Are the Twins Getting Ready to Trade Pitching for Hitting?

Interesting article, and I appreciate the "spitballing" idea, but I just can't see how trading Ryan or Ober would make us a better team this coming season, even if we received something akin to an "impact" bat in return. If the Twins truly are thinking about competing this coming season we need to keep each one of those three top starters. But on the other hand, if the current ownership is somehow intent on cutting payroll and going into a rebuilding mode, then we might at well try and trade all three of those guys. It's either one or the other. 

Sure, why not? We've got such a stand out team...that just needs ONE more piece to put us over the top and send us to the WS. 

The return will determine whether a trade should be completed. If Jarren Duran is available (I highly doubt this) for a starter or Jordan Lawler is available (also extremely unlikely) for a closer then a move is possible. sure hope the bar is equal in any exchange because the Twins don't need any more extra players. 

It is kind of gross that the same spitball gets blown out be different people 

Not going to happen.  Also, the guys mentioned are "cheap."  That isn't what this front office is going to get rid of.....in fact.....they are LOOKING for it!   :-)

I believe that Boston would trade Duran for Lopez if they miss out on Burnes because they could move Abreu to center and slot Roman Anthony in left. 5 years of Duran in center, moving Buxton to left and Larnach to DH vs. 3 years of Lopez while saving 17 million while painful, is adding a very good right handed bat and extending Buxton's ability to stay on the field.

48 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

If the Twins truly are thinking about competing this coming season

When have the Twins ever thought about truly competing? 

Trading solid starting pitchers like Ryan, Ober, or Lopez makes no sense and weakens the team that another hitter doesn’t address. They need Correa, Buxton, and Lewis to be healthy. The rest of the lineup will be filled by younger players and a cheap free agent or two. And they could resign Santana to fill in first, but even he is probably too expensive for this penurious ownership. 

Looking at another way to balance some of the overabundance of pitching without dealing from its top end, while accomplishing another one of the Twins' goals:
Is there a pitcher outside of the centerpieces of the rotation and bullpen (López, Ober, Ryan, Jax, Durán) who could be paired with Vázquez or Paddack to get another team to bite at a (more favorable) trade?

Does including Pitcher X in a trade get a team to take Vázquez' full salary in a trade? Or does adding a reliever to Paddack get player(s) in return who are more interesting or closer to the majors?

If that framework is possible, who would player X have to be? I think any of the current MLB or MLB-ready starters are too much, plus it depletes the depth too much to attach another starter to Paddack. Henríquez or Varland are still more potential than track record, but maybe some team loves the potential. Does a team take the volatility of Stewart's health to get the upside of his performance?

Maybe this doesn't work—maybe all their second-tier arms are either too valuable for this kind of trade or not valuable enough—but if the FO needs "to get creative" this winter, this seems like an intriguing way to do it.

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

When have the Twins ever thought about truly competing? 

IMO they think about it, but have no idea how to do it. & are more concerned about playing their guys, do what's easiest & pushing their philosophy than winning.

I think they could do well trading relief pitching for hitting. Trading starting pitching for hitting would just be trading one hole for another.

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

When have the Twins ever thought about truly competing? 

In 2019, when they signed Nelson Cruz, and won 103 games.

In 2020, when they traded for Kenta Maeda, and signed Josh Donaldson.

In 2021, when they traded multiple high-level prospects for Mahle and Jorge Lopez.

In 2022, when they signed Carlos Correa, and traded a recent first round pick for Sonny Gray

In 2023, when they signed Correa again, and traded for Pablo Lopez, then extended him.

20 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

If I correctly decypher this poorly written sentence, I wholeheartedly agree.  This is the same content I've read nearly daily since the World Series ended.  By the way, who won?

The team whose payroll the Twins can never ever ever match, no matter who owns the team, beat the team whose payroll the Twins can never ever match, no matter who owns the team.

1 hour ago, Eris said:

I disagree with premise of the article regarding having blatant holes in their lineup. A team can never have too much pitching. The Twins have plenty of young talent in their system (ERod, Jenkins, Keaschall). Let them play if need a bat. Of the position players mentioned as having left, only Santana and Kepler were contributors. Wallner will take over in RF.  Julien is somewhat of an uncertainty because great one year very poor the next. 
 

The Twins do have an injury/reliability issue with Buxton, Lewis, Lee, Correa and Miranda missing significant playing time. This issue will not be solved by trading away pitching. 

I don't see many teams with too much pitching and the Twins are in the majority.  Our top 3 starters should be pretty darned close to untouchable.  You build around them; not the other way around.

I get the concept - starting pitching is the most valuable currency in baseball. However I disagree with the notion that the Twins have a surplus of pitching. Maybe next year at this time but not now. I would trade EmEod for a right handed version of himself. Said player can’t have wacky platoon splits and must be able to catch the ball. 

We had a very competitive core that was very successful in '23. In '24 we were creative & tinkered with the core, traded needed players to afford players we didn't need. Where did that get us? Now they want to be more creative & disrupt more the core & bring in more outside players to fill positions that our own in-house players can do. We need a strong rotation, keep the core. Why do we want to weaken it? We need to be strong up the middle: Buxton & Keirsey at CF. Correa at SS, Lewis at 2B & Vazquez & Jeffers at catcher. We have been very fortunate at catcher that both Vazquez & Jeffers remain healthy because we have nobody who can cover them. If we eliminate Julien at 2B we'll become much better defensively. The right corners we have become more offensive. We have very good support group & people off the bench with Emma & Keaschall ready to be called up sometime during the season.

IMO we need to stop being creative & make minor trades to fill our holes to supplement our core. Trade away our fat to make budget.

The “impact” bats haven’t been impactful. The roster is built around Buxton, Correa, and Lewis. All three weren’t on the field enough to carry the team to the playoffs and I have serious questions whether Lewis is a legitimate impact bat after watching the last two months of last season. His defense is not good either, so it’s not clear where his future position is going to be. Could be DH if he can hit. 
I have hope that Buxton has actually turned a corner and will play more games than last season. I don’t think the outlook is as bright for Correa. Is there really a cure for plantar fasciitis? I’ve heard it takes time, more than an offseason. For an athlete, PF could be recurring problem. If so, that is a roster problem the Twins may not recover from. He may have to sit out a season or more to get off his feet to fully heal. The injury problems with their core players and Lewis’s ability to hit is their real problem. They may be headed for a total rebuild if these three don’t turn a corner this season and carry the team.