Twins Will Be Active Shoppers At Trade Deadline

Just a day prior to his radio appearance, Miguel Sano made his major league debut in Kansas City and his impact was almost immediately felt. His zone acumen appeared advanced and when he swung, he was putting the ball back into play with significantly more velocity than when it came in. Sano's zone awareness stumbled some once teams threw more off-speed pitches in hitter's counts -- as was evident in Oakland following the All-Star break -- but rolling his ankle on a stray baseball during warm-ups was nothing short of another depressing moment in Twins- prospects-getting-injured history.

When healthy, Sano's bat could presumably provide the lineup with the necessary thump that was lacking from the designated hitter spot and the middle of the order. In theory, the 22-year-old slugger should be ready to return to the lineup today. However, since the All-Star break the Twins have managed to score just 8 runs (only the Red Sox have scored fewer) and there are other giant holes in the lineup in dire need of an upgrade.

Almost immediately after I posted a piece in 2014 suggesting catcher Kurt Suzuki had found the swing plane and mechanics combination to join his high-level contact rate and zone approach, he completely fell back to Earth and crashed through six miles of bedrock. For most of 2014 Suzuki found success by driving a pitch on the outer-half the other way. He hit .279 when going to right field that year. This season he is hitting just .157 as the line drives have been replaced by looping fly balls and other weak contact. In all, since August 1, 2014, Suzuki has compiled an OPS of .606, which is 40th out of 43 catchers who have caught in 60 or more games.

One area in which Suzuki has improved in this season is his framing abilities. This was a concerted effort on the part of Suzuki along with bench coach Joe Vavra in spring training. In 2014, according to StatCorner.com, the Twins catcher cost his team 14 runs -- or a little over one win in the standings. This season his metrics are significantly improved. While he’s not an elite strike-stealer by any stretch of the imagination, he has been worth 0.1 runs above average so far in 2015. That has been a benefit to the pitching staff.

The state of the position has declined so much in Minnesota that A.J. Pierzynski is being discussed as a viable option. While the left-handed former Twin is enjoying a rebound season with Atlanta, posting a .748 OPS which is ninth best among qualified catchers, his receiving game is a farce, costing his pitching staff almost seven runs during his stint in Georgia. That said, some combination of Suzuki and Pierzynski may actually resemble a serviceable backstop for the remainder of the season.

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Meanwhile the shortstop position can only be adequately described by picturing a guy dousing himself in gasoline and lighting himself on fire.

Similar to Suzuki, Danny Santana’s offensive approach in 2014 seemed designed to allow him to avoid prolonged slumps. His minimalist swing mechanics, quick wrists and line drive stroke surely allowed him to produce as an average shortstop at least. Instead, he became overly aggressive and expanded the zone to account for the space above both batter’s boxes as well as the strike zone. To make matter’s worse, he was a liability in the field. According to ESPN/TruMedia’s database, in 67 games Santana made 12 defensive misplays (not necessarily errors but costly blunders nonetheless) and 15 errors. The 27 defensive miscues were by far the most in the shortest amount of playing time for all shortstops. Admittedly, errors and mistakes are not the greatest measuring stick to gauge a shortstop’s performance. After all, one shortstop’s 6-3 is another’s seeing-eye single. Yet in comparison to Eduardo Escobar, who has demonstrated a much steadier hand and has shown that he can convert almost all the routine outs, Santana comes in second place.

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For all of his shortcomings, Santana excels at being able to start a double-play. Obviously the prerequisite for starting double plays is having a runner on first with less than two outs (his ability to “assist” hitters to reach first safely may have played a factor). Also helpful is having a pitcher spin a ground ball. Santana has started 28 double plays, the sixth most among all shortstops. By comparison, Eduardo Nunez has started 5 while Escobar has started 4. Although a lot of double plays are reliant on the situation, there is skill involved with the timing and the feed to the base in order to set up the twin killing and Santana is fairly adept at that.

As it stands, the Twins do need to find some much needed stability in the shortstop position. Because of this, the team has been tied to Colorado’s shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki.

As Jeremy Nygaard wrote about yesterday, the Twins and Rockies have had some form of discussion centered around Tulowitzki. According to Nygaard, Colorado has requested either Kyle Gibson or Jose Berrios as part of any trade package and that still might not be enough to pry Tulowitzki away. As his team continues to flounder at the bottom of the National League West, the Rockies shortstop has hinted in not so many words that he would like to play for a contender. “Hopefully I can be into every single pitch and pretend like something is on the line,” he told reporters after Tuesday’s game.

While he would be immediate superior to any of the current options, a scenario in which the Twins land him does not seem feasible. This would not only require the Twins absorbing $100 million remaining on Tulowitzki's contract but it would also require the unloading of several valuable prospects. Meanwhile the Twins would receive Tulowitzki, a 30-year-old who is elite when he is able to contribute but is frequently on the trainer's table (between 2012 and 2015, he’s missed 213 of 486 games) and has been blessed with hitting in Denver's rarefied air to increase his power numbers while the spacious confines of Coors Field inflate his batting average and on-base percentage. The Twins -- or anyone looking to trade for him -- would likely overpay for what they would get in return.

There is little question that the shortstop position has been a mess but there does not seem to be a reason to overspend for Tulowitzki (as fun as that would be). Danny Santana has regressed so hard in his sophomore season that the world actually started rotating backwards too. Eduardo Escobar has been steadier and provided more professional at-bats this season. Overpaying for a talented shortstop does not appear too appetizing. As Nick suggested on Wednesday, simply playing Escobar in place of Santana for the remainder of the season might provide the team with a sufficient upgrade. And as Seth detailed on Tuesday, there are other shortstop options that may not come at quite the steep price as Tulowitzki would.

As the trade deadline approaches, if Terry Ryan adheres to his previous statement of obtaining some offense, there are no two position in bigger need of an upgrade than catcher and shortstop. Neither position necessarily requires selling the farm to improve, either.

It’s boring and unsexy but this team should exercise restraint when it comes to the trade deadline.