5 Former Twins on the Trade Block

[Cody Christie]

The Twins need to continue to add to the roster for 2023. Do any of these former Twins fit with the team’s future plans?

Image courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, USA TODAY Sports

Many of the league’s top free agent options are officially signed, meaning teams must turn to trades to improve their teams. Minnesota has former players on rosters throughout baseball, but the following players have seen their names thrown around in the rumor mill. Not all of these players fit with Minnesota’s current roster construction, but some of the names have something to offer the 2023 Twins.  

Aaron Hicks, OF
Hicks is owed roughly $30 million over the next three seasons, but his performance has significantly declined over the last four seasons. He averaged 48 games from 2019-2021 with a 103 OPS+. In 2022, he played 130 games and hit .216/.330/.313 (.642) with 19 extra-base hits. Defensively, Hicks has started to play less time in center field, which takes away some of his overall value. 
Twins Fit: Low. The Twins have better options at all three outfield positions. 

Josh Donaldson, 3B
Last winter, Minnesota got out of the final two years (and $50M) of Donaldson’s four-year deal by trading him to the Yankees. Reports point to New York having a tough time finding a trade partner for Donaldson and Hicks. Last season, Donaldson had a below 100 OPS+ for the first time since 2012. He already turned 37 years old at the beginning of December, and he is likely on the backside of his career. 
Twins Fit: Low. The Twins were happy to get out of Donaldson’s contract.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
Kiner-Falefa’s Twins tenure was short-lived, but the organization was interested in him before the Donaldson trade. In 2022, he hit .261/.314/.327 (.642) while ranking 8th among AL shortstops in SABR’s Defensive Index. His defensive skills are what the Twins were interested in last year, but there are stronger defenders on the trade market. His Whiff% (99th percentile) and K% (92nd percentile) bring down an offensive profile that already includes limited power. 
Twins Fit: Medium. Minnesota could use more depth at shortstop, but he might not be an upgrade over Kyle Farmer. 

Liam Hendriks, RP
Hendriks has been one of baseball’s best closers over the last four seasons. He’s under contract for $14.33 million next season, and his $15 million team option for 2024 becomes guaranteed if he is traded. The White Sox have discussed trading Hendriks with multiple teams, including the Mets. Plenty of teams will be interested in acquiring Hendriks, but it seems unlikely for Chicago to trade him in the division.  
Twins Fit: Medium. Paying Hendriks nearly $30 million over the next two seasons is a lot of money, but he’d significantly upgrade the team’s bullpen. 

Eduardo Escobar, UTL
Until recently, the Mets had Escobar penciled in as their starting third baseman. However, Carlos Correa’s signing means Escobar lost his starting job. He is under contract for $9.5 million for 2023 with a $9 million option ($500,000 buyout) for 2024. In 136 games last season, he hit .240/.295/.430 (.726) with 26 doubles, four triples, and 20 home runs. He’s averaged a 108 OPS+ over the last two seasons, but he is closing in on his mid-30s. 
Twins Fit: Medium. Escobar was a joy when he was with the Twins, but the team doesn’t have a clear need for a utility player. 

Should the Twins try and trade for any of these former Twins? Are any of them a better fit than the others? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. 

 

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[bloggymcbloggerson]

if none of these fits are better than medium why are we talking about them

[Fire Dan Gladden]

I agree with your assessments, though Escobar has a team friendly contract, brings intangible values, and lifts the bench floor.  He would be a fit here. 

[Doctor Gast]

No, I've always liked Escobar, but what we need is a better SS, which puts Farmer as utility. It's too late for Falefa after we got Farmer

Dealing with CWS will be a hassle for Hendricks

No way the others

FAs are a different story, I'm all in to sign Rogers, Fulmer & Cruz.

[MTV]

Escobar wouldn’t be a bad get, he’s not too expensive and is a better 3B option than Miranda

[CRF]

Always like Esco and hated that we traded him, even though Duran was one of the players we got back for him. That turned out ok. Wouldn't mind him back. Hendriks would be a decent get, but there's no way that the Sox trade him to us. The other guys...fuggettaboutit. 

[LewFordLives]

I have always liked Escobar, but I don't see the logic in trading for him after they basically gave away Gio. 

[Brandon]

There’s a good fit for Escobar in. Boston as Story slides over to SS from a now open 2B.

[Johnny Ringo]

Same old. Down to stems and seeds again. 

[mikelink45]

Never go backward.  If bringing the old gang back again is the best thing you can think of to get fan interest you have already lost. 

[DocBauer]

You could do worse than IKF at SS and allow Farmer to be a super utility guy, but why trade for him instead of a possible 1yr deal for a similar player in Iglesias? For that matter, how about a 1yr deal with an option and $1M buyout on an Andrus gamble that the return of his bat in 2022 wasn't a 1 shot deal?

I don't think I see a fit.

Escobar still has value as a utility player and solid bat with some power. But he'd have to come cheap otherwise, roll with what you have I guess. Are there FA options at utility that are worth anything? I'd have to go looking at the list of available again, but not sure there's much left there of interest.

Everything else is a no.

Looks like Garlick is going to be our RH role playing OF after Myers was signed to a cheap deal. Ugh!

[old nurse]

5 hours ago, MTV said:

Escobar wouldn’t be a bad get, he’s not too expensive and is a better 3B option than Miranda

He would be a better option if he was still the player he was when he left. He is not

[nicksaviking]

I’m not defending the roster build, but the Twins DO NOT need to add to their roster. If you can get top end talent, sure do that obviously. But they don’t need to add players just to add players. They have enough young guys ready to serve and they’re better than most of these guys. 
 

And I hate “putting the band back together”. If they add, get new blood.

[old nurse]

I think the Twins should trade for all 3 players from the Yankees. The catch is there has to be a low level prospect for each year of a contract.   If people think this current team is so bad they might as well rebuild through the minors

[Danchat]

Quote

Minnesota could use more depth at shortstop, but he might not be an upgrade over Kyle Farmer. 

If Kyle Farmer is as good as people are saying he is, why did he only cost a non-top 30 prospect to acquire while IFK cost Mitch Garver?

[solomon1930]

12 hours ago, LewFordLives said:

I have always liked Escobar, but I don't see the logic in trading for him after they basically gave away Gio. 

Exactly what I was going to post.   Also, give Miranda his shot at 3B if that is the actual plan and see what happens.

 

[Mark G]

"Escobar was a joy when he was with the Twins, but the team doesn’t have a clear need for a utility player."

That is pretty close to heresy on this team.  We crave UTL players.  We turn regulars into UTL players to spread around at bats.  A reasonably priced UTL player falls back into our lap, and we are debating it? 

And if you are taking this seriously, feel free to yell at me.  I won't hold it against you. ? 
 

[rv78]

This is funny. Funny how washed up players, (outside of Hendriks) get the attention on this site. Sure, Hicks would be a great addition. He fits every thing the Twins like about a player. Plays part-time, can't hit and only cost roughly $10M per season. He'd be a better deal than Gallo at $11M and you can throw that money away for 3 years instead of just one. Perfect! Maybe, just maybe, don't hold your breath, someday the FO will figure out that if you spend all of the money you throw at 2 worthless players and use it to get 1 good player you'll be much better off. For instance, Kepler is getting $8.5M in 2023 and Gallo will get $11M. Just imagine the type of player they could get if they used that $19.5M on 1 player, It might actually be a player that can hit!

[DJL44]

17 hours ago, MTV said:

Escobar wouldn’t be a bad get, he’s not too expensive and is a better 3B option than Miranda

Dealing away Urshela and aquiring Escobar would be a weird lateral move.

[LewFordLives]

2 hours ago, solomon1930 said:

Exactly what I was going to post.   Also, give Miranda his shot at 3B if that is the actual plan and see what happens.

 

Yeah, although I think they need another utility type for depth. There needs to be a plan B if Miranda struggles.

[Werbellik]

Correa SIGNED with the Mets?

[Kipp35]

Is this article really asking about former Twins players, most past any prime they may have had, coming back? This team either gave up on these guys or delt them away when we couldn't use them anymore.

Just because this FO doesn't know how to multi-task, and work with more than one FA at a time; does not mean we should sign past the prime players no other team wants, just because they used to be a Twin...

[mikelink45]

Remember the past Twins reunions?   In 2014 Kare 11 reported "The Minnesota Twins have agreed to minor league contracts with former outfielders Joe Benson and Darin Mastroianni"  Torii Hunter gave us a nice return,  You might remember other ex-twins that were on the spring training roster and thankfully did not make the regular season rosters. 

Very seldom does a returning player bring back what they had when they left. 

http://Former Twins return playing for other teams - I know you want some players back, but when they come back it is not at their peak value.  Mostly they are a reminder that sometimes it is better to keep rather than bring back. 

 

[JD-TWINS]

18 hours ago, MTV said:

Escobar wouldn’t be a bad get, he’s not too expensive and is a better 3B option than Miranda

Escobar at $9 million per year for 2 years - 25 points less batting average & same power, couple years older than what we traded in Urshella. Same salary. Why?

Freed salary to sign impact guys & to let Miranda have a place to develop. As much power as Urshella or Escobar. He has a ceiling at 3rd but he’s not a butcher - needs more regular time……2-3 more years at $700K!!! Harmon Killebrew played third base off & on over a number of years…….

Sign some pitching help!

Trading for guys that are washed makes no sense & Escobar is the only 1 of 5 here that even makes one stop & think.

 

[sun]

3 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Escobar at $9 million per year for 2 years - 25 points less batting average & same power, couple years older than what we traded in Urshella. Same salary. Why?

Freed salary to sign impact guys & to let Miranda have a place to develop. As much power as Urshella or Escobar. He has a ceiling at 3rd but he’s not a butcher - needs more regular time……2-3 more years at $700K!!! Harmon Killebrew played third base off & on over a number of years…….

Sign some pitching help!

Trading for guys that are washed makes no sense & Escobar is the only 1 of 5 here that even makes one stop & think.

 

I think that Esco would be more than a lateral move & an improvement over Urshela. He's among the best switch hitters and has more power. A lot of fans were disappointed when he was traded, and he wasn't able to team up with Polanco. Now if that opportunity exists it become a spark to produce something greater than the sum of its parts. I don't thoroughly trust Miranda playing 3B nor Kirilloff making a total enough recovery to play 1B without proof. Esco has an option so it could only be for one year. Esco  is a versatile player who hustles on the base paths with more speed than Urshela. I think that both Esco & many fans would get a charge if he returned to the Twins. As long as the fans like him and respect him. And the Twins would be saving money overall if they trade Kepler. So there would be some upside. I think that it would be a good idea to sign Esco if the Twins are going to trade Kepler anyway. A switch hitter with power is beneficial and could mesh well with Polanco.

[Twodogs]

I don't think I'd trade anything for Escobar.  But I mean if he was given away I'd probably be fine with him.  Now I know a lot of people are talking about lateral movement here, but I think when the twins traded away Gio, I believe that they thought they'd get Correa back.  So that would have put Farmer in as the Utility player.  Now that it looks as though Farmer is probably the starter, keeping Miranda at 3rd and having Escobar as the Utility seems like it would be a decent fit.  But again like I said I wouldn't give them anything for him.  I mean the Twins probably need to reconsider doing a rebuild at this point in time.  Especially if they struggle this season they probably will have to trade gray, mahle, maeda, gallo, Kepler, polanco and whoever else at the deadline so as to start over.  So no point in trading any prospects for an Escobar at this point in time.   

[JD-TWINS]

20 hours ago, sun said:

I think that Esco would be more than a lateral move & an improvement over Urshela. He's among the best switch hitters and has more power. A lot of fans were disappointed when he was traded, and he wasn't able to team up with Polanco. Now if that opportunity exists it become a spark to produce something greater than the sum of its parts. I don't thoroughly trust Miranda playing 3B nor Kirilloff making a total enough recovery to play 1B without proof. Esco has an option so it could only be for one year. Esco  is a versatile player who hustles on the base paths with more speed than Urshela. I think that both Esco & many fans would get a charge if he returned to the Twins. As long as the fans like him and respect him. And the Twins would be saving money overall if they trade Kepler. So there would be some upside. I think that it would be a good idea to sign Esco if the Twins are going to trade Kepler anyway. A switch hitter with power is beneficial and could mesh well with Polanco.

Miranda is our 3B in 2023, period. No trades happening to change that! Nobody trades Urshella with Miranda needing a position to then seek another third baseman.

Maybe sign Evan Longoria for $5 million as a depth piece at 3rd and a right handed DH alternative. Good experience and leader by example in clubhouse at 37?