5 Questions the Minnesota Twins Must Answer Before the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline

[Fatbat]

I would sell some top prospects if VG Jr. was willing to do a 5 year contract extension immediately.  One can dream because ownership would never be on board.  We can find cheap pitching options internally.  If you could get J Montgomery for almost no assets. I would take that flier. 

[strumdatjag]

There is a former Cy Young Award winner out there.  His stats this year in Mexico and last two years in Japan were excellent.  The Astros are apparently interested in signing. him.   His accuser in the USA has now been indicted for trying to defraud the pitcher.  He was reportedly a clubhouse pariah before being basically blacklisted by MLB.   But he’s out there - Trevor Bauer.   At 33, he’s more likely to behave himself. 

[DocBauer]

It's been my belief that the FO has been willing to add some payroll at the deadline to help the club. Maybe not a ton, but they would be able to add. This comes from willingness to do so in the past, as well as the TV deal that came together late. 

I'm NOT begining another debate, just stating my belief.

But at this point, are they going to see a single $1 from that deal?

I disagree somewhat with the OP that the pen shouldn't be a priority. I think Okert is pretty solid. I love Funderburk's stuff and potential, but he's been a little wild still. Thielbar has been a real stalwart in the pen the past few years. If his current issues are mechanical and he can get right, awesome. If not, I'd like to have an experienced LH arm I could really trust in the pen. If Stewart is back and Varland can slide to the pen in September, I can see the Twins fine from the RH side.

The FO seems to have done a lot better job making deals in the offseason vs mid year. Who's got a quality, young-ish controllable SP available to trade for that we want to grab in a deadline auction?

I don't know that there's a rental bat for 2B or OF that I want to trade a bunch for just to have a rental. I DO believe on adding for the playoffs when you have need. But who are we going to get better than Lee or Julien at 2B that doesn't cost much? 

LF? Larnach's doing OK, Wallner might be ready to make a difference, Castro can play there, and we might even run with a RH/LH platoon that could include guys like Keirsey, Martin, and Margot. In theory at least. I'd be OK if they could add a big bat on the cheap. But how cheap? And when do we trust the younger talent we have?

I guess we have about 30 days to figure it out.

[beckmt]

Julien at this time looks like a trade chip,  Don't see an easy place for him.  Maybe first base is Miranda does not work out. He also is the type of player rebuilding teams like, cheap for the next 3 years.  Let him heat up a bit in St. Paul, then extract a decent pitcher with him part of the package.

[RpR]

23 minutes ago, beckmt said:

Julien at this time looks like a trade chip,  Don't see an easy place for him.  Maybe first base is Miranda does not work out. He also is the type of player rebuilding teams like, cheap for the next 3 years.  Let him heat up a bit in St. Paul, then extract a decent pitcher with him part of the package.

Just watched one of his at bats for the Saints game; he was 3-2 without ever taking the bat off of his shoulder.

Fortunately for him he walked.

[JD-TWINS]

17 hours ago, 1985Fan said:

Regression to 2022 and earlier. He’s a career 700 OPS hitter. Didn’t do well in the playoffs last year and not good against quality pitching. Is he the long-term answer at 2b? They have a 1st round draft pick that they need to decide what to do with long term and 2b should be a spot for him. Time to see if Lee is the answer. Rocco plays Castro somewhere everyday whether he needs to or not. Im not saying get rid of him, but start using him as a utility guy should be used, 3 days a week max. If you play him in the outfield, he’s blocking 2 other 1st round draft picks. Like this article says, time to make decisions on what they have before the deadline. 

The SHOW is not for setting productive players aside and experimenting with guys based on where they were drafted.

A player earns his way on to the roster. If Lee starts performing at some level other than “pretty decent” in St. Paul for some length of time, he’ll get brought up - til then, he’ll develop at AAA.

The decisions have been made for the near term……Wallner - Kirilloff - Julien - Lee ALL need to do something at AAA, repeatedly, to get time on the MLB roster……Wallner is close but he’s the only one in the current conversation.

The organization doesn’t make moves with the 26-man roster based on fan based curiosities……not with a winning Team.

Castro leads the Team in AB’s - Hits…….2nd in OBP. His OPS+ is 120…..the guy has 24 XBH and it’s June 19…..I don’t really care where he plays if he is competent defensively…….his offense is what it is (not 2022)……taking the attitude that he’s due to fail can be applied to anyone on the roster……see Ryan Jeffers. I do not expect Castro to be the starting 2B spring of ‘24 but right now he fits.

[Mike Sixel]

5 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

The SHOW is not for setting productive players aside and experimenting with guys based on where they were drafted.

A player earns his way on to the roster. If Lee starts performing at some level other than “pretty decent” in St. Paul for some length of time, he’ll get brought up - til then, he’ll develop at AAA.

The decisions have been made for the near term……Wallner - Kirilloff - Julien - Lee ALL need to do something at AAA, repeatedly, to get time on the MLB roster……Wallner is close but he’s the only one in the current conversation.

The organization doesn’t make moves with the 26-man roster based on fan based curiosities……not with a winning Team.

Castro leads the Team in AB’s - Hits…….2nd in OBP. His OPS+ is 120…..the guy has 24 XBH and it’s June 19…..I don’t really care where he plays if he is competent defensively…….his offense is what it is (not 2022)……taking the attitude that he’s due to fail can be applied to anyone on the roster……see Ryan Jeffers. I do not expect Castro to be the starting 2B spring of ‘24 but right now he fits.

There's no evidence a player being great in AAA gets to come up w/o an injury or AWFUL play by a MLB player. People keep typing that players can earn their way up, but can we see an example of that? Where a guy dominated AAA and replaced an average MLB player? I'm happy to be wrong here, but I'm unable to come up with an example. 

[1985Fan]

13 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

The SHOW is not for setting productive players aside and experimenting with guys based on where they were drafted.

A player earns his way on to the roster. If Lee starts performing at some level other than “pretty decent” in St. Paul for some length of time, he’ll get brought up - til then, he’ll develop at AAA.

The decisions have been made for the near term……Wallner - Kirilloff - Julien - Lee ALL need to do something at AAA, repeatedly, to get time on the MLB roster……Wallner is close but he’s the only one in the current conversation.

The organization doesn’t make moves with the 26-man roster based on fan based curiosities……not with a winning Team.

Castro leads the Team in AB’s - Hits…….2nd in OBP. His OPS+ is 120…..the guy has 24 XBH and it’s June 19…..I don’t really care where he plays if he is competent defensively…….his offense is what it is (not 2022)……taking the attitude that he’s due to fail can be applied to anyone on the roster……see Ryan Jeffers. I do not expect Castro to be the starting 2B spring of ‘24 but right now he fits.

You’re not wrong that Castro is playing well. I’m not saying he should be replaced for poor play. You’re not considering that no FO can survive if their high draft picks don’t make it to the SHOW. Draft position does matter. Looks like Lee is raking, so it’s only a matter of time before he is in the SHOW. Like it or not, the draft has to pay dividends for the organization to succeed, especially for the Twins. Similar to how the Rays are managed.