Max Kepler Drawing Trade Interest

I'd do it for a few years of a pretty good bullpen piece. I'm skeptical of him bringing more than that unless he's part of a package and not the headliner.

I feel a swindle coming on...

We got an orthopedic surgeon on stand-by?

I see the possibility of Arraez and Kepler for Lopez.  I'd be ok with that.

I'd trade him in a second if it seemed very likely that Buxton and Larnach were consistently playing in Center and Left. Without Buxton it is a lot more important to have those solid defensive corner outfielders. Especially if Celestino is getting time in CF. 

If there is a good deal like Kepler/ Marquez, then I'd do it. But if not I'd hold onto him.

Kepler still has the potential to have an excellent career. He has, undoubtedly, hit a low point for the Twins. I've mentioned before that Max doesn't seem too happy when the cameras catch him, but I surely don't know that that is true. Kepler would be a solid guess as a player who is re-energized by a fresh start with a different team. However, as a long time fan of Kepler, I wish he could be an All Star for the Twins. He is an excellent defender and baserunner and consistently the most fundamentally sound player on the team. He often takes good at bats but his at bats were sad last season in their ending. Maybe it is time to let him flourish elsewhere. If I'm looking for an outfielder to acquire via trade, Max Kepler has the skills needed to fill the position. 

54 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Brock, I don't ever recall Max coming out and saying that he does not want to play CF.  He may have said something like... I enjoy RF better, but I don't specifically recall exactly what he said.  I assumed that Rocco just felt he was our best RF, especially with the Target Field configuration there, not so much that he demanded to not play CF.  Where did that come from?

I'm sure some of you keep better tabs on this subject than I do, but I don't recall Kep saying anything whatsoever about not wanting to play CF, or that he prefers RF...he really doesn't say much of anything in the media at all. No doubt he's excellent in RF, and he's definitely above average in CF. That doesn't take away from what concerns most, if not all of us...that is, his hitting. He's turned into a total liability at the plate. He's killing us at the front end of the lineup, and Rocco just keeps putting him at lead off, or at least in the top five, every time he plays. 

“The Twins have depth in the outfield with Larnach, Kirilloff, Celestino, Wallner, Garlick and technically Gordon. “. There is not a single player on this list that either doesn’t come with an injury history or has never proved they belong. Even though it’s only one year, I’ll give you Gordon. The rest are flyer prospects at this point. 

I am not going to attempt to swing any of the "trade Kepler" opinions, but I do think some of the discussions here regarding his value are accurate:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/max-kepler-has-drawn-trade-interest.html

I agree that Max's trade value is low right now, and I like his ability to bounce back and become either very valuable relative to his salary and options, in which case we keep him, or at least "more valuable" for purposes of a mid-season trade.  I think, given Buxton's injury history that having Max as a really good fielding RF is important and creates the least drop-off when Max goes to CF.  Don't know how much the shift changes are going to impact his BA, but right now the "perception" is that they won't very much, and that's a reasonable gamble to say that it will and bank on his defense and a little better contact (and comfort at the plate, as he's no longer trying to steer his contact in directions his swing doesn't want to go).  Hey, the best time to trade Max Kepler was the winter of '19 - not now.

The clearest way I see to clean this up (over and above the CC acquisition as an offseason move) is a trade of Arraez for someone like Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (pretty equivalent values on Cot's).  That would open up 1B for Kiriloff on a full-time basis, give us 4 years of control over a young starter who finished '22 pretty well and could profile into any starting rotation with cost control.  We haven't sold high on a player in a long time. 

Is it possible that he plays RF because he is really good at it particularly in Target Field? Maybe he is somewhat better than Gordon in CF but a lot better in RF. Maybe keeping him in RF is better for the overall defense.

4 hours ago, Heiny said:

I see the possibility of Arraez and Kepler for Lopez.  I'd be ok with that.

baseball trade values says Twins give up 32.7 million in value and get 38million in value. That's not as far off as I thought it'd be. Throw in David Festa and it's a deal. I'd do that in a heartbeat. 

8 hours ago, Dman said:

I think some of these decisions come down to if they sign Correa or not.  The Twins have depth in the outfield with Larnach, Kirilloff, Celestino, Wallner, Garlick and technically Gordon.  I think the attractive thing for most teams with Max is he can be used as a centerfileder.  He has the range and his offensive numbers play better as a centerfielder as well. 

Still his contract is almost up so not sure how much trade value he has?  What can he realistically bring back that would make a difference?  Not sure but something is probably better than nothing and given the young outfielder's we have there isn't really room for everyone as it is.  We also have Celestino and Gordon to backup center at this time so the Twins can afford to trade him.  I guess they would just need to find a return they can live with.

Technically Gordon?  Gordon is our best performing all around outfielder and it’s not really close. 

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

I doubt Miami wants someone as old as Kepler back right now.....but I could be wrong.

I doubt either one of Kepler or Kirilloff are tradeable until they are on the field and prove they are healthy.

Especially Kirilloff trying to come back from his wrist surgery.  Has any athlete actually had this surgery and a

successful career afterwards? Kepler needs to earn his position and if Wallner or whomever beats him out

in ST so be it.  

6 hours ago, dex8425 said:

Throw in David Festa

No. I'm not trading our best minor league pitcher who is now throwing in the upper 90's with control. We need to quit trading away our best pitching (we got rid of two of our top LH starters in trades last summer) as they cost a fortune in free agency these days.