Minnesota Twins: 5 controllable players the front office should pursue before the trade deadline

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.

J.T. Realmuto, Catcher, Maimi Marlins

The Twins and their fanbase are far from the only ones who would like to see J.T. Realmuto putting on their team’s jersey. That is why the Miami Marlins may be demanding a king’s ransom for the catcher who is under team control through the 2021 season. As they should for a defensively sound and offensively superior player at his position.

Realmuto has already accounted for a 3.8 bWAR and 3.7 fWAR in 2018. Certainly, a good chunk of that comes from what is turning out be his best offensive season as the trade deadline approaches. Realmuto is slashing .311/.361/.531 and a .892 OPS with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs.

Those types of numbers would certainly solidify the Twins at the catcher position for years to come. A position that outside of Mitch Garver has no real young player that looks ready and poised to take over after Jason Castro‘s contract expires at the end of 2019. While Realmuto is no Castro when it comes to pitch framing, his offense will certainly make up for that deficiency.

It will take a very good package of prospects for the Twins to cause the Marlins to want to ship Realmuto to the Twins Cities. If the Twins succeed in acquiring Realmuto it looks as they would have a plus player at the catching position for several years to come. While it will create an interesting scenario if Castro is healthy next season, that would be a welcomed problem to have. Castro would likely also immediately become attractive to some catching needy team if the Twins wanted to move him.

Chris Archer, Starting Pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays

We have definitely seen this story before. We as Twins bloggers and fans had lots of conversations about Chris Archer possibly coming to Minnesota all offseason. Instead, the Twins acquired another Rays starter in Jake Odorizzi to round out the starting rotation in 2018. While that trade still looks very good for the Twins, Odorizzi isn’t anywhere close to being the ace of an organization’s starting staff.

The hang up in an Archer trade this offseason was always whether or not the Rays were interested in trading Archer at all. As the Rays sit at 53-53 and third in the American League East and they look up at the dominant New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox they seem ready to possibly cash in on their ace. Right now the San Diego Padres appear to be the most aggressive in pursuing a deal for Archer, but it is a conversation the Twins should also be sticking their nose into.

It has not been a great season for Archer as he currently holds onto his highest ERA since his rookie season sitting at 4.31 on the season. At the same time, there is positivity in the fact that his FIP sits much lower at 3.62 and he owns a 2.9 BB/9 rate. What could be a cause for concern and potentially even the reason for Archer’s increased ERA is that his K/9 rate has dropped from 11.1 in 2017 to 9.6 this season.

There has always been concern that Archer wasn’t as dominant as he looked. He has also always had to pitch in the American League East against some very good offensive lineups. Since May 17th (with a DL stint in the middle), Archer hasn’t given up more than three runs in a game. A very positive sign that Archer could still be an ace after some rough outings to begin the season against teams like Boston, Philadelphia, and New York early put his ace status in question.

Kyle Barraclough, Relief Pitcher, Miami Marlins

While the Twins are on the phone with Miami Marlins there is another player they should be asking about. That is right-handed reliever, Kyle Barraclough. The problem with acquiring Barraclough is that since he is under team control until 2022 he may also come with a very high price tag attached to him by the Marlins.

If the Twins did acquire Barraclough it would bring his career a bit full circle as the Twins did initially draft the reliever in the 40th round of the 2011 draft. Barraclough, of course, did not sign with the Twins and instead went on to play for St. Mary’s College before again being drafted the next year in the 7th round of the 2012 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Barraclough has always shown an ability to get batters out with stuff that induces plenty of swings and misses. He employs a mid-90s fastball along with a changup from 86-89 mph, and a slider that registers at 78-82 mph. That is quite a range of velocities and movements to help keep hitters off-balance.

That arsenal of pitches has allowed Barraclough to never register a K/9 rate lower than 10.0. So far in 2018 he has recorded a 10.0 K/9 rate over 46.0 innings and has a 2.54 ERA, owns an 11.7% swinging strike rate, and has recorded 10 saves for the Marlins. In four major league seasons, Barraclough has proven to be a valuable and effective relief pitcher and would be a great addition to the backend of the Twins bullpen as they look to compete next season.

Mychal Givens, Relief Pitcher, Baltimore Orioles

So much of me wants to put Danny Duffy in this fifth and final spot. It just seems like a really unlikely scenario. So instead I will go with another relief pitcher here that could help solidify the back of the Twins bullpen with some major league proven talent to mix in with their young and unproven pitchers. That is Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher, Mychal Givens.

More from Puckett's Pond

• Minnesota Twins: After signing with the Mets, Correa spurns Twins again
• Minnesota Twins: You Spin Me Right Round, Right Round
• Minnesota Twins: What happens next at Shortstop?
• Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
• Minnesota Twins: 4 Possible Trade Chips not named Kepler or Arraez

The Orioles are in a place where it would be really nice to reload with a lot of young talent. While giving up a young and controllable pitcher may not be what fans want to see, it could be a fast way to a lot of good prospects for the Orioles. Even in what looks like a down year overall, Givens has plenty to offer in a major league bullpen.

So far in 2018 Givens has tossed 52.2 innings and has a higher 4.78 ERA than he would like. Some of that could be attributed to a higher walk rate than he had in 2017 at 4.1 BB/9. Givens FIP still sits at a good 2.99 and he has a K/9 rate of 9.9. Even while turning in his career-worst mark he still employs a 10.8% swing strike rate in 2018.

Givens also throws a fastball in the mid-90s and has offspeed stuff in the form of a changeup and slider that sit in the mid to high 80s. There was concern early in Given’s career in his ability to get both right-handers and left-handers out. Something that could again be a bit of a concern as he is allowing a batting average of .293 to lefties this season. Givens did only allow a .184 batting average against to lefties in 2017. That provides plenty of optimism that Givens could help lock down the backend of the Twins bullpen for years to come if they acquire him before the trade deadline.