Three Minnesota Twins Named Top Trade Candidates by MLBTR

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, chpettit19 said:

There's no such thing as having too many players at any position, especially SS. We've been hearing how they have too many lefty corner outfielders for years; I don't see a single one. But they couldn't bring in someone else because they had Larnach and Wallner (I believe in the bat, just preferably at DH). They believed in Julien enough to trade Polanco. Miranda enough to try Lewis at 2B. Kirilloff enough to never get a long-term 1B. Lee has been used as an example of a reason the Twins didn't need to sign Correa or another reason to push Lewis off 3B.

If they could bring in Bo Bichette (clearly an exaggerated example), you wouldn't do it because of Culpepper and Houston?

The Twins need talent. Get talent. Up the middle talent preferably and then move them around. The Padres had a young MVP candidate at SS and have proceeded to move him to RF while bringing in 4 other shortstops and moving their next young phenom to CF (a position he'd never played) for his MLB debut. Culpepper and Houston both reaching their ceiling after having filled SS with another guy who is legitimately good would be a great problem to have. Get up the middle athletes who have real talent and figure it out from there.

The Twins need Culpepper, GG, Jenkins, etc. to be good to have any shot in the next few years, but they shouldn't assume they will be. Especially not if they can get a true difference maker back for Ryan. Get the best baseball player you can for him and figure it out from there.

He's talking about acquiring a SS that is already in the majors. If that's a good idea, in confused as to the plan for next year. Using one of the best players in the game as an example is silly. 

[Riverbrian]

16 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

They have limited assets and two SS they believe in. If you need lots of things, you don't use limited assets on things you expect to have in half a year. 

For the life of me. I'll never understand the problem people have with accumulating talent... yet the majority of posters run from it like it's a plague. 

They can believe in Lee and Culpepper... I love that they do. But... they still have to get where we need them to get.

Lee hasn't broken .700 OPS yet. I believe he can get there... maybe even break .800... he may do it in 2026 but he hasn't gotten there yet and there is no guarantee that he will. I'd rather not put all the eggs in the Lee basket... drop the basket... put the next batch of eggs in the Culpepper basket and hope it doesn't get dropped. Right now if Lee gets hurt or continues to hit .600 OPS... Fitzgerald is the guy who gets called up and nobody wants him. 

Lee has the ability to play multiple positions and there are concerns about his range at the SS position. Lee can get playing time and hedge our bets at 2B, 3B and SS. Yes... 2B... Most of us think Keaschall is a lock. He looked amazing... Love him... High Hopes...but there is no reason to think it isn't possible for him to sophomore slump... or... get hurt. Why not hedge your bets?  

Culpepper hasn't even seen AAA yet and he doesn't even have to placed on the 40 man roster until 2027. If he sails through AAA... believe me... we will see him in 2026 when the injuries start happening and the injuries will happen. If he hits the ground running at the MLB level... If Lee is playing well... If the new SS I'd like to acquire is playing well... that would be FANTASTIC. If Houston is a rocketship up the levels... That would be fantastic. Maybe we will have excess players... that would be fantastic. Every single one of us should want excess players. 

I'm not looking to trade Ryan for an outfielder or a starting pitcher. We have bets hedged all over the place in the OF. 6 players to consider plus 3 or 4 more in the minors.

We don't have the same major league ready depth in the infield. Clemens gets a spot right now even is we add a new 1B and SS like I'd like to see.  

I'm willing to punt the catcher position... I'm not willing to punt 2026 when it comes to young players.  

I don't understand the problem people have with accumulating talent. 

[chpettit19]

18 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

He's talking about acquiring a SS that is already in the majors. If that's a good idea, in confused as to the plan for next year. Using one of the best players in the game as an example is silly. 

I believe what he said is "a young SS to compete with Lee." Colt Emerson, JJ Wetherholt, Sebastian Walcott, Ceddanne Rafaela or Marcelo Mayer if we're going with the Ryan to the Red Sox idea, Aidan Miller, Carson Williams, Alex Freeland. All MLB ready prospects who would/could compete with Lee for SS to start next year. Would any of them be available for Ryan? I don't know. But why not ask?

The same argument can be made for OFers. Just get more and figure it out. Would you pass on Carson Benge because they have Jenkins and Emma and GG?

Or pitching. They have Bradley, Matthews, Festa, Abel, etc. so they should pass on Tong or Tolle or Sproat? 

The idea remains, don't pass on the top talent because you have hope other guys will be good. I won't speak for @Riverbrian but I'm quite positive he isn't talking about another Kyle Farmer. He's pretty strong on not doing 1-year deals for vets. But adding another young, MLB ready SS sounds smart to me.

[Riverbrian]

2 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I believe what he said is "a young SS to compete with Lee." Colt Emerson, JJ Wetherholt, Sebastian Walcott, Ceddanne Rafaela or Marcelo Mayer if we're going with the Ryan to the Red Sox idea, Aidan Miller, Carson Williams, Alex Freeland. All MLB ready prospects who would/could compete with Lee for SS to start next year. Would any of them be available for Ryan? I don't know. But why not ask. 

The same argument can be made for OFers. Just get more and figure it out. Would you pass on Carson Benge because they have Jenkins and Emma and GG?

Or pitching. They Bradley, Matthews, Festa, Abel, etc. so they should pass on Tong or Tolle or Sproat? 

The idea remains, don't pass on the top talent because you have hope other guys will be good. I won't speak for @Riverbrian but I'm quite positive he isn't talking about another Kyle Farmer. He's pretty strong on not doing 1-year deals for vets. But adding another young, MLB ready SS sounds smart to me.

Perfectly Posted.

It's like you are in my head. 

I thought I was clear but I've been misread to to the point that I'm punting the SS position and also acquiring Corey Seager or something. 

[Riverbrian]

21 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

He's talking about acquiring a SS that is already in the majors. If that's a good idea, in confused as to the plan for next year. Using one of the best players in the game as an example is silly. 

How many times do I need to put "Young" in front of SS? 

[chpettit19]

9 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Perfectly Posted.

It's like you are in my head. 

I thought I was clear but I've been misread to to the point that I'm punting the SS position and also acquiring Corey Seager or something. 

Hey, I'd take Corey Seager! But I'm all for acquiring talent. There's no such thing as a log jam. Especially at SS. The Padres ran out lineups that included 6 guys who came up as SSs through the minors (or foreign pro leagues). Profar in left, Merrill in center, Tatis Jr in right, with Machado, Kim, and Bogaerts across the infield. I wouldn't care if Jenkins, Emma, GG, Culpepper, Houston, and Tait were all shortstops. Give me another one. If they get the #1 pick, draft Roch.

Just get athletic talent and figure it out from there.

[Riverbrian]

Just now, chpettit19 said:

Hey, I'd take Corey Seager! But I'm all for acquiring talent. There's no such thing as a log jam. Especially at SS. The Padres ran out lineups that included 6 guys who came up as SSs through the minors. Profar in left, Merrill in center, Tatis Jr in right, with Machado, Kim, and Bogaerts across the infield. I wouldn't care if Jenkins, Emma, GG, Culpepper, Houston, and Tait were all shortstops. Give me another one. If they get the #1 pick, draft Roch.

Just get athletic talent and figure it out from there.

It's the fastest way to get where we need to be. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

3 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Hey, I'd take Corey Seager! But I'm all for acquiring talent. There's no such thing as a log jam. Especially at SS. The Padres ran out lineups that included 6 guys who came up as SSs through the minors (or foreign pro leagues). Profar in left, Merrill in center, Tatis Jr in right, with Machado, Kim, and Bogaerts across the infield. I wouldn't care if Jenkins, Emma, GG, Culpepper, Houston, and Tait were all shortstops. Give me another one. If they get the #1 pick, draft Roch.

Just get athletic talent and figure it out from there.

Falvey’s thought bubble as he reads TD:

“improve the team by getting more athletic talent….”

[tony&rodney]

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Just get athletic talent and figure it out from there.

Agree and have been pounding that table for quite a while. I'm not focused on positions either. I'll take more outfielders, infielders, etc. Ideally the Boy Genius sells one of our guys for a highly rated player who may not have a position open for them right now even while they badly need a #2 starting pitcher. I'm also willing to add a player or two to Joe Ryan or Pablo Lopez if that brings the talent needed to improve the club.

[Mike Sixel]

21 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

I believe what he said is "a young SS to compete with Lee." Colt Emerson, JJ Wetherholt, Sebastian Walcott, Ceddanne Rafaela or Marcelo Mayer if we're going with the Ryan to the Red Sox idea, Aidan Miller, Carson Williams, Alex Freeland. All MLB ready prospects who would/could compete with Lee for SS to start next year. Would any of them be available for Ryan? I don't know. But why not ask?

The same argument can be made for OFers. Just get more and figure it out. Would you pass on Carson Benge because they have Jenkins and Emma and GG?

Or pitching. They have Bradley, Matthews, Festa, Abel, etc. so they should pass on Tong or Tolle or Sproat? 

The idea remains, don't pass on the top talent because you have hope other guys will be good. I won't speak for @Riverbrian but I'm quite positive he isn't talking about another Kyle Farmer. He's pretty strong on not doing 1-year deals for vets. But adding another young, MLB ready SS sounds smart to me.

I'm all in on OF and SP, since you need more than 1. Lots more than 1. They have limited assets, and have Culpeper and Houston (and to a lesser extent Lee) they clearly believe in. If I am dealing Ryan, I want OF and SP back, or a C, since they have none after next year basically. You can't play w/o a C. I'm happy to disagree here.....that's ok with me. 

[Mike Sixel]

28 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'm all in on OF and SP, since you need more than 1. Lots more than 1. They have limited assets, and have Culpeper and Houston (and to a lesser extent Lee) they clearly believe in. If I am dealing Ryan, I want OF and SP back, or a C, since they have none after next year basically. You can't play w/o a C. I'm happy to disagree here.....that's ok with me. 

Also, this is the org that kept Martin at SS for no reason, and is doing so with Winokur....I don't trust them to get more SS.....

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'm all in on OF and SP, since you need more than 1. Lots more than 1. They have limited assets, and have Culpeper and Houston (and to a lesser extent Lee) they clearly believe in. If I am dealing Ryan, I want OF and SP back, or a C, since they have none after next year basically. You can't play w/o a C. I'm happy to disagree here.....that's ok with me. 

Yeah, we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Also, this is the org that kept Martin at SS for no reason, and is doing so with Winokur....I don't trust them to get more SS.....

And this is why. They believed in Martin at SS, too. Winokur actually looks pretty good there to me, so I have no problem with them keeping him there until it's necessary to move (and that's when he's on the Twins with a better SS in place). You're limiting SS to mean just SS but listing OF as a group of 3 positions. Why can't Culpepper and Houston just be labeled as IFers? Or athletes? I bet Culpepper could play a corner OF spot. They could definitely all move to another IF spot without any problem. Culpepper has always been viewed as a better option at 3B. What if he's at SS and Houston works out? Houston is the better defender so is Culpepper just moved to the bench in 2 years or do they figure out how to play them both?

Jenkins, Emma, GG, Mendez, Roden, Wallner, Buxton, Martin, Winokur if you prefer him there, maybe Keaschall if he can't figure out 2B better. How many outfielders do they need to have that they believe in before we don't need anymore OFers? I just listed 10. May be able to add Rosario and Fedko to the list, too. They appear to believe in those guys. Eeles may be best served in LF. I'll take the under on 3 of the non-Buxtons being difference makers. So, sure, I'd take a difference making OFer, too. But Arizona believed in Lawler and now he's a CFer. The Padres believed in Tatis Jr and now he's a RFer. They also believed in Jackson Merrill and now he's a CFer. The Red Sox believed in Rafaela and now he's a CFer. The Red Sox believed in Mookie back in the day and he became an all-world RFer before moving back to the IF with the Dodgers.

They absolutely need catchers, but I'm not trading my best trade piece for a guy that won't play more than 60% of the time and is incredibly unlikely to be an impact offensive player. They're not likely to get the next Cal Raleigh with a trade for a catcher. They need an impact player back for Ryan. Preferably 2.

If they get the #1 pick should they not take Roch because he's a SS? I just don't get the argument. Get good players. Get good athletes. The idea that they have too many players at any position will never make sense to me. When, in the history of baseball, has any team had too many good players that they just couldn't find places for them all? The Padres used to start 6 former SSs in the same lineup. The Twins have a long ways to go before they reach that level of SS talent.

But reasonable minds have disagreed on more serious things than the Twins SS situation.

[Mike Sixel]

When I sort 50 grade or higher, on teams trying to win next year, and players who are in AAA or MLB .....

I see three players. 

Colt Emerson (SEA) - 6 games in AAA is not any more really than Culpepper.....

Aidan Miller (PHI) - 8 games in AAA is not any more really than Culpepper....

Alex Freeland (LAD) - definitely has AAA and some MLB experience.

(since it was stated we shouldn't trust Culpepper because he hasn't played above AA yet).

[SteveLV]

Twins already---reportedly--passed on getting Miller in the Duran trade, so apparently they are not hot for him.

I am not sure you are going to get Emerson away from the Mariners, but I sure do like him.

[tony&rodney]

4 hours ago, SteveLV said:

Twins already---reportedly--passed on getting Miller in the Duran trade, so apparently they are not hot for him.

I am not sure you are going to get Emerson away from the Mariners, but I sure do like him.

Sure would like to know why the Twins picked Tait over Miller. That was a curious choice. Tait has boom in his bat but his position is still not settled. Hopefully he can pick up catching and become proficient at the position. I like the potential in his bat.

The Mariners are holding Emerson for a year. He has looked really good. In 2027 Emerson will slide into the shortstop spot for Seattle.