Ramón Laureano Presents the Twins With a Second Chance Following the Trade Deadline

Author's note: According to Jon Heyman, Ramón Laureano has been claimed by the Cleveland Guardians following the posting of this article.

The biggest need that the Minnesota Twins had at the 2023 trade deadline was a right handed corner outfielder. With Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, Alex Kirilloff and Matt Wallner, the Minnesota Twins have a surplus of left handed bats, yet nothing to speak for in terms of right handers.

As we know, the Twins didn’t make a move at the deadline to acquire a right handed corner outfielder, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t still bring one in.

On Saturday afternoon, the Oakland Athletics announced that they waived 29-year-old outfielder Ramón Laureano, and he is now eligible to be picked up via waivers. Laureano is a right hander who has a career OPS+ of 110 and has played all three outfield positions over his six-year career with the A’s. 

Laureano burst onto the scene as a 23-year-old with Oakland in 2018 when he posted an .832 OPS in 48 games as a rookie before following it up with a .860 OPS in 123 games in 2019. Laureano’s bat has fallen off a bit since his first two seasons, but even in a down season in 2023 he is doing what he has always done — hitting left-handed pitching.

The Minnesota Twins’ struggles against left-handed pitching this season have been well documented. Currently the Twins rank last in all of baseball with a .662 OPS against left-handed hitting.

Ramón Laureano is a career .790 OPS hitter against left-handed pitchers. Even in a down year in 2023 he is still performing well against southpaws, posting a .793 OPS.

In addition to hitting left-handed pitching, Laureano runs well and has the flexibility to play center field as well.

Laureano is owed about $1 million for the rest of the 2023 season and has an additional year of team control following the season where he will be in his final year of arbitration. Additionally, Laureano still has minor league options remaining, which would give the Twins even more flexibility.

If the Twins were to put in a waiver claim on Ramón Laureano and add him to their roster, he would likely take the spot of Joey Gallo or newly acquired Jordan Luplow. Laureano would be a better fit than either of them and would be the perfect addition to this Minnesota Twins roster.