In his latest article on The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal lists the Twins as one of the six teams that are in on 32 year old FA catcher Christian Vazquez. Other teams listed include Cubs, Cardinals, Padres, Guardians, and Astros (albeit in a platoon role).
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Five words Twins fans did not want to hear to start this offseason. Jon Heyman has reported that while Trea Turner is obviously open to returning to the premiere Los Angeles team, the Dodgers themselves may be targeting Correa as their number one shortstop free agent.
This is terrible news for the Twins, especially coupled with rumors that the Yankees may be sore after their ALCS loss and may also enter the fray for Correa.
It's safe to say that if those teams are involved, the Twins' chance of retaining Correa approaches zero.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/10/dodgers-interested-in-carlos-correa.html
Pitching, as we all know, isn’t exactly a position of strength for our Minnesota Twins. The numbers definitely illustrate that.
Team ERA: 4.06 (T-19th)
Team WHIP: 1.25 (T-13th)
Team Pitching HR/9: 1.26 (T-26th)
Team ERA-: 109 (T-19th)
The Twins, if they are to make the postseason and win a series when they get there, will need to make major improvements to the pitching staff. Carlos Rodon could be a start.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/07/nl-west-notes-ohtani-padres-walker-rodon-giants-bard.html
Here is an excerpt from the above article:
Chasing down the Dodgers for first place is probably out of the question, but San Francisco is still only 3.5 games out of the final wild card spot, and a +26 run differential argues that the Giants are at least a little better than their losing record indicates. That said, the Giants have several intriguing trade options, including Carlos Rodon (who can opt out of his deal after the season) as a rental piece. SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson speculates that the Twins would be one of many interested parties if the Giants did shop Rodon, as Minnesota “were right there” in trying to sign Rodon last winter.
As Mark Polishuk says, the Giants are in contention for a wild card spot, but are 3.5 games out and have lost 7 straight games. If the Giants were to shop Rodon, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North thinks that the Twins would be a suitor, due to the fact that the Twins were a top contender for Rodon this past offseason. Rodon would absolutely make this Twins team better.
Rodon would be a rental, as he has the option to opt out after the end of the season. Rodon would not be enough to fix all of the Twins issues, so if the Twins were to acquire Rodon, they would also need to acquire another starter and a couple of relievers.
Do you think the Twins should call the Giants about Rodon? What kind of package would it take to acquire Rodon? Would it be worth it in the end?
The Athletic's Dan Hayes mentions briefly that the Twins are more interested in Tyler Mahle than they are Luis Castillo.
Mahle doesn't have the eye-popping stats of Castillo but would be a considerable upgrade to the Twins' rotation, as would Castillo. If the Twins are pursuing Mahle over Castillo, is it due to price, untapped potential, or both?
I still think Montas is a long shot, the A's seem to be really intent on asking top dollar for him. If they haven't already overplayed their hand, I think there's a good chance they'll end up doing so.
In his trade deadline roundup, Ken Rosenthal writes that the Twins need to make a splash and rival officials are predicting the team to fade away as the summer rolls along.
One official said the Guardians are better than the Twins, which is probably a fair assessment... but the shocking prediction from another official is that the White Sox will win the division by 5+ games when all is said and done.
That's a lot of confidence for a team that has underperformed at every turn through 100 games and currently sits four games back of the Twins, a team that peaked at four games over .500... on April 16th.
So, how likely do you think it is the Twins will win the AL Central this season?
A new article from C. Trent Rosecrans in The Athletic offers 9 different trade scenarios for frontline starter Luis Castillo, as provided by writers from the respective teams, vetted by Keith Law for realisticness.
Here's the hypothetical Twins deal: "The trade: Twins send Spencer Steer, Josh Winder and Simeon Woods Richardson to the Reds for Luis Castillo."
Law didn't view this package as nearly as implausible as some others. What do you think? Would you do it?
Montas was a popular trade target this past spring, with control through the 2023 season, but has remained in Oakland thus far. He was shut down for shoulder inflammation on July 3, but is scheduled to start again this Thursday July 21.
Is it worth trading for another starter with possible health issues? Or should the Twins target someone more reliable?
https://nypost.com/2022/05/19/even-without-juan-soto-mlb-trade-market-is-well-stocked/
Personally, I'm not sure I'd target high end pitching at the deadline but maybe that's just me. I think teams are going to be unreasonable in their asks, as there aren't that many quality pitchers available. I think the most hay will be made in the bullpen but Castillo is a very intriguing pitcher and in my opinion, the Twins hosed the Reds pretty hard with the Gray trade. The median outcome of Chase Petty is interesting reliever and two years of Gray for that price is a bargain. Could the Twins do it again?
https://sportsnaut.com/how-luis-castillo-minnesota-twins-trade-could-look/
This is pretty obvious for anyone who has watched the team in even a passing manner but Do-Hyoung Park outlines the thinking behind the Twins' approach at the deadline. Who do you think they will target and what will they have to give up to repair their rapidly-spiraling pitching staff?
https://www.mlb.com/news/twins-likely-to-seek-pitching-help-at-trade-deadline
