Royce Lewis Rumors Surface as MLB Insider Floats Trade Possibility

[Steve J]

Ah yes, coastal baseball journalism's favorite pastime: making up rumors under the expectation that the Twins' greatest organizational ambition is to solve some big market teams' problems.  Don't worry Twins fans! you can replace him with a platoon of guys so marginal that no other team wanted them!

Of course, it never occurs to them that the Twins might not be so crummy after all and Boston may just suck.  

[amjgt]

On 4/18/2026 at 2:52 AM, IndianaTwin said:

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?

I mean… we basically did trade him to Boston, right? It just didn’t get in before the deadline. 
 

I’ll be permanently curious who was coming the Twins direction in that trade

[Irishman]

Please trade Royce Lewis!    He is injured-prone.   

[bean5302]

22 hours ago, Jeff K said:

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.

If this was the case, I would hope the Twins please just trade him instead of ruining his career.

[Fatbat]

On 4/17/2026 at 7:18 PM, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

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

Truth! and if he comes back next week and lights it up in May and June, Twins go 12-15 games over .500. He won’t go anywhere and his value will be sky high. 

[IndianaTwin]

4 hours ago, amjgt said:

I mean… we basically did trade him to Boston, right? It just didn’t get in before the deadline. 
 

I’ll be permanently curious who was coming the Twins direction in that trade

I was primarily referencing the offseason. 

In terms of the deadline, AI reports: 

FOX Sports: MLB and Jon Morosi erroneously reported that the Minnesota Twins traded pitcher Joe Ryan to the Boston Red Sox on July 31, 2025, with the post appearing just before the trade deadline before being deleted. While the report was false, sources later indicated the teams had discussions, though they were not close to a deal.

 

• The Erroneous Report: FOX Sports' official Twitter/X account posted a graphic at 4:37 PM CT on July 31, 2025, stating the trade was finalized, citing Jon Morosi.
• The Reality: The trade did not happen. Initial follow-up reports from MassLive's Chris Cotillo and others revealed the sides were "not even close" and the post was a major error.

The other reading I did said that the two teams had conversations, but didn't come close because the Twins were asking for a king's ransom. Which they should have. 

[Doctor Gast]

I had very high hopes in Lewis. I liked everything about him, his attitude, everything. Even with Boras as his agent, I thought maybe he really liked it here & that they could work out a deal for an extension. But I really have some doubts about his commitment here, now. He has a very high ceiling with intangibles, but I don't know if he can realize them here. He should get his value up higher by the deadline. BOS needs Lewis, but will they offer someone worthwhile that we NEED? That is something I'd like to see. Until Culpepper is really breaking down the door, there is no rush to trade Lewis.

[laloesch]

On 4/17/2026 at 2:51 PM, 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.

Yeah well some here were really jumping on the bandwagon saying Lee has turned a corner and is now a MLB caliper SS with this heating streak he was on.  I keep on saying, just wait and see.  

[stringer bell]

32 minutes ago, laloesch said:

Yeah well some here were really jumping on the bandwagon saying Lee has turned a corner and is now a MLB caliper SS with this heating streak he was on.  I keep on saying, just wait and see.  

Lee has hit better, but the hoped-for defensive improvement hasn't happened. He is still below-average as a hitter even with the improved hitting the last two weeks, so at this point if he is moved off of shortstop, his role would more likely be utility than having a full-time spot at third or second base.

[TopGunn#22]

Bowden's rumor could be nothing but "Hot Air" but it's undeniable that the Red Sox offense is a mess right now and neither Durbin or rookie Marcelo Meyer is getting the job done at 3B.  Consider this, with the "somewhat encouraging" start Lewis had before his injury, his value on BBTV had been 18.8, then 19.4, then 25.7 and now it's at 30.3.  That's NOT selling low.  And as someone else stated, if Lewis comes back and starts hitting his value will rise even higher.

But he will probably just get hurt again.

Look, Brooks Lee is NOT a Major League SS but could possibly be functional as a 2B or 3B.  If it were up to me, I'd trade him once I'd gotten a look at Culpepper and if Marek Houston showed continued promise with the bat.  Houston is our future SS anyway because the glove is Elite.  I think Houston will be just fine if the Twins let him be "Austin Martin" and not expect Emmanuel Rodriguez.  I like what Martin is giving the Twins right now.  The Blue Jays aren't expecting Ernie Clement to be a 15 HR guy.

bean made the point that the Red Sox probably don't want to give us anything to get Lewis.  Well of course they don't.  They wanted to steal Joe Ryan as well and it cost them at the deadline and in the post season.  The Red Sox offense is a mess right now because they can't get guys consistent AB's.  They have 4 good OF's and Yoshida and they're having a devil of a time trying to fit 5 guys into 4 slots.

Things are going well for the Twins right now, but I don't expect it to last.  This team has work to do come the trade deadline and our roster construction is still grossly uneven.  Lewis currently has a value of 30.3.  Jarren Duran has seen his once lofty 50.0 value crater to 31.0.  How about Lewis for Duran?  This would break up the Red Sox log jam in the outfield and give them a potentially big bat at 3B, filling the hole left by Bregman. 

Duran moves into the Twins OF in place of Wallner and goes to the top of the order.  This would be the first of many moves the Twins will be making before or at the trade deadline.  Ryan, Buxton, Jeffers, Larnach, Ober, Wallner could ALL be moved.  Brooks Lee very could as well depending on what we get in return.  Others like SWR or Josh Bell could be deadline moves.

The Twins aren't going to look anything like this current team come baseball in 2027, whenever that happens.  Ryan Jeffers is swinging a hot bat.  The Red Sox need a Catcher as well.  Maybe a bigger deal happens later with Jeffers and Joe Ryan, but I'd make a Lewis for Jarren Duran deal as soon as Lewis comes off the I.L. and move Lee to 3B with Culpepper at SS.     

[strumdatjag]

Changes are coming and Royce Lewis is just less likely than other nonpitchers to need to worry. about his future with the Twins.   James Outman is clearly first on that list if justifiable worriers.   Matt Wallner is another.    Of course there are bench players who must always be looking over their shoulder (Clemons, Gray, Kreidler).  
Emmanuel Rodriguez and to a lesser extent Kaelen Culpepper are earning. a call-up.   

[nicksaviking]

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Lee has hit better, but the hoped-for defensive improvement hasn't happened. He is still below-average as a hitter even with the improved hitting the last two weeks, so at this point if he is moved off of shortstop, his role would more likely be utility than having a full-time spot at third or second base.

Might not be a full-time spot every year, but could be a full-time spot at different positions depending on need each year.

He's showing more pop the last two years than I expected. On the flip side, how did we all not see the poor on-base skills coming? Outside of a half season in AA, he never really did show a knack for drawing walks. Should have been the BIGGEST red flag for him.

However, if his bat would even out, I could see him similar to Eduardo Escobar, and that's obviously a good player. But, might want to sell high on that too if it ever comes to fruition, because the lack of on-base skills really does seem to be the biggest indicator of inconsistent production.