Minnesota Twins: Selecting the best fits for 5 Twins trade candidates

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ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 11: Manager Paul Molitor #4 of the Minnesota Twins looks on as starting pitcher Lance Lynn #31 is checked by medical staff during the third inning of the game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on May 11, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

The Minnesota Twins now find themselves on the wrong side of the buy and sell equation. Here are some of the best potential trade matches for Twins players.

The Minnesota Twins are approaching this trade deadline in a much different place that they expected to be. The hope all offseason was that the Twins would reach this point in the season and be poised at the top of the American League Central and looking to bolster their roster for a playoff run.

Specifically, based on how they approached the offseason, they would be poised to potentially splash for a front-end starting rotation arm. At that time we had all hoped for the likes of Chris Archer. My how both sides are in very different places now than we expected.

In this post, we will try to find some teams that the Twins should be calling to work out trades with for five of their potential trade chips. This is really nothing more than at best some educated guesses, but these five teams and five players could help each other out.

SP Lance Lynn

There haven’t been any rumors or any steam about Lance Lynn gaining interest from anyone on the trade market to this point. It would seem that Lynn’s track record would carry some weight and with his outings improving over the last month he has begun to regain some of his value which was absolutely destroyed after his dreadful start to 2018.

One positive about trading for Lynn for most teams is they will only be on the hook for paying him through the end of this season. He then becomes a free agent again and will see what sort of deal he can sign this time around. Finding time with a contending team may be interesting to Lynn as it may help him build back up his free agent resume.

Currently, Lynn has an ugly 5.21 ERA over 86.1 innings and 17 starts for the Twins. He also owns an 8.9 K/9 rate but what has killed Lynn’s starts has been an awful 5.4 BB/9. Until his lone bad start in the month of July, Lynn had been performing much better than the beginning of the season. The month of June was pretty good for Lynn as he went 2-2 with a 2.83 ERA, a 9.7 K/9 over five starts. His 14 walks over that stretch are still higher than Lynn or the Twins would like.

That said, there are several contending teams that would love to have starting pitching help. The Milwaukee Brewers are one and would put Lynn back in the familiar National League Central. According to Jon Heyman, the Brewers aren’t interested in a rental player so if they made a trade with the Twins for a starter it would have to be the likes of Jake Odorizzi or Kyle Gibson. The Washington Nationals are even rumored to be interested in adding another arm.

Right now the New York Yankees look like a place for Lynn to land. The Yankees have continually been linked with J.A. Happ who right now is much better than Lynn. Looking at the Yankees rotation they have the room to add two starters. Making the addition of Happ as a much bigger splash and Lynn a possible back end of the roation/innings eater type. With still that certain upside to jump up and be much more than that if things go right for the right-hander.

Trade Partner: New York Yankees

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – APRIL 5: Zach Duke #32 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning of the home opening game on April 5, 2018 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Mariners 4-2. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

RP Zach Duke

The Twins signed Zach Duke this offseason to be paired with fellow lefty Taylor Rogers as a pretty good left-handed duo in the Twins bullpen. In his first full season back after a very quick recovery from Tommy John surgery, Duke has been performing about as well as the Twins could ask.

After a rough start to the season, Duke has been a very reliable arm for Paul Molitor. From May to the present, Duke has tossed 23.1 innings over 28 appearances and has a 1.93 ERA. Those numbers are much improved off of his 5.19 ERA in the months of March and April. A lot of the improvement can be attributed to simply Molitor beginning to use Duke correctly.

At the beginning of the season, Molitor would try to run Duke out for long stretches and against both right-handers and left-handers. When used as the lefty specialist, as he really is best suited, we have now seen Duke flourish. Which makes sense as his batting average against drops from .294 against righties to .213 against lefties.

Duke will be available and as a veteran left-handed bullpen arm will certainly get some attention on the trade market as contending teams look to load up for their postseason runs. That makes it feel like an impossible task to pick just one potential team but since that is what we are doing here the Los Angeles Dodgers make a lot of sense.

The Dodgers have a left-hander in Scott Alexander who has been putting together an OK season for the Dodgers. Alexander’s season has come with its ups and downs but owns an overall 3.60 ERA. The Dodgers also have left-hander Tony Cingrani who is currently on the disabled list and owns a 4.84 ERA this season. The Dodgers are a team that is ready to win now and another solid lefty would sure help them through the rest of the season and arguably Duke could become their top bullpen lefty.

Trade Partner: Los Angeles Dodgers

DETROIT, MI – JUNE 12: Fernando Rodney #56 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates after recording his 14th save in a 6-4 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on June 12, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

RP Fernando Rodney

The Twins needed a closer this offseason. It is probably safe to say that many of us expected the Twins to not make any significant splashes in the reliever market and instead try to fill from within like they had for seasons. The Twins surprised many by making three relief pitcher additions, one of which was the ageless wonder, Fernando Rodney.

Rodney has certainly in many ways wore out his welcome with many Twins fans. Amongst the frustration that he brings with him to the mound, he still brings plenty of value to a contending team. The long time closer continues to rack up saves and is climbing the all-time saves leaderboard now sitting 19th all-time with 320 career saves.

This season Rodney has appeared in 34 games, tossed 32.1 innings, owns a 3.06 ERA, 20 saves and 36 strikeouts. Of course what stands out to most are his struggles on the way to those numbers, including five blown saves.

As stated with Duke, there are always contending teams that are looking to bolster their bullpen depth. The Houston Astros still don’t really have a closer, we know the Boston Red Sox are checking out relievers along with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Those are just some of the rumors we have heard as the trade deadline approaches.

Maybe it is just the rumor mill speaking loudly in my head, but the Red Sox seem like a good fit for Rodney. They don’t need to rely on him sice they already have a very good closer in place (Craig Kimbrel) and several other good bullpen pieces around him. The New York Yankees proved how valuable a deep bullpen can be last postseason and Rodney would certainly deepen an already strong group. Plus they have leadership in Dave Dombrowski who knows exactly who they are getting in the veteran reliever from their time in Detroit together.

Trade Partner: Boston Red Sox

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – APRIL 30: Eduardo Escobar #5 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates a two-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning of the game on April 30, 2018 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Blue Jays defeated the Twins 7-5. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

SS/3B Eduardo Escobar

Eduardo Escobar is the most valuable trade piece the Twins have that could be available as the trade deadline approaches. There have been stretches of time this season where Escobar has been the Twins best player and continues to lead the league in doubles.

Beyond his league-leading 35 doubles, Escobar is hitting .276/.331/.526 and has a .857 OPS. He has also added two triples, 14 home runs, 53 RBIs, and a 127 wRC+. Along with the strong offensive output from Escobar, he also carries positional flexibility. Something that every contender will value down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Escobar has mainly played third base for the Twins, has seen some time at shortstop, and is also capable of playing second if needed. Escobar and the Twins will have to wait to see what happens with Manny Machado, but Eddie will make a great consolation prize if a team wants him.

Teams like the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers could all look Escobar’s way to fill a need on their starting lineup. The team that just seems to make a ton of sense is the Milwaukee Brewers. They have surprised many and have been the front-runner in the National League Central for most of the season.

The Brewers have already added Brad Miller as a middle infielder via trade this season, but they do not seem content there. The Brewers have been rumored to possibly even be a favorite to win the Machado sweepstakes. Escobar would be an instant upgrade over the likes of Jonathan Villar and may help the Brewers be patient with prospect Nate Orf. It would also help the Brewers not have to sell off prospects much like they did 10 years ago as they acquired C.C. Sabbathia.

Trade Partner: Milwaukee Brewers

CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 15: Brian Dozier #2 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates after hitting a two run home run against the Cleveland Indians during the fourth inning at Progressive Field on June 15, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

2B Brian Dozier

We already have highlighted in great depth several teams that could look at Brian Dozier in a post just about a month ago here at Puckett’s Pond. Since then it honestly has started to feel like there was no way that Dozier would be able to regain enough value to make himself valuable to any contender.

The hope at the time of the initial post was that Dozier would begin to pick things up and rebound offensively by going on one of his patented hot streaks. Instead, Dozier is still slashing a pedestrian .223/.309/.402 with a .711 OPS. He has added 13 home runs which could provide some value to a contending team looking to add some pop to their lineup.

The problem is that Dozier is very limited defensively. He is a second baseman and only that. A lot of contenders already have someone entrenched in that position. Proving once again that Dozier’s trade market is very small almost regardless of how well he may or may not be performing at the plate.

There are teams that need middle infield help. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, and maybe even the Boston Red Sox fit that description. It seems at this point the Dodgers line up the best with the Twins as a trade partner and if rumors are true they may just feel the same way.

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With Corey Seager out for the season, the Dodgers are struggling to get much production out of their second base position. Logan Forsythe who is the second baseman the Dodgers acquired instead of Dozier two offseasons ago is slashing .202/.260/.301. Veteran Chase Utley isn’t adding much either as he is slashing .227/.301/.320. Even Dozier’s numbers look like an upgrade up against those two.