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We are less than two weeks away from the July 31 trade deadline. It is still fair to question whether the Twins are going to be buyers or sellers, both or neither at the deadline. They are 3-3 in six games against the Astros (1-2) and Yankees (2-1) and have stayed above .500. They are a half a game behind Cleveland in the American League Central, and they are half a game behind the Yankees for the second wild card spot. So who are the players that might be available in a trade?Over the coming week we’ll take a look which teams are buyers and sellers and who the Twins could look to acquire. We’ll start with the teams in the National League West division. STANDINGS Los Angeles Dodgers - 66-29 Colorado Rockies - 56-41 (11 games back) Arizona Diamondbacks - 54-40 (11.5 games back) San Diego Padres - 40-54 San Francisco Giants - 37-59 As things sit right now, the Rockies and Diamondbacks are the two Wild Card teams. The Cubs are currently five games out of the second Wild Card spot. We know they’ll make some moves, so will Colorado and Arizona be willing to add some players? THE BUYERS If the Twins decide to sell, which would be disappointing as things stand today (but may be different in a week), the Dodgers, Rockies and Diamondbacks could be calling. Brian Dozier, Brandon Kintzler and Ervin Santana will be the primary names tossed around (no surprise). The Dodgers wouldn’t trade Cody Bellinger for Brian Dozier in the offseason. I’m guessing he’s not available at this point either. THE SELLERS As of right now, the Twins should be leaning toward buying, and if that’s the case, the Padres and the Giants are teams that should be looking to sell. I assume that the Twins have already had discussions with the GMs from both teams. So, who could be on the table? The Padres While the Twins front office has indicated that it isn’t as interested in acquiring rental players (guys who will be free agents at the end of the season), those types of players can be had without getting rid of as big of a prospect, so they can’t be completely ignored. The Padres have a few starters who are likely very available. All three are free agents at the end of the season. Clayton Richard (33), who the Twins were said to be at least somewhat interested in before the season, has been terrible. He’s got a 4.75 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP through 19 starts. Jhoulys Chacin (29) has been mediocre. He’s got a 4.33 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP .He’s got 92 strikeouts in 108 innings. Trevor Cahill (29) missed two months earlier in the season, but he’s been pretty good since his return. He’s got a 3.38 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. In 50.2 innings, he walked 19 and struck out 63. I mean, if you want, you could go after Jered Weaver who has an ERA way over 7 and a WHIP near 1.50. He’s also been on the disabled list. He also throws 82 mph. Of course, the Big Fish of the Padres is Chaska native, left-handed reliever Brad Hand. He was a deserving All-Star this year and he’s controllable for at least another two years beyond 2017. Recently, the Padres made it known that they want and expect a return for Hand similar to what the Phillies got to Ken Giles. That is to say a package of three or four players, including a top prospect or two. The Giants The Giants have probably been the biggest disappointment in baseball this season. They have a top-5 payroll and have been unable to get things rolling at all in 2017. So they would likely love to make some trades and push toward 2018. While there will be some position players, like Denard Span or even Brandon Crawford at the right price, the Twins focus should primarily be pitching. The Giants have pitchers with names, and big contracts. Johnny Cueto’s name has not really surfaced in rumors, but he would cost a team approximately $22 million a year through the 2021 season (and a team option for 2022) along with a haul of prospects. The 31-year-old is 6-7 with a 4.59 ERA and a career-high (by a long shot) 3.2 walks per nine innings. Jeff Samardzija’s name has been discussed in rumors as several teams have inquired about him. He is owed about $19.5 million for the next two seasons. He is 4-11 with a 4.86 ERA this season. While he hasn’t been particularly good for the last three seasons (posting ERA+ of 79, 104 and 85), he does eat a ton of innings. He’s posted over 200 innings four straight years and is on pace to be close to that number again. Speaking of long-term contracts that didn’t work out well, Matt Cain was a top pitcher for the Giants for several years. Then he signed a six-year, $127.5 million contract and has been hurt a majority of the time since. He’s healthy this year, and his 5.49 ERA would be his lowest in three years. However, his 1.67 WHIP makes the 32-year-old pretty Colon-like. He can become a free agent at season’s end. The intriguing name in the Giants rotation might just be Matt Moore. He was one of the top prospects in baseball (he, Mike Trout and Bryce Harper were consensus Top 3 guys) with the Rays. He went 17-4 in 2013. They signed him to a team-friendly deal soon after he debuted. early in 2014, he needed Tommy John surgery and missed most of that season and over half of 2015 as well. Last year, the Rays traded him to the Giants. This year, he is 3-10 with a 5.81 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. He’s got options for 2018 at $9 million and 2019 at $10 million. So, while he’s been pretty bad this year, he just turned 28 in June. If pro scouts believe that he is healthy and still has some stuff, Moore could be a relatively inexpensive option for two more years. I can’t imagine the prospect-return on any of these guys would be real high due to their contract size and/or performance this year. Evaluators just need to determine what they have left and whether or not they could help the team. Personally, Moore is the only one that is relatively intriguing. As for bullpen arms, the one interesting name might be Sam Dyson. He was good last year, but he began this year just terrible for the Texas Rangers. They let him go, and the Giants signed him. In 15 games, he has an ERA of 2.76 in 16.1 innings in San Francisco. He’s recorded five saves, taking over closer duties since Mark Melancon has been on the DL. Could he be available for cheap? Other Relievers: George Kontos, Cory Gearrin. SUMMARY There is a clear team at the top in the Dodgers who have proven they aren’t afraid to spend money. They have a smart front office that hasn’t been willing to just hand away prospects, but they could be buyers. Both the Diamondbacks and Rockies have been surprises in 2017. If the season ended now, which would be unfortunate for fans, they would both be wild card teams. They may have some interest in acquiring some additional talent at the deadline, particularly bullpen help. Meanwhile, winning teams will be frequently calling the Giants and Padres as those teams have been out of contention for quite some time already. Players are available. There are some big names who will be in the rumors, but the clear choice for best player available from the division is Brad Hand, and the steep asking price illustrates that well. What do you think? Could there be a match with the Twins somewhere in the NL West? Click here to view the article

The Winter Meetings are always a fun time for baseball fans. If you follow twitter or MLB Trade Rumors, there are constantly updates throughout the week, at all hours of the day. There is no question that the Chicago White Sox won Day 1 of the Winter Meetings. Here is a look at what happened on Day 1 in terms of Twins news. (No, it will not be empty below.)OVERVIEW The Winter Meetings were originally set up as a meeting for all minor league teams. Then major league teams started crashing the party and since then, it has become a media Mecca. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t just a place where GMs meet with agents and other GMs. Front offices of the teams go to have meetings. That said, of course, all the teams are there. All the GMs are there. All the agents are there. There are meetings. However, how many of the rumors will turn into actual transactions during this week? A few will, and we’ll try to stay on top of everything here at Twins Daily. WHITE SOX ARE BUSY Earlier in the offseason, the White Sox signed 1B Adam LaRoche, and then they signed lefty reliever Zach Duke. Rumors throughout the night were that the White Sox and A’s were in serious discussions about Jeff Samardzija. Sox infielder Marcus Simien, who was a top 100 prospect in Baseball America a year ago, was one name mentioned. It’s hard for me to believe he would be the key piece to such a trade. I think the White Sox would need to give up a higher-ranking prospect to get Samardzija. Then as midnight approached, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted that the White Sox signed closer David Robertson for four years and $46 million. The long-time set- up man for Mariano Rivera finally got the opportunity to close last year. He turned in a solid season and got his big pay day. There are rumors that the White Sox still could be a player for third baseman Chase Headley. Teaming “Shark” with lefties Chris Sale and Jose Quintana certainly gives the South Siders some quality pitching. COLABELLO CLAIMED BY THE BLUE JAYS Late this morning, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that they had claimed first baseman Chris Colabello. He comes off the Twins 40-man roster, putting the roster at 39. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of days. Were the Twins just trying to clear up a spot for a potential free agent signing? Were they just opening up a roster spot so that they can make a Rule 5 selection on Thursday? Could other players currently be on the waiver wire to create more roster spots so that the Twins could do both? Colabello’s story was (and remains) remarkable. The Twins signed him before the 2012 season out of independent baseball where he spent eight seasons. He made the New Britain roster and raked that whole season. In 2013, he was invited to big league spring training and became a hero for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. He was named the International League Rookie of the Year and MVP for his great play in AAA Rochester. In May, all that time spent culminated with his big league debut. And, of course, he made the Twins opening day roster. He was named the American League co-Player of the Month in April. Unfortunately, he was jammed on a pitch late in the month and had thumb problems that affected him the rest of the season. Even recently, he learned from an MRI that there was still inflammation. It’s a savvy move for the Blue Jays. The powerful Colabello showed that when healthy he can hit and be quite productive in the big leagues. The Blue Jays traded Adam Lind in the offseason to Milwaukee, but then they acquired first baseman Justin Smoak. Colabello could compete with another former Twins player, Danny Valencia, for right-handed platoon at-bats. The other thing is that Colabello still has an option year remaining so he can provide the Jays with powerful depth. Of course, seeing how Toronto has operated the last couple of seasons, it’s also possible that they could now try to sneak Colabello through waivers, too. OLIVA, KAAT FALL SHY OF COOPERSTOWN At 1:00 central time on Monday, the Hall of Fame gathered the media together in San Diego to tell them that the Veteran’s Committee had elected no one to the Hall of Fame. I think a press release might have done the job. For enshrinement, a player would have needed 12 of the 16 Veteran’s Committee members to vote for them. Tony Oliva and Dick Allen both received 11 votes. Jim Kaat received 10 votes. Can you imagine being one vote away from receiving baseball’s ultimate honor? One vote! Now, I have said many times in the past that I don’t think that Oliva or Kaat should be in the Hall of Fame, but whenever they are up for election again, I will hope like crazy that they make it. MASTERSON UPDATE 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson posted several tweets yesterday indicating that the Twins have been unable to meet with free agent starter Justin Masterson. It may be that his agent hasn’t been able to work out a time to talk to Terry Ryan. It’s also possible that Masterson just isn’t interested in the Twins. Listen, the reason that Masterson is appealing to many as a potential free agent acquisition is that he was coming off his age-29 season in which he posted a 7-9 record with a 5.88 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP between Cleveland and St. Louis. The thought was that he might want to sign a cheap, one-year deal with someone to regain market value, so why not the Twins? Part of the allure was that he has some upside and typically has eaten a lot of innings. However, since the hot stove league began, it’s been suggested by many that there are a lot of teams, likely well into double-digit teams, who are interested. That creates a bit of a bidding war. Frankly, it’s not a bidding war I would want to get into. His ERA+ in 2013 was 110, in 2012 it was 79, in 2011, it was 122, in 2010 it was 84 and in 2009 it was 94. That’s not the kind of guy you get into a bidding war over. OTHER FREE AGENTS OF NOTE LaVelle E. Neal of the Star Tribune posted throughout the day that the Twins have been quite active talking to agents for some free agent pitchers. That sounds good, but the four pitchers that he is linking the Twins with are Logan Ondrusek, Dustin McGowan, John Axford and Alexi Ogando. All four would be relief pitchers. None of those names are terribly exciting on a major league contract. I realize that the Twins can improve their bullpen. I just personally prefer going the minor league signing route or using starting pitchers who are not in the starting rotation. Then again, I’m good with anyone on a minor league contract. TERRY RYAN NOTES In his Monday media discussions, Terry Ryan indicated that he had no interest in the Toronto Blue Jays CEO/President position. He said he is from Minnesota, it’s where his family is and will remain. This is no surprise, of course, since Ryan had the opportunity to be the Blue Jays general manager in 2001 when the Twins were on the contraction chopping block. He could have left then but decided that he was staying. He also said that Ron Gardenhire is likely to take the 2015 year off and then determine what he wants to do in 2016. He will continue to have a standing job offer with the Twins. COMING SOON: MINNESOTA TWINS PROSPECT HANDBOOK 2015 Much more will be coming throughout this week, but this year’s Twins Prospect Handbook will be available within a week, possibly even as early as Friday. Co-Authors Jeremy Nygaard, Cody Christie and I are waiting until after the Rule 5 draft to release the book so that we can add (or subtract) any players affected that day. This year’s Prospect Handbook (my seventh) is huge, and it’s packed with Twins minor league information. There are prospect profiles on approximately 150 Twins minor leaguers. Anyone from the Gulf Coast League through guys whose Rookie of the Year status remain. You’ll find stories on our choices for Starting Pitcher (JO Berrios), Relief Pitcher (Brandon Peterson), Hitter (Mitch Garver) and Manager (Doug Mientkiewicz) of the Year. Jeremy takes a look at the Twins draft in 2014 and looks ahead to the 2015 draft when the Twins have the sixth selection. Cody took a look at the injuries. We also had articles from Steve Buhr, Eric Pleiss and former Twins minor leaguer AJ Pettersen. I’m also excited to say that St. Paul Pioneer Press’s Mike Berardino wrote a terrific foreword for the book. We also want to thank Linwood Ferguson for his pictures of the Ft. Myers players and Steve Buhr for pictures from Cedar Rapids. As I mentioned, there will be much more information coming in the next few days. If you’re looking for a Christmas gift or stocking stuffer, consider getting a copy of the 2015 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. WHAT WILL HAPPEN ON DAY 2? The White Sox won Day 1 of the Winter Meetings in San Diego. What will happen on Day 2? Will the Twins make any news? Click here to view the article