Deadline Doesn't Make Deals Imminent for Twins

Right now, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have no incentive to begin to sell. The reality is that the Twins have winnable games upcoming, though they haven’t capitalized on them thus far, and there’s still more than 30 days until decision-making time. Should this crash course continue however, the hometown nine will be sellers, and they’ve got some assets to part with.

The front office did a tremendous job of putting quality talent on the 25-man roster this offseason. On top of that, they acquired players while allowing themselves flexibility in terms of nearly all deals being of the one-year variety. Expiring contracts are of value around this time of year, and the Twins have a few that are playing very well. The decision becomes whether to trade them, keep them, or look to resign them.

Lance Lynn

Having missed all of spring training, things didn’t go well at all for Lynn out of the gate. Since May however, he has allowed just a .687 OPS against and has posted a 3.27 ERA across 10 starts. He’s owed whatever the remainder of his one-year, $12 million deal ends up being, and is a proven veteran for a team eyeing the postseason.

Had things have worked out differently for the Twins this season, it would’ve been great for Lynn to be the third or fourth starter in a divisional series that Minnesota was playing in. He should be a guy they can cash in on in July, and a mid-level prospect should be a fair ask.

Brian Dozier

This season, Dozier has gotten off to his traditionally slow pace, but the problem is that he’s yet to trend upwards. The numbers have sagged mightily, and coming off arguably his best season across the board, it’s been quite the disappointing performance. Going into free agency, I’d have to imagine he’d have hoped for a better showing as well.

Before the trend of mediocrity had become a reality for his 2018, I thought the Twins would be better off hanging onto Dozier and offering him a qualifying offer. At this point though, it’d be a near certainty that he’d accept it, and that’s not a great position for Minnesota to be in. Bringing Dozier back was never going to be the right move, but now, dealing him isn’t going to bring much of a return either.

Eduardo Escobar

A lot of what the Twins decide to do with Escobar is going to be reflective of how they choose to pursue him this offseason. Also set to be a free agent, it’s been my contention that he is the most important player they bring back. Even before he decided to go gangbusters this season, his positional flexibility and value as a very good utility player fits with this club going forward.

I don’t know what they trade market will be for a guy like Escobar. He’s somewhat of a late-bloomer, and his performance could be seen as a flash in the pan. The Twins allowing him to leave the organization could make bringing him back even tougher. At the end of the day, he’s made himself a lot of money on his next deal by how good he’s been this season. If Minnesota wants him in 2019 and beyond, I think he needs to stay put.

Logan Morrison

Like Lynn, Morrison would be a very nice piece for a team trending towards the postseason to add. Unlike Lynn though, Morrison hasn’t shown any signs of being even a sliver of his former self. The power production from 2017 was never expected to repeat itself this season, but the incredible falloff couldn’t have been predicted either.

The Twins have a team option on Morrison in 2019, and while they may want to keep him, he’s hardly an irreplaceable player on this current roster. For him to have any shred of trade value, Minnesota would need for him to hit (and well) for the next couple of weeks.

Ervin Santana

Arguably the toughest candidate to peg in all of this is Ervin Santana. The 2017 ace likely isn’t going to return much before the All Star break. With that timeline, he’d likely have one or two starts prior to needing to be dealt. An opposing team isn’t going to give up much for a pitcher that’s missed all season, and has serious questions about the effectiveness of his best pitch.

The Twins probably don’t have room for Santana in 2019, and arguably shouldn’t even this year. Flipping him for nothing doesn’t make much sense, so any move would be completely reliant on how soon he can provide value and to what extent.

At the end of the day, the Twins do have some sellable assets. The unfortunate reality is that most of them have significant warts of their own, and the returns are going to be muted at best. While the names play on paper, it’s the lack of production that has Minnesota in the position they currently are.