Rays Could Be Perfect Trade Deadline Partner for Two Veteran Twins

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, DataNerd said:

We signed Caratini as a FA in the offseason because the league wasn't giving him the contract we thought he was worth.  I'm not sure that a team is all of a sudden more excited about Caratini now when he looks to be pretty much the same player he was the last 2 years.

True, but teams are now either in position to make the playoffs, on the bubble, or out. Now a team that is in or near might want a C they didn't want before the year started. I think some of them would. 

[Road trip]

1 hour ago, hitterscount said:

Wallner is not a legit corner outfielder.... period. No explanation needed.... trading Larnach and replacing him with Wallner is a terrible plan. I don't have an issue of moving either player because of the reasons listed , there are current options to stay competitive, but Wallner isn't one of them. 

Both are bad fielders.  Larnach should also really be a DH at this point.  If you look up Larnach on Baseball Savant you won't find a meaningful statistical difference between him and Wallner, unfortunately.  

If Larnach is traded, next man up in LF is likely dealer's choice of Roden/Martin/Keaschall/Jenkins/Clemens/Mendez/Gonzalez/ERod.  Good grief, that is an excess of possibilities.

[Road trip]

Philosophically I agree with the article.  The Twins are too close in the race to give up this year.  It may just be a "chip and a chair" approach, but baseball is weird in small samples, and with two months left this is pretty much a small sample.

Trading from excess for immediate pitching help is fine by me.  They can't realistically carry 3 catchers for the duration of the season, so trade one.  They have an excess of corner outfielder/dh types, so trade one if there is any market demand for them.  Build up that bullpen, maybe get a possible 4th starter, roll the dice.  Tampa seems a good fit for this type of trade due to their own needs, motivations, and pitching depth.

[Coach]

Sell high, get it done.  Please take Wallner out of the replacement candidates, better yet, throw him in the deal.

[LA Vikes Fan]

I think trading Jeffers is the right move, but I wonder if Tampa Bay is the right trade partner for what I want to do. I don't want to trade Jeffers for just prospects, even ones we think might be ready to help a little bit next year. I want to trade Jeffers for a pitcher who can help us this year in the rotation or the bullpen and who has control beyond this year. I am willing to add a high-end prospect to Jeffers to make that happen. From what I've read, Tampa is in the market for bullpen help itself so I doubt if they have the ability or willingness to trade us a 2026 pitching staff piece. Trading him to the Yankees is the same problem, they need pitching are so are unlikely to give us pitching we can use this year. I think Seattle might be a better trade partner.

I am sort of willing to trade Laranch for prospects but it's hard to get excited about it unless they we get very good or elite pitching prospects and I don't think he will garner that kind of return. I don't think it makes sense to trade him for middling prospects or guys that are two or three years out. I think we keep Larnach.

 

 

[Coach]

1 hour ago, Patzky said:

Wonder if Tampa would take the cheap route and inquire about Caratini, also effectively keeping Jeffers out of the Yankees' hands.

Yankees would snap him up.

[DJL44]

6 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I want to trade Jeffers for a pitcher who can help us this year in the rotation or the bullpen and who has control beyond this year.

Elmer Rodriguez would be nice.

[rdehring]

As I have been reading the comments about Larnach, with some saying we won't get a great return.  You may be correct, in which case they should keep him.  Was wondering, however, what did we get from the Phillies for Bader last year?  Was it Able, or was he in the Duran trade?  Bader was great defensively, but isn't Larnach hitting better than Bader was?  Plus, did Bader have another year of control?

[IndianaTwin]

6 minutes ago, rdehring said:

As I have been reading the comments about Larnach, with some saying we won't get a great return.  You may be correct, in which case they should keep him.  Was wondering, however, what did we get from the Phillies for Bader last year?  Was it Able, or was he in the Duran trade?  Bader was great defensively, but isn't Larnach hitting better than Bader was?  Plus, did Bader have another year of control?

Bader for Hendry Mendez and Jeremy Villoria. Bader was a free agent, so only two months of value. Bader was way better defensively and was hitting above average, so he had generated 2.7 bWAR for the Twins, whereas Larnach has generated 1.6 this year. 

Larnach's having an extra year may outweigh that Bader was performing better, but I'm not sure that's a huge difference. 

[IndianaTwin]

If the thought is to trade Larnach and replace him with a Wallner that is hitting well in St Paul, I'd rather just trade Wallner, even if for a bit less, and not mess up the major league roster mojo.