Cody Pirkl

Here's hoping for at least two starters. We don't have proven opener Matt Wisler to open 2 games per week this season if someone gets injured.

After the last two seasons, it’s fair to want Nelson Cruz back in a Twins uniform. There’s surely a price that the two parties can agree upon. As reasonable as that price may come to be, what if this still isn’t the best route for the 2021 Minnesota Twins to take?Nelson Cruz has been an enigma in the twilight of his baseball career putting up MVP level seasons long past his prime. It’s easy to believe that Cruz will simply hit forever. Unfortunately that just isn’t the case. At 40, another season like the two we’ve seen from Cruz recently would be quite literally historic. Projection systems for 2021 reflect this. Cruz Steamer: .256/.344/.490, 114 wRC+, 1.2 WAR Steamer has under-projected Cruz every year for awhile now due to his age. This year looks a bit different however, as in 2020 we started to see some red flags that often arise right before the bottom drops out on an aging player. Cruz’s average plummeted almost .100 points in the second half, his OBP and Slugging saw similar declines. The reality is that his first half 1.122 OPS would never hold, and his second half .842 mark is still plenty respectable. That being said, his strikeout rate also increased by 8% as the shortened season went on and his K% finished at his worst mark since the dawn of Statcast in 2015. His average exit velocity also was his lowest since the metric was measured in 2015. Hitters typically age out of baseball in the same way, they just can’t make contact with certain pitches anymore. Then all it takes is a scouting report and the league to adjust and all of a sudden a hitter with decades of success lacks the physical ability to adjust back. Admittedly this is no sure thing with Cruz who’s beaten father time over and over. Perhaps his ailing knee was to blame at season's end and he has another stellar year in him. If this were last winter, giving Cruz a chance to make good one more season might be worth the risk. However, this season there are financial limitations and more importantly other improvements that can be made on the roster with readily available candidates to pivot to. Javy Baez Steamer:.255/.298/.471, 94 wRC+, 2.2 WAR Trevor Story Steamer: .276/.346/.528, 109 wRC+, 3.8 WAR Marcus Semien: .253/.336/.436, 103 wRC+, 3.0 WAR Shortstop is a spot the Twins are rumored to be exploring replacements for, and there’s no shortage of options on the market. All are likely in the same price range as a 40-year-old Nelson Cruz and would likely upgrade the premier shortstop position both defensively and offensively. It also solves the Twins utility problem by improving upon the 2020 Marwin/Adrianza performance with Polanco/Arraez. Baez and Story would cost more than money, but the recent Francisco Lindor trade goes to show just how cheap these one-year shortstops can be on the trade market. None of these options have quite the offensive projections Cruz has, but they also carry defensive value and don’t carry the risk of their production dropping off to career ending levels such as Cruz. It’s also easy to imagine a scenario where the Twins rotate Garver/Sano/Rooker/Kirilloff into the DH spot and get well above league average production. What it all comes down to is this: The Twins likely won’t spend on both Cruz and an impact shortstop addition. If they do, it will surely stop them from appropriately addressing the rotation and bullpen needs. Spending on Cruz brings significant risk, and the likeliest outcome may be a good season that can be replicated in the DH spot by players already on the team. Adding a bigtime shortstop won’t break the bank or cost the farm system much, and will almost surely be an upgrade at two positions. For a Twins team with several needs this offseason, it may be wise to make the move that addresses multiple positions and brings less risk. Cruz for $16 million could easily become a sunken cost a month into the season. A similar price for Baez/Story/Semien gives a surefire contender a floor on their investment, and for that reason, The Twins should avoid re-signing Nelson Cruz. Agree? Disagree? Let us know below. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

Worth noting he also reportedly lost a lot of weight after getting sick in 2020 I believe. Could explain the velo drop.

The Colorado Rockies are in a rough spot. Despite loads of talented players, they’re firmly on the outside looking in when it comes to expanded playoffs for 2021. Colorado may not be in for a ton of fun these next few years, and several of their players may need rescuing.The Rockies were never in great shape to compete in 2021, and now with San Diego’s recent moves they’re lucky to finish third in their division. Colorado has done a nice job of putting talent on the field over the last decade, but things just haven’t really come together for an actual World Series run. The result is several talented players aging out of their cost controlled years, which really doesn’t fit well with a team that’s several pieces away from being serious contenders. It’s often at this point where teams cash in their veteran talent for what value they have left and try to speed up a rebuild. If the Rockies choose to go this route, the Minnesota Twins have several pieces they should be checking in on. Jon Gray Gray has been an obvious target for the Twins for a few years now. While he struggled in 2020, his raw talent is still there with his mid 90s fastball and whiff inducing slider. Gray has the raw tools that we’ve seen Wes Johnson and company take to the next level before, and just getting out of Coors may be enough to bring him up a tier. Colorado somewhat surprisingly tendered Gray a contract this winter given how far he had fallen in their depth chart. His being a free agent in a year paired with his poor 2020 means that an underwhelming trade package should get the job done if the Rockies are looking to shed the $6 million he’s set to make in 2021. For more details on Jon Gray, check out an article written about him last fall. Trevor Story Story has been discussed as a possible trade target this winter, but would require Colorado completely burning it down. He’s been one of the best shortstops in baseball the last three years. His worst season in that time period was when he was 17% above league average on offense in 2020 according to wRC+. Story's game-changing speed and power likely means a trade would still cost the Twins greatly despite the hefty $18.5 million he’s due in 2021 before hitting free agency the following year. That being said, if the Twins felt confident about exploring an extension, Story would be the answer at shortstop for the foreseeable future, and would drop a superstar into an already impressive lineup. Check out a potential trade discussed earlier this year for Story at Twins Daily. German Marquez Here’s the real Rocky that needs rescuing. German Marquez is a certified stud … away from Coors. He has a career 5.10 ERA at home and a 3.51 mark away. He averages 95+ on his fastball and has a curveball and slider that absurdly both hover around 40% whiff rates. Studies have shown that Coors affects breaking ball movement above all else, and that’s Marquez’s bread and butter. He is still only 25 years old and is due a very reasonable $33.5 million over the next three years with a $16 million club option in 2024. This means that the Twins will have to be willing to part with some names at the top end of the farm system. Marquez, however, might be the biggest value play on the trade market. He hasn’t broken out to command an ace-like price tag, but his numbers away from home show that there’s a strong possibility that he could still give that kind of return. For that reason Marquez may be my favorite target for the Twins even if it takes some elbow grease by the front office. The first piece to fall for Colorado may be Nolan Arenado who’s been discussed as a trade target all winter. If he and his enormous contract get moved, the Rockies fall to a mediocre team and would be looking to part with pieces in order to set up for a speedy rebuild. Do you think the Twins should be ready to buy up the pieces the Rockies are selling off? Let us know below. SEE ALSO With Snell and Darvish Gone, What’s Left on the Starting Pitching Market? | Tom Froemming Patience: The Rotation Edition | Cody Pirkl 5 Trade Targets: Who Can the Twins Raid from the Reds? | Cody Christie — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

The thing I'd point out is that much of the Twins pitchers drafted are out of college so they're going to be older when they reach the majors. It takes a special pitcher to be in professional ball and debut so young, and its also not uncommon for pitchers to take 3-4 years to work their way up.

The Twins front office has made pitching development an artform when it comes to the bullpen, but many fans still feel less than confident about the rotation. After years of calling for upgrades to the rotation, what if better days are right around the corner?In 2016 Cleveland made it to the World Series and made several draft picks that set them up for years of future success. In the 2016 amateur draft, they plucked up Aaron Civale, Zack Plesac and 2020 Cy Young winner Shane Bieber. While not superstar prospects at the time, Cleveland put them through their system of analytic development and moulded them into the Twins killers they are today. Cleveland was living large in 2016, but what if I told you they lost the individual that identified this future juggernaut pitching rotation? Someone who was certainly also familiar with their system in place that developed such high end talent? After 2016, the Twins stole Derek Falvey away. As co-head of baseball operations, Falvey played a heavy role in the draft process that landed Cleveland much of the redeeming players on their current roster. He was now making draft picks for the division rival and trying to recreate the system that Cleveland had. Pitchers drafted by Falvey and showing a lot of promise for the future include Blayne Elnow and Bailey Ober in 2017, Cole Sands and Josh Winder in 2018, and Matt Canterino in 2019. Many of these arms have put up dominant seasons in the minors and may not be incredibly far off from the Major Leagues despite a lost 2020. In addition to the picks Falvey has made over the years, the organizational overhaul has likely benefited pitchers already in the organization. Jordan Balazovic seems to have developed into the ceiling that seemed so far away when he was drafted in 2016. Jhoan Duran was particularly targeted by Falvey via trade and has put up some of the best numbers of his career since joining the Twins. Look at what the Twins have done to develop Randy Dobnak who went from an Independent Ball pitcher to a meaningful piece of the Twins rotation in a matter of years. The moral of the story is “Rome wasn’t built in a day” as they say, and neither was Cleveland’s rotation. One of the engineers of it however is at the head of the Minnesota Twins organization. What he’s done in Minnesota thus far has been fantastic in general, but especially so when it comes to pitching. The impacts made at the Major League level are just the tip of the iceberg. Much of this organization’s success when it comes to pitching still likely remains in the Minor Leagues, slowly rising to the top of the professional ladder. The timeline of Falvey’s tenure in Minnesota hasn’t been enough to judge the Twins' development of a pitching rotation yet. It’s truly one of the most difficult processes to succeed in and takes a good bit of time. Cleveland’s highly touted 2016 class took 4 years to come to fruition. That being said, The Twins have one of the most exciting groups of upcoming starting pitchers in years, and much of it is a testament to the work of Derek Falvey. If you’re ready to make a judgement on the Twins starting pitching development already, you may be kicking yourself in a year or two. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

Very fair! Even higher projections for Thorpe than Balazovic or Duran are hard to believe. I'd be surprised to see it play out where Thorpe outperforms a pitcher like Sixto as well. I looked at this more as a reminder that for all the frustration around Thorpe in 2020, his past successes shouldn't be wiped clean because of a faceplant in that 2020 season. I loved him too much coming in to be completely done with him headed into 2021.

So far the main access can be found on the Sparkman home page https://sixmanrotation.com/sparkman Where they have a link to the doc of the entire list Sparkman put together. I don't think they've publicly updated it since 2019 since 2020 was a lost season in the minors. Connor was gracious enough however to send me the updated charts for the Twins pitchers as they were last tracked. I believe he's working on a program for users to look up names and have the charts spit out but hasn't publicly posted access as of yet.

The Twins announced the signing of Glenn Sparkman this week. While it’s far from an exciting signing, it’s one that raised my eyebrow for more reasons than just the whiff rate on his slider. What if I told you the lifelong Royal had ties to several of the Twins top pitching prospects?Years ago a young Glenn Sparkman was dominating the Minor Leagues. This drew the excitement of a baseball fan by the name of Connor Kurcon who later found out that several things were amiss in the numbers Sparkman was accumulating. He was much older than the competition, several of his ratios were unsustainable and his outlook as a starter was being boosted by numbers accumulated in relief outings. In response to his discoveries, he did what any fan of baseball would have done: He made a massive projection system named after the player that inspired it. The “Sparkman” system projects all factors of a pitching prospect’s success and gives them a percentage chance of reaching several fWAR milestones in the MLB before the age of 30. This all may seem irrelevant to Twins fans until you find out that 4 Twins made the top 50 in Sparkman back in 2019. Connor Kurcon provided the updated graphs for these four Twins and I think it gives us a chance to take a look at these interesting projections. Devin Smeltzer - Expected WAR: 4.7 Download attachment: Smeltzer Sparkman.png Smeltzer’s projected WAR has risen since 2019 likely due to the fact that he’s since made his debut. Smeltzer looks like a low ceiling high floor pitcher according to Sparkman which certainly matches what we’ve seen of him so far. Being a soft tossing lefty may eventually lead him to a bullpen role as we saw in 2020, which justifies the less than 10% chance for him to land in between the ace like threshold of 10-14 WAR. Still, it’s a bit surprising to see Smeltzer ranked so strongly. Previously ranking 45th among the games to 50 pitching prospects is nothing to scoff at, and neither is the thought of him being worth nearly 5 wins over the next few years. Jhoan Duran - Expected WAR: 3.7 Download attachment: Duran Sparkman.png Duran surprisingly ranks below Devin Smeltzer in projected WAR in his 20s, and it likely has a lot to do with his lack of MLB debut so far. More surprisingly, Sparkman gives Duran a near 20% chance of not debuting at all despite his 2019 breakout and perceived proximity to making the Twins roster. Some also aren’t so sold on Duran sticking in a rotation spot which may be weighing him down. One thing is for certain in this case, 3.7 WAR from one of the Twins top pitching prospects would be a bit disappointing. Jordan Balazovic - Expected WAR 4.1 Download attachment: Balazovic Sparkman.png Balazovic is Sparkman’s favorite among the Twins top two pitching prospects, but not by much. Balazovic’s projected WAR decreased since 2019 which likely has a lot to do with the lost 2020. He was in the midst of a breakout before the Minor Leagues shut down, and I’d guess many pitching prospects will see similar dips in projected future value as a result. Balazovic is likely also further behind in his development in Duran and likely further from the MLB, though Sparkman interestingly feels better about Balazovic’s chances of getting there. Lewis Thorpe - Expected WAR - 8.4 Download attachment: Thorpe Sparkman.png Probably didn’t expect to see Thorpe as Sparkman’s #1 rated Twins pitching prospect huh? Thorpe received a large boost in his projected WAR between 2019 and now likely due to his debut. It’s easy to look at his atrocious 2020 and write him off, but keep in mind that Thorpe has succeeded at every professional level up to this point and his 2020 numbers looked nothing like anything he’s ever produced. Thorpe could very well be a lost cause, but Sparkman seems to think his struggles in the weirdest MLB season in history could have been a fluke. As we get further out from that 60 game season, that possibility seems to be more and more believable. Sometimes you find yourself in the dead of the offseason and decide to use a minor league signing of Glenn Sparkman as a jumping off point. While projections aren’t the sexiest topic, Sparkman uses a unique system that happens to grade the Twins system highly. If you want to look into the specifics of their mathematical analysis or want to check in on where other prospects rank from 2019, I’d encourage you to give the home page a look. How do you feel about Sparkman’s analysis of the Twins young arms? — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

The Twins have played the free agency game quite well in recent years as evidenced by their in season success. This offseason is already looking a bit different however, and it may take some aggressiveness to come out successfully on the other side.2020 was the weirdest season of baseball we’ve ever seen and it’s led into what may be one of the weirder offseasons. So many questions remain including whether the NL will again adopt the DH and how many games will be played in the regular season. Unfortunately as players search for jobs and teams look to fill their openings, the uncertainties are clearly slowing the market. One change teams are expecting to see however is the expanded playoff format, and this expectation may be having early effects on the market that the Twins should keep an eye on. The Royals paid decently for Carlos Santana and Mike Minor, both of whom were discussed as fallback options for the Twins. The Giants signed Anthony Desclefani, a Statcast star in 2019 fallen on hard times in 2020. He looked to be a perfect example of a possible Twins pickup. The Mariners picked up recently DFAed Keynan Middleton, a hard throwing high spin reliever coming off of Tommy John. While not top tier free agents, all of these players were intriguing in their own way and would have slotted in nicely as complementary pieces on contenders. All of these players however went to teams who missed the playoffs in 2020, something that we may see more and more. More playoff spots means the bar to clear for October has gotten a bit lower. Teams that aren’t surefire contenders may be spending more money to give themselves that extra push to bring their fanbase more excitement as well as the income added of making it to the playoffs. While good for baseball, this new development may be bad for the Twins. This year they have a ton of needs including a few starting pitchers, a utilityman and multiple high leverage bullpen pieces. They also seem to be in the same staredown as the rest of the obvious contenders are with free agents, as they’ve done little to make impact acquisitions. Meanwhile some nice options have surprisingly gone to teams who never would have considered such signings in years past. The Twins likely have their targets they want to bring in this winter, but this front office has a price point in mind where they’re more than willing to pivot to other options. The market for those other options however could be more shallow than it has been in recent years, and the free agent market could explode so quickly that the Twins could miss out on effectively filling their many needs. It’s still earlyish in the offseason and there’s certainly plenty of talent left to bring in. That being said, it’s not just one or two spots the Twins need to fill. This front office has always “zigged” while others have “zagged”. Doing so now by breaking the apparent stalemate between teams and free agents gives them their pick of the free agent market and eliminates the risk of running out of backup options later this winter. The small premium they may pay in doing so should be worthwhile for a team in the middle of a competitive window. The early moves we’ve seen by apparent non contenders may not hold up throughout all of free agency. That being said, with expanded playoffs this assumption becomes a bit of a gamble for a competing team with roster spots to fill. Obviously everybody wants to see the Twins make some notable moves, but should we be more concerned with the lack of free agent signings so far? — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

In the last week, people have seemed to grow impatient with the Twins prized DH remaining on the free agent market. “Just sign Nelson Cruz and get it over with” they say. The Twins front office however is likely playing things the right way.Reports have surfaced saying the MLB has informed teams to “operate as if there is no DH in the National League”. For what it’s worth, that’s not a definitive statement, but it was likely one that Cruz wasn’t excited to hear. The MLB suggested that as Cruz approaches likely the last payday of his career, the pool of teams in need of his services has been greatly decreased from what he would have come to expect after much of the NL struggled to fill that role in 2020. Furthermore, as Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic suggested earlier this week, the pool of possible teams for Cruz in the AL isn’t the strongest either. Not only does a team need an opening at DH to slot Cruz in, but they would likely need to be in contention to justify the risk of paying a significant salary to a 41 year old. So what exactly does this mean to Cruz? It was reported that Cruz had an offer from the Twins back in October which has since been pulled along with the NL DH announcement. The price has not been reported, but we could suspect that it was for one year guaranteed and a significant sum to reflect the NL being in competition for Cruz. The fact that talks haven’t heated back up suggests Cruz is prepared to wait this out, banking on the MLB Players Association bargaining to bring the DH to the NL. He has little to lose by doing this, whereas the Twins stand to lose plenty by jumping the gun. At this point in time, the Twins would be bidding against themselves in the Cruz market it seems. Cruz seems intent on waiting for 15 more suitors for his services to be announced later this winter, which means the Twins would have to pay that price right now without the assurance that announcement is ever even made. The difference in price may be $5m+ and likely a second guaranteed year. It’s easy enough for fans to say “quit being cheap, just do it”, but the Twins have significant needs elsewhere on their roster, and the front office simply isn’t going to handcuff themselves over a position that they already have in house options to fill. Signing Cruz right now likely costs the Twins a formidable utility man or high leverage bullpen arm, as well as flexibility in the 2021 offseason. On top of all of this, the Twins have never been ones to want to be left “holding the bag” so to speak. Cruz finished 2020 poorly, missing much of the last month with injury and struggling upon his return. Twins fans may think Cruz can do this forever, but at 41 it’s not unlikely that one of these years the bottom falls out. While projection systems still put Cruz at 14% above league average for 2021, several other free agents hover around this mark such as Kyle Schwarber and Michael Brantley. The front office may consider pivoting to the younger, less risky options that can fill in at other positions in a pinch. Cruz is still a star hitter until he shows he isn’t, but his last 2 years in Minnesota hide how likely it is that this revelation is right around the corner.We all want Cruz back, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of the rest of the Twins needs. While it’s frustrating to watch one of the most exciting players in Twins territory in recent years sit out in free agency, keep in mind that there’s a much larger plan at work. Nelson Cruz’s return in 2021 will likely only happen under the terms of the front office trying to construct a team rather than Cruz who’s trying to secure as big of a payday as possible. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

The Twins saw plenty of their star hitters struggle in 2020, and the offense was a shell of itself as a result. With Eddie Rosario out of the picture and Nelson Cruz’s status up in the air, it’s more important than ever to see some rebounds. Some rebounds are more important than others however.There were several disappointments in Twins territory in 2020, but nothing let us down quite like the offense. Three hitters in particular really ate most of the regression, and their rebounds will be key for the Twins to remain a juggernaut in 2021. 3. Mitch Garver Garver had one of the weirdest seasons of any of the Twins in 2020. We heard reports of Garver dominating summer camp after his .995 OPS and 155 wRC+ in 2019. Instead of an encore, Garver cratered to a .511 OPS and 41 wRC+ mark. He showed the same game changing skills when it came to plate discipline and exit velocity, but struggled to make consistent contact. We may never know what happened to Garver in 2020, but he did go down with an oblique injury mid season that some hypothesize may have been an issue for longer than reported. We’d love to see Garver perform even at 80% of his 2019 level, but his doing so isn’t of the utmost importance on this list. The Twins have a great defender and solid young bat behind the plate in Ryan Jeffers. The best case scenario is a fantastic catching tandem, but Garver’s 2021 worst case scenario may not quite leave the Twins hands completely tied. 2. Max Kepler The main thing weighing down Kepler’s 2020 was his success against left-handed pitching. His .880 OPS and 129 wRC+ in 2019 against southpaws dropped to a putrid .378 OPS and 5 wRC+. Lefties typically struggle against left handed pitching to some extent, but Kepler’s 2020 marks were simply a disaster. This could probably be attributed to the small sample size of 60 games, as Kepler has had multiple seasons of performing better against same handed pitching and looked to heat up to end 2020. That being said, Kepler was a huge reason for the Twins struggles against left-handed pitching last year at the top of the lineup. He’s going to continue to be relied upon heavily and his ability to even put up respectable splits would go a long way in helping the Twins offense as a whole. In terms of his career success, Kepler needs to return to his 2020 ways to become the superstar we’ve hoped for. No matter how athletic he is in the field and how hard he hits righties, an inability to hit lefties will hold him back. Here’s hoping Kepler readjusts in 2021. 1. Jorge Polanco If Kepler’s splits were a disaster, Polanco’s 2020 offensive performance has no fitting definition. The 2019 All Star shortstop was one of the worst regulars in the Twins lineup with a .658 OPS and 80 wRC+. Polanco appeared to avoid strikeouts at all costs in 2020. His career low K rate was accompanied by a career low walk rate and slugging percentage. The good news is that this change at the plate may not have been a conscious adjustment by Polanco. The bad news is that it may have been a result of Polanco’s ailing ankle that required his second ankle surgery in as many years. Polanco is a player the Twins need to contribute. Short of signing a free agent, there’s no immediate contingency plan at shortstop with Royce Lewis’ timeline in question. A return to All Star form would be welcomed, but even a rebound to league average offense at the bottom of the order for Polanco would make all the difference. Jorge was a plenty valuable hitter even before the 2019 breakout. His 2021 may be completely dependent on his health. 2021 will be an interesting season when it comes to seeing what we really have as a core. After several disappointments in 2020, the Twins ceiling of success may ride heavily on some bounce backs. Do you agree with the top three players listed? Do you feel confident about rebounds from all or any of them? Let us know below! — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

My point of writing the article is this: People clamor for the big names as they should, they're big names. Big names cost you however, whether its money, prospects, or the window shortening as a result of those prospects. The Twins just traded a reliever last winter for a solid starter with a good contract and got the best case scenario of giving up some of our best prospects for a name like Blake Snell. That should inspire confidence that the front office can do something like this again. The value they got from that trade when it comes to cost and return was far higher than any trade they can make for Snell or any of the pitchers already deemed aces. The Twins shouldn't stand pat, they have some improvements to make as contenders. They just may be able to make those improvements without mortgaging their future for a big name. We've already seen them do it.

Exactly. Think of it from an objective business point of view from the front office. They have a young up and coming team that can be in the picture for years. If they sell off the future for one player and don't win anything, thats the kind of decision that costs people their jobs. I'm not saying we shouldn't take chances, but I think trading for someone like Snell is about the riskiest move you can make and doesn't even guarantee you a title assuming he holds up his end of the bargain.

I've seen some trade scenarios proposed by some pretty sharp baseball writers that say itd be a haul. For example Eno Sarris at the Athletic wrote an article just today with a few trade proposals. For example he had the White Sox parting with Andrew Vaughn, Michael Kopech and Jonathan Stiever. Thats a solid prospect, a generational talent in Kopech whos already debuted, and one of the best hitters in the minor leagues in Vaughn. Thats a painful price for whoever decides to pay it.

There’s an influx of high end pitchers becoming available on the trade market from Blake Snell to Sonny Gray this offseason and it’s natural to dream of the Twins landing the big fish in the trade market. While it’s fun to consider the Twins acquiring a ready made star pitcher on the trade market, they would likely be better off not doing so.The Twins Aren’t “One Pitcher Away” The headline says it all. As much as the Twins struggles in the postseason are blamed on a lack of starting pitching, to pretend one starting pitcher brings them from first round exit to World Series winner is a pipedream. 2019 was a fluke and likely lesson learned from the front office. That year above all others the Twins would have benefitted from a trade for a starter at the deadline. They got dinged with bad luck when Pineda tested positive for performance enhancing substances and left them starting a rookie in game 2 at Yankee stadium. Even still, the team was clearly overmatched in all aspects of the game during that series. The Twins scored two runs en route to getting swept by the Astros in the playoffs in 2020. Maeda and Berrios both pitched more than well enough to win at least one of those games. Their future in the rotation looks far from problematic with Maeda, Berrios and Pineda returning. Pitching reinforcements never hurt, but to completely sell out for one arm won’t remedy all of their woes. Their Window is Far From Closed The Twins have been legitimate contenders for two years now and despite possible departures from players such as Rosario and Cruz, they’re far from nearing the end of the line. It’s easy to watch the on field product and completely forget that one of the more exciting waves of prospects in Twins history is on the brink of joining the already great roster. Some of the pitchers on the market such as Snell and Gray are still young, controllable, and have a resume that would warrant an arm and a leg in return on the trade market. The Twins arguably have the farm system to depart with one top 5 prospect, but parting with two would be aggressive, which is likely what these pitchers would bring back. The top of the Twins farm system includes both pitchers and position players that they’re relying on in the near future and for years to come. The postseason can be random to an extent, and these young players should allow the Twins to be October regulars for years to come. Is it worth shortening that timeline for an addition that only factors in every 5th day? They Can Build Their Own Ace If there’s one reason to believe that the Twins shouldn’t waste the resources on acquiring a ready made ace, it’s that they can make one themselves. The front office has earned their reputation for identifying and maximizing strengths when it comes to pitching. Kenta Maeda was the definition of an ace in 2020, and while they acquired him for an exciting pitcher in Brusdar Graterol, the cost of a power reliever for an ace is an absolute steal. This serves as a perfect example of how the Twins can get more for less. They also have had great success in reclaiming pitchers like Pineda, Wisler, and even had Martin Perez to an extent. For every ace starting pitcher available on the market, there are likely a handful of younger controllable options that are capable of breaking out but just haven’t done so yet. There’s enough of a track record from this group of evaluators to have faith that the Twins can find these players and acquire them for cheaper than your name brand ace. It’s completely normal to hope for a big splash from a team that’s been so frustrating to watch in the postseason recently. That being said, rash reactions won’t solve any problems, and the Twins are well aware of this. For the reasons stated above, it’s likely they maintain their conservative operation and stick to their low risk, high reward style of talent acquisition, and you should be okay with that. I’d be a liar if I said I’d be disappointed to read a headline of the Twins acquiring Blake Snell, but if that headline never comes, Twins fans shouldn’t be disappointed either. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article