Are the Minnesota Twins prepared to replace Max Kepler if he is traded?

Denard Span

One contingency plan could be in a trade for Archer as the Twins would bring back Denard Span and his contract. Span may not be the player he was when he was patrolling center field for the Twins before he was traded away to the Washington Nationals for starting pitcher Alex Meyer. Span could still be quite the serviceable player for the Twins if they did acquire him.

Last season with the San Fransisco Giants Span was able to slash .272/.329/.427 with a .756 OPS, 12 home runs and 31 doubles. Proving he still has value offensively as an outfielder and if he is able to maintain that performance Span can be valuable to a hopeful contender like the Twins.

The biggest difference between the Span Twins fans knew when he came up with the Twins and the current version is as he has aged he isn’t quite the same defender as he was then. With Byron Buxton in center field covering the ground he does, a move to right field might prove very beneficial for Span and his defensive performance. That move may even bring back memories of when Carlos Gomez and Span roamed the outfield next to one another.

Span clearly doesn’t have the upside of Kepler. That is certainly a fair tradeoff to get an ace like Archer in the Twins rotation and as this list continues we will see their other young outfielders the Twins could turn to. With all those young outfielders, Span could serve well as a stop-gap for the Twins and then they would be able to buy out the rest of his contract before 2019.