Minnesota Twins: Which Players May Be on the Way Out?

Trevor Plouffe

Probably the most popular and obvious answer here as Plouffe is likely to bring back the most value. Plouffe is enjoying a relatively successful season thus far despite being slowed down by injuries. In 26 games, the 29-year-old is hitting .265 with three homers and 11 RBI’s.

Following Thursday’s “Star Wars” night at Target Field, I jokingly said the Twins could now trade away Plouffe since his bobblehead doll night is done.

This may actually be more reality than joke.

Plouffe’s name was mentioned in a lot of offseason trade rumors involving the Twins but general manager Terry Ryan ultimately decided to hold onto Plouffe and move Sano to the outfield.

This was a move that was met with some criticism at the time but also praised as the Twins were expected to be a contending team. Now that playoff contention is pretty much an afterthought barring an unforeseen miracle, this will be the perfect opportunity for the Twins to get some value from Plouffe.

Plouffe will be arbitration eligible for the following season and then a free agent in 2018 giving any potential suitor some flexibility.

Next: Ricky Nolasco

A few potential matches could include the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals to name a few.

Ricky Nolasco

Unfortunately, the window of opportunity to trade away Nolasco may have already passed as he is beginning the decent into the mediocrity that Twins fans have become all too familiar with.

After a hot start, the Twins thought they were finally getting the Nolasco they signed to, at the time, the Twins biggest free agent contract of all time.

And to Nolasco’s credit, he does finally look healthy but his ERA of 4.74 with only two quality starts through eight games just proves what a lot of fans and analysts have thought for the past few seasons.

Nolasco is an okay, not great, pitcher who was overpaid and overvalued by the Twins.

There’s not much need for a detailed reminder of Nolasco’s prior season failures as he had a 5.38 ERA in his first season with the Twins while posting an even higher 6.75 the next season.

His performance matched with his contract make Nolasco almost unmovable and the most likely scenario is the Twins biting the bullet – not to mention the financial hit – and releasing him at some point.

Next: Kevin Jepsen/Glen Perkins

That said, if Nolasco can turn things around coming up, a middle-to-bottom of the rotation arm may be enticing to a couple of teams including the Kansas City Royals who have fell on rough times with their rotation, the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers, who have a severe drop off following Jordan Zimmerman and Justin Verlander.

Kevin Jepsen/Glen Perkins

From a personal standpoint, I’d be fine with both being traded away. Jepsen has been anything but an effective pitcher, let alone a closer, as he three blown saves with a 4.96 ERA while allowing nine earned runs in 16 1/3 innings of work.

Perkins’ health has been an issue going all the way back to the second half of last season but may still have some value for any team out there in need of a closer.

But that is contingent on Perkins getting back and getting healthy.

The strategy behind trading one or both of these guys is that the Twins aren’t going to be in playoff contention and a pair of late-inning relievers aren’t going to change that.

The Twins have spent the past few seasons grooming some nice power arms to be keys to the bullpen including the likes of Nick Burdi, J.T. Chargois and Jake Reed.

Bullpen, while being one of the team’s weaker spots recently, is no doubt an asset the Twins have in the future.

Is Perkins and/or Jepsen in the team’s future plans? Probably not, so why not trade them now for any kind of value you can potentially get.

And really, with any reliever, you’d be hard pressed to find any team not willing to take a look at someone who could potentially help bolster its bullpen.

Yes, Jepsen has struggled this year but his past performance may be strong enough for a team to take a look at him. Same with Perkins, the jury is still out on if he is healthy but if he comes back strong, that may be enough for a team to come calling.

Next: Ervin Santana

The Pittsburg Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays are all struggling with their bullpen and may look to eventually add a bullpen arm or two down the stretch run but again, this could relate to any team in the majors.

Ervin Santana

As much as it pains me to say it, the Twins could look to move Santana who has arguably been the Twins most consistently solid pitcher this season.

Santana’s season has been admirable considering his lack of run support and thus has a 1-2 record on the season.

It’s no doubt been frustrating for Santana but he has continued to go about his business and has given the Twins four quality starts.

With an ERA of 3.13 and relatively market friendly contract with three years at $13.5 million per year and a player option for a fifth and final year, Santana should field plenty of calls from other teams this season.

On the flip side, the Twins may think it’d be better to let Santana ride out the season and look to move him during the offseason due to the Twins remaining starting rotation issues.

After Santana and Tyler Duffey, the Twins’ rotation is very poor. Nolasco has an ERA at 4.74, Phil Hughes is 1-6 with a 5.70 ERA and has been dealing with right shoulder fatigue and Kyle Gibson, prior to his injury, dealt with consistency issues.

Really, for the sake of getting through this season, the Twins may have no other option but to hold onto Santana and re-evaluate his status with the team during the offseason.

Next: Oswaldo Arcia

However, any team would be interested in adding a pitcher like Santana to their rotation. A reunion with the Kansas City Royals or Los Angeles Angels could work, the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants are also possible destinations.

Oswaldo Arcia

There’s no way around it, Arcia has some serious pop in his bat and once he gets ahold of one, the ball is going far.

Arcia’s time with the Twins may have been lengthened now that Eddie Rosario is in Triple-A but there’s no doubt the Twins have a logjam of present and future players in the outfield and teams would probably be more than willing to take a flyer on Arcia’s power potential alone.

Arcia has reached the 20-home run plateau before (2014) and has shown an improved approach at the plate this season that has helped him come up with some big clutch hits.

Despite his average dropping significantly, it will be interesting to see how Arcia responds to more consistent playing time now that Rosario is gone. Perhaps the increase in playing time will give Arcia the opportunity to turn his fortunes around and show off his skills for any trade suitors.

With a future outfield still being expected to consist of the likes Rosario, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler, Arcia still seems to be the odd man out in the eyes of the Twins.

Still, I don’t expect the Twins to move Arcia unless the trade absolutely makes sense for them as they have struggled to get much in terms of offensive production from the outfield. Getting rid of Arcia may only further hurt those numbers.

Next: Twins MiLB Weekly

That said, the Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals could both be potential suitors.