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Ever since the 2024 Twins finished the season with a faceplant that cost them a chance to reach the postseason in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2009-10 (no, 2020 doesn't count), there have been at least whispers that the team is considering a meaningful shakeup of their roster, including players heretofore considered indispensable parts of the core. While there is ample and apparent talent on this roster, it proved dysfunctional for long stretches of this season, and the front office is open to resolving that by changing the personnel in place.
"Dysfunctional" might be too strong a word for the 2024 Kansas City Royals, who not only made the postseason at the Twins' expense but won their first series therein. They were far from a juggernaut, though, and even further from being one before July. That's when they went out and, unsatisfied with merely complementary or short-term additions, transformed their bullpen by acquiring Lucas Erceg from the then-Oakland Athletics. Erceg, a late-blooming converted infielder, emerged as a relief ace for the team down the stretch, striking out 32% of opposing batters and walking just 3% of them after the trade. He's under team control for five more years, too, so if he continues to dominate, he'll be a key cog for Kansas City for years to come.
That move involved some speculation, which is why the Royals were able to land Erceg at a lower price tag than his skill set might suggest in hindsight. Still, it was a huge deal. It not only vaulted them toward the playoffs for 2024, but will be a gift that keeps giving as the team tries to establish a pattern of consistently competing in the AL Central. You don't see moves this impactful every day, either at the trade deadline or during hot stove season.
Could the Twins find a similar move somewhere this winter? To do so would be a huge win for the franchise, at a crucial time. They have a lot of talented young players, but what they need isn't necessarily another passel of veteran role players. To reestablish the window they hoped was opening wide as recently as 2023, they could try to land a player with lots of remaining team control and star-caliber upside. Doing so would be hugely expensive, of course, but they'd pay for them in young talent, rather than money. At the moment, it's young talent they have, and money they lack, so perhaps the time is right for such a move.
The trick, really, is finding players good enough and with enough team control to be obvious targets, who nonetheless are available. If a given guy is so good, why does his team want to get rid of him? Here are a few studs for whom there's a plausible answer to that barb.
Lawrence Butler, OF, West Sacramento Athletics
You know what the Twins need more of? Left-handed power hitters in the outfield!
Ok, not really. But Butler might be too good an opportunity to pass up, if the A's make him available. He's a 24-year-old with recent experience in center field who hit .262/.317/.490 with 22 home runs in 451 plate appearances last year, and that undersells him. He had better numbers against lefties than against righties. He slugged .553 after the All-Star break. He's toolsy, skilled, and eminently watchable, and he's under team control through 2029.
Why, then, would the A's trade him? Look, undeniably, they would have to hear a very attractive offer. But here's the thing: they're about to spend three years playing in a dressed-up Triple A facility, with no guarantees about the ability to move to Las Vegas even then—and the move to Vegas is a bad idea even if they successfully build and open a ballpark there. It's going to be miserable to play for the Athletics for the next few years: scorching in the summers, eerily quiet in the stands, and thoroughly uncompetitive. As reductive as it sounds, everyone on that team is going to want out, and Butler will draw lots of calls. The Twins could very well conclude that he's the younger, more athletic element they need in the outfield, and send to Sacramento some players who wouldn't actually have to play there right away, since they'd be in Double or Triple A in 2025. It sounds cynical and sad, because it is. The A's should be doing this with all their good players. Which brings us to...
Mason Miller, RHP, West Sacramento
Butler's teammate and (briefly) Erceg's, Miller is another in the group of players too good to still be in Triple A, which is what the Athletics will be for the next few years. Getting him out of there is especially urgent, because his rocket launcher of an arm could yet give way in the next few years. For that very reason, one of the nastiest pitchers alive might actually be available this winter, as he theoretically was this summer. Again, the A's front office will need to get a haul in order to move him, but can you imagine the formidability of a bullpen headlined by Miller, Jhoan Durán, and Griffin Jax? Heck, at that point, the team could even move Jax back to the starting rotation, strengthening both elements of their pitching staff. Miller's 103-MPH fastball and devastating slider make him, arguably, a step up even from peak Jax or Durán in short bursts.
Curtis Mead, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays
You might be sensing a theme. As the Rays grapple with the existential threat they face from climate change and pass the 2025 season outdoors in front of minor-league crowds at a ballpark named after their archrival's longtime owner, they, too, have every reason to do some offloading. They're much better than West Sacramento, and will be better positioned to contend, but that's the great news about Mead: He really might be available, because the team doesn't necessarily need him. The position at which he provides the most obvious value is third base, but the Rays figure to insert Junior Caminero there full-time in 2025. Mead is big-league-ready, but needs to clean up his approach slightly. The Twins could seek to do so as a part of moving on from Royce Lewis, or to let Mead and Lewis—two hitters with similarly obvious offensive tools but some limitations rooted in plate discipline, pitch recognition, and fielding—challenge and complement each other. A down 2024 slightly lowered Mead's stock price. Obviously, though, the Twins would still have to give up some solid youngsters to get him.
Shane Baz, RHP, Tampa Bay
Injuries have marred the development of every major Rays hurler lately, it seems, and Baz is no exception. Nonetheless, he's an exciting arm, with four solid pitches and four years of team control remaining. His fastball sits 96 and roughly suits the Twins' style. He could be a great addition to the team's starting rotation, and they'd be able to retain him one year longer than they currently have Joe Ryan or Bailey Ober for.
Jordan Walker, RF, St. Louis Cardinals
Just for fun, let's tackle one of these that doesn't involve a team playing next year in a thoroughly toxic baseball environment. Walker is a right-handed slugging outfielder, which makes him an incrementally but importantly better fit for the Twins than, say, Butler. He's even younger than Butler, and his game is really only missing one important ingredient: pulled fly balls. The Twins, as we well know, can help a hitter fix that problem.
Any of these players would come at a high trade cost, and the Twins might ultimately retreat from whatever urge they're feeling to alter the basic makeup of their roster. If they want to make the leap to the next level for the next several years, this is the kind of longshot they might elect to try. If nothing else, more than fanciful ideas of landing expensive stars whom the team can't afford now or control later, these are the fun trades to kick around as we gather around the hot stove.
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