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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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    Seth Stohs
    I thought this was an interesting one. It has to be relatively close. It sounds like the Mets just have to get Scherzer to waive his no-trade clause. 
    A few minutes before the news broke that the Rangers and Mets were close, Rangers beat writer Evan Grant tweeted the following: 
     Someone else tweeted that if Scherzer's getting dealt, then the White Sox aren't doing a service to themselves if they don't make Dylan Cease available. And, maybe it should mean that the Twins consider dealing a starter?
    Brock Beauchamp
    Congratulations, you've unlocked trade deadline weekend! Up to this point, the deadline has been rather quiet, as there are many teams still on the fence about selling and few selling teams have have clear upgrades at positions. MLBTR's Anthony Franco runs through the best remaining trade targets heading into the final 72 hours before the trade deadline.
    Of particular interest to the Twins:
    Mark Canha: RH OF, New York Mets Tommy Pham: RH OF, New York Mets Jordan Hicks: RP, St Louis Cardinals Josh Hader: RP, San Diego Padres Who are your favorite trade targets and why?
    Brock Beauchamp
    As most of you probably identified over the past few weeks, the Mariners and Twins share many traits: they pitch pretty well and don't hit nearly enough.
    Combine that with the dearth of true, wholesale sellers on the trade market this year and it leads to a situation where the Mariners are open to dealing their excellent closer with 1.5 years of control remaining, Paul Sewald.
    Sewald, 33 years old, has saved 52 games over the past three seasons, carrying a 137 ERA+ and over 12 strikeouts per nine innings during that time. He has some of the same allure (and dangers) of Jorge Lopez last season but has a much longer track record of success in MLB.
    The Twins have a slew of left-handed hitting corner players, at least one of which could be packaged into a deal to acquire Sewald... but should the Twins try to acquire another controllable closer after what happened at the last deadline?
    Seth Stohs
    Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Dodgers and White Sox are nearing a deal that would send Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Dodgers. If that deal would happen, it would be the second such deal where they traded one of their starters and a triple-digit reliever. They dealt Lucas Giolito and Renaldo Lopez to the Angels last week. 
    The White Sox doing their part for the Los Angeles baseball market. 
    Also, for those interested, it presumably means no need to worry about a Joe Kelly/Carlos Correa issue! (Presumably because obviously a deal is not yet complete and may or may not be imminent as Jon Heyman tweeted.)
    Who else do you think the White Sox will deal?
    Brock Beauchamp
    Well, this is an interesting development. In Ken Rosenthal's latest roundup, he mentions the Twins have a roster crunch coming up when Jorge Polanco returns to the 26-man roster. This may lead the Minnesota front office to trade away at least one of their left-handed outfield bats, though it's hard to predict which one. Trevor Larnach was recently demoted to AAA St Paul while both Matt Wallner and Max Kepler are hitting quite well for an offense that has struggled to score runs in 2023.
    That leaves Joey Gallo and it's hard to envision his trade return being significant, or even existing at all.
    The most interesting development of this trade deadline is that it's... not really happening. Nobody is trading anyone. Sure, we've seen relievers move around and some complementary players be traded but none of the larger names have come off the board. That's because so few teams have dedicated to selling. The Angels took Ohtani off the market. The Cubs can't stop winning so it's becoming less likely they will trade either Marcus Stroman or Cody Bellinger.
    As a result, teams are calling on the Twins starters, including Sonny Gray. And with a front office that somehow pivoted from Mitch Garver to Isiah Kiner-Falefa to Carlos Correa in the blink of an eye, we can't rule out this front office doing, well, pretty much anything if they think it improves the team.
    Vanimal46
    Arte Moreno can’t help himself by going for it this season. Ohtani has been taken off the trade market, and the Angels will try to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014. To bolster their postseason hopes - they're currently four games out of the final Wild Card spot - they've added Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez from the White Sox.
    On the other hand, the White Sox begin their fire sale. Who else could leave their organization in the coming days?
    This changes the dynamic of the trade deadline considerably. Many executives and insiders mentioned how Ohtani was holding up lower-octane trades and decisions. Now that the best baseball player has been taken off the market, expect to see the floodgates open in the coming days.
     
     
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    Darren Wolfson tweeted that the Twins have spoken with the Nationals and that Washington has been scouting AAA St Paul.
    The Nationals are not only obvious sellers but they have enticing trade targets for the Twins. Washington has the typical stable of decent right-handed relievers that sellers have ready to trade at every deadline but more interestingly, they have Lane Thomas, an arbitration-eligible right-handed outfielder.
    Thomas will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2025 season so his price will be considerably more than another rental target like Hunter Renfroe, Teoscar Hernandez, or Andrew McCutchen. Thomas is paid only $2.2 million this season and is having a something of a breakout, posting a 130 OPS+.
    More ideally, his 1.016 OPS against left-handed pitching is exactly what this Twins lineup needs right now.
    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. 
     
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