You’re not a GM. You Shouldn’t Want to Trade Ryan Jeffers.

I respect your opinion, but I do not respect that you are telling anyone how to be a fan.  Opinions are like, well you know.  The way I see it, the Twins are one of the teams that do not spend big bucks for top talent so we have to rely on the draft and good trades for low cost talent.  So if trading away an expiring contract makes your team better in a year where the chance of competing makes the team better for multiple years, I don't see that as bad management.  If someone thinks that is better for the team, it doesn't make that person a bad fan.  If the Twins trade Jeffers and or Ryan, I will continue to root for my team.  If they stand pat,  I will continue to root for my team.  But hoping for the trade deadline to go one way or the other does not make anyone a bad fan.  Thats my, well you know, opinion.

Agreed. The yearning on here for mediocre prospects is tiresome. I personally like players who can actually play in the Majors, apparently this is the minority view however. 

if i was a the GM i want to trade jeffers i be asking more then just two prospects and someone off the major league roster.

3 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

Very negative in your face article!  You write stories for Twins Daily that usually supports differing opinions.  Then slam those same people that don't agree with your opinion.  One of the many things wrong with baseball IMO (there im doing it too) is telling us how to be fans.  Don't go there.  Baseball is already in bad shape.   But thanks for your opinion anyway.

The only thing worse than the tone of the article, is the take.  I'm sorry folks, Jeffers is not signing here long term.  And I believe next years qualifying offer is $23 million. - and that can't happening..  So if you don't trade him, enjoy the next 2 months, then you have nothing.  Not a world I would play in. 

but you really really really want to keep him and the price tags that comes because you are a 'good fan'?  Then it is gross negligence to have traded Duran to get Tait and spend our top 2 draft picks on catchers.

players coaches and gms have been trying to tell you baseball is a business for 30 years..... you may want to start believing them.

You get what you can for Jeffers before he walks for zero.

I agree with rdehring. Stop with the pie in the sky thinking.  The Twins have limited payroll compared to many other teams.  Jeffers deserves, and will get, a big money mult-year contract.  Good luck and Godspeed!  And yes Virginia, we want to believe the Twins can trade him for some low cost but great young help.  Do I wish we could keep him? Yes, and Sonny Gray etc. etc. etc.  Being a Twins fans means accepting that great players will leave us for free agency big $$.  It just makes sense, no matter how much we wish otherwise, to let them go and try to get something for them on thier way out.

It's pathetic, gutless Twins fans like the author that lets the Pohlads get away with their antics and why we only have mediocre baseball here for decades. Don't tell me how to be a fan, I want to see a World Series before I die.

Try to expand your horizons and raise your expectations and quit accepting losing. And certainly don't mock fans that actually have expectations for this franchise 

If the Twins let upcoming free agents walk without getting assets back, the farm system dwindles, the Pohlad’s don’t spend money and we’re magically transported back to 2011-2014 when the team lost 90+ games each year. 

I agree with the jist of this OP. When the team has a chance at the playoffs, they should take it. They can’t keep continually building for the future. At some point they need to add to what they have. Jeffers is possibly one way to do both, add a controllable player for this seasons push that will be here next year. 
Trading Ryan is the other end of the spectrum. Selling out on this season and next for players that may or may not develop into long term assets. Too many fans look at prospects as if they were sure fire MLB stars. All they are is lottery tickets. I don’t understand the logic of trading a two time all star pitcher for prospects. Different scenario than Jeffers in that Ryan is under control for next year, and at a cheap price! Having Joe anchor the rotation with Lopez next season should be exciting for Twins fans. 
I think there is a large group of baseball fans into the arm chair GM game more so than watching the current team. Call it looking at what could be instead of what is. Nothing wrong with that except I think they miss out on the good baseball in front of them. I’m enjoying the competitive games now, like the series in Cleveland. Are the Twins as good as the Dodgers? Obviously not. The question really is are they as good as, or better, than the White Sox and/or Guardians. I think they are, but I hope the GM gives this team a chance to prove it. If, in the next two series, they play themselves out of the race, then make trades for the future. 

Thank you!

As a fan, I have been in disbelief with so many writers and comments on this page clamoring to trade our best players. Absolutely not. We are trying to win. Once you're in the playoffs, anything can happen. 

There is a 0% chance I'd be in favor of trading Jeffers or Ryan. Those are 2 elite players in this league. I dont care what the return would be. If they were traded, they would need to be replaced. KEEP THEM! Give Jeffers the QO. Try to extend them both. Lackey and Tait are VERY nice C prospects, but there are no guarantees. 

Now, I am in favor of possibly moving players that wouldn't be a part of the future. Like Bell. If he is traded, move Larnach to DH and clear a spot in the OF for one of the many high end prospects waiting in AAA. Moving guys that have underperformed for 3 years like Royce. Possibly even Martin. 

But there is no chance I'd be in favor of trading our stars. 

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

They have to play as well as the best AL team has all year to get to 85 wins. You think that's even thirty percent likely?

I’m not an oddsmaker, but I see they have a 30.1% chance at the postseason, according to Sportsline oddsmakers. So yes, they have a shot😊

6 hours ago, bryceboylehoban said:

I agree with quite a bit of this, but maybe for different reasons. I’m not so concerned about awful baseball for 50 games if they trade some studs. The next wave of young talent will be here soon. And I think supplementing that with a few more solid-to-great prospects or even current mlb players with control is worth watching bad baseball for a couple months. 

But what I am concerned about is the Twins attempting to do some half-assed buy/sell that I’ve seen some people pushing for. The idea of trading your best hitter (when he’s been on the field) and then also buying some relievers and maybe a back end arm is kind of crazy to me. If you’re going to sell, just sell. And if you’re going to buy, just buy. 

The margins for this team are thin. They need every hand on deck if they are going to make a miracle run to the playoffs. 

I was reading on how the Milwaukee Brewers do it and look where they are. I'm just making up an example so when you have a great star player and he has given the team 12 great years but Mike can give three more great years. there are organizations that would love to have that three great years for some ready or almost ready replacement to build on. if you wait until he's completed his entire majorly career, he don't have anything to replace him with that's related to him. we certainly don't want to lose Byron Buxton but if he was traded for a place of great need like a starting picture and a high quality relief person. then he can know that when he got traded he helped the team. but if he is determined to wait until retirement, he's not helping the team's future at all. well, that's just one man's opinion. if anything's not written well, I don't proofread these things as I say them.

Your premise misses a vital point - the "actual" GM knows, right now, no questions asked, that the team will not pony up the money to sign Jeffers to a long-term deal.  That 100% impacts your plan - we cannot carry 3 catchers on the roster long-term, with more catching in the pipeline.  We have great needs and  very few areas of depth, so yes, you trade Jeffers (but keep Ryan for another year).  If we can get a cost-controlled starter (pre-arb, 1st year arb) for him, you do it in a minute.  

The flaw is that if we sit back and complain about the lack of spending, that the team's philosophy will change, and it won't.  We (as armchair GM's, then) have to navigate by selling off impending free agents to keep the prospect pool and current lineup as strong as possible in years when we aren't going to win it all.  2026 is one of those years, no?  

The only justifications for keeping Jeffers are that you believe we are going to win it all this year, or you believe we can and will sign him to a long-term deal (or, potentially, that the optics of keeping him outweigh the competitive advantage of trying to improve the team for the future).  I don't agree with any of those notions (and yes, I can still enjoy the team when I see them do the smart thing).