Minnesota Twins Offseason Trade Partner Profile: Cincinnati Reds

The Minnesota Twins 2018-2019 offseason is here. Here we explore who could be their trade partners as they look to return to the playoffs.

The Minnesota Twins need to make some moves with the offseason now upon us. Free agents will attract a lot of the attention over the next several weeks as there are several big name free agents potentially looking for a new team and new big and shiny deal.

The Twins should very much be able to be in the conversation with many free agent names, but what will be just as if not more important for the Twins is the trade market. The Twins front office has pointed to the Twins minor league assets as a strength to help them acquire some additions to their roster. We will attempt to work through each team in baseball and find some trades that work for both sides. We have already explored possibilities with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs Next up is the Cincinnati Reds

Reds 2018

The Reds were hoping that their major league club would be able to take a major step forward in 2018. It is never a good sign for how your season is going to go however when 18 games in you are firing your manager because your record is 3-15. It was then that Jim Riggleman took the reigns of the club and was able to stabilize the team at least a little bit but the club still finished 67-95.

Joey Votto continued to be an on-base machine as he had a .417 OBP along with .837 OPS. Scooter Gennett put in another impressive season for the one time cast off from the Milwaukee Brewers infield as he slashed .310/.357/.490 with a .847 OPS and 23 home runs. Eugenio Suarez had another solid season slashing .283/.366/.526.

The frustration for the Reds has to be that they just cannot seem to find enough when it comes to starting pitching. Luis Castillo is the bright spot of the rotation but even he had a 4.30 ERA. That isn’t absolutely awful but isn’t what you want out of your number one starter either. Raisel Iglesias continues to be a very strong bullpen arm and will likely be coveted by many teams this offseason.

Possible Trade Interest

Reds may want: The Reds are coming off of a bad season but are saying they are ready to spend money, especially on starting pitching, in order to return to winning baseball. Along with starting pitchers, the Reds may also be looking for outfield help.

Twins may want: The Twins certainly would be interested in some of the Reds young major league players. Are the Reds willing to deal them though?

Trade Proposals

Trade Proposal #1: OF Billy Hamilton for SP Aaron Slegers and a low-level prospect

The Reds have made it no secret that they want to trade Billy Hamilton. The hard thing in trading the speedy center fielder is that he has very little value remaining outside of his speed and defense. This past season Hamilton only slashed .236/.299/.327 which isn’t what anyone is wishing for. Hamilton would likely take Grossman’s spot on the roster if he was acquired. Can you imagine defensively an outfield of Hamilton, Byron Buxton, and Max Kepler? We may not want to imagine the offensive output if 2018 trends continue.

Aaron Slegers would give the Reds a starting pitcher they could at least send out every five days. Zack Littell could very well be substituted in here as well.  Neither has had much success in their MLB chances but both still have a chance to develop into something. The Reds likely don’t do this deal, like Buxton and Miguel Sano for the Twins, Hamilton likely holds more value in potential than any team will be willing to give them in a trade.

Trade Proposal #2: CL Raisel Iglesias for SP Stephen Gonsalves, OF LaMonte Wade, and Kohl Stewart

As mentioned above, Raisel Iglesias is likely one of the most coveted bullpen arms in baseball. He made 66 appearances this season, had an 80/25 K/BB ratio, and strikes out over 10 batters per nine innings. He has also been north of 25% K rate his entire major league career. Oh, and he will only make $5 million the next two seasons.

This may feel like a lot for Iglesias, but the Reds may not consider it enough. With the Reds clearly wanting to compete they are going to want Iglesias on their roster. That means any team that wants the reliever will need to wow the Reds. Gonsalves gives them an arm for the rotation that should provide the Reds value. Wade would help add to their outfield and hopefully be a better bat than Hamilton currently is. Stewart even has a chance to be a decent addition to their rotation.

These two teams are really trying to head in the same direction this offseason so it will be hard for them to match up at all in a trade. These two trades do make some sense, even if the Hamilton deal makes a little more sense for the Reds to make and the Iglesias deal more sense for the Twins.