Royce Lewis Rumors Surface as MLB Insider Floats Trade Possibility

[Cody Christie]

Trade speculation is part of the fabric of a long baseball season, and it's still months away from the MLB Trade Deadline. Still, one prominent MLB insider is looking at potential solutions for a struggling American League contender.

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden recently examined early-season trends around the league, including a Boston Red Sox lineup that has yet to find its footing. With the absence of Alex Bregman leaving a noticeable void, Bowden pointed directly to the infield as an area of concern.

“I’m not sure they’re going to get enough offense — specifically from their infield — to get back to the postseason,” said Bowden. “I believe there is pressure on the front office to find another impact bat to help lengthen the lineup, preferably a third baseman.”

From there, Bowden began to explore possible solutions, and that is where Royce Lewis’ name entered the discussion.

“I like Caleb Durbin, don’t get me wrong, but I like him more as a utility player than an everyday player. Perhaps a trade with the Astros for Isaac Paredes or the Twins for Royce Lewis (once he’s healthy again) would work? Or a deal for a younger option, like the Nationals’ Brady House?”

It is important to note that this is outside speculation rather than any indication that Minnesota is actively shopping Lewis. Still, it highlights how the rest of the league views his upside when healthy.

At the moment, Lewis is working his way back from a Grade 1 left knee sprain suffered on April 9 when he felt a pop during a game. The initial concern has since subsided following encouraging MRI results, and he is expected to return around April 21. For a player who has dealt with multiple injuries early in his career, even a relatively minor setback is enough to draw attention.

Before landing on the injured list, Lewis was showing signs of growth at the plate. He posted a .222/.378/.444 slash line with two home runs, eight RBIs, and eight walks across 45 plate appearances. The most notable development has been his patience, with a 17.8% walk rate that nearly triples last season’s mark and sits well above his career average. That approach hints at a more complete offensive profile, one that could further elevate his value.

In the meantime, the Twins have turned to a veteran platoon of Tristan Gray and Ryan Kreidler at third base. It has been a functional solution, but not one that replicates Lewis’ upside. His eventual return should stabilize the position and deepen a lineup that has leaned on its versatility.

If Minnesota were to entertain a move involving Lewis, it would not be without internal alternatives. Brooks Lee has struggled defensively at shortstop, and a shift to third base could better suit his range limitations. That would open the door for top prospect Kaelen Culpepper to step into a larger role at shortstop, giving the organization a different kind of infield alignment.

Even with those possibilities, dealing Lewis would represent a significant philosophical shift. He has shown the potential to be a cornerstone talent when healthy, and his flashes of impact have reinforced that belief. External interest is not surprising, but it does not necessarily align with the Twins’ current competitive window.

For now, Bowden’s comments serve more as a reminder than a prediction. When a player with Lewis’ ability shows even incremental improvement, the rest of the league takes notice. Whether that ever turns into something more concrete is a question that will linger, but Minnesota’s focus remains on getting him back on the field and contributing.

View full rumor

[Linus]

For the right return, I would trade Royce. For all the accolades about his talent he’s proven very little. His arm and glove are erratic and pretty apt to swing and miss. He does have power, which is important and his speed looks better. My guess is, he wouldn’t bring back a lot in trade right now. 

[thelanges5]

Jim Bowden looking for clicks. To quote Charles Barkley “turrible”

[DarrenPS]

I think his trade value is too low right now. I've always been a big Royce fan, even have a jersey, but he definitely is not "untouchable" anymore. Hopefully he comes back and continues to play well. Make it a tough choice for us!

[amjgt]

The Minnesota media and fans have been pretty hard on Royce (somewhere deserved), but can you imagine what the Boston media/fans would be like in the same circumstances?

[twinstalker]

Go get Anthony Eyanson and anything else!

[strumdatjag]

Like everything, it’s all about what the Twins get in return.  Otherwise, long-term: Why not move Royce Lewis to 1B, and Lee to 3B, if and when Culpepper (Marek Houston?) takes over at SS?

[bean5302]

I don't think Breslow has shown an appetite for the Twins' asking prices for talent. I don't think the Twins would part ways with him for anything the Red Sox would be comfortable offering.

In addition, Brooks Lee's history doesn't suggest he has a bat which plays at SS, let alone 3B. He's had some nice games recently, but the batted ball data thinks his results have been unwarranted. Brooks Lee has not been an MLB caliber starting position player so far in his career. He's not a viable option for 3B in my opinion.

[Linus]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I don't think Breslow has shown an appetite for the Twins' asking prices for talent. I don't think the Twins would part ways with him for anything the Red Sox would be comfortable offering.

In addition, Brooks Lee's history doesn't suggest he has a bat which plays at SS, let alone 3B. He's had some nice games recently, but the batted ball data thinks his results have been unwarranted. Brooks Lee has not been an MLB caliber starting position player so far in his career. He's not a viable option for 3B in my opinion.

This is more correct than fans want to believe. Brooks Lee has to improve his hitting substantially in order to play anywhere. 

[big dog]

I wonder how late it is at night when Bowden plugs in his Random Names To Trade generator and starts writing down what spews out. Really late, probably. 

[LewFordLives]

I'm sure it's a well written article, as is usually the case with Cody Christie, but I stopped at "Jim Bowden".

[DataNerd]

There is a reason that Bowden isn't working for an MLB team

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Trading Royce now is the epitome of selling low. Won't happen, IYAM.

[C-Gangster]

No God No please I cant take this anymore!!!!!!!!!!!

[amjgt]

“Royce Lewis Rumors Surface” is giving way too much weight to what seems like Jim Bowden needing 500 words on random ways to try to fix the Red Sox

[IndianaTwin]

10 hours ago, big dog said:

I wonder how late it is at night when Bowden plugs in his Random Names To Trade generator and starts writing down what spews out. Really late, probably. 

Actually, it doesn’t seem like Bowden waits that late into the night to start these. They seem to come at any point. Wasn’t he also the leader of the Twins Are Going to Trade Ryan brigade?

[Peter]

Royce isn’t going anywhere 

[mluebker]

We keep hearing about Lewis’s potential upside while he continues to perform only marginally better at the plate than Kody Clemens, with far less defensive flexibility. While I started off a big fan, it looks like he’s never going to overcome his consistency and injury issues. Unless there’s a miraculous turnaround when he comes back from his current trip to the IL, maybe it IS time to start shopping him around.

[JD-TWINS]

19 hours ago, strumdatjag said:

Like everything, it’s all about what the Twins get in return.  Otherwise, long-term: Why not move Royce Lewis to 1B, and Lee to 3B, if and when Culpepper (Marek Houston?) takes over at SS?

Love this thought - bad news is I think Lewis would pout every day until he was traded if they moved him to 1B (forcefully)…….could be sculpted to “help preserve his legs” …. to remove most stress on the defensive side regarding movement and throwing. Don’t see it materializing but I like it a lot.

[Coach JT]

Make the deal , just make sure you get 2 to 3 minor league left handed pitchers. Previous management struggled to acquire left handed pitching. 

[JD-TWINS]

50 minutes ago, mluebker said:

We keep hearing about Lewis’s potential upside while he continues to perform only marginally better at the plate than Kody Clemens, with far less defensive flexibility. While I started off a big fan, it looks like he’s never going to overcome his consistency and injury issues. Unless there’s a miraculous turnaround when he comes back from his current trip to the IL, maybe it IS time to start shopping him around.

I agree - the “hopeful thoughts” for Royce are often WishThinking!

Kody Clemens?….gotta be more fair to Royce than that though.

Kody in ‘26,  .152/.282/.333 with a 36% K rate in 39 PA’s.

Royce in ‘26,  .222/.378/.444 with a 27% K rate in 45 PA’s.

Come on ………. Kody is brutal! Great attitude!! Sticks out occasionally with a nice swing but day in & day out he’s fringe guy who can be DFA’d any day. If Josh Bell could play a lick of defense at 1B, Clemens would be gone. Right now “he’s part of the Team” as they are winning but if that shifts OR if he doesn’t improve, he’ll be gone by June 1.

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, mluebker said:

We keep hearing about Lewis’s potential upside while he continues to perform only marginally better at the plate than Kody Clemens, with far less defensive flexibility. While I started off a big fan, it looks like he’s never going to overcome his consistency and injury issues. Unless there’s a miraculous turnaround when he comes back from his current trip to the IL, maybe it IS time to start shopping him around.

 

You hear about Lewis' upside because his upside is MVP candidate. He's played through a lot of injuries, and he's still probably more injury prone when it comes to lower body stuff. Two complete ACL tears in back to back years led to a severe quad strain, led to hamstring issues. The kinds of injuries he sustained, and played through recovery, are completely devastating to the lower body.

I'm not sure where you get the idea Lewis has less defensive flexibilty. You could tell Lewis to play any position, he might not prefer it, but you can make him stand there. Same with Kody Clemens. It doesn't mean Clemens is a good defender at those positions and it doesn't mean Lewis would be.

[Jeff K]

I saw a comment about moving Royce to first base pretty soon.  I think that is interesting and the Twins would need to do a good job of demonstrating to Royce that it's a good move for him.  Certainly his fielding at first base ought to be an improvement over our current options.  Moving Lee to 3rd (maybe temporarily) and bringing up Culpepper seems like an interesting move.  It might be rushing Culpepper, but why not try?  This also enables Ben Ross to move up to St. Paul (almost wrote Rochester...jeez) and Marek Houston moves up to Wichita.  Moving Royce to first base is probably the end of the line for Clemens.  Oh well.  

Obviously moves in the Outfield need to take place.  Get Outman out of there and decide how best to get Wallner unlocked.

[nicksaviking]

On 4/17/2026 at 11:15 AM, thelanges5 said:

Jim Bowden looking for clicks. To quote Charles Barkley “turrible”

He also looks at the Midwest teams like feeder systems for the East coast teams.

I also can't recall once that Jim Bowden accurately predicted a trade or free agent signing.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

7 hours ago, bean5302 said:

 

You hear about Lewis' upside because his upside is MVP candidate. He's played through a lot of injuries, and he's still probably more injury prone when it comes to lower body stuff. Two complete ACL tears in back to back years led to a severe quad strain, led to hamstring issues. The kinds of injuries he sustained, and played through recovery, are completely devastating to the lower body.

I'm not sure where you get the idea Lewis has less defensive flexibilty. You could tell Lewis to play any position, he might not prefer it, but you can make him stand there. Same with Kody Clemens. It doesn't mean Clemens is a good defender at those positions and it doesn't mean Lewis would be.

He has 300 plate appearances of all star and 800 plate appearances of below replacement level. Sure there’s upside, but I get the uncertainty 

[dxpavelka]

On 4/17/2026 at 1:35 PM, strumdatjag said:

Like everything, it’s all about what the Twins get in return.  Otherwise, long-term: Why not move Royce Lewis to 1B, and Lee to 3B, if and when Culpepper (Marek Houston?) takes over at SS?

Been saying this for about two years.  

[dxpavelka]

12 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

He also looks at the Midwest teams like feeder systems for the East coast teams.

I also can't recall once that Jim Bowden accurately predicted a trade or free agent signing.

Nobody really ever accurately predicts trades unless the horse is already out of the barn and EVERYBODY is getting it right.

 

[Parfigliano]

35 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Nobody really ever accurately predicts trades unless the horse is already out of the barn and EVERYBODY is getting it right.

 

I predict Royce Lewis will not be traded this year.

[olerud]

I want tolle or Arias in return!!!!! Maybe both😁

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

More nonsense rumors. The Twins would be selling much too low if they traded Royce Lewis at this point, and so early in the season. These frequent injuries of his are definitely frustrating, but I'm still willing to be patient for a few more months at least.