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  • Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

    The latest Minnesota Twins free agent and trade rumors, along with notes and tidbits about the team.
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    Brock Beauchamp
    The Padres' 2023 season has been an immense disappointment, rivaling only that of the New York Mets. They had aspirations to finally win the National League West but, despite their positive run differential, sit in fourth place, ten games back of the division lead.
    So it makes sense to sell, right? Especially their duo of left-handed pitchers with expiring contracts. Right?
    Nope.
    While Blake Snell doesn't fit that well with the Twins needs over the next two months, Josh Hader would be the best possible addition to a bullpen that is lacking in quality depth. Hader would immediately slot into a dual-closer role with Jhoan Duran, pushing every else up an inning. It would be one of the key pieces the Twins need to go from mediocre to good down the stretch.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com has reported that Derek Falvey mentioned the Twins have received calls on their glut of left-handed outfielders.
    It's not terribly surprising, as the Twins have more lefties than they can possibly use while other teams are looking to shore up that side of the plate, either with a full-time or part-time bench player.
    Among the Twins corner left-handers are Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, and Matt Wallner. That's not even including another bat currently on the 60-day injured list, Nick Gordon.
     
    Seth Stohs
    The Red Sox aren't going anywhere this season. On Tuesday afternoon, reports came out that Boston has traded the veteran SS/2B/CF to the Dodgers. At this time, there was no mention of what the return would be. It won't be much. Hernandez has a sub-.300 OBP. 
    I do admit that I was starting to wonder if the Twins might have interest in Hernandez. While players like Dylan Carlson would have more upside, and he's got multiple years of pre-free agency remaining, so the price would be high. Hernandez, a native of Puerto Rico, might fit well with the Twins with his ability to play several positions. Is he better than Willi Castro? Honestly, he may not be. 
    Are there other similar players that might be available at the deadline? 
    Update: The Red Sox receive: RHP Nick Robertson and RHP Justin Hagenman. 
    Robertson just turned 25. He is on their 40 man roster. He was a 7th round pick in 2019. Made his MLB debut on June 7. He pitched 10 1/3 innings over nine games. He has a 6.10 ERA, a 2.03 WHIP. Four walks, 13 strikeouts. In 27 Triple-A games, he has a 2.54 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in 28 1/3 innings. Nine walks, 42 strikeouts. 
    Hagenman is 26, a 23rd round pick in 2018 out of Penn State. In 25 games (5 games) this season, he is 4-0 with a 2.78 ERA. In 55 innings, he has given up 48 hits, walked 11 and struck out 60 batters. 
    cHawk
    Minnesota Twins' President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey recently appeared on MLB Network Radio's "Front Office" podcast. In the segment, Falvey shared some of his objectives for improving the team at the upcoming trade deadline. According to Falvey, he intends to "fortify the middle of" the bullpen.
    Falvey also mentioned they would like to add another right-handed bat to the Twins' lefty-dominated lineup.
    A link to a twitter post containing the audio is included below. Do you agree with Falvey that the middle of the bullpen is the team's primary area of concern? Or are there other, more pressing needs?
    Seth Stohs
    Atlanta's bullpen has been solid much of the season, but they are looking to bolster it with a couple of fairly minor moves on Monday. Do these moves tell us anything about the trade market for relievers? 
    They received RHP Pierce Johnson from the Rockies in exchange for RHPs Victor Vodnik and Tanner Gordon. Johnson was terrible after being named the Rockies closer, but he's been pretty solid since moving out of that role. He was good for a few years in San Diego previously. The cost? A Double-A reliever (Vodnik) and a AA/AAA starter (Gordon). Vodnik is 23 and has 25 walks and 56 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings at AA. Gordon is 25 and has split the season between AA and AAA. At AA, he's 4-5 with a 4.61 ERA. He has 15 walks to go with 55 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings. In 6 games (5 starts) in AAA, he's 1-4 with a 8.28 ERA. He has 10 walks and 21 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings. 
    In the second deal, the Braves acquired lefty Taylor Hearn (former Twins draft pick) from the Texas Rangers in exchange for cash considerations. Hearn is 28 and was in his 5th season with the Rangers. He has just four appearances with Texas this year and has been pitching at Triple-A. He has shown some glimpses at times of some pretty good stuff, but he's walked over 4 batters per nine innings in his career. 
    This comes the day after the Braves claimed RHP Yonny Chirinos off of waivers from the Rays. He's been a starter and a reliever for Tampa this season and can be solid. 
    These are both pretty minor deals, but it shows that teams are looking to create depth on the mound and in the bullpen. What does this mean for the Twins? Probably nothing, but who knows?  Dereck Rodriguez was DFAd by Atlanta to make room for Hearn, so they could bring him back again. 
    I think the return on Johnson is more indicative of what the Twins might be willing to give up for a decent set up man. The Hearn deal just says that there are some intriguing arms out there who have had their flaws that you can try to get for little and then have depth. 
    Brock Beauchamp
    This has been an interesting question to pose over the past month as the Pittsburgh Pirates - who started the season strong but then stumbled badly - approached the trade deadline: what are they going to do with veteran outfielder and feel-good story Andrew McCutchen?
    It was reported that during last offseason, McCutchen turned down an equal offer from the Twins and a superior offer from the New York Mets to return to PIttsburgh, the city he became a star player an won an MVP award.
    The 36-year-old is having a revival season with the Pirates, posting a 117 OPS+ and fills the exact need the Twins have on the roster right now: a capable corner player who hits right-handed and is strongest against left-handed pitching.
    But it appears McCutchen may not be available at all. 
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    The Cardinals recently announced they will be sellers at the deadline and it appears they have a looming outfield logjam that may interest the Minnesota Twins.
    It takes only a cursory glance to see that the Twins badly need a right-handed corner outfielder to take some of the burden from left-handers Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner... am I forgetting anyone? It's a long list.
    At the corner spots and utility positions, the Cardinals have a slew of players: Tyler O'Neill, Dylan Carlson, Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan, and even more on top of that.
    Unfortunately for the Twins, many of those players hit from the left side of the plate but Tyler O'Neill bats right-handed and Dylan Carlson is a switch-hitter.
    It feels like there's an easy match between the Twins and Cardinals and I haven't even mentioned Paul Goldschmidt.
    Brock Beauchamp
    In an early trade deadline roundup, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote a few paragraphs on the Twins and how unusual their path to "contention" has been.
    The Twins' positional fWAR leaders are Donovan Solano, Willi Castro, and Ryan Jeffers The Twins' positional fWAR leaders (the three listed above) have only 1.2 fWAR apiece, the lowest in MLB Yet the Twins have the most positive fWAR position players in baseball at 16 Those three leaders in fWAR were not intended to be every day starters on Opening Day. This makes the deadline something of a paradox for the Twins. None of their position players are below replacement level yet none of them are actually "good", either.
    Who do you replace first at the deadline?
    Brock Beauchamp
    This shouldn't be news but remember, we're talking about the Colorado Rockies here. This franchise has seen multiple trade deadlines come and go without moving key pieces that are approaching free agency, including last year when they made no trades and instead extended reliever Daniel Bard despite being well out of contention by the beginning of July.
    Unfortunately, and in a very Rockies-esque move, the quotes about activity did not come from General Manager Bill Schmidt but instead were from dugout manager Bud Black, speaking to the hosts of Power Alley on SiriusXM Radio.
    The most obvious and easy fit for the Twins is to target old friend CJ Cron, who has suffered injuries in 2023 and is performing well under his career norms. The 33-year-old is a free agent at season's end and could likely be had for a reasonable price and given how he swings from the not-devil's side of the plate, could easily slide into the Twins lineup and provide competency against devil's-handed pitchers.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Cardinals President of Baseball Operations, John Mozeliak, said in an interview that the Cardinals will be sellers at the 2023 trade deadline with hopes of retooling for a 2024 and 2025 return to competitiveness.
    Their focus will be on returns of young pitching, either cost-controlled MLB players or prospects in the upper minors.
    The Cardinals have a slew of players on expiring deals, along with players under contract for longer including superstar sluggers Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. It is unclear how interested St Louis is in moving long-term contracts but given their collapse this season, the right deal may be able to land anyone on the roster.
    Who interests you from the St Louis roster and what would you be willing to give up in return?
    Brock Beauchamp
    As Twins fans, this is a situation worth monitoring closely. With Shane Bieber out for at least a few weeks (ie. past the trade deadline), it's possible the Guardians will pivot and trade Aaron Civale. Civale is still under team control for 2.5 more seasons but now that he has become arbitration eligible, it's possible Cleveland attempts to move him to either shore up their farm system or - probably more likely - to bolster their anemic offense that makes the 2023 Minnesota Twins look like Murderer's Row.
    Once again, this is only a possibility because the Guardians churn out young, cost-controlled starters at a rate unlike any other team in baseball.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Well, it's happening. The Angels, fringe contenders for an American League Wild Card berth who saw Mike Trout go down with an injury a couple of weeks ago, are now reportedly considering trading Shohei "The Best Baseball Player on the Planet" Ohtani.
    This isn't terribly surprising, as the Angels' postseason hopes largely rode on the health of Ohtani and Trout as a duo. And the Angels will be loathe to let Ohtani walk into free agency without getting something in return... or at least that should be their mindset right now.
    It's unlikely the Twins will enter this mix, as they likely have neither the prospect horses nor the intestinal fortitude to pay the price of acquiring a couple of months of Shohei Ohtani.
    But merely putting Ohtani on the market up-ends it like no other player. This will have far-reaching ramifications across the trade market should Shohei end up being traded.
    Vanimal46
    In this interesting article from Do-Hyoung Park, Sonny Gray talks about his future in baseball and doesn't have immediate answers. That may seem strange given that Gray is having perhaps the best season of his career but he mentions how ten years is a long time and what he sometimes felt was an endpoint to his MLB career.
    Poised to make tens of millions of dollars in an extension this offseason, any talk of retirement seems shocking.
    A quote from Sonny himself:
    “Wouldn't shock me. Do I want to? Do I think I can? Absolutely. And I can at a very, very high level. It's not about the money. It's whether you still enjoy it, and does your family still enjoy it."
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    Nolan Arenado seems like a perfectly reasonable chap who was kinda done dirty by the Colorado Rockies (though being forcibly booted out of that organization is something of a blessing). Jon Heyman asked him a few questions the other day and Arenado says he isn't expecting a trade but wouldn't be surprised by one, either.
    Things are bleak in St Louis. The Cardinals aren't used to losing like this and it appears no one really knows how to handle their current struggles. Things were obviously very wrong when Marmol heaved Willson Contreras under the bus and while the Cards have put together a couple of small winning streaks, they've gone right back to losing again afterward.
    Truth be told, I hadn't even considered an Arenado trade. While he's aging toward his mid-30s, he's still very productive with the bat and his contract is quite reasonable through 2027, given that the Rockies are on the hook for $5 million per year for the next three years.
    It's quite obvious the Cardinals will be selling but to what extent? And given the Twins' offensive woes, can they simultaneously afford and not afford to pursue an expensive-but-good player with loads of control remaining?
    Brock Beauchamp
    For the first time most of us can remember, the Twins are both in contention and do not need any starting rotation help at the deadline. That leaves Twins fans treading into unknown waters: if you don't need a starter at the deadline, what do you do?
    Well, MLB Trade Rumors compiled their first list of top 50 trade candidates.
    The Twins are a middling team that is middling largely because of veteran underperformance through the first(ish) half of the season. It's a roster that has soft spots but no gaping holes. The lowest-hanging fruit is pursuit of a high leverage reliever but past that, the door is open to improve the team around the margins.
    What positions do you target first and which players do you pursue?
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