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Minnesota Twins Offseason Trade Partner Profile: Philadelphia Phillies

By Benjamin Chase

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 25: The Phillie Phanatic celebrates 'Christmas in July' with the Phillies ball girls in the seventh inning during a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros at Citizens Bank Park on July 25, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Astros won 5-0. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 25: The Phillie Phanatic celebrates 'Christmas in July' with the Phillies ball girls in the seventh inning during a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros at Citizens Bank Park on July 25, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Astros won 5-0. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins /

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 a National League team with their eye to the future, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Phillies 2017

The Phillies continued their rebuild in 2017, going 66-96 on the season and finishing in last place in the National League East. Manager Pete Mackanin left his role after the season, and the Phillies have brought in Gabe Kapler to begin his managing career.

The Phillies had excellent production from their young players, seeing Aaron Altherr, hitting .272/.340/.516 with 19 home runs over 107 games. Odubel Herrera played excellent defense in center and hit .281/.325/.452 with 42 doubles and 14 home runs. Nick Williams came up for half the season and hit very well, putting up a .288/.338/.473 line with 12 home runs.

Maikel Franco struggled in the field quite a bit and then hit .230/.281/.409 with 24 home runs. Tommy Joseph hit .240/.289/.432 with 22 home runs.

However, the big story offensively for the Phillies in 2017 was the explosive debut of Rhys Hoskins, who hit .259/.396/.618 with 18 home runs in just 50 games.

The pitching side was much better for the Phillies. Aaron Nola took a step forward as a staff leader, goin 12-11 over 27 starts, throwing 168 innings, with a 3.54 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 49/184 BB/K ratio.

Hector Neris led an excellent Phillies bullpen, with a 3.01 ERA and 1.26 WHIP over 74 2/3 innings with 26 saves. Before he was traded midseason, Pat Neshek had a 1.12 ERA and 0.82 WHIP over 40 1/3 innings. Luis Garcia had a solid season setting up Neris, throwing 71 1/3 innings with a 2.65 ERA and 1.22 WHIP.

Possible Trade Interest

Phillies may want: Starting pitching, prospects. The Phillies have made some impressive moves this winter and taken a step toward competing, but they still need starting pitching help and to continue to build up their farm system.

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 Phillies match up? Here are three ideas:

Trade proposal #1: Minnesota Twins trade LHP Lewis Thorpe and LHP Tyler Jay to the Phillies for OF Aaron Altherr. With the signing of Carlos Santana, the Phillies have an abundance of outfielders. Altherr would work well as a fit with Max Kepler in a platoon or as a DH, but he won’t come cheap due to his youth and upside.

Trade proposal #2: Minnesota Twins trade LHP Stephen Gonsalves to the Phillies for 2B Scott Kingery. Brian Dozier is a free agent after 2018, and Kingery would give the Twins a high-level replacement, while the Phillies have an abundance of middle infielders currently at the major leagues or upper levels of the minors.

Most likely the return would be one of the top pitchers in the Twins system, whether the Phillies would prefer Gonsalves, Fernando Romero, or Brusdar Graterol.

Next: What's next for Twins?

Trade proposal #3: Minnesota Twins trade RHP Fernando Romero and RHP Kohl Stewart to the Phillies for 3B Maikel Franco. Franco has a high upside in spite of his tough 2017. He would fit well, especially with Joe Mauer a free agent after 2018. The price is tough to gauge with Franco, however. The Phillies may be interested in something involving Eduardo Escobar along with Romero for Franco to have someone to handle 3B.

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