Twins Trade Candidate Breakdown: Royce Lewis

[Cody Christie]

The young infielder might have the highest value of any trade piece the Twins can move this offseason. So, should the Twins move on from their former first-overall draft pick?

Royce Lewis is a name that hasn’t left the minds of Minnesota Twins fans since he was drafted first overall in 2017. His electric play and flair for clutch performances have made him a fan favorite, but with the Twins looking to retool their roster and manage payroll this offseason, there’s a chance that Lewis could be on the trading block. Could Minnesota part ways with their slugger? Let’s dive into what such a trade might look like and which teams would be interested.

What’s Up with Him?
After an injury-riddled start to his career, Lewis has shown flashes of being a dominant hitter. In 2023, he hit .309/.372/.548, with 15 homers and seven doubles. He proved that he could be the impact player the Twins always envisioned. However, he struggled through the second half of 2024 and finished the season with a .747 OPS (107 OPS+). It was a step back for Lewis, but his long-term potential remains sky-high. 

His breakout performance coincides with the Twins’ budget concerns. With Lewis entering arbitration and his rising value on the trade market, Minnesota’s front office might be tempted to cash in on their prized young star. If the Twins believe they can address multiple needs by trading him, it could be the time to explore this bold move.

The Case for Trading Royce Lewis
Trading Lewis is not an easy decision. However, the idea holds some merit for a team aiming to get younger and potentially free up space for other rising stars. The Twins have top prospects like Brooks Lee and Luke Keaschall waiting to take over infield roles. A trade involving Lewis could fetch a major return and allow the team to add more pitching depth or bring in other top prospects to add to a farm system that is among baseball’s best. 

The appeal of trading Lewis also lies in his value. Unlike many players on the trade block, he’s young, has multiple years of control left, and has already shown significant upside. Lewis could be the missing piece for a team looking to compete immediately, allowing Minnesota to get an elite package in return.

Comparable Trades of the Past
It isn’t easy to find exact comparables for Lewis due to his combination of age, contract status, and potential. However, there have been some past trades involving young infielders. 

If the Minnesota Twins were to trade Lewis, they’d be dealing a young, versatile player with high upside and recent MLB success, which is rare. Here are a few recent trades for comparison:

Jazz Chisholm for Zac Gallen (2019)
The Marlins traded Zac Gallen, a young, controllable starter, to the Diamondbacks for Jazz Chisholm, a top prospect at the time. This swap involved two young, high-upside players with future All-Star potential, similar to what a Lewis trade might look like. The Twins could deal Lewis for a starting pitcher with experience at the big-league level.

Francisco Mejia in the Brad Hand Trade (2018)
The Padres traded Francisco Mejia, a top catching prospect, to Cleveland for Brad Hand, a high-leverage reliever. Lewis’s trade could involve a similarly high-value MLB asset (like an elite reliever or a frontline starter), though Lewis’s potential should draw even more interest.

Eugenio Suárez for Alfredo Simón (2014)
It's easy to forget how good Simón was at the moment when the Tigers traded for him in Dec. 2014. He'd just had two stellar seasons in relief, then a breakout campaign as a starter (3.44 ERA, 196 innings), and was a sought-after trade candidate, despite having just one year of team control remaining. Suárez had only played one season in Detroit, so he had more team control left and cost nothing, financially, but he was also less highly-regarded than Lewis is, too, so this might reflect Lewis's value pretty faithfully. A player with a stronger, more stable track record than Lewis's but just a year of team control could be in play, and since Lewis is a Super Two player set to start making real money this winter via arbitration, dealing him for such a player might not add anything significant to the payroll.

In a trade involving Lewis, the Twins would likely seek multiple players who could make an immediate impact, ideally including both major-league-ready talent and prospects.

Potential Trade Partners
Several teams would be interested in acquiring Lewis. Here are a few potential landing spots:

1. San Francisco Giants
The Giants have been looking to add youth and athleticism to their roster, and Lewis would fit perfectly. With aging veterans in key positions, they need a young cornerstone to pair with their up-and-coming talent. In return, Minnesota could target MLB-ready pitching, like left-hander Kyle Harrison; or Bryce Eldridge, a young first baseman ranked as their top prospect. 

2. New York Yankees
The Yankees always look for young, controllable stars, especially in the infield. Lewis would add much-needed athleticism and flexibility to their lineup. A package could include a mix of top prospects and MLB-ready arms, such as pitchers Will Warren and Chase Hampton or infielder George Lombard Jr. 

3. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are known for targeting young, versatile players, and Lewis would slot in well with their aggressive approach. With several infielders entering free agency, he would provide a long-term solution at third base or shortstop. The Twins could look to acquire right-handed pitcher Gavin Stone and slugging catcher Diego Cartaya, building depth on both sides of the ball.

4. Miami Marlins
Miami has a surplus of young pitching, and they’re always in search of quality infielders to build around. Lewis could become a foundational piece for their lineup. The Twins might target pitchers like Eury Pérez (who is returning from Tommy John surgery) or Edward Cabrera, allowing them to bolster their rotation with high-upside young talent.

Conclusions
Trading Royce Lewis would be a difficult pill for Twins fans to swallow, but the potential return could be game-changing for the organization. In the current market, young, controllable infielders like Lewis are rare and valuable, meaning a deal could land Minnesota an impactful package of players. Of course, the key question remains for the Twins: Is this the right time to move on from Lewis, or should they instead build around him?

If the front office decides to make a trade, expect it to be complicated and involve multiple players and possibly multiple teams. While it’s a tough call, dealing Lewis might be the bold move Minnesota needs to reshape their future.

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Should the Twins trade Lewis? What trade package would be enough for the young superstar? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[Cory Engelhardt]

This response is not to your writing. Your writing is good.

I loathe the idea of trading him right now so much. He is coming off an awful 2nd half, and I can’t see a way they get value for him as if he had a great year. 
 

Plus if the worry is payroll, why trade someone like him who is making minimal. 
 

I am so hopeful that this isn’t a move that happens this offseason

[Blyleven2011]

( Lewis ) A françhise  player to build around only comes around once in à great while ...

All players should be considered tradeable but to trade Lewis would be hard to swallow ... 

What messed with lewis's approach at the plate  in the second half of 2024  . Was it injuries , was it the mental approach to moving to second base or was it ,  he just doesn't like the game plan of the FO and Rocco  ....

Lewis is an intelligent baseball player  , we have to figure out what went wrong and get it corrected  ...

Is he tradedable , sure ,  but he's to important to the twins going forward  , his play is exciting and draws fans to the stands ... 

 

[miracleb]

The Dodgers have a better catching prospect than Cartaya that I would want back.  The Dodgers are loaded at the catching position(big league and AAA).....so they will be more willing to give up quality there.........than this trade would offer.

[Doctor Wu]

29 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

He is coming off an awful 2nd half, and I can’t see a way they get value for him as if he had a great year. 
 

Plus if the worry is payroll, why trade someone like him who is making minimal. 

Exactly the way I feel. Absolutely no real need to trade him, and due to his injury history and poor second half his trade value will not be that high. And as Blyleven2011 noted, Lewis is a potential all-star who should be able to play at an elite level if fully healthy. Whatever caused the late season decline should hopefully be an easy fix. Whatever the case, keep him!

[miracleb]

PS   I am not interested in trading Lewis.  But if it happens, it better be for a TOP catching prospect!

[gmwannabe]

Nobody is giving up their next CyYoung pitching prospect for Lewis until he plays a 150 game season with all star results. Until then,  he's not a "franchise" type player you want to believe in. Pardon the pun but leg injuries are the Achilles heel of baseball players (see Buxton).

[Seth Stohs]

There is approximately a 0.05% chance that the Twins trade Lewis. It's not happening and it shouldn't happen. But, it's still wise to have an article like this just to be able to discuss what the team might be able to get in return. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

2 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

There is approximately a 0.05% chance that the Twins trade Lewis. It's not happening and it shouldn't happen. But, it's still wise to have an article like this just to be able to discuss what the team might be able to get in return. 

Yeah, I can see that. I'm not certain I actually even really like any of the ideas offered. Maybe that's because I'm biased towards keeping Lewis. 

Good to turn over every stone, I get that. Just saying.

[srlarson]

Want to see him stay.....or wait another year and if he has a big year return will be better....forget the idea of getting a catcher...it has to be for Pitchers....that is the only way this team competes....you have to get young pitching...or another Lopez type.....

[chpettit19]

If the Twins could get Eury Perez for Royce Lewis they'd have done it yesterday. Sorry, the Marlins aren't trading a 22 year old Cy Young candidate for a guy who can't play 100 games a year. Tommy John or not. And I'm the president of the "Royce Lewis is a Star" club. The Marlins aren't trading arguably the 2nd best trade chip (behind Paul Skenes) in all of baseball for Royce Lewis, sorry. 

Royce just isn't very tradeable right now. He can't stay on the field and he collapsed at the end of the year when he appeared to run out of gas. Teams would be more than happy to gamble on the problem having been that he ran out of gas while paying the price for it having been that the league figured him out. But the Twins aren't going to, or shouldn't, be willing to accept the price for the injury prone guy who may have been figured out. It's the same equation that leads to him not being a good extension candidate. 

Every player should be able to be traded at any time if it makes the team better. But there's no realistic chance that an outside team is willing to pay anything near good enough to make the Twins give up Royce. Either he's going to put it all together here for a full, or close to full, year or he isn't. There's no trade for a huge return for Royce Lewis. No team is taking on that risk. 

[terrydactyls]

I think the best trade option would be trading the Pohlad family for any competent ownership.

[LambchoP]

Lewis isn't going anywhere. Even for a cash strapped team, you don't get rid of potentially one of your best players especially with years of control left at a super cheap price. I hope they stop with this second base stuff. Keep him at third where he's comfortable. If anything, maybe a move to first in the future. We have enough other options for second base. 

[farmerguychris]

I'd be really bummed if we ended up trading him as he's become one of my favorite players when healthy.  I know we seem to be on the path of becoming more and more like the Rays, trading young stars for future prospects right before they become expensive - but hope with new owners on the way, we simply hold onto him until we know what the new owners will do with payroll.

I'd prefer we just hold onto him and see how good he can become - we could have a real star on our hands if he can get, and stay healthy.

[Finlander]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I'd be open to offers if I were the Twins. A few points:

- most of the Twins players suffered hitting slumps for the last few weeks of the season. This was not necessarily a unique issue for Lewis, so it shouldn't be a source of concern for a trade partner. That's the sales pit

[bean5302]

I don't see how trading Royce Lewis for prospects is a likely success for the Twins. Prospects don't usually turn out. That's the truth. Also, while the article opines the Twins are looking to get younger, Lewis' value is then mentioned specifically as a youth talent every trade partner would be seeking. Lewis is 25 years old, he won't turn 26 until mid next season, and he has 4 years of team control left. The Twins do not get any younger by moving him.

I also think trading Lewis now would likely be selling short on him. Coming off a down year, Lewis athleticism has finally had finally been sapped by two blown ACLs and a severe quad strain, and the injuries themselves are cause for concern for anybody. Look at how Luis Robert, Jr's trade value has been impacted.

If the Twins moved Lewis, it would have to be for something special, and even if they did get a haul, I would also lose any respect I still had for the Pohlads or Falvey. Lewis is more than his performance.

[Finlander]

 Sorry, my phone flaked out...continuation:

That's my sales pitch anyway

- Lewis doesn't seem to have a position established. When others are describing his value, it always seems to be in hitting terms. His defensive fit needs to be considered. In the Twins' case, there are better 3rd basemen options. If Lewis doesn't consider moving from there to either 1st or 2nd, he has no fit in the MN future.

- As a prospect, his best skill was his plus-plus speed. That is now gone. He has, in fairness, demonstrated more power off the bat than expected. But he no longer appears to project as an elite base runner who also has the speed to cover a lot of ground defensively.

That's not to say I believe we need to trade him. But I'd be fine if we did and he fetched better fitting piece(s).

[AKTwinsFan]

His value vs, any possible trade candidates is a no brainer. Any seasoned player would have 10x-30x as much on their contract with half the talent. He just needs better coaching. 

[Doctor Gast]

For the last 3 offseasons, we have had a great core to work with the 1st brought us postseason success, The idea to progress from success is to keep the talent & chemistry of the core intact & add to it. So the 2nd offseason we lost Gray so that means that trading from our prospect surplus & some expendable young players to obtain a frontline SP along with Ober & Ryan taking a step forward, Buxton, Correa, Lewis, Polanco,  Miranda & Kiriloff entering the season healthy, With promising young well-deserving rookies ready to step up to fill in where needed. W/o touching anything else (except maybe cutting some fat like Paddack & or Farmer) we be adding to the core not subtracting & still meeting the budget. But Falvey's "creative" maneuvering subtracted from the core, failed to fill our major hole, frivolously spending our allotted money on players that didn't add to what we had & some subtracted from what we had. Falvey's "creative" moves caused a motivated postseason contender into a 4th place AL Central pretender.

Failing to build upon our core we enter our 3rd offseason with a core compromised in talent & chemistry. IMO we can still pick ourselves up with the remaining yet still very good core. Return to filling our need at SP, Give our players opportunities to grow, cut fat not muscle & stop spending our allotted money on frivolous players & expensive FAs. Save that money to extend important core players like Lewis. We can't take any more of Falvey's "creative" ideas.

All that said is to show how ridiculous it is to trade Lewis. Trading Lewis is completely giving up on this core. A great core with a farm packed with great prospects. That is an open window to take advantage of, not to destroy this core by trading away Lewis for a bunch of prospects to further gorge our farm. Besides I'm not interested in any of these players in any of these trades. This isn't a good time to trade Lewis because his value is down but it is a good time to extend him if we can stop spending & scrap up some extra money.

 

[Richard Kittelson]

I don’t see the Twins getting back enough  at this point to complete a Lewis trade. With continued payroll restraints I don’t see them signing a free agent 1st baseman that is affordable that will provide much value. Lewis doesn’t like the idea of moving to 2nd base, the team has lots of options there! Why are they not considering him at 1st base? Lee at 3rd, Correa at ss, Castro and Keashall at 2nd with Lewis at 1b might be as good of an infield as any. I’d rather see free agent money spent on the pitching staff and outfield bats than overpaid free agent 1st basemen!

[tony&rodney]

An examination of player personnel and their trade worth is always a decent exercise even if we know a player will not be moved. Royce Lewis was a hot topic last offseason and the potential return was high. Right now, Lewis would not return value in terms of MLB talent. Lewis might allow the Twins to gain a decent prospect, but that would seem foolish considering Lewis is still closer to a prospect himself with less then 162 games of experience. For the right player, sure. Falvey won't trade Lewis though.

Who would I like to acquire for Lewis? Lewis for any one of Bryce Miller, Kyle Teel, Jeferson Quero, Jordan Lawler, and these types of players.  Falvey won't trade Lewis though.

[farmerguychris]

Another thought.... Don't you think Falvey is essentially working to keep his job next year?  In order to impress the new owners and be allowed to remain in charge of the team going forward, wouldn't they look at the success of the big league team, instead of how good our farm system is - in part to whomever we got from Lewis in trade.

I think keeping Lewis on our team (at his minimum salary) is better than anything we could get in return (also at minimum salary due to restrictions in place by ownership).

Can't see them trading him for this reason alone - to make the big league team as good as possible for 2025.

 

[Schmoeman5]

5 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I also think trading Lewis now would likely be selling short on him. Coming off a down year, Lewis athleticism has finally had finally been sapped by two blown ACLs and a severe quad strain, and the injuries themselves are cause for concern for anybody. Look at how Luis Robert, Jr's trade value has been impacted.

If the Twins moved Lewis, it would have to be for something special, and even if they did get a haul, I would also lose any respect I still had for the Pohlads or Falvey. Lewis is more than his performance.

So if you're using Luis Robert Jr. as a comparable player, talent injuries etc. Wouldn't this be the right time to move off Lewis? Another injury or 2 will diminish his value as well. Won't it? And what does "Lewis is more than his performance" mean? He can't or won't be the face of the franchise if he can't stay healthy. And his drop off at the end of 24 leaves even more question marks. I'm not advocating for Lewis to be traded. But on this platform there is a lot in print about what fans WISH a player was vs what he actually is. 

[tony&rodney]

Lewis has considerable promise as an athlete despite his past injuries and halting development. However, it seems a little odd to consider Royce Lewis as a "core" player for the Twins as so many have already done. Lewis has not even played the equivalent of one season yet and he is a "core" player. 2024 was a bit of a nightmare for Royce as it was for Ed Julien. So far, I have yet to read an article or a comment suggesting Julien as a "core" player for the Twins. In 2023 Julien provided more oWAR than Lewis and we all know how much everyone loves stats. Defensively, they are a wash too. I do not hold out nearly as much hope for Julien as I do for Lewis, but feel the context on Lewis is more jacked up than he is. Those who are pumped about Royce can rest easy because Falvey will not trade his #1-1 guy. The article asked for any ideas of fair trades. Does anyone have one?

[jmlease1]

I think it's instructive that one of the trades mentioned was Jazz Chisholm for Zac Gallen. Chisholm had a solid first full season in 2021 (I think it's fair to set aside the 21 games in the pandemic year) as a solid but unspectacular hitter and good fielding SS. he was having a breakout season in 2022, playing at an all-star level before getting hurt and missing the entire second half. Miami moved him to CF for...reasons? in 2023 where he was ok (but almost certainly should have stayed on the dirt) but missed a big chunk of the middle of the season. Then got sent out to NY before he could get expensive for some minor leaguers. 

I'd say Miami fouled this one up pretty badly. Gallen has added much more value to AZ than Chisholm did in Miami, who seem to have mismanaged Chishom in moving him to mostly the OF and sold low on him to NY when he wasn't hitting well. Let's not repeat that mistake with Royce.

Moving Royce Lewis (which is exceptionally unlikely to happen) seems like a disaster waiting to happen. He's shown flashes of elite talent, but after his collapse in sept we'd be selling low. We're not getting MLB-ready players for him and it's doubtful that we're getting prospects with all-star ceilings, unless they're A-ball guys because of Royce's health history and bad slump down the stretch. Selling low on a 25 year-old with huge upside usually ends badly. The only reason to sell on him right now is if a) you're convinced that his knees are never going to let him fulfill his potential, and b) someone else is so convinced that his knees are fine that they're willing to give you back a Zac Gallen.

[Ryan_K]

As a Marlins fan, would love him down here. Probably tough to trade Eury but other pitchers are more likely.

[mluebker]

How about just moving him over to first base to plug that hole? I don’t get the enthusiasm for trading a guy who’s already performing well for a package of prospects that are a roll of the dice at best. He can hit. Keep him!

[Finlander]

We have many infield options. We have many outfield options. We are very thin at catchers in the system, and we can always use more pitching. So, replying to the call for trade ideas for Lewis, the Dodgers idea in the article is at least a start. Other targets - Teel, or Basallo in Baltimore (3 way deal, they probably don't need another infielder), or Ford in Seattle, with an arm included. Maybe we include Larnach. We have other lefty swinging outfielders on the way.

Those who say Lewis is untouchable, did you say the same thing about Kirilloff? I don't think anyone is untouchable if the deal is right. 

[TopGunn#22]

I think Lewis is a core building block and depending on what we eventually see from Walker Jenkins and E-Rod, Lewis is probably the "key" building block.  He was TERRIBLE in the 2nd half of the season but nagging injuries will do that to you.  Yes, he's hurt waaay too much, but so was Paul Molitor early in his career.  

Trades always come down to what you could get back.  After last season, Lewis's value is down.  You sell high and you buy low.  This would be a sell low situation and I'm not really inclined to give up on a cornerstone player.  

[jmlease1]

14 hours ago, Finlander said:

We have many infield options. We have many outfield options. We are very thin at catchers in the system, and we can always use more pitching. So, replying to the call for trade ideas for Lewis, the Dodgers idea in the article is at least a start. Other targets - Teel, or Basallo in Baltimore (3 way deal, they probably don't need another infielder), or Ford in Seattle, with an arm included. Maybe we include Larnach. We have other lefty swinging outfielders on the way.

Those who say Lewis is untouchable, did you say the same thing about Kirilloff? I don't think anyone is untouchable if the deal is right. 

It's not that he's untouchable, it's more than we don't feel like we'll get anywhere near the value in return, we'll have just as much risk (with Royce the risk is injury. if he's dealt, the risk is the prospects don't pan out, because it seems pretty unlikely that we'll get proven MLB talent in return, especially because the Pohlad self-imposed payroll limits mean that a trade of Royce has to be for prospects unless another trade is made to free up payroll).

I never felt like Kirilloff was untouchable, but it was a similar situation (although Kirilloff never put up the kind of numbers that Royce has) where you had a player with a lot of talent who was struggling to stay on the field. It's hard to sell high on a guy like that, and the return when you sell low because of the injuries it often doesn't improve your position.

With the makeup of this team the injury issues with the most talented players is a big challenge. Healthy, Royce, Correa, and Buxton provide excellent RH hitting ability and solid to superior defense (Royce was good at 3B in 2023, not so good in 2024; I'd average that out until we get more time in grade, but Buxton and Correa are still excellent defenders). But availability is a problem because right now these are our three most talented position players.

Trading Royce is challenging because it doesn't feel like we'd get what we'd need in return, and it would almost certainly require 1-2 other trades to happen to even get close because of payroll. Add in the "selling low" aspect, and it just seems like a bad idea and highly unlikely anyone is going to blow us away with an offer.