Could the Twins Trade Luis Arraez?

Dear Falvey:  Please Dont.

Nice write up. I'd lean toward keeping Arraez. I think the guy that should be shopped around his Jorge Polanco. Ankle seems to have healed up and he's back to hitting well from both sides of the plate. He's turning 28 in a few weeks and entering the prime of his career.. Though the shift to 2nd probably hurt his value, since May 1st, Polanco ranks 6th among 2nd basemen OPS at 841.  His contract is also extremely reasonable, only owed 35mil through 2025. I'd prefer to keep Arraez, whos younger, matches up with the next wave of talent coming through, and in arbitration for 4 more years.. Not to mention an absolutely fantastic hitter and on base machine.. Flip Polanco for a haul in the winter.

My vote would be no.

But like anything, should someone blow them away with an offer, certainly.  But count me among those who believe that Arraez can be a solid second baseman.  Not gold glove, but certainly average...if given the chance to stick with it for more than a game or two.  Same probably goes with him at third, although his arm isn't as strong as you would like.  But defensively we need to remember that the Twins have moved him around so much that he never has a chance to settle into any defensive routine.

And I believe that when healthy, this kid can be special with his bat.  And speaking of injuries, both trips to the IR this were from injuries caused by head first slides.  I saw that he has stated that he won't be doing that anymore.  Don't watch any of the games, so I haven't been able to see whether he is now sliding feet first.  Can anyone confirm that?

But if the injuries are reduced, I believe that Arraez is a player to build around...unless someone blows you away with an offer...which isn't likely.

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

I have no data to back this up, but it feels to me like players of Arraez's skillset are worth more to the team they come up with than they are on the trade market. I can't imagine anyone is throwing a top 100 prospect at the Twins for Arraez. Generally speaking the top 100 guys are guys with a ceiling well above Arraez's and, especially this day and age, teams need to feel they're getting All Star type MLB players in return for giving up a big time prospect with All Star upside. 

Every player should always be on the block. If the Angels are offered a 3 team trade that returns them Tatis Jr, Vlad Jr, Bo Bichette, Alek Manoah, and Mackenzie Gore for Trout they should take it. Arraez is by no means "untouchable," but what would a realistic package be in return for him? He's a 1 tool player, but he's exceptional at that 1 tool, and it's the hardest tool to find at that skill level. That makes him incredibly useful, and also not worth much on the trade market. If you're trading a controllable young asset who's proven to be an everyday player I think you need to get back more than a team would be willing to give up for Arraez.

If they get an offer that improves the team they should absolutely take it. I just don't think that its likely.

You typed the words right out of my keyboard.  Excellent post. LOL!

Any player is and should be tradeable for the right deal.  The notion that you might not get fair value back means that either your scouting department erred or your development staff erred

Love him, but it's something to think about.

If they can get sell him off, do it.

His sub-average fielding skills have done more harm to the Twins than his supposed good bat.  The way he jumps around at bats and then watches a third strike make all the hype wishful thinking.

If he would return a above average prospect, sure take it .  Otherwise, why can’t be the main DH next year and backup at 2b, SS and 3b?

10 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

While any player is certainly tradable for the right deal, I would keep Arraez unless we are blown away by some offer. I do see the upcoming middle infield backlog what effectively three second baseman - Polanco, Gordon and Arraez - None of whom appear to be a high-quality starting every day shortstop. I would like to create a way for Arraez to play basically every day to keep his bat in the lineup.

I think the answer is simple - trade Donaldson. I don’t think you do that because of the great haul we’re going to get for him, I don’t think it’s there, but we dump his contract and that of Cruz and maybe Kepler so that we can use the money to sign Berrios, Rogers and/or Buxton long-term. If we trade Donaldson, Arraez and Polanco man second and third with Gordon as the infield/outfield utility guy. What about Miranda, you say? Well, he’s been in the minors for a while, wasn’t added to the 40 man roster last winter, and didn’t get drafted by anybody. He’s having a great year this year in AA, so let’s bring him up and see where he is on the development path. He may be ready in a year or two and we will have to find a spot for him on the 40 man roster,  another good reason to trade Donaldson. If Miranda comes up and beats out Arraez for the third base job, we can always trade Arraez at that point.

The bottom line is that we do have a bit of an infield crunch with a lot of guys who can’t play shortstop. I don’t think the way to solve that is to trade a productive, very cost controlled player like Arraez. I do think the idea that we’re going to get a top 100 prospect, or even a organizations’s top 20 prospect in return is a bit of a fantasy. I think the better move is to trade the under productive, more expensive player like Donaldson even if the trade is effectively a salary dump. I think it does two great things, (1) Keeps the younger player whose timeline is with the developing guys around, and (2) frees up money to try to sign Berrios, Buxton and/or Rogers.

 

 

The right deal is one that you are blown away by. That has not happened at the trade deadline for a utility player in the recent past. That hasn't happened for  a 2b either. Since the team is losing and beyond the" what if they strung together a decent month of wins" type of conversation, there might as well be conversations about improbable things like a good return in trade for Arraez. I am very sure if the team threw in Thielbar that the return would be awesome 

4 hours ago, Cody Pirkl said:

I agree that it'd have to be a haul with at least a top 100 prospect but I disagree that nobody would be willing to pay it. Arraez is a valuable player with a very unique skill set offensively. The only reason I think the Twins would even consider trading him is because they have a superior defensive 2B and plenty of corner options. 

Team could easily see him as a starting caliber 2B who can lead off everyday. That's absolutely worth a haul of prospects.

Nick Blackburn was a top 100 prospect. If Arraez was traded for a Nick Blackburn ceiling type player, there would be much disgust over the trade.

I think the folks on here have vastly overrated Arraez and Polanco’s value. A “haul” for either one?  I just don’t see that happening. 

Have we learned nothing about relying upon oft-injured players?  Buxton is fantastic but has missed >50% of Twins games in the past three years due to injury.  Donaldson was known to have a chronic calf issue.  If you squint just right, you can see Arraez in an injury-free year, but gimpy 24-year-old players don't age well.  The Twins have determined that Polanco is better defensively at 2nd base.  What other team will look at Arraez and think 'starting second baseman'?  Do you trade him?  Certainly you could, but I think he will remain on the roster as there just won't be enough demand. 

23 hours ago, Dman said:

Well stated.  Another team will have a hard time giving us back the value we think Arraez deserves because top 100 prospects generally project to do so much more.  They are generally 3 tool or better players. He also lacks power and in todays game that is greatly valued. So as you point out he really does look like a 1 tool player.  It is elite and hard to come by but I think he could be a hard sell to get the value you want back.  I would still shop him but getting a deal done seems like a long shot to me.

Agreed, I like Arraez but he's at his highest value and with his defense short comings it's practical to trade him. I've advocated trading both him and Maeda but now Maeda's value has dropped tremendously and won't fetch a great trade.

Trading Arraez straight up just doesn't make sense to me, entirely because of the return you would (wouldn't) get for a utility player.  But if the time comes you have to trade a Buxton, Berrios, Kepler, etc., he would make an enticing player to include in a package deal.  When a team has to pay out contracts the size that these guys will command, a cheap player under control who can hit might be the ticket to get a much better return.

The relative dearth of reader comments already indicated that the proposition was somewhat far-fetched.  However, after viewing Arraez' 1st inning catch that arguably prevented the Spiders from winning the game, not to mention his 3-for-4, 2R, 3 RBI 8 TB (now .295/.365/.751) performance in today's (25 June) 7-8 win, a question must be put to the author: 

  Where are you sourcing your ganja?  This is really trippy stuff!

There is no other player on the roster who comes close to the offensive performance Arraez consistently delivers [Correction:  Buck, when available].  The Twins would never want him playing against them, and the list of players the club could bring in from outside (risky!) to replace his value is frighteningly short.

That "2" on Arraez' back is really a backwards "S."  Unless someone stashes a load of kryptonite in his locker, he is the Twins Super(utility)man.

I think Polanco and Arraez have about equal actual value but Polanco has greater trade value.    I like them both but would move Polanco before Arraez.   Simmons is on a one year contract.    Who is filling his spot?    I am ok with Polanco back at short.    No one is untouchable but I think Arraez is valuable and I don't think we would get much for him.

Yeah, I agree Mike.  Is Arraez valuable or not ???  At this point, the way this season is going, I think the Twins need to consider dealing almost anybody.  It always comes down to what the return is.  Arraez or Polanco should certainly be considered.  Cruz for sure---a contender will want that bat.  Guys like Donaldson & Sano should be dealt just to move salary with little consideration for what we would get back.  Kepler should also be heavily shopped.  Now that kiriloff and Larnach are up what kind of pitching could the Twins get for Max?  Plus, if you get prospects there's another $11-$12 million of salary relief.  On the other hand, I just don't see they sense in trading someone like Taylor Rogers when your BP stinks and he's the only trustworthy guy you have there.