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Three trades the Minnesota Twins need to make right now: Part I

Thrylos

Entry posted by Thrylos ·

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Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch

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A couple days after the All Star game, the Twins find themselves nine games above .500, and in the midst of a competing season. The fact that the Twins are competing, might be a surprise to some, but from what I have seen in Spring Training, this team had all the making of a competing team, and I even compared it to the 1987 team. Like the 1987 team, which would not have won if not addressing them, the 2015 Twins have some glaring weaknesses that they would need to fix. These weakness are at their Bullpen, Catcher, Shortstop and the Power department. I will be proposing three trades that the Twins would need to make right now to not only ensure the continuation of competitiveness, but to propel themselves to the next level.

 

Trade number 1:

 

Danny Santana, Mike Tonkin and Jake Reed to the Oakland Athletics for Ben Zorbrist and Tyler Clippard.

 

Why would the Twins do it:

 

Tyler Clippard, even though he is not a top closer any more, will be a great improvement over the likes of Casey Fien and Blair Boyer in solidifying the RH setup spot in the pen. Zorbrist brings a glove that plays in every position in the diamond and will solidify the utility role shared by the Eduardos (Escobar and Nunez.) The Twins should call up their number 2 prospect (after they called up number 1 and number 3,) Jorge Polanco, who is the future and the present of the team as the starter at Shortstop. The 21 year old has been hitting .300/.340/.399 between Chattanooga and Rochester and his glove is at least as good as Santana's at this point. Zorbrists and Clippard are 30-something, but are free agents after this season, so the financial commitment is not going to impede any future teams. Clippard can potentially be extended, if his performance dictates it. They are not loosing that much in Santana, Tonkin and Reed. Santana, despite his comet-like 2014, still profiles as a utility player and needs work on both sides on the plate, Tonkin had plenty of opportunities to prove himself in the bigs, many more that relievers with better minor league record like Anthony Slama, and has failed. Still has a 95 mph fastball than an organization will find usefull. Jake Reed has a very good pro career so far, but an abysmal 2015 and the Twins' draft has at least 4 RHRP in the Twins' minors (Burdi, Chargois, Peterson, Achter - in no order) ahead of him, thus making him expandable. It will also allow Jorge Polanco to join Sano and Buxton, making the future the present. Yes, the Twins are losing some talent, but a. they need to give value to get value and b. have better talent in those positions.

 

Why would the Athletics do it:

 

Other than the prorated $16 million reasons between the two players (about $7.5 M in salary relief), for a team that is not going anywhere, they are getter 3 young players who do have potential. Santana's 2014 season might have not been as much a mirage as I think it was, and two young arms with high 90s heat and record of success, are more than something to consider.

 

This is probably the definition of a win-win trade.

 

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RealTwinsFan357

Clippard I like, but I don't see a need for Zobrist, especially if Polanco starts at SS. We would still have the 2 Eduardos for infield backup along with Robinson and Hicks (assuming Rosario, Buxton, and Hunter in the OF) to backup the outfield. Arcia could get thrown into the mix, too (especially in sept).

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Thrylos

My bad on Jay, need to edit that.   I think that Zorbist is better than the Eduardos and Robinson.  Cannot play CF, but Rosario can.  Robinson does not need to be on the team right now.  Zorbrist also has 4 years of post-season experience, which is valuable.

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RealTwinsFan357

I have always been a huge fan of Zobrist, and I agree he is better than the Eduardos, I would just want him to play enough to be valuable is all. I didn't think about postseason experience, but that's a really good point and could come into play

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kab21

You are going to have to give up far more than that to get Zobrist.  You can't tell us how bad Santana is all season and then flip and say that he is valuable as a centerpiece for a legitimately great player like Zobrist.  2 struggling RP'ers certainly aren't the main pieces of the trade.

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Thrylos

Zorbrist and Clippard are free agents after this season.  So Oakland will be left with nothing.  Rentals.  You cannot give them much more than that...

 

(I have been telling how not ready Santana is, for a few seasons now, btw...)

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jorgenswest

Oakland will do better. Zobrist will get a qualifying offer and result in a comp pick and the associated draft dollars. Oakland would need to see the deal as losing Zobrist, Clippard and a comp pick to get a young SS that may not be able to stay at the position and weaker minor league credentials than the guy they have and two relievers. I don't think Beane sees much value in relievers. I think he will get starting pitching prospects as a result of moving those two.

 

While the trade is fair on paper, the trade deadline is a sellers market. It isn't enough to the seller to simply win-win.

 

Edit: Tonkin probably adds no value to the A's. He will be out of options and the A's have no opportunity to develop him. If the Twins don't value him this year, why would another team see value? They just need to wait until he is DFA'd next spring.

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Thrylos

 

  On 7/20/2015 at 12:47 AM, jorgenswest said:

Oakland will do better. Zobrist will get a qualifying offer

 

No.  $13 million a year for  a 36 year old utility player?  Zobrist will take the money and run.

 

Not happening :)

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jokin

 

  On 7/20/2015 at 1:44 AM, Thrylos said:

No.  $13 million a year for  a 36 year old utility player?  Zobrist will take the money and run.

 

Not happening :)

 

Then he'll be the first to take the money.  And he just turned 34 in May, not 36.  He's relatively young enough and still productive and versatile enough that I gotta think someone with the money to spend (that loves solid veterans) is going to give him at least a 2-year deal that will easily beat the QO in terms of total dollars.

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Thrylos

 

  On 7/20/2015 at 6:01 PM, Shane Wahl said:

Zobrist isn't a SS. End of story.

 

Last season he had a 2.8 UZR/150 and career -1.9 UZR/150
Santana has a career -8.5 UZR/150, and Nunez -27.1.   He is a better Shortstop that those 2.   And those are the one he will be replacing.  Also, Polanco will be the every day shortstop. 

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