The Twins Need to Cash in on Kody Clemens Right Now

[Mydaughterhastwins]

No.  We are keeping him.  Shut up.

[tony&rodney]

Every player can be traded if the return makes the roster/team better. I cannot see any trade that involves Kody Clemens returning a player of note. There is not likely to be any demand unless we are talking cash. 

[Sjoski]

5 hours ago, Sjoski said:

Trade Kody to Toronto for a pitching prospect.  Develop him for 3 to 4 years, then ship him back over the border.

--- 

The Minnesota Twins: Proudly operating as a highly specialized, non-profit finishing school for the Toronto pitching staff since 2021.

 

[GNess]

If the Twins pick up where they left off from last year's trade deadline and consider any players of some value as assets to be dealt for prospects when do they break out of that cycle? When do they start focusing on accumulating productive Major League assets of their own that they actually hold on to, who help them win?

The hit rate on prospects is not that strong for many MLB decision-makers.

Dealing assets en masse results in problem areas for the team. Exhibit # 1 The dumpster fire that is the Twins 2026 bullpen.

Clemens is under control through the 2028 season. Twins might make productive use of him down the line.

[mluebker]

7 hours ago, Patzky said:

We could probably get a similar return for Josh Bell at the trade deadline that we would get for Clemens right now. 

Any GM who’d want Bell in the lineup and on the field ahead of Clemens should be forced to resign.

Oh wait, he was.

[Western SD Fan]

The top end of any trade possibility for Clemens would be the Eduardo Esobar trade that brought back Jhoan Duran from the Diamondbacks.  Escobar was having a career year with the Twins prior to the trade, similar to what Clemens is doing now.  The baseball reference comparison, shown below, still tracks 2026 Clemens trending towards half the WAR that Escobar did in 2017 and Escobar had similar positional flexibility as Clemens.  We got to see what Duran turned into.  We need to remember at the time that Duran was a high upside guy but wild with his power stuff.  He was only the 16th rated prospect in the Diamondbacks organization at the time of the trade.  If he was traded, that comp is likely the very top end of what you could expect in a return, a prospect no higher than 15th in an organization, depending on the quality of the farm system.  

There is still a lot of season to be played to determine whether Clemens will have a job at the end of the season.  In a perfect world, Lewis and Keaschall nail down the right side of the infield so Clemens is reduced to more of a platoon role.  Same would be said for the outfield if one of Jenkins, E-Rod, or Roden come off the IL and tear the ball off and is called up to the ML club thus reducing another path for playing time for Clemens by the end of the season.  Everyone wants the youth movement.  If you embrace the youth movement, then trading Clemens during a career year is the smart thing to do.

[bjorks]

I'll preface by saying I love players like Clemens, the guy on your favorite team you want to cheer for and see do well. Also, I grew up in rural MN, but live in Scottsdale. 

I grew up believing plenty of the girls I grew up with were at a minimum 8s and then I got to Scottsdale and those 8s were (maybe) 4s. Clemens is a MN 8 due to the lack of options and overall mediocracy of the team. 

[Patzky]

6 hours ago, Sjoski said:

 

Louie Varland told him it'd be ok

[MMMordabito]

I just don't get this fascination with constant roster churn. It's almost seems like some people get more entertainment dreaming of prospect packages than watching the actual games. 

Also, Aaron Sabato is going to give the Twins Bell-level D. Kody Clemens is closer to Santana-level right now at 1B. 

+1 to the Keep Kody Kamp

[Patzky]

2 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

I just don't get this fascination with constant roster churn. It's almost seems like some people get more entertainment dreaming of prospect packages than watching the actual games. 

Also, Aaron Sabato is going to give the Twins Bell-level D. Kody Clemens is closer to Santana-level right now at 1B. 

+1 to the Keep Kody Kamp

Yep. Not every transaction needs to be made, The speedometer on a car spinning its wheels in the mud gives you a false positive; look outside the window and see white socks flying by.

[Sjoski]

8 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Most importantly for the owners, his cost is low. 

That didn't stop them with Varland or SWR. Oh...speaking of SWR! How did he do last night?

[Patzky]

2 minutes ago, Sjoski said:

That didn't stop them with Varland or SWR. Oh...speaking of SWR! How did he do last night?

We fixed him once they can fix him again.