cjm0926

I was thinking about this recently, and I think it would be wise to look into this. Maybe a 1 year extension with an added team option for the Twins which would look something like this. 2027 - $21.75 million (last year of previous deal) 2028 - $10 million 2029 (Age 33 season) - $22 million team option ($4 million buyout) This gives Lopez some peace of mind as he won't feel the need to rush his rehab, having a guaranteed $14 million added, and gives the Twins a good chance at getting some surplus value if Pablo is anywhere close to his pre-surgery form in 2028. This structure matches the Bieber extension pretty closely, except it adds $6 million to the option but turns it into a team option instead of player, making it a net $18M decision. Also important to note, Ober and Ryan are also free agents after the '27 season, and although there is a lot of time for young arms to prove themselves before then, really the only other arm that has proven anything at the big league level is aside from the current top 3 is SWR, which I think makes the short-term extension a smart move, if it is something Pablo is interested in.

If there is some way the Twins do not move either Lopez or Ryan, I'd think about moving SWR. He is still very young, and will be only 25 years old for almost all of the 2026 season. He has MLB experience with solid results in each of the past 4 seasons, but still has 5 years of team control left. I'd propose something along the lines of SWR and Kala'i Rosario for Edgar Quero from Chicago. The Twins would get a young catcher who has had some MLB success for the next 6 years, and the White Sox would get a young SP for the next 5 years that could theoretically be the best SP in their rotation to start 2026. The reason the White Sox may do this is because they have 3 young MLB catchers in Teel, Quero and Lee. This theoretical trade leaves the Twins with a rotation of Ryan, Lopez, Ober, Matthews, Bradley with depth of Festa (health-depending), Abel, Morris, Prielipp, Rojas, etc. And gives the Twins a young backup catcher in 2026 who could take over if/when Jeffers leaves.

One thing I think that could be interesting is possibly trading one of these young arms to the White Sox for one of their young catchers. They have Teel and Quero, with Korey Lee in AAA (albeit much less value). Maybe the Sox would be interesting in adding a young pitcher with similar team control instead of holding onto multiple young catchers and trying to split reps. If possible, I'd try to trade SWR (5 years of control) and a mid-level prospect for Edgar Quero (6 years of control). I'm sure the Sox would value some guys over others in our system, but I think it would be wise to find a way to maximize the value of our abundance of young arms and add to a position of long-term need.

Yea thats my bad, shortly after posting the comment I kind of realized that and edited the comment, but it must not have updated quick enough. Thats on me.

No doubt this team has much more energy and is a lot more fun to watch. Don't want to jump the gun but it looks like Keaschall could be the 2B of the future. The Correa trade helped clear the Lee/Keaschall/Julien jam at 2B a bit but his performance would have sorted that out for itself anyways. I was fortunate enough to briefly meet Keaschall before the game Friday, and he seems to be a friendly, humble guy which bodes well for chemistry within the clubhouse. Good stuff Keaschall!

Like you mentioned, young guys will come up and hopefully develop. For guys like Lee and Martin, they obviously make mistakes in-game which then people call for them to be sent down and proclaim they are not apart of the future. Even though it may not be pretty right now, I think the best thing for those guys like Lee, Martin, Wallner and Keaschall is to learn on the job in the big leagues, especially with the lowered expectations now. They don't have anything left to prove in the minors, and hopefully they can keep gaining experience this season and come back improved and more comfortable/confident next season. I think it is underlooked for many guys how important it is to get familiar and some confidence on the big stage. As for guys like Julien and Miranda, I think that stage has passed and they may need a change of scenery.

I don't think it is crazy to say at all that Louis Varland's value would possibly have been higher in the future. A year or two down the road if Varland kept improving like he already was showing he had been, with that nasty of stuff you could have been talking about a borderline Duran-esque return. With that being said, there are plenty of young players who show promise and eventually fade or regress. All in all, not a fan of the trade at all, but will cheer for Roden and Rojas' success, and will cheer extra hard for the sale of the team and the replacement of the front office and manager.

Not sure how to feel about the trade right now. It sucks to lose a guy like Duran, but it will be years down the road until we can really evaluate the trade. Trade aside, the Twins have a lot of pitching in the upper minors to test out in the coming years, or trade from depending on the scenario. MLB - Ryan, Lopez, Ober, SWR, Festa/Matthews Minors - Abel, Morris, Adams, Ohl, Lewis, Raya, MacLeod, Non-Roster veterans, Prielipp, Culpepper, Klein, Hidalgo, Bowen Pretty fair assumption most of those guys won't pan out and stick around, but should be interesting to see. Tait isn't a bad get at all, just risky considering he is multiple years away from the big leagues if everything goes right. The Twins don't really have a sure-thing future catcher in their system right now, but Olivar, Diaw and now Tait are the closest thing they may have. They've also got a few guys who could MAYBE turn out to be decent backup catchers such as Cardenas, Winkel, Baez or Cossetti. Should be interesting to follow because who knows what the big league team will look like after tomorrow and the '26 offseason.

As much as I hate to say it, I think it would be wise to trade one of Duran/Jax, with a heavy preference towards Jax. He has proven he may never be a "closer," but is one hell of a setup man. Fortunately for us, we have Varland and Stewart who could also step into that setup role. Therefore I propose trading Jax to Seattle for Harry Ford and Tyler Locklear. Not quite the two top-100 prospects such as the original ask, but you are getting two legit prospects that are major league ready, at the Twins 2 biggest positions of need.

If possible I'd be interested in packaging Bader and Coulombe to the Mets for Drew Gilbert. Former top prospect who has fallen out of their plans, but is having a solid resurgence year in AAA with a .790 OPS and appears to be big league ready. It would allow you to also move Larnach for something and replace him with Gilbert, who is faster and a better fielder, and has a similar hitting profile. Gilbert could also probably play a decent CF, so thats a plus. The new outfield would be Gilbert, Buxton, Wallner with depth pieces such as Martin, Keirsey, ERod, McCusker, Gonzalez, Jenkins, Rosario, Fedko and whoever else you may acquire in a trade. Plenty of guys to give chances and shake things up a bit.

Although the trade deadline is less than a week away, it is still not completely known the direction that the Twins will go in. Will they buy, hold or sell? If not already decided, it will need to be decided soon, with 2 more games to play against the Nationals and 3 against the Red Sox before the Thursday deadline. If the Twins decided to sell/retool, I put together somewhat of a blueprint of what they could do to stay somewhat competitive while also not punting on the future. Griffin Jax to Seattle for Harry Ford, Tyler Locklear It has been reported that Seattle may be looking to add another bullpen arm, and there is not a whole lot better available than Griffin Jax. Jax would give Seattle a perfect setup man for Munoz for the next 2.5 seasons, but it would come at a steep price. In this deal, the Twins land MLB’s 50th overall prospect in Harry Ford, and a top 10 first base prospect in the league. This gives them 2 young, talented players who have produced in AAA and could be ready to immediately go to Minneapolis if the Twins feel comfortable with it. The Twins seem better suited to lose an elite reliever than most teams, as they have arms like Louie Varland and Brock Stewart to backfill the setup role in front of Jhoan Duran. Christian Vazquez to Boston for lotto ticket prospect This trade is more about clearing up space to allow Harry Ford from the trade above to get a more regular role with the big league club. He hasn’t made his debut yet, but depending on who you ask he is ready to head up to the big leagues. As for Vazquez, he isn’t the same player he was in his Boston days, but they may be willing to bring back a familiar face to back up their main guy in Carlos Narvaez. The return here would likely only be a rookie ball lotto ticket level prospect. Ty France to ? for lotto ticket prospect Like Vazquez, France has little to no value on the trade market. It is possible a team would take him and his cheap salary, but I am not sure. This is also more so to open up a spot to give some young guys an audition. I don’t think France is a bad player, he just has no future with Minnesota being a 1B only so I’d rather move on and give young guys such as Locklear and Sabato a chance. Castro to New York Yankees for Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and Brock Selvidge This may be too much, but obviously I am not Derek Falvey discussing these trades. In this trade, the Twins add 2 pitchers that are currently the Yankees #6 and #12 overall prospects according to MLB. Castro is a fit on nearly every contender, so it could create a bidding war and drive his price up to where this is plausible. Rodriguez-Cruz is a soon to be 22 year old RHP in Double-A sporting a 2.42 ERA in 96.2 inning between A+ and AA this season. Selvidge is also a 22 year old in AA but is a LHP. He has a 3.78 ERA in 33.1 innings at AA this season. I am not very familiar with either prospect, but after a quick glance they seem they could be interesting and realistic to target for the Twins. Paddack, Larnach to SDP for Bradgley Rodriguez and Kash Mayfield Rodriguez is a hard throwing 21 year old in the Padres system who made his debut earlier this year. Mayfield is a 20 year old LHP who is in Single-A. This trade gives the Padres a familiar face in Paddack, who recently pitched very well against the Padres top rival, the Dodgers. It also finally gives the Padres a left fielder that could ideally stop the shuffle in the grass. Larnach is a slightly above average hitter with solid metrics, so maybe the Padres feel they could unlock some more. The time is ticking on the Padres, and with all of their big contracts their window may be closing. Bader, Coulombe to New York Mets for Drew Gilbert Gilbert, a Stillwater, MN native is having somewhat of a resurgence in AAA this year, batting .248 with a .796 OPS in 296 Triple-A AB’s this season. His prospect stock has fallen, but could still profile as a good big-leaguer. He has a chance to stick in center field, but would likely be a plus defender in the corners. This would replace Larnach and give the Twins a more athletic, slightly younger player while not sacrificing a ton of offense, but that would remain to be seen. In return the Twins are trading away 2 valuable players on expiring contracts. This makes sense for both sides, as Gilbert is likely not in the Mets plans with Nimmo and Soto patrolling 2 outfield spots, and other OF prospects ahead of Gilbert on their pecking order. Julien and Miranda I think Julien is a good change of scenery candidate, as he has kind of fallen out of the plans in Minnesota. A trade involving him could be something like Julien to the Pirates for Henry Davis or a decent reliever, although that is unnecessary if they land Ford. Some team may buy-low and think they can fix him. As for Miranda, its hard to believe he has any value, and like Julien, is out of options next year. I think the best course of action is to keep him in AAA, and maybe call him back up in September or as-needed for injuries to possibly regain some value. If he sticks around, 2026 Spring Training would be his last chance or he could turn into a surefire DFA candidate. New Lineup C - Jeffers 1B - Locklear 2B - Lee 3B - Lewis SS - Correa LF - Gilbert CF - Buxton RF - Wallner DH - Keaschall Backup C - Ford UTIL - Martin UTIL - Clemens 4th OF/ Pinch Runner - Keirsey Jr. Rotation - Lopez, Ryan, Ober, SWR, Matthews, Festa Bullpen - Duran, Varland, Stewart, Sands, Topa, Rodriguez, Funderburk, Tonkin/Davis With all of the trades made above, this is a team that could be assembled with the new pieces. Obviously some are interchangeable and nothing would be set in stone. I would like to see Aaron Sabato get a chance with the Twins at some point, but that remains to be seen. These trades would ideally keep the big league club competitive and interesting, but gives young players an audition for a bigger role in the next year or so. You aren’t really buying, so you keep your top prospect like Jenkins, Rodriguez and Culpepper to debut in the future. I think something like this would help the Twins immensely, as they would get younger and hungrier as a team overall, and it shakes up a little bit of the core that has underperformed a bit and might light a fire under some guys. Obviously it is uncertain what route the Twins will take, but it is likely some trades are made one way or the other. Obviously these trades are likely not going to happen, but I just thought it would be fun to mess around with and see what may match up and what may not. I’d be interested to hear your tweaks or other trade proposals in the comments. Thanks for reading!

I'd offer Griffin Jax to the Mariners for Harry Ford and Tyler Locklear. I think the Twins are in a good position to be able to trade Jax. His value will never be higher, and you could backfill his setup role with Varland and Stewart while keeping Duran as the closer. As for the return, it isn't quite the 2 top-100 prospects but pretty dang close. Ford is an athletic catcher who is ML ready and is MLB's #50 prospect. Locklear has already made his debut but has put up big numbers at AAA, and he is the #8 first base prospect in MLB, likely right outside of the top 100. You could trade Vazquez and France for whatever you could get for them, and call those guys up and let them play for the rest of the season. Jax would give Seattle another monster at the back of the bullpen if they are willing to give the two young guys up.

Bring Martin up for Castro if/when he is traded. As for the other two, like NYCTK stated above, they are both out of options going into 2026. Julien would have a little more value, so ideally trade him for a reliever or maybe another change-of-scenery candidate. As for Miranda, I know the AAA numbers are ugly, but I'd give him one last chance in the bigs, whether that is if France is gone, or filling in for an injury. It gives him a chance to possibly regain some value, or pushes it to the point where it may be necessary to DFA him unfortunately. I think there is a chance both Julien and Miranda could revitalize their MLB careers, I just don't think it will happen in Minnesota.

Id be very interested in adding Yandy Diaz to the team. His contract signed this past offseason actually guarantees $12 million in 2026 and then added a club option for the 2027 season. Therefore you could be getting 2.5 years of Diaz in a trade to lock down 1B. He is okay at first, but with Tampa having Aranda he is full time DH, so its tough to gauge his value. Its tough to know what the Rays would want, but maybe I'd start with an offer of Julien, Kala'i Rosario, and a decent rookie ball/A-ball player. I'd like to think Julien has rebuilt a little value in AAA, and some team may be willing to buy low if they think they can help him regain form. If anyone thinks they could, it would probably be Tampa, and he could be a natural cheap Lowe replacement at 2B, they have very similar profiles. As for Rosario, I think he has a chance to be a solid big leaguer some day with his power, I just don't think he will get the chance in Minnesota. And if the Rays see someone in the lower minors they like, that may be the tipping point to get them to do the deal. Not sure if this would work or be enough, but just an idea.

It is very possible they would have to give up more, which I'd balk at. Im keeping this offer firm to Philly, in which maybe as the deadline creeps up, Dombrowski folds and accepts it if they think Jax is the level of arm that anchor the back of their bullpen to a World Series. As for Kepler, I am not too insistent on getting him back, just the fit in Philly has not been good and it actually helps the Twins in trade value I'd think. He would just give the twins a known commodity in the corner outfield instead of completely relying on a combination of Wallner/Keirsey/E-Rod.