Here's How The Twins Can Benefit From The Juan Soto Trade

It’s hard to argue that Juan Soto going to the New York Yankees is somehow a good thing for the Minnesota Twins. He’s a 25-year-old marquee player on a Hall of Fame trajectory, who will now don the pinstripes of Twins Territory’s most hated rival. But this monumental trade between the Bronx bombers and the San Diego Padres has many layers to it. If the Twins play their cards right, they could benefit from the shuffling of these rosters.

For those who missed it, Soto was sent to the Yankees along with outfielder Trent Grisham, for a package headlined by three of New York’s best young pitchers. While Childish Bambino will surely garner the most attention when looking at this swap, Grisham could be of interest to the Twins if the Yankees are willing to flip him.

Talks surrounding this trade went on for days before the Yankees and Padres finally made it official, and New York actually completed a separate deal in the meantime. In a surprising development, the Yankees acquired Alex Verdugo from the rival Boston Red Sox, and will have him seeing regular action in their outfield throughout the 2024 campaign. Was this a fallback option in case they couldn’t reel in Soto? A leverage play to soften San Diego's demands? Or do they have more moves up their sleeve?

It’s unclear how all these pieces will fit together, but the club now finds themselves with a plethora of established outfielders, including Soto, Verdugo, Grisham and Aaron Judge. Each of those players are used to seeing everyday playing time, so somebody will have to take the back seat--and let’s just say Soto and Judge are assured to be sitting shotgun for the foreseeable future.

Could the Twins swoop in and make a play for Grisham? He would fill the hole left by Michael A. Taylor, that of a defense-forward true center fielder on a friendly contract. The fleet-footed 27-year-old has two years of club control remaining, and he’s expected to earn $4.9 million via arbitration in 2024. His stellar defense (92nd-percentile range, according to Statcast) makes him good enough to be a reliable option even if the bat falters, but he wouldn’t block playing time should Byron Buxton find himself healthy enough to take the field.

Grisham is a left-handed hitter, but he’s had reverse platoon splits throughout his career. Those numbers took it a step further in 2023, when he had a .790 OPS against fellow southpaws. That could fit nicely as a platoon option alongside Willi Castro, who had an .803 OPS against righties in 2023. In his whole career, Grisham has only 518 plate appearances against southpaws, so we have to do quite a bit of regression in order to project him in this way for the future, but it's certainly worth noting.

The Yankees must have seen something they liked in Grisham when making the trade, but with Verdugo also in the fold, the former Padre could be expendable for the right price. Maybe the Twins can offer a mid-level prospect or two to help replenish the Yankees’ farm system that was just purged of its most exciting arms last week. Could some combination of impressive B-level prospects in the back half of Twins Daily's Prospect Rankings pique their interest? Would the Yankees insist on getting someone closer to being big league-ready such as Simeon Woods-Richardson?

Here’s another outside-the-box idea: would the Yankees have any interest in Kyle Farmer (.725 OPS in 2023), to go along with a prospect package? Anthony Volpe (.666 OPS) is pegged to get the lion’s share of playing time at shortstop, with Oswald Peraza (.539 OPS) as his backup, so the Yankees may see value in the idea of swapping a fourth outfielder for a utility infielder who can play a solid shortstop if Volpe fails to improve. Farmer could also spell D.J. LeMahieu at third base or Gleyber Torres at second, if needed. Here's what a trade pitch could look like:

• Twins receive:
  Grisham - .198/.315/.352 (91 wRC+), 13 home runs, 15 stolen bases, 1.7 fWAR in 155 games played in 2023
• Yankees receive:
  Farmer - .256/.317/.408 (101 wRC+), 11 home runs, two stolen bases, 1.6 fWAR in 120 games played in 2023
  Yasser Mercedes (No. 14 prospect) - .294/.356/.488, eight home runs, 36 stolen bases in 66 games played in Rookie ball since 2022
  Woods-Richardson (No. 17) - 4.91 ERA (1.50 WHIP), 7.6 K/9, 4.8 BB/9 across 24 games (22 starts) at Triple-A in 2023
   

It’s still to be determined whether the Yankees are set on holding on to Grisham, despite their crowded outfield that now features two superstars and two more established regulars. But it would behoove the Twins to reach out in an effort to improve their club along the margins, and to ride the wave of the ripples set into motion by the Soto trade. 

What do you think? Would Trent Grisham be a good fit for this Twins team? What should they be willing to give up to make it happen? Let us know what you think in the comments, and as always, keep it sweet.