Minnesota Twins: What Would It Take to Trade Kepler, Buxton or Sano?
It’s a silly hypothetical but with the Minnesota Twins currently in need of pitching help, if the team could get a top starter for someone like Max Kepler, Miguel Sano or Byron Buxton, would you make the trade?
It’s interesting to think about because by all means, these are a few of the players who are my personal DO NOT TRADE list.
Still, if the Minnesota Twins are able to bring in someone like, say, Jose Fernandez or Chris Sale, it would make for a very interesting scenario and an unenviable one for GM Rob Antony.
So here’s the hypothetical that shouldn’t ever become reality but for the sake of this article we’ll entertain as a possibility.
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Minnesota Twins Trade Miguel Sano to the Marlins for Jose Fernandez
Of course a trade like this would probably involve more players but for the sake of argument, it’ll be a straight up trade.
Sano would be able to join Giancarlo Stanton and Dee Gordon in a very strong lineup from top to bottom.
Sano would get plenty of RBI opportunities with Gordon, Christian Yelich and Stanton batting in front of him.
He would also get the opportunity to learn under the tutelage of all-time home run king Barry Bonds as the Marlins’ hitting coach.
For the Twins, Fernandez would allow them to establish a true Ace of the staff with a high potential for large strikeout numbers.
Fernandez would get the opportunity to join Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios as the top-three starters in a rotation that would prove to be pretty potent for years to come.
Minnesota Twins Trade Max Kepler to the White Sox for Chris Sale and Adam Eaton
This trade only comes about because the White Sox are looking to trade Sale and improve in terms of power in right field.
That said; Kepler would be the answer.
The Minnesota Twins would need to get back someone to play the outfield spot vacated by Kepler as well as a top of the rotation starter to make this trade truly worthwhile.
The White Sox may be hesitant to pull the trigger on such a trade but it seems their relationship with Sale has soured and may have no choice.
So why not get someone who would potentially be their best right fielder since Jermaine Dye or Magglio Ordonez?
Minnesota Twins Trade Byron Buxton to the Texas Rangers for Yu Darvish
This one was interesting because Buxton’s stock has taken a hit due to his lack of production through the past two seasons.
Still, he is a very exciting prospect, which is why he’s on the DO NOT TRADE list.
But this is a hypothetical situation, so we’re moving him.
In this scenario I chose Yu Darvish because this would be a trade of two players who have had an uphill battle when facing high expectations.
Darvish burst onto the scene with impressive numbers before injuries derailed him.
What would it take to for Antony to even listen to a trade offer for any of these three?
Buxton had (highly) unfair expectations of the next coming of Mike Trout but has looked more similar to Aaron Hicks during his first few seasons with the Minnesota Twins.
Like Sale and Fernandez, Darvish would give the Twins an explosive No. 1 starter. Unlike Sale and Fernandez, Darvish would not quite bring the pedigree they have.
Still, Darvish would fit in quite nicely with the staff.
Buxton would take over an uncertain outfield that features Delino DeShields and Ian Desmond.
Desmond is probably not viewed as a long-term outfield option and DeShields has also struggled in his first two seasons.
However, a potential future outfield of those two would be an enticing option for Texas.
So there are our hypothetical trades, again, these are trades that I could only see as options in order for the Minnesota Twins to consider.
But what do you think? What would it take to for Antony to even listen to a trade offer for any of these three?