Minnesota Twins offseason trade partner profile: Los Angeles Dodgers
The 2017-2018 offseason is here for the Minnesota Twins. Who could be their trade partners this offseason?
Now that the Minnesota Twins have entered the offseason, they are looking to improve the roster through trades and through free agent signings. In this series, we’ll look at how the Twins match up with teams in trade scenarios.
We will first cover the team’s 2017 and what they may be looking for this offseason and then look at whether the Twins could be a good fit for a possible trade this offseason. If there’s a fit, we’ll try to put together a feasible trade that would work for both sides. We will go alphabetically through the league, and today we will look at the 2017 World Series runner up, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Dodgers 2017
The Dodgers had an incredible 2017 from start to finish, but it didn’t quite end the way the team would have liked as they fell in game 7 of the World Series. From top to bottom, the Dodgers may have had the most complete roster baseball has seen in a long, long time.
Biblically, it’s said “a child shall lead them”, and it could definitely be argued that the biggest spark in the Dodgers lineup in 2017 was provided by National League Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger, who hit .267/.352/.581 with 39 home runs and 10 stolen bases and played some of the best first base defense seen in this writer’s lifetime.
That wasn’t the entirety of the offense by any means. Six regulars for the Dodgers hit 20 home runs or more on the season. While Bellinger led the team in home runs, Justin Turner arguably had the most impressive all-around offensive season, hitting .322/.415/.530 with 32 doubles, 21 home runs, and 7 stolen bases – and he only struck out 56 times in 543 plate appearances.
Similar to the “surprise” they found in Turner’s bat, the Dodgers were pleased with the unexpected production from Chris Taylor this season, as he hit .288/.354/.496 with 21 home runs and 17 stolen bases, playing multiple positions defensively to aid the team as well.
The rotation, of course, was keyed by the best pitcher on the planet, one Mr. Clayton Kershaw. On the season, he only made 27 starts, but he went 18-4 with a 2.31 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 30/202 BB/K over 175 innings. He was joined by fellow lefties Alex Wood and Rich Hill at the top of the rotation. Wood had an electric first half and, though he cooled in the second half, finished with a 16-3 record over 152 1/3 innings, with a 2.72 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 38/151 BB/K. Hill had the “poor” season of the trio, going 12-8 with a 3.32 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 49/166 BB/K over 135 2/3 innings.
The bullpen was keyed by an elite season from Kenley Jansen, who saved 41 games over 65 games, posting a 1.32 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and a 7/109 BB/K ratio. Brandon Morrow was the Dodgers reclamation project made good in 2017, as he threw 43 2/3 innings, allowing a 2.06 WHIP, 0.92 WHIP, and a 9/50 BB/K ratio.
At midseason, the Dodgers made a trade for a number of pitching pieces, headlined by starter Yu Darvish, but also including relievers Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani. All three threw well down the stretch for the Dodgers. Darvish had a 3.44 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over 9 starts, posting a 13/61 BB/K ratio over 49 2/3 innings. Cingrani made 22 appearances, throwing 19 1/3 innings, with a 2.79 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 6/28 BB/K ratio. Watson threw 24 times, pitching 20 innings with a 2.70 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and a 6/18 BB/K ratio.
Possible Trade Interest
Dodgers may want: Depth, Depth, Depth, and perhaps a right-handed starter
Twins may want: A power bat for the DH position, starting pitching, relief pitching
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Trade proposals
With those needs how could the Twins and Dodgers match up? Here are three ideas:
Trade proposal #1: Twins trade RHP Ervin Santana and Nick Burdi to the Dodgers for LHP Alex Wood. Figuring out how to balance this one out is tough. Santana is a good match for the Dodgers in that he’s an inning-eating righty. Wood is a good match for the Twins in that he’s a dynamic lefty with top-rotation stuff when healthy (and two years of control left). It’s what the difference between the two would be that is tough to gauge for a trade match. The Twins very well may value Santana’s sure 200 innings more than the upside of Wood’s arm regardless.
Trade proposal #2: Twins trade IF Travis Blankenhorn and RHP Todd Van Steensel for OF DJ Peters. Blankenhorn just seems like the exact type of guy that the Dodgers could turn into a guy who hit for power and average while playing a solid 2B or 3B. Peters has light-tower power, is quite athletic, but that athleticism doesn’t translate perfectly to the field, so he might be best suited somewhere where he can DH at least part-time.
Next: How Twins can spend international money
Trade proposal #3 Twins trade LHP Lewis Thorpe to the Dodgers for C Will Smith. No, not the rapper. The Dodgers have depth in excellent catchers in their minor league system. Smith is a guy with tremendous skills behind the plate that could be at the major league level in 2019, and his presence would address one glaring hole in the Twins system right now, which is a lack of quality catching in the upper minors.