Minnesota Twins: Ervin Santana leads August trade candidates

The Minnesota Twins have already made five trades midseason. Here are some more trade candidates that could still be on the move out of Minnesota.

The Minnesota Twins were one of the most active teams when it came to the non-waiver trade deadline July 31st. After trading away five players for a flurry of prospects the Twins could still make a few more trades in the month of August.

Throughout the month of August, the Twins and other major league teams will place players on waivers. If a Twins player is claimed by a team the Twins then have the opportunity to pull the player off of waivers, work out a trade with the team that claimed him or simply leave the player go to their new home.

Players would likely be traded before August 31st so that they would be eligible to compete for their new team in the playoffs. Players can still be traded in September. They just are ineligible for playoff competition at that point.

Throughout the next month, we will hear of plenty of names that land on waivers. Many names will create shock and chaos, but it is often just part of the process a team goes through each season. Here are a few players that the Twins could actually be looking to trade even though the non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone.

Ervin Santana

Every contending team is often looking to bolster their pitching staff in some manner. We have already seen the Twins send starting pitcher Lance Lynn to the Yankees as they strengthened their rotation. Ervin Santana could be the next starting pitcher to leave Minnesota via trade.

Santana’s personal season almost mirrors the season the team has had. Just as it seemed to get going some caused it to sputter and falter. His comeback from offseason finger surgery has been derailed several times. Santana was finally able to make his major league season debut on July 25th against the Toronto Blue Jays. He hasn’t accomplished much yet in the way of results, but if he shows that he is healthy and has regained his pitching form he could be valuable to a contending team down the stretch and maybe even in the playoffs.

Santana is a potential free agent after the season with a 2019 team option or a $1 million buyout. It seems unlikely the Twins are going to want to pay the 35-year-old starter $14 million after his injury-filled 2018, making him a candidate to be traded. The Milwaukee Brewers are the team to watch here, with the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies as other possible landing spots.

Logan Morrison

There isn’t a whole lot to say about Logan Morrison. He has been a big disappointment for the Twins in 2018. Even though his overall slash line of .190/.287/.378 has been frustrating he still has a skill set with his powerful bat that could be valuable as a bench option for a contending team.

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According to Statcast data, Morrison’s expected average sits at .249 which is 59 points higher than his actual average. That data gives us some evidence that Morrison has been largely hitting the ball with better authority than the results he has produced. His 14 home runs on the season does help to give a glimmer of what potential could be left in Morrison’s 2018 season.

That pop could help in some late-inning situations for a contender. No one contender stands out, but any of them could decide they could use some offense for their bench and look Morrison’s way. Maybe the Yankees would like another left-handed bat to hit bombs over that short right-field porch.

Fernando Rodney and Joe Mauer also technically qualify as August trade candidates. It seems all steam coming out of Minnesota is that Mauer isn’t really interested in going anywhere. The Twins may just view Rodney as an asset to hold onto as he has an option for only $4.5 million for 2019. Crazier things have happened, but it doesn’t seem likely either of those two veterans is moving.

Anything could happen. We will just have to see how any remaining trades unfold and see who might be this season’s Justin Verlander who helps catapult a team to a World Series championship.