Price Dropping For Intriguing Trade Target

It was a sadly fitting end to what's been a tremendously frustrating year for the right-hander. He lost his hold on the closer role when the Nationals acquired Jonathan Papelbon from the Phillies in late July, despite the fact that Storen had been extremely effective, converting 29 of 31 save chances with a 1.73 ERA and 44-to-9 K/BB ratio in 36 innings.

One can hardly blame Nats GM Mike Rizzo for upgrading the back end of his bullpen with an elite power arm, but it was a raw deal for Storen. He publicly voiced his displeasure following the trade, and also started to pitch very poorly, allowing multiple runs in four straight outings at one point in mid-August. You have to believe that Wednesday's incident was in some way triggered by pent-up frustration.

The string of unfortunate events has dropped the 28-year-old Storen's stock to an all-time low entering an offseason where his alienated ballclub was already expected to shop him heavily. This presents an intriguing opportunity for teams that are on the lookout for bullpen help, and especially for the Twins.

Minnesota has been known to have had interest in Storen in the past. In 2011, the Twins and Nats were rumored to be working on a deal involving the righty and Denard Span, though nothing materialized.

Storen would be an excellent fit based on the Twins' current needs. With Casey Fien and Blaine Boyer both likely to depart, and the remaining right-handed relievers – such as Ryan Pressly, Michael Tonkin, J.R. Graham and A.J. Achter – looking suspect to varying degrees, this bullpen needs another impact late-inning arm to complement Kevin Jepsen, and one more established than Trevor May (who should be given another chance to start anyway).

You could hardly ask for a better candidate than Storen, who has spent his entire career pitching well in high-leverage situations, the last few weeks notwithstanding.

Of course, the biggest potential snag in such a scenario is that Storen clearly wants to close, and there will be no such opening here with Glen Perkins entrenched. But Storen may just have to come to terms with the reality of his situation. He's not going to get the ninth inning next year in Washington, with Papelbon still under contract, and it's doubtful that the Nats will allow him to dictate where he ends up in a trade.

Storen is due for free agency following the 2016 season, so he might have to bear down, do his thing in a setup role and hope to gain interest as a closer on the open market.

That would be a nice coup for the Twins, as they'd get a top-tier relief arm and also an ideal contingency plan behind Perkins, who has had health problems in two straight seasons and will be 33.

What do you think? Does Storen make sense as a target for the Twins? And what would you give up to acquire him?