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Trade speculation surrounding the Minnesota Twins had been relatively quiet on deadline day until USA Today's Bob Nightengale dropped an interesting nugget during an appearance on the Foul Territory podcast.
When discussing Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto, Nightengale said the Twins are "all over him" and "would love to have him." It's important to note that in the same interview, he said that he doesn't think the Angels will trade the right-handed shortstop.
It's a surprising report given that very little had connected the Twins to Neto leading up to Monday's 5 p.m. trade deadline. The 25-year-old has quietly established himself as one of the better young shortstops in baseball, posting a 110 OPS+ across his first three-plus Major League seasons. This year, he's hitting with a .745 OPS while launching 19 home runs and producing 1.9 fWAR. He has also struck out a league-leading 155 times.
Defensively, the picture is a bit more complicated. Baseball Savant credits Neto with negative eight Outs Above Average at shortstop this season, though some evaluators believe he's a better defender than the metrics indicate. He also possesses a strong throwing arm.
Perhaps the biggest appeal is his contract status. Neto is making just $4.15 million in his first year of arbitration and remains under team control through the 2029 season, making him a potential long-term building block.
That also means the acquisition cost would be enormous.
Red Sox reporter Tim Healy indicated the Angels are seeking a massive return for Neto, reporting that the Angels' asking price included top Boston Red Sox prospect Franklin Arias along with additional prospects. If the Twins were to seriously pursue Neto, it's hard to imagine a deal getting done without Kaelen Culpepper being part of the package, plus additional prospect capital.
That would be a difficult decision. Culpepper has long been viewed as Minnesota's shortstop of the future, but Neto is already an established big leaguer with four more years of team control after this season. A scenario where Neto handles shortstop until Marek Houston is ready before eventually sliding over to third base could make plenty of sense for the Twins' long-term roster construction.
Whether anything comes of Nightengale's report remains to be seen. With roughly three hours remaining before the deadline, the Twins may have something up their sleeve.
Would you trade Kaelen Culpepper and additional prospects for Zach Neto? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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