Minnesota Twins 2018-2019 Trade Partner Profile: Cleveland Indians

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, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, and Detroit Tigers. Next up is the Cleveland Indians.

Earlier this offseason there was a major rumor dropped that the Cleveland Indians were looking to clear some sizeable salary from their payroll. This is looking like a prime chance for the Twins to make a run for the playoffs and the Indians have a few players they might want to trade that could make some sense.

Trade Proposal #1

Twins trade 3B Travis Blankenhorn, OF Zack Granite, and RHP Jordan Balazovic to the Cleveland Indians for 1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion.

The Indians are looking to clear some money off their books this offseason so removing Encarnacion’s $20 Million would be a good start. As is well known the Twins are now in the market for a first baseman with Joe Mauer retiring.

Edwin is a very solid power hitting first baseman that could fill the hole in the lineup. With his high salary Encarnacion will be hard to move which could be even better for the Twins in that he won’t cost as much as say Paul Goldschmidt would cost. All 3 players the Twins are giving up are middle of the road prospects that won’t hurt the Twins too much.

Trade Proposal #2

Twins trade OF Luke Raley and RHP John Curtiss to the Indians for Yonder Alonso.

Another first baseman on the Indians that could fill a lineup hole is Yonder Alonzo whom is making $9 Million this season. Much like Encarnacion, Alonzo won’t cost a whole lot in term of prospects because he isn’t the level of player that Edwin is but he is still a viable option. Raley is a decent upside bet for the Indians that need some major OF help. Curtiss isn’t a solid bet to stay on the 40 man this offseason so might want to trade him while he might have a little value.

Trade Proposal #3

Now it’s time for the biggest trade of all. The Indians might not be willing to trade any of their front line starters to a team in the division but it’s always fun to dream right? In order to keep Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, and Brusdar Graterol then the twins will have to part with a lot of prospects in order to hope to get a deal done.

Twins trade SS/2B Nick Gordon, LHP Stephen Gonsalves, RHP Jorge Alcala and OF Eddie Rosario to the Indians for RHP Corey Kluber and 1B Yonder Alonso.

This might even not be enough to convince the Indians to trade Kluber to an AL Central team. Rosario fills an instant need for the Indians in the OF where they are losing a lot. Rosario would be replaceable for the Twins with either a FA or giving Jake Cave a full season of at bats. This trade would put a major dent in the Twins prospect cache but would possibly vault the Twins to AL Central favorites and Kluber is still signed through 2021. Alonso is a toss in player that helps clear some more room on the Indians payroll.