Trade Deadline Tracker: Twins' News and Rumor Roundup

Well, May is not going to be in the 2022 SP rotation for the Dodgers until late in the year at the earliest.  Will not pitch until summer, ready by the Fall?  And who knows how TJS will impact his velo and control?

May is a huge boom or bust target.  Substitute Miller and/or Pepiot in some combination for less upside, no injury (yet).

I want pitching from the Dodgers.

OK, Rosenthal now reporting Scherzer to the Padres.

LADodgers, Seattle, Toronto, Boston, or San Fran.  Give us your best shot for Berrios....San Diego, too, if they want both of them.

A couple thoughts.

I would prefer the Twins keep Kepler. I don't believe they are going to get a return that is worth getting rid of his versatility, level of play and contract value.

I would prefer the Twins to keep Buxton. Even if he is oft-injured, he is the closest thing we have to a super-star and his contract demands don't seem exorbitant from what has been reported.

I would love to see Donaldson traded just to get a nice look at Miranda but I don't see it happening and it isn't the end of the world. 

I have a tough time seeing the Twins keeping Berrios just because I believe they will get a really good offer. I don't know that it will be an over-the-top one, but definitely a quality deal.

Padres out. Dodgers in? They look like the best option from a talent standpoint. They have a lot more to trade us than Seattle or Toronto, particularly pitching. 

By the way, I live in LA and follow the Dodgers. Close to zero chance that they will trade us Dustin May for the reasons I explained before. Think about Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Lux at the controlled MLB level and Josiah Gray and Ryan Pepiot at the prospect level. Some combination of that group is much more likely. 

With Scherzer off the market things should really get interesting for the Twins.   There are enough teams with good prospects that we should get a haul. 

9 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Padres out. Dodgers in? They look like the best option from a talent standpoint. They have a lot more to trade us than Seattle or Toronto, particularly pitching. 

By the way, I live in LA and follow the Dodgers. Close to zero chance that they will trade us Dustin May for the reasons I explained before. Think about Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Lux at the controlled MLB level and Josiah Gray and Ryan Pepiot at the prospect level. Some combination of that group is much more likely. 

 

Good insight. Twins likely have no interest in Lux. 

Maybe Gonsolin, Gray, and Amaya? Can throw in Pineda for a B prospect if they need another MLB ready arm to fill out the rotation for the rest of 2021.

5 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

1. Don't trade Buxton, sign him. From what I read, the $80m guarantee is over 7 years is acceptable to both, the issue is the size of the escalators. There is a deal there, make it. The only way a midmarket team can keep someone this talented is to get lucky and take risk. That's what we need to do here.

...

4. The other exception is Pineda. Only trade him if you can get a solid to good return in the form of pitching that can be on the MLB roster next year or a shortstop. If you can't get that, try to re–sign him NOW. He wants to stay, is a solid number 3 or number 4 starter (#3 if he gives you 30 starts, #4 the more likely event he gives you 20 starts) and he wants to stay. 2 years $20 - $25 million.

First, this whole comment is great in both vision and detail.

Second, a note on these two items in particular. Your point about risk is well taken here. To compete with teams that can spend twice what the Twins can, they have to have luck not just in drafting (Buxton) and in comebacks (Pineda), but ALSO in injuries and in development of those same players. This means they have to buy lotto tickets like a Buxton contract or a Pineda contract (or Sano or Kepler or Polanco from past years) in order to make it to the top.

Which may seem obvious to some of you. But it wasn't obvious to me, until LA Vikes Fan said it out loud.

2 minutes ago, Minny505 said:

 

Good insight. Twins likely have no interest in Lux. 

Maybe Gonsolin, Gray, and Amaya? Can throw in Pineda for a B prospect if they need another MLB ready arm to fill out the rotation for the rest of 2021.

I disagree. The Twins should be very interested in Gavin Lux. He's a good fielding shortstop and as a pre-–arb player he would be on the team for at least the next 4 or 5 years. He hit a little when he was playing for the Dodgers while Seager was out before his injury (.227/.307/.359 (.656), and actually should be a quality shortstop who is at least a decent hitter. We do not have a shortstop at the moment. I think he could be at least a good fielding decent hitting shortstop for the next 4 to 5 years and could be more at the plate as he developed.

I do agree with the poster that said getting Josiah Gray is going to be difficult, particularly if we get Tony Gonsolin. If we can't get Gray, I would suggest Ryan Pepiot. He said AA now, doing quite well, and could project out to at least mid-rotation or better in the next 2 – 3 years. Frankly, I would be willing to throw in any reliever on the Twins roster other than Rogers or Duffy if we could get Gonsolin, Lux, and Pepiot. Of course removing Rogers and Duffy probably removes anybody the Dodgers might actually want. But who knows what's being offered.

13 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I disagree. The Twins should be very interested in Gavin Lux. He's a good fielding shortstop and as a pre-–arb player he would be on the team for at least the next 4 or 5 years. 

I have not watched Lux play SS so maybe it's a small sample issue, but in the 471 innings he has played SS for the Dodgers he has been a -9.5 UZR / +1 DRS / -4 OOA. 

Is he better than that? If not, he seems redundant with Polanco on the roster. He'd probably be in the bottom 5 defensive SS (out of the roughly 20 that play enough innings to qualify each year) in the league. Call me old fashioned, but I have really enjoyed Simmons at SS and would rather have an gold glove, no bat SS than another Polanco. 

I'm willing to change my mind if he can truly handle the position. I don't need a glod glover there, but I'd prefer above average.

1 minute ago, Minny505 said:

I have not watched Lux play SS so maybe it's a small sample issue, but in the 471 innings he has played SS for the Dodgers he has been a -9.5 UZR / +1 DRS / -4 OOA. 

Is he better than that? If not, he seems redundant with Polanco on the roster. He'd probably be in the bottom 5 defensive SS (out of the roughly 20 that play enough innings to qualify each year) in the league. Call me old fashioned, but I have really enjoyed Simmons at SS and would rather have an gold glove, no bat SS than another Polanco. 

I'm willing to change my mind if he can truly handle the position.

The Dodgers think he can, or at least that’s what they’re saying. I will say though, I wasn’t very familiar with Jacob Amaya until you mentioned him. The more I read the more interesting he becomes. Maybe a package built around pitching with Amaya as part of it works. My only concern is Amaya is not hitting at all in AA this year (.218/.301/.366) so he may still be a couple of years out. We are going to need a regular shortstop starting either the day after we trade Simmons or by opening day next year.