Minnesota Twins: 5 controllable players the front office should pursue before the trade deadline
By Nate Palmer
The Minnesota Twins are clearly sellers a day out from the trade deadline, but there are still some players they should try and acquire before the deadline.
The Minnesota Twins have cemented themselves as sellers as the 2018 trade deadline approaches Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT. As the Twins front office fields calls on their remaining expiring contracts such as Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke, Lance Lynn and Brian Dozier. As well as attractive starting pitchers such as Jake Odorizzi and Kyle Gibson the Twins should also be making some phone calls of their own.
Yes, the Twins are out of the race for 2018 but the plan is to be right back in the mix for 2019. This trade deadline will then prove to be an opportune time to try and go get a player that will help the Twins as they enter the next several seasons as contenders since many teams are reportedly open to trading some valuable players with team control remaining.
The Twins have already seen their American League Central division foe the Cleveland Indians do just that. The Indians acquired Minnesota native and San Diego Padres closer Brad Hand for their coveted catching prospect Francisco Mejia. Many couldn’t believe the Indians would part ways with Mejia. What stands out and is more concerning for the Twins is the Indians have already reloaded the back end of their bullpen for 2019. The trade for Hand will only look better as time goes on and as the Indians could face losing both Andrew Miller and Cody Allen this coming offseason after they lost Bryan Shaw this past offseason.
As the Indians have not only have gotten stronger for 2018 but also beyond, the Twins now have the same opportunity to improve. Thad Levine has even mentioned that the trade deadline is one of the three places the Twins can improve their major league team over the year and they should be exploring opportunities to do just that. The Twins have also been rumored to be interested in controllable starting pitchers.
With an even stronger farm system after the trades of Eduardo Escobar and Ryan Pressly late last week. Now seems like the perfect time to start dealing from the Twins depth of prospects and seeing who they could bring to the Twin Cities to compete for the division crown and playoff run in 2019. In the following words will be five players that the Twins should pursue at the 2018 deadline that will be able to help the team compete in 2019 and beyond.