If the Twins are Buyers, Part Two: Which Hitters May Be Available?

Id be very interested in adding Yandy Diaz to the team. His contract signed this past offseason actually guarantees $12 million in 2026 and then added a club option for the 2027 season. Therefore you could be getting 2.5 years of Diaz in a trade to lock down 1B. He is okay at first, but with Tampa having Aranda he is full time DH, so its tough to gauge his value. Its tough to know what the Rays would want, but maybe I'd start with an offer of Julien, Kala'i Rosario, and a decent rookie ball/A-ball player. I'd like to think Julien has rebuilt a little value in AAA, and some team may be willing to buy low if they think they can help him regain form. If anyone thinks they could, it would probably be Tampa, and he could be a natural cheap Lowe replacement at 2B, they have very similar profiles. As for Rosario, I think he has a chance to be a solid big leaguer some day with his power, I just don't think he will get the chance in Minnesota. And if the Rays see someone in the lower minors they like, that may be the tipping point to get them to do the deal. Not sure if this would work or be enough, but just an idea.

Could easily see the Twins as a buyer here. Not so much as a "win now" trade, but rather a prospect for upgrade situation or a Jax/Duran for upgrade situation.

Lot's of complaints about the offense, but IMO that lies primarily on Correa, Lewis, and Wallner. Most of the guys are at or above expectations. The youth push is about here. The only real position places I can see the Twins looking to improve are Catcher #2, 1B, and possibly an OF, though they have 2 guys not too far away in the minors. Like it or not, they need to see health and progression from the prospects.

Pitching is another story. Lots of questions after Lopez and Ryan. Bullpen churn is expected.

I guess I will have to be the one to give the "Unpopular Hot Take" on this one, so here it is – unload almost anything and everything that you can, with some obvious exceptions. The Twins need to be major sellers and not looking to buy anyone that isn't a prospect.

If Buxton is willing to waive his No Trade Clause, which I 100% believe he would in order to get a chance to play for a winning team who is currently in position to make the playoffs this year and beyond.  It's time to move on - we have already had several years to see what he has to offer when he wasn't injured and it was still, at best, highly highly streaky.  He is already 31 years old and is at the stage where the normal regressions start even if he was a full-time injury free player.  He could be 34 the next time the Owners allow the Twins to be competitive.  And best of all, his value has literally NEVER been higher and could likely NEVER be this high again.    

The next round or players are the obvious ones like sell Ty France, Chris Paddack, Kody Clemens, Harrison Bader, and Christian Vazquez to anyone who is willing to take them on.  At best you are looking at 5-7 lottery tickets, which is fine, because they serve no real value over the next two years while the Twins figure out the ownership situation.  And I would look to grab as many Catcher and First Base prospects you can get.

The next round of players that could actually bring back a Top 100 prospect or two would be Willi Castro, Brock Stewart, and Danny Coulombe.  These guys are guys that could slip right into key roles for a playoff contention team immediately.  And, again, they have no real role in the team over the next few years and would be past their primes by the time the team is competitive again.

And then you have the big boys, the guys that should bring back 2-3 prospects each with at least one Top 10 in that haul.  Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran.  Just like with Buxton, their value would never be higher than right now for a team who is for sure making the playoffs and wants to lock down their 8^th and 9^th innings.   These guys were both former starters who got moved into bullpen roles and flourished.  There is no reason to think the Twins can’t do this again easily with other guys in 2-3 years.  They are team favorites, but in the end, they are expendable and replaceable as bullpen arms and could command a real bounty in return.

I would not look, however, to move Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Pablo Lopez, David Festa, or Zebby Mathews.  Unlike bullpen arms, the Twins had historically struggled to develop young pitchers that have major league success and to replace them with free agents is not going to happen with current ownership.  In fact, I would look to lock down Ryan and Ober with extensions that get them to age 34 range.  The Twins could have the top 4 rotation spots locked down when they are competitive again and would not need to get into the $30M a year free agent market.  Take these guys and hope that Royce Lewis, Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, and Brooks Lee get it figured out along with some of the other prospects the Twins have coming up over the next two seasons.

And again – the Twins really should look to bring in some high end Catching and First Base prospects.  That it something that needs to finally be addressed since they haven’t down so in the draft.  It sucks to watch players leave but you also have to face the facts that this is not a playoff team – it’s just not.  And maybe the Twins get new owners by next season and they can further develop the younger core mentioned above and then supplement with free agents as needed.  Or, maybe some of the prospect haul develops rapidly and they Twins can use that collateral to make blockbuster trades to push the team over the top.

They should not be "buying" rental guys this year in my opinion.  I am fine if you want to buy longer term options, but really we need to hope our internal options can be long term fits.  I do not feel IF is a need with options of Lewis(hopefully getting out of a slump), Lee, Keashall, Maybe Culpepper next year, Julien as possible option.  Catcher or DH could be a good add but again not as a rental, unless you are moving someone else to shuffle around. 

Big bats look good on paper to improve the Twins' already good-looking lineup on paper, On paper, Twins haven't looked good on paper at DH, 1B & LF for some time now, so they've looked outside the organization only to make the situation worse (now I'm not saying or have ever said that Bader or France were bad pick ups). 

I'm not in favor of focusing on bats because there's a lot of hype surrounding bats so bats are too expensive. IMO, we need to focus on pitching, defense, fundamentals, baserunning & better ABs. IMO, we have the offense but they need to wake up & be more clutch.

I'm more concerned about areas that are more fragile. Independent of deadline, we started the season fragile at our rotation, which was very evident when Lopez went down; the rotation unraveled almost 2 months ago & nothing has been done. INF has been, but seems to be resolved internally. The 3rd is catcher; we have been very fortunate that both Jeffers & Vazquez have been healthy. If either goes down, we'd be in the crapper. Even if both continue to be healthy, catching is a very demanding position & the grind wears them down. Jeffers & Vazquez don't have the stamina to maintain their performance to the end. So, Sean Murphy is an excellent idea. He's worth his $15M price tag, but IMO, Twins can't afford him & the prospect price will be high at the deadline. 

The premise of the article is “If…” 

There must be another place for the discussion about “Should…”

If the Twins are buyers I think they need pitching help. The bullpen is healthy and has holes. They need another good bullpen arm minimally unless we think Paddack can take that spot when Ober returns. I would look for two bullpen arms to replace Topa and Misiewicz.

I would not look for a bat unless that bat is a top third of the order bat. It is really the upside of Lewis, Correa and Wallner that they need to show up. They need Keaschall to pick up where he left off. They have some depth in the minors that they can call on. The likelihood that they will get offensive help internally is probably similar to the likelihood that they would get help from the players listed above.

1 hour ago, KnoblauchWasFramed said:

I guess I will have to be the one to give the "Unpopular Hot Take" on this one, so here it is – unload almost anything and everything that you can, with some obvious exceptions. The Twins need to be major sellers and not looking to buy anyone that isn't a prospect.

If Buxton is willing to waive his No Trade Clause, which I 100% believe he would in order to get a chance to play for a winning team who is currently in position to make the playoffs this year and beyond.  It's time to move on - we have already had several years to see what he has to offer when he wasn't injured and it was still, at best, highly highly streaky.  He is already 31 years old and is at the stage where the normal regressions start even if he was a full-time injury free player.  He could be 34 the next time the Owners allow the Twins to be competitive.  And best of all, his value has literally NEVER been higher and could likely NEVER be this high again.    

The next round or players are the obvious ones like sell Ty France, Chris Paddack, Kody Clemens, Harrison Bader, and Christian Vazquez to anyone who is willing to take them on.  At best you are looking at 5-7 lottery tickets, which is fine, because they serve no real value over the next two years while the Twins figure out the ownership situation.  And I would look to grab as many Catcher and First Base prospects you can get.

The next round of players that could actually bring back a Top 100 prospect or two would be Willi Castro, Brock Stewart, and Danny Coulombe.  These guys are guys that could slip right into key roles for a playoff contention team immediately.  And, again, they have no real role in the team over the next few years and would be past their primes by the time the team is competitive again.

And then you have the big boys, the guys that should bring back 2-3 prospects each with at least one Top 10 in that haul.  Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran.  Just like with Buxton, their value would never be higher than right now for a team who is for sure making the playoffs and wants to lock down their 8^th and 9^th innings.   These guys were both former starters who got moved into bullpen roles and flourished.  There is no reason to think the Twins can’t do this again easily with other guys in 2-3 years.  They are team favorites, but in the end, they are expendable and replaceable as bullpen arms and could command a real bounty in return.

I would not look, however, to move Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Pablo Lopez, David Festa, or Zebby Mathews.  Unlike bullpen arms, the Twins had historically struggled to develop young pitchers that have major league success and to replace them with free agents is not going to happen with current ownership.  In fact, I would look to lock down Ryan and Ober with extensions that get them to age 34 range.  The Twins could have the top 4 rotation spots locked down when they are competitive again and would not need to get into the $30M a year free agent market.  Take these guys and hope that Royce Lewis, Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, and Brooks Lee get it figured out along with some of the other prospects the Twins have coming up over the next two seasons.

And again – the Twins really should look to bring in some high end Catching and First Base prospects.  That it something that needs to finally be addressed since they haven’t down so in the draft.  It sucks to watch players leave but you also have to face the facts that this is not a playoff team – it’s just not.  And maybe the Twins get new owners by next season and they can further develop the younger core mentioned above and then supplement with free agents as needed.  Or, maybe some of the prospect haul develops rapidly and they Twins can use that collateral to make blockbuster trades to push the team over the top.

I would take a different approach.   Keep Buxton and build around him.    I would also keep the bullpen big three in tact with Varland/Jax/Duran - you can't win without a solid pen, and that is in place.    Coulombe has been great, but age is against him and we could part with him and Top - possibly Stewart.

I would trade Festa or Zebby.   They both project as middle of the rotation arms.    Pablo, Joe, Ober are a strong 3, and I like SWR over either of those other two.   Paddock could get traded, but won't bring back much.

I would part with Wallner and Lewis, as well as Erod if we can get something.  May have to throw in Sabato, Mirando or Julien to get there.

Castro fills so many spots it is hard to see him go, but might be our biggest chip if we keep the BP together as I suggested.   Bader brings an energy, like Paddock that can't be discounted.   If Bader was traded, I wonder if he would consider signing back next year?

C is s huge need, so that may drive some moves and force the Twins hand if they can get as close as you can get to a sure thing prospect.

France is gone - Clemens may have to stay.

Kiersey down and Martin up should be done, but I do not want to see Eeles, or McKusker

2 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Thanks for making the list. I don’t really see anybody you’ve missed. The problem with this list is the problem with being a buyer in a nutshell. The guys you might actually want, O’Hern, Diaz, and Suarez, will be expensive and you won’t be able to hold them for very long. The guys you can keep, like McMahon and Laureano, just aren’t that good. Murphy is interesting but I’d have to know the price.
 

To me, the smarter move is to play the guys we got and go shopping in the off-season. I would start with getting France off the roster. He’s the same guy the Mariners thought wasn't good enough to be on their team. Play Clemens at 1B everyday or in a platoon with Sabato. I would also send Keirsey back down and bring up Martin. Play Lewis, Wallner, Larnach, and Lee five days a week down the stretch and find 3 games a week for Martin and Sabato. Recall Funderburk and lose Misiewicz. Give Ohl and Adams a shot over Topa. Get these guys out there regularly and see if they can improve. We need to know for next year.

 

 

 

This exactly. See what we have in our own guys. Call up a few kids for a debut. Get an idea of who can help us next year and where we got sure need help from outside. 

3 hours ago, LambchoP said:

This exactly. See what we have in our own guys. Call up a few kids for a debut. Get an idea of who can help us next year and where we got sure need help from outside. 

Injudicious chimera.

59 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

If Murphy is a fit as a Twin, why wouldn’t an organization like the Braves keep him for the term they signed him for originally? …… they aren’t planning on tearing anything down in Atlanta.

IMO, Twins had the least fragile rotation in recent memory going into ‘25.

Supposedly Team had 8 guys that could slot into the rotation & a couple more fringe possibilities. Paddack’s capabilities and sustainability was certainly in question. Ober - Lopez - Matthews all hurt………SWR has done his job ……. Festa is questionable, but with nice upside going forward. 7 guys competing for 5 spots going into the year and by early July, Team was  forced to pitch Travis Adams.

Buxton & Correa are here for 4 more years ……. need to make the best of this and hope for reasonable performances.

Murphy wasn't my idea, I just commented on the author's idea. Like I said Murphy is a good catcher but I don't think MN (or maybe ATL) would do it.

Twins were solid in '23 with veterans Lopez, Gray, Ryan, Ober, Maeda & Paddack. IMO, when you depend on young SPs & SPs with some arm problem history, you never have enough pitching.