The Twins Can Buy Without Sacrificing Tomorrow, by Targeting Emerson Hancock

[umterp23]

2 minutes ago, Rufus said:

The Twins just put Buxton on the IL and recalled Gray.  Why not recall Wallner and showcase him the rest of the week.  Just to see if he could up his trade value.  He is a guy who has the potential to bloom with a change of scenery

 

What a lame roster move Gray doesn’t belong on active roster

 

3 minutes ago, Rufus said:

The Twins just put Buxton on the IL and recalled Gray.  Why not recall Wallner and showcase him the rest of the week.  Just to see if he could up his trade value.  He is a guy who has the potential to bloom with a change of scenery

 

 

[Historyking88]

Right premise but wrong solution. If the Twins actually want to be buyers then Hancock is the perfect trade candidate. However I’m not trading Lewis or Keaschall to make it happen. You could probably make it happen by some package of Jeffers, Rodriguez, and another top 20 prospect. 

[Dman]

1 hour ago, Rufus said:

The Yankees, Rays, White Sox and others are desperate for catching..  If the Twins want to trade him target those teams. Why would the Mariners want Jeffers?  they have Cal Raleigh,  I know he is having a down year,  But they are a bad trade target if the Twins want to deal Jeffers.  

Just for the right handed bat and Raleigh has been having a down year.  Sitting him might not hurt.   They very well might not want Jeffers there just aren't many if any .900 OPS bats available beyond Jeffers though and it seems every team needs right handed bats.  They could play him at first and DH when he is better than the alternative.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Jeff Passan? The same idiot that said Ryan Jeffers is basically already a Yankee? 

As for Hancock, its hard to say. We've been burned by this type of trade before with a player suddenly having a good season. 

[TL]

13 hours ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I’ve been pushing a trade for Hancock on other threads here, but I don’t think giving up Lewis or Keaschall should be necessary or is a good idea. They need a right handed hitting catcher in the worst way with Raleigh still suffering from the strained oblique and hitting .167. How about trading them Jeffers and a high-end hitter from our system like Emma, Gonzales or Mendez? Maybe they throwing a reliever like Ferrer or Speier and we throw in a middle ranked prospect to even have the deal. I think something like that would make sense for both sides. They get that right handed bat they need plus some real future upside that could help them as early as next year, we get a controllable number three or number four starter and some help in the bullpen.

Respectfully disagree. Jeffers is our best healthy position player (and a RH bat, which we also need more of); and I see people throwing Emma intro trades like an afterthought a lot recently. He is in a different world as a prospect than Gonzales and Mendez. Granted he can’t stay healthy but trading him (with Jeffers!) for a back end rotation piece throws in the towel this year and has a chance to haunt the Twins for the next 10.

[TL]

That said, I’d gladly give up Lewis for him… 

[killercarewoliva]

19 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Hard to know where the team leans on trading players from their starting batting order (Jeffers, Lewis, Keaschall in this article) right now. It seems like the Twins are going to keep Jeffers unless a club pays more than is expected, which can happen. 

Many people have talked about the mediocrity of the American League on the one hand and then do not want the Twins to take a shot now because they are not a very good team. I'm of the belief that all of the teams in baseball are good. There are a few teams that are better and a few are not as good. I have enjoyed watching the Rockies a few times lately. They have some fun players. So much discussion about needed parity but it seems like MLB is very competitive at this moment in time.

Thus, I am a fan of the Twins making a few moves to strengthen what has been a fun, albeit flawed, team. Focusing on the positive, there really aren't any teams in the AL that are much better than the Twins. A few strategic additions and perhaps a little more attention to small ball at appropriate moments sounds fine with me.

Emerson Hancock sounds ok but the return to Seattle would be my concern.

I see in 2025 he had a 4.90 and this year a 3.26 and that's the only really good season he's had. I don't see that as giving up a major prospect for. however, there are so many outfielters that can probably play Major League baseball soon. if not now he can't put them all out there at one time. so for me I would take a chance on this guy with one of those fine people but not any one of our top six outfield prospects. pitching like he is now for the rest of this season could be a godsend to the starting pitching staff to make the playoffs. then you have him for four more years.

[LA Vikes Fan]

4 hours ago, TL said:

Respectfully disagree. Jeffers is our best healthy position player (and a RH bat, which we also need more of); and I see people throwing Emma intro trades like an afterthought a lot recently. He is in a different world as a prospect than Gonzales and Mendez. Granted he can’t stay healthy but trading him (with Jeffers!) for a back end rotation piece throws in the towel this year and has a chance to haunt the Twins for the next 10.

I think this is a fair take, which is what makes this deadline so interesting particularly now that Buxton is out probably for at least two or three weeks. We need Jeffers' bat much worse now and frankly Shelton has got a figure out a way to get him in the lineup every day even if that means more time as the DH and/more time with Caratini playing 1B. Keeping Jeffers definitely makes it more likely that this team makes the playoffs this year, although winning more than one series (if that) seems pretty unlikely to me. Still, I see the advantages of keeping him around and making the Q0 and taking the draft choice compensation if he declines and can't be re-signed, especially given the dreck we would receive in return if the reported rumors are accurate. 

I do think though we disagree on two fundamental points. I see Hancock is more than just a back end rotation piece. I think he has a real chance to be a mid rotation or better starter for the next four years. That has a lot of value to this team, especially with at least one of Lopez and Ryan likely gone after 2027 and perhaps both. Our other point of disagreement is that I am done worrying about keeping Emma around because of his vast potential. The guy can't stay healthy enough to play more than 75 games in a season and his performance has been good but not outstanding at the AAA level. He will at most have one option year left after this season, and that's only if MLB towards him that fourth year due to injury which I admit seems pretty likely. He's got the classic "three true outcomes" approach at the plate which makes me really wonder if he will be as successful as we all hope you will at the MLB level. I am fine with trading him now while his value is pretty close to its peak as a guy with great potential whose flaws have not yet been exposed at the MLB level. I would only trade him for controllable, established pitching with upside but I would trade him if that was part of the return. I would be really pissed if we trade him for a rental.

 

[TL]

Your points on Emma are fair. And I’d trade him for 4 years of a mid rotation or better starter. 

The trouble is that, as others have pointed out, this looks like an outlier year for Hancock. It’s smart for the Mariners to cash in on him now and I fear it would be at our expense. If he’s a front line guy then they should want to keep him. I’ll gladly trade Emma and more for Kane or Sloan and they can keep Hancock