ago, Brandon said:

Castillo is owed 24.15 million in each of the next 4 Seasons.  As nice as it would be to add him to our rotation, At his price we might as well sign a free agent starter.  

Yea I debated that justification as well. What I came to, and perhaps flawed, was that I had a hard time wanting to give $25mil to any of the free agents as they felt like overpays based on a thin market, whereas, Castillo felt appropriate if not exciting. I would imagine on the open market he would now be worth $30mil+. But to your point...to trade value and take on $25mil in salary is a heavy price. So it only works if you really believe in Castillo's longevity over the next few years, and you believe he is essentially a better than Gray or even Lopez Ace during that time.

[Doctor Wu]

Several of the players mentioned seem like realistic targets, but I doubt we'd get someone like Castillo. In any case, I think making a trade, versus signing a free agent, will be our best option this time around.