Doc Munson

While this obviously will not happen, I am not stating the REDS will get Jeffers, I am saying leverage the Yankees desire for Jeffers and have THEM send the prospects the Twins would have received for Jeffers to Cinci.

Nice article, I had a similar post a few days ago, but much better said here. I would only make the comment that I think we could get him without giving up our top prospects. Include a team like the Yankees who may be willing to overspend for someone like Jeffers. We send Jeffers to NY, and we include the lower prospects like Diaw and have the Yankees send over the top 100 prospects.

Would you trade Ryan Jeffers for Hunter Greene? There is potential here!! While the Twins shoudl prioritize bullpen over rotation, this could be a decent trade. WHile bullpen is a bigger need, our rotation isnt exactly world beaters. Joe Ryan is solid, but are his recent struggles and "arm fatigue" something to be concerned about? Taj Bradley coudl actually be considered the potential new Ace of the rotataion if you buy into Ryan's struggles. Ober has been better in July, but can you fully rely on him going forward? Zebby has ZERO track record of being a sustained quality starter Prielipp has been actually fairly good over his last 4 but again no proven history. A rotation arm could DEFINITELY help this group. Factor in Green coming back from his own elbow, and maybe you coudl even just move him to the bullpen to finish out the year and start fresh next year with him in the rotation. This would ease him back in from an innings perspective. Could he have an Aroldis Chapman type impact on a bullpen?? "but wait... the Reds are in last place, why would they want to take on Jeffers?" you may be asking.. My answer is "they wouldn't!!" But you know who WOULD? The Yankees!! lets make this a 3 team trade. With the Twins and Yankees both being hypothetical playoff hopefuls and buyers, neither would want to downgrade major league club for prospects. This is where the Reds come in. they WILL move MLB players for prospects because they are going nowhere this year. SO... Twins send Jeffers to New York... New York sends prospects to Cinci... Cinci sends Greene to the Twins. I am not sure what prospects the Yankees would give up, or who the Reds may want from the Yankees farm, but there are options here. The Yankees would definitely up some good prospects to acquire Jeffers, but why not just send those prospects to the Reds instead and we take Greene? Who says no? I may just make this my long shot trade deadline call of the year!!! BOOK IT!!!

I was just talking with a "friend in the know". And now my distrust of the Pohlads went to a whole new level. Of course yes I am a conspiracy theorist!! and no none of these thoughts have been proven factual, or even accurate, BUT when do we need provable facts to form opinions? I have always factored in the potential of a 2027 work stoppage/lockout when proposing hypothetical trades, and how a potential lockout would impact the cost of players under contract. One thing I never thought about is... what happens to players currently NOT under contract? Am I the only one who has wondered why the Twins, claiming to be buyers and wanting to contend keep promoting lesser quality players from AAA, when there are future core pieces ready or near ready??? Of course each of Culpepper and Jenkins have had some injuries slowing their march to the big leagues. Along with Emmanual Rodriguez... although he is not actually back playing yet so a bit of a different story there. Aaron Sabato has been raking pretty much all year, but really not a place for him with Bell at DH and Caratini and Lewis getting reps at 1B. and at 27, he may not be a huge future core piece, so I am not questioning that move. Wallner has been raking (and I have always said he is a notorious slow starter btu always comes on as the year goes on. But again this is not the type of conspiracy I am now buying into. Where would he play? with Larnach have a good season, Clemens and Keaschall getting OF reps etc. Wallner is already on an MLB contract and accruing service time. But what about the first 2 mentioned. They both play positions where we could use a boost, either short term or long term. with Buxton out again someone who can play CF fits the bill. Keaschall has been decent but Jenkins is the future. Kriedler at SS just isn't major league caliber while Culpepper is a potential future core player back and playing well at AAA. Are the Twins actually manipulating potential service time on these guys (and maybe a couple others) to protect against a potential lock out NEXT YEAR? While at the same time claiming to be "buyers" and "committed to winning"? My buddy has said that players will actually get credit for service time even during a lockout/work stoppage. While this in theory cannot be known as next year regardless would be under a new CBA which hasnt been negotiated yet, so you cannot say for certain how players will be treated. But it makes sense that the MLBPA will push for players getting credit, especially if it is an owner imposed lockout. Also, it is the ONLY thing that makes sense as to why the Twins continue to call up people other than the likes of Jenkins, Culpepper, etc. Why would the cheap Twins want to start the clock on high end prospects, only to watch that clock tick by without them actually playing in games next year? It makes more sense to keep them in the minors to get a fresh clock on them next year and protect against losing controllable time in a lockout. If there is NOT a lock out for some reason, then they get to just start the clock next year anyways. This could make "good" "business sense" but this is what CHEAP teams do, not what WINNING team do, and "winning" is what the Twins are claiming to be focused on. Am I just conspiracy crazy? or could this be an actual reason why we are not calling up these guys? In theory, you could make the "who are you going to take out of the lineup?" question for Jenkins, with Larnach and Clemens playing well, and up until now Buxton playing, and even with Buxton out you COULD say Keaschall and his OF development are equally vital. But our SS position??? that makes zero sense!!! Can you either talk me off the ledge or push me please?

Random speculations indicate an option where the Padres may move Mason Miller in order to entice a team to take on Xander Bogaerts. Should the Twins consider this?? I say Heck Yes!!! Now I think there is no chance in heck they actually WILL, but this is a move that actually makes a ton of sense!! For multiple current and forward looking reasons. Reason #1: Pure baseball move the Twins biggest need is in the bullpen, so why not go for the big fish??!! Reason #2: By taking on Xander, you could get Miller of significantly less of a prospect then you otherwise would. With Multiple years of team control, you could actually flip him in the offseason or next year for an even bigger prospect haul!! Reason #3: The Upcoming Collective bargaining situation. Bogaerts is owed a good chunk of change $25M+ annually for the next 7 years I believe. First with a potential lockout, WHile I am not rooting for a lockout, if there is one, the Twins would only have to pay a prorated portion of next years salary depending on how long a work stoppage goes, All signs seem to indicate a bugger of a negotiation coming up. Where the real subtle potential comes into play with a new CBA is the potential salary cap. The owners will be pushing hard for salary cap, and the only way that will come to be will be if there is a corresponding salary FLOOR. If so, the Twins may be forced to artificially increase spending regardless. So why not pre-pay and get Miller in as a bonus? Reason #4: This could tie in with a potential salary floor, which is only a possibility at this point, but if it does, there are also other teams that are significantly below where the salary floor would be, so it may make Bogaerts' future salary slightly more palatable, or tradeable. Reason #5: Leverage dead money. I am not 100% sure if a team can trade dead money liability, but could factor in somehow by taking a portion of Xander's deal. The Twin sstill have $10M per year we owe on Correa. If we could move that liability in the deal, then in essence we would "only" be on the hook for $15M for Bogaerts for at least the next 3 years. Still a lot, but it helps. Heck if the cash strapped Twins could say SD eats the remainder of Xander's deal THIS year, plus take on the $10M annually of Correa, that means in essence the Twins get Xander for free this year, SO there would be no cost added this year, and he Twins could potentially bank money for the future by getting fans back in the seats with a Miller deal. Of course you could add "why would we want to downgrade our offense bringing in Xander while overpaying him (in the future)? We have Brooks Lee, we have Culpepper and Houston waiting in the wings. Well Xander is elite defensively and not a significant drop offensively from who we currently have. While I would not touch him and his contract with a 10 ft pole as a stand alone trade piece, as part of getting Miller at a discount... I would JUMP at the chance!!! Again, possibility of at least a partial lock out means may not have to pay full salary next year, if you can negate $10M by a swap of Correa's dead money that brings down to $15M, and if can get for free this year PLUS move the remaining $10 owed to correa this year, the Twins actually SAVE money in the short term!! while taking on the bigger long term liability. Plus increased fan buy in would be priceless!!! Twins FO, you want to show you are actually ALL IN??? THIS is the move to do!! Even if there is not a salary floor to get up to next year, More than likely Twins do not exercise their mutual option on Josh Bell clearing $7M, as mentioned move the $10M retained money from Correa that brings 2027 current commitments to just $50M. What could a deal look like? we would still have to give up SOME talent, even taking on Xander to get Miller, How about a package headlined by Emmanual Rodriguez. Could be a superstar but has never been injury free, Now is the time to move him while his star still has shine!! Plus We are potentially deep in the OF in the coming years. We add in Aaron Sabato and leverage his last 1.5 year of quality hitting and give him a chance at a spot elsewhere. While I loves me some Wallner, if the Twins are not going to call him back up, they at least have to sell his strong showing at AAA. So Rodriguez, Sabato, Wallner, for Miller and Bogaerts (with some offsetting of Correa retained salary).

OK I will not have 10, I just wanted to add another "T" word in the Title. HAHA!! The eternal optimist can say we are just 1.5 games out of the playoffs right now, but the realist says there is just no way we remain in contention. This of course could make Joe Ryan pure trade bait. Not to mention probably THEE top starting pitcher in the trade market. The Twins should be able to command a top return from any team interested. He should be SO in demand that the twins should actually be the ones approaching other teams. the Twins FO should be the ones driving the ship, determining who we want form other teams and going aggressively to get them. That being said, who are the Jewels the twins should target? NOTE: this exercise is about targeting ONE primary prospect, not looking for a package deal. That being said any of these trades I would not do 1 for 1 but the prospect mentioned would be the main prize of the deal. Who would be your one key player to go after? Here are a few of mine... 1) I am a Fanboy for Sebastian Walcott, I will stump for him anytime. While injured he is has absolute STAR potential!! could play on the dirt or transition to the grass. he has legit 30/30 potential. Will it be tough for him to live up to his hype and his tools? possibly, his pure numbers don't wow, but he has consistently played 2+ years younger than league average at each stop including playing at AA at 19. Rangers are in contention and could use a top arm with Gore and Leiter being average at best. 2) In a role reversal, the Rays could actually be in position to trade FOR pitching!! Typically known for developing and trading pitching, the Rays are leading the AL East and actually have the best record in all of baseball!! and they are doing this with only 4 primary starters, and one of them being Steven Matz who has never had a quality full season. adding a proven winner in Ryan would really help solidify the Rays rotation, Plus the Rays could trade for him now, contend, then trade him away again in the offseason to recoup prospects. SO who is the target with the Rays? Xavier Isaac. Xavier is not a TOP prospect in the Rays system, but he has a MASSIVE ceiling. some of the biggest power in the minors, Coming off brain surgery that stopped last year in its tracks he is back and he is mashing at AA Montgomery. Isaac could be a power hitting 1B for the next decade plus in a Twins uniform. more than worth moving Ryan for. 3) Milwaukee Could be an interesting trade partner. Brewers are back in 1st place despite losing a number of pitchers to injury. Ryan would be the perfect add to improve the rotation, with the added plus of keeping him away from division rival Cubs. One is probably untouchable, but the other could be quite intriguing. The presumably untouchable Jesus Jess Made is a 5 tool player at AA at just 19! Speed to burn a ton of power potential even though he hasn't tapped into it yet. He is the top overall prospect in the game for a reason. You start there and if you have to move down to Luis Pena that wouldn't be a horrible thing. Pena also just 19 at AA. While not the overall prospect that Made is he has massive upside as well. top of the charts speed and above average across the board. 4) Final player(s) on my list. Either top OF from the Dodgers organization. lets be accessories to the Dodgers breaking baseball by giving them again the top option on the market. They get Gray and we get either Josue De Paula, or Zyhir Hope. You could say going into the year the Twins had about the deepest OF in the minors, Rodriguez, Jenkins, Gonzalez all knocking on the door. Well Rodriguez continues his injury history. Jenkins has had his own share of missing games due to injury, and Gonzalez has been moved to 1B and not exactly tearing it up in St Paul. De Paula would be the next near ready prospect who could make debut out of spring next year. So who is your ONE target prospect worthy of moving Ryan for?

What is your immediate knee jerk reaction to this question? I am thoroughly confused on the answer. I was absolutely sick of reading articles that stated things like... "Royce was off to s strong start before going on the IL". they would claim stats like .222/.378/.444 triple slash line and a +133 WRC+ to show how good he was. He was 33% better than the average 3b????? I think of Royce as basically being a dumpster fire with an occasional HR. he had a strikeout rate of 33% 12K in 36 ABs. 4 XBH in 12 games. Yet if you look purely at WRC+ (which is one of the "darling data points" in todays game) he actually was the 6th best 3B in all of baseball. What does that say about: 1) the state of baseball or at least the state of the 3B position in todays game? 2) The state of how we view player performance or value in general in todays game? Am I simply yelling at clouds? I just cannot bring myself to say that ANYONE was/is having a strong season when they are hitting below .250, let alone .222. .222 is closer to the Mendoza line (a historical reference for absolute failure) than a .250 hitter (which is considered a decent average). This is not necessarily about Royce. I like Royce, and I naively may be one of the few out there who still believe he can get back close to what he was at some point, but how can anyone legitimately say Royce had a strong start to the season? Do you instantly lose credibility with a statement like that? or do I just no longer understand the game today and I should go back to yelling at clouds?

The early Twins success is now looking more like a mirage, Did we really expect a team with a bunch of spare parts on offense would continue to rake? Now 5 games under .500 and being passed by the White Sox, it is clear we will be back in sell mode. I wish I was talking about the team here and not the players. Joe Ryan is obviously the #1 (and possibly only) quality trade chip. One of the best trade partners is lining up to be a perfect fit. The Texas Rangers are currently right at the .500 mark, 1 game otu of an unusually weak AL West. Seattle is struggling at 16-17 and the 1st place ATHLETICS????? are onyl 1 game ahead of Texas. While Texas has an overall team ERA that is 4th in baseball at 3.48, that is bullpen heavy. Out of their 5 primary starters 3 of them have an ERA over 4.65. Eovaldi 4.76, Gore 4.67, Leiter 5.17 Adding a top starter to this rotation is a must for the Rangers to contend. The Rangers have 1 prospect that may be considered untouchable, but he is also currently in Rehab, and is the number one prospect in the game that I would go after if I was the Twins FO. The Twins need to open a dialogue with the Rangers to trade Joe Ryan to the rangers for Sebastian Walcott. Walcott is an absolute stud, our 3B/SS combo is a constant work in progress. Lee isn't a SS for the next decade, sure Culpepper looks fairly legit, but everyone does at AA and AAA. I really naively thought Royce would be able to return to some form of capable hitter, but he just hasn't. Trading for Walcott just reinforces our next young core. While we have seen this movie before of a next core of young players to turn around our franchise, a group of Jenkins, Rodriguez, Culpepper, Tait, Walcott would be quite impressive. This move could make Walcott a potential future 3B. Which could allow us to try and move Royce to a team who may try and turn him around. What team could that be? Well another perfect matchup would be the Yankees. The biggest glaring hole in that lineup is 3B. Lewis has the personality to thrive in New York. And the Yankees are on the verge of bringing back 2 Ace level starters to an already strong rotation. When Cole and Rodon come back to join Fried, Schlitler and Warren, that makes other young arms potentially expendable. Luis Gil, while struggling currently could be a good add if he can right his ship, and what about Carlos Lagrange from the minors?? Yeah I doubt the Yanks would move a potential young stud, but Rodon and Cole are both not FA until 2029, Fried signed through 2032, and Warren and Schlitler are both still Pre-Arb so they are controlled long term. If there is a team that can afford to move a top pitching prospect it is the Yankees. and if it fills the primary area of need on. If Royce can go on a hot streak and you can then package him with some other talent to acquire a yougn starter like Lagrange. This would make for an acceptable "gap year"

The Twins are in need of a dynamic cultural shift. While I think the Twins COULD compete this year as currently constituted, I am an eternal optimist. I believe Lewis can return to his brief MVP type form, I believe Wallner can absolutely MASH, I believe Keaschall can be the real deal, I believe Buxton can be healthy again and have another productive year. that is nearly half of a potent lineup right there. The Twins want to win, but they also need to win back fans. They need to strategically gut this team. and to do so they need to crunch numbers and come up with a new analytic. a "butts in seats" and "eyes on Broadcasts" type numbers. I do not know answers to any of these hypothetical stats, but I believe the interest is so low in the Twins that trading ANYONE will not have a negative impact on butts in seats or eyes on broadcast numbers. This is actually an incredible position to be in!!! and should give the Twins Front Office confidence to do ANYTHING!!! The Twins need to do whatever is necessary to not just rebuild, but reshape how this roster is constructed. We need to focus on young exciting players with personalities. Has Joe Ryan ever pushed the needle on excitement? Sure, he is an All Star top of the rotation arm, btu has he really put butts in seats? Twins home attendance overall averaged 22,108. Home games Ryan pitched averaged 23,445 (that was buffered by a 40,100 attendance driven more by Skenes pitching for Pittsburgh). taking that game out the average was 22,164. SO, even with an All Star pitcher on the mound he drove 59 more tickets sold than the average. SO the negative financial impact from fans on moving him would be negligible at best. SO you trade a top arm with 2 years of control for a young top exciting prospect, and not only do you save the $6.2M in salary, but lets say we can get a top 10 or top 20 overall prospect for him. and he is someone who can make the team at some point this year... Say an Eldridge with massive power for 1B from SF, or an exciting Sebastian Walcott from Rangers, or an exciting speedster like Crawford from Phillies, Someone that is more "must see". That trade would put many more butts in seats!!! and an every day player doing every game vs 1 in every 5. Then, as much as I hate being redundant, to offset the loss in the rotation you go and you sign a Justin Verlander, you spike jersey sales, ticket sales etc. and while Verlander is no longer the perrenial Cy Young, he is still a winning pitcher as evidenced by his 2.69 ERA over his last 12 starts!! You then trade Trevor Larnach for anything and let one of Walker Jenkins, E Rodriguez or Gabriel Gonzalez, ro whatever young exciting prospect we get for Ryan get those ABs.

And another aspect that makes moves like stated above is the fact that if the Pohlad's did not ultimately sell outright, or if teh new limited partners have desire to buy more, the Twins are waiting until a new CBa is signed in a year+, and stocking the team with exciting young players to build a stronger season ticket base will only boost sale price of the Twins.

Having zero inside knowledge, it still seems abundantly clear there were major differences in opinion between Falvey and ownership. Usually this comes down to profitability vs winning. Just look at the waves of speculation. Speculation can always be wrong, but some speculation was based on facts. Initially It was anticipated that the Twins would move potentially multiple players. Larnach was expected to have been moved. Larnach is a redundant peice yet we then pivoted to signing him to nearly $4.5M. This may have made sense if you were thinking of signing him to trade for some sort of value vs simply DFA him. Yet there has been zero juice on him. So are we "stuck" with him as we have multiple young OF about ready to step up. Ryan was initially portrayed as a disgruntled Ace who wanted out at last years deadline. He has immense trade value so it seemed like the Twins would trade him. Then came the announcement shortly after investors were named where it was stated none of the Big 3 would get moved. OK then, if they aren't being moved then you would think you would secure them. but then comes the deadline to exchange ARB salaries, and the Twins secure deals with everyone except Rayn, and are only $500K apart., so maybe Ryan ISNT that vital to the team??? where you risk alienating over $500K coming off the last year plus??? The Twins typically do not continue negotiating with players, but then a bit later out of the blue they agreed to a 1 year deal at the midpoint. The ebb and flow of this is just not normal. SO what side of ownership wanted what? WHo wanted him signed and who wanted him traded? I guess we will see, but I guess Ryan is now traded. Josh Bell & Victor Caratini signed for a combined $14M this year. Spending $14M could typically signal we are looking to add. And while they could be decent signings, do we really look significantly different than we did prior to those signings? Falvey had done nothing to build excitement for the upcoming season. Was that because of him? or ownership? hard really to tell, but regardless there is still little to no excitement. There was a small boost when Joe was ousted, but that really did not sustain itself, While I am a Homer, and yes I do think Royce Lewis can turn it around and bounce back, and I do think Wallner can bounce back and I hope that Buck can have back to back good years, and i have hope that Keaschall is not Juline 2.0 and can continue his small sample size,I still wanted something of a jolt this offseason to bring it all together, and while Bell is solid that alone does not cut it. Interest and ticket sales have been sluggish at best, that is on Falvey (unless handcuffed). The Twins right now need something BOLD, even if just for the sake of being bold. That boldness needs to be trading Joe Ryan. and the Twins need to go big game prospect hunting. * Would the Rangers have interest in Ryan if the price included Sebastian Walcott? * Would the Giants have interest in Ryan if the price was Eldridge? * Would the Phillies have interest in Rayn if the price included Justin Crawford? The Twins need to identify a singular priority. Power, Speed, avg, defense, whatever it is. and maniacally go after that. Even if overpaying from a pitching standpoint. Ryan is a good pitcher, a winning pitcher, but does keeping Ryan put butts in seats? No, Would a 40+ HR 1B in Eldridge, or a top of scale speedster in Crawford, or a top overall exciting player in Walcott put butts in seats? YES. and they would contribute to W's just as much as Ryan would. As mentioned the Twins need to be bold, build excitement. Moving Ryan for a MLB ready or near MLB ready player like mentioned above is the first step. There are "seat fillers" still out there in FA. They may no longer be in their prime, but you offset Ryan by Signing Verlander, back it up with also signing Scherzer, and they are Seat Fillers who will easily bridge the gap to some of our up and coming potential starters. That shows we are not trading top players to slash payroll, and we are not trading top players for a long rebuild. We have 1-2 top prospect OF on the way who will be here this year. Pair that with another young top prospect in Eldridge, Walcott, Crawford or the like. and now you can sell the hope of a Royce and/or Wallner rebound to pair with Buxton, Jeffers, Keaschall, even Bell, and that is a lineup that can fill seats. you have a rotation with future HOF Verlander and Scherzer to go with Lopez and young arms and that is something that could fill seats and compete.

One interesting thing will be Joe Ryan, Is he more likely to be traded now? Falvey stated none of the big 3 would be traded. Was that a FAlvey decision or a Pohlad decision? With other top FA pitching signed Ryan could command a haul. And after initially not agreeing on a deal, Ryan was heading towards ARB, until a recent deal took place. What changed there? and was that a foreshadowing?

The New Twins FO has stated Ryan is one who will NOT be traded, that being said Rumors continue to swirl. It is pretty obvious that Joe Ryan will not sign a long-term deal in Minnesota. It has been reported that he wanted out at last years deadline. It is also clear that the Twins by not agreeing to a pre-arb deal over $500K have no interest in keeping him, or at least keeping him happy. At this point if nothing is done, Ryan has 2 ARB years with the Twins then hits FA with at best a QO. That being said with the QO proven to limit players earnings potential, the new CBA the players will be pushing to eliminate the QO. so the Twins could risk getting nothing. Speaking of the upcoming CBA, there is a real chance there could be at least a partial season loss with a contentious CBA negotiation on the horizon, so next year may be a wash regardless. As a result if the Twins do not foresee keeping Ryan longterm, then this offseason is the time to move him. The perfect team to trade with is now setting up to be the Yankees. The Yankees are still in need of a starter given they will start the year with multiple pitchers still recovering from injury. The Twins need to use that to leverage a solid return. That return starts with Carlos Lagrange. HE is nearly MLB ready and a top power arm. While near MLB ready the Yankees would prefer a proven potential ACE. SO what else do we demand? The Yankees after signing Bellinger have a glut of OF/DH. and while that is also where we have prospects coming there is quality there. whit a potential OF of Bellinger, Judge, Grisham locked in. that means no ABs for Dominguez, or now MLB ready Spencer Jones. Either Dominguez or Jones could be nice add ins. Dominguez is a butcher in the OF but has a quality bat. Jones has good speed, and while he K's a lot he also has tons of power. I doubt he is the next Aaron Judge, but I also don't think he is the next Joey Gallo. Another option that could be a benefit for the Twins could be Stanton. Stanton has a NT clause, but if the Yankees let him knwo they are going with the switch hitting Dominguez or the future with Jones and as a result his ABs will be slashed, then maybe he would waive NT clause. Stanton's deal pays him $29M & $25M over next 2 years, but Miami is already paying $10M each year. leaving just $15M & $19M. What if in order to get a proven top of the rotation arm In Ryan, they would have to eat the $34M remaining on Stanton's next 2 years? Then Lagrange and a free Stanton, could be a nice get for the Twins. What kind of trade chip would Stanton be at the deadline this year??!!!! especially if he keeps up his HR ratio of 1:10 Abs this year. HE would be the most in demand trade candidate at the deadline!! WHiel being FREE for this year and next, along with a team option for 2028. While Legrange may be ready to get some starts in the Bigs, he would obviously not be proven. The Twins could still then look to add a veteran arm like Verlander (my dream) to slot in.

The Twins have not done much, for good or for bad, to alter their OF/DH depth. Yes Twins signed Josh Bell. Another reclamation project who could be decent. Actually not a bad move given our situation and history, but not a game changer. Yes Twins signed Victor Caratini, again maybe another slight upgrade at back up C and possible 1B ABs, but again no game changer. The Twins still have redundancy issues and need to clear space at some time this year for a potential Tsunami of young OF. Emmanual Rodriguez (bats lefty) could be ready this year (unless he once again misses chunks of time with injuries). I think the best move is to trade his potential for pitching, but let's assume the Twins do not feel the same way. Obviously Walker Jenkins (bats lefty)is a freight train coming, will it be 2026? Gabriel Gonzalez (bats righty)could also be a player in 2026. He has only had 1 bad year in the minors in 2024 where he had some injury issues, after a "get right" year in 2025 he is poised for more. Any single one of them could get quality ABs in the Twins OF this year, so who is blocking them? 1) Byron Buxton. He is going nowhere. The only place he is going is to a corner OF spot in the next year or two. 2) Matt Wallner. as of now he is not going anywhere. He will flameout here before the Twins move him. He still has a lot of those "P" words. Power and Potential. Absolute worst case he stays in a platoon situation with??? (Gabriel Gonzalez anyone???) 3) Trevor Larnach. very similar (I.E. redundant) to Wallner, but 1 year older, $3.5M more expensive, less strikeouts and higher avg. but less power and significantly wekaer arm in the OF. Josh Bell removes some DH ABs which pushes Larnach back to more OF ABs. It is clear the person to move is Larnach. He is still decent to good, still has some power, and still relatively cheap (for most clubs). SO... where does he go? The Twins will obviousl ywait for Belli, and any other OF to sign as a FA before engaging in talks with teams who came up empty, But lets take a look at potential trade partners by reverse engineering a trade. 1) What ballpark is the best fit? What ballpark give sup the most LH HR? 2) What Teams have the best positonal fit? 3) What teams have the best prospect fit? #1 ballpark fit: 4 that stand out are Cinci, Orioles, Yankees, As (with their temp stadium until the Vegas stadium opens). Honorable Mention Red Sox. We do not need too much discussion here, this is pure data. these are the stadiums giving up the most HR to LH hitters. #2 Positional Fit: What teams have a need to fill what Larnach can plug? CINCINATTI: Cinci was 21st in HR last year while their ballpark giving up the most LH HR in the game. the only addition is JJ Bleday. I cannot see him being the answer. There is a positional fit here with weak OF/DH options overall. and a right handed heavy lineup. GOOD FIT YANKEES: with Stanton/Judge/Rice as potential DHs they are all either better or cheaper for that spot, in the OF there is Judge, Grisham, Dominguez in the OF with Gallo in the wings. Unless they give up Gallo or Stanton to get Larnach (which they will not move Gallo for Larnach, and Twins wont take Stanton's money...but they should)I do nto see a big need here. I do not even see a huge need for Belli. BAD POSITIONAL FIT ORIOLES: With Alonso, Basallo, and Mayo they have DH (and 1B) covered, unless Trevor changes his name to Larnacho there is no fit at DH. With Cowser, Ward, and O'neill in OF I do not see LArnach as a significant upgrade there. Add in OF prospects Beavers and Bradfield and I so not see a fit here. BAD POSITIONAL FIT As (or whatever they are/will be called: 1B & Dh are locked down with Kurtz & Rooker (unless As want to move Rookers salary.. still a couple years away from Vegas and Rooker is already 31). Soderstrom and Bulter are presumable locks and future pieces in OF, however Larnach would be an upgrade over current RF starter Colby Thomas. With few significant OF prospects on the verge. DECENT POSITIONAL FIT Red Sox: as a flier including the Sox because of Fenway. There OF is STACKED!!! but could some ABs at DH: BELOW AVG POSITIONAL FIT PROSPECT FIT: YANKEES: Lets make this quick. Larnach does not improve them. NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVE ALONG ORIOLES: See Yankees. NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVE ALONG RED SOX: Sox could use a DH, and some 1B reps if Casas is not healthy, if Casas is healthy then Larnach is a redundant yet less potential piece with Casas. Would want to trade for pitching, but in a deal here I think both sides would do a Larnach for Miguel Bleis deal. Bleis star has fallen significantly, yet he is the type of player Twins love to bring in. one with tons of past potential hoping to catch lightening in a bottle. DOUBTFUL DEAL CINCINATTI: Reds/Twins have history with trades, and I would say deals that helped both clubs, is there enough "there there" to do another? Would Cinci trade back CES? Would they send Petty back? Petty hasnt developed as a #1 pick would typically, but still young, CES has the dangerous potential but injury history, either of them would come with cost savings of at least $3.5M As: The As are an absolute wild card. What are they doing? are they building a core? looking to the future in Vegas? either way they have the potential to compete now, which means they most likely wouldn't move Rooker. But they are also a small market team that was actually MANDATED by the league to spend a minimum. Which is why they signed Severino. If they go cost conscious route, Do they think Rooker's contract will age poorly? and Larnach with the savings will be a good move? Would they want to move off of Severino's $25M this year and $22M PO next? and if so would it be worth it for the Twins to spend that money? Severino's splits away from teh joke minor league ballpark the As played in were actually quite good. I could also see a lottery ticket prospect like 17 year old Darwing Ozuna as a flier if our own prospects seem ready to take over this year. OVERALL: I still believe Larnach will get moved. I see the A's as a serious team to watch, Larnach fits a need in a cost conscious market with a positional need that is actually in a contention window. I do not think the A's are incompetent enough to say they are moving salary because of finances after surprising 2025 results and new found optimism, I mean what competent organization would do that? So would a Rooker or Severino be gettable? I doubt it but It take it. I see LArnach to A's for a prospect or two. and if going prospect hunting by moving a redundant piece I say go the lottery ticket route. Backup prediction is a deal with Cinci, they could use a bat at a decent price. Twins/Reds have a history, has the bloom come off CES in Cinci? I'd take him back!!!

Just a quick question... With Baltimore signing Pete Alonso, could this make a potential trade for Adley Rutschman more of a reality? Rutschman is somewhat redundant to Jeffers, both roughly the same lifetime stats, both roughly the same age, both expected to make roughly the same amount of money, The main differences being Rutschman is a switch hitter though vs Jeffers being a righty and Rutschman is going into Arb2 year and Jeffers Arb 3. Twins could keep them both fresh by platooning them. with Rutschman starting against Righties (hitting lefty) and Jeffers starting against lefties (hitting right) and then Rutschman could DH as a right-handed hitter against lefties. As far as Baltimore is concerned, they now have a C/1B/DH triumvirate of Basallo, Alonso, Rutschman. BUT they also have a number of potential DH quality bats in their organization making Rutschman a potential odd man out as both Basallo and Alonso both signed long term now. Of course, we just said we would not trade Ryan or Lopez, but the Orioles are looking for another starter. I wouldn't trade either of those for a package centering on Rutschman, but overall, I just have to wonder, is Rutschman more available now than he was 2 days ago? and would there be a fit with the Twins?