Minnesota Twins 2018-2019 Offseason Trade Partner Profile: Tampa Bay Rays

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, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, PIttsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals. Next up is the Tampa Bay Rays.

Rays 2018

Coming into the season it looked like the Twins were set to have a much better season than the Rays. Well, that didn’t quite happen as the Rays went 90-72, but finished 3rd in the AL East as they have to battle with the Yankees and Red Sox on a regular basis.

One of the more notable performances from the Rays roster was another first baseman who took off in the power department while under their employment and direction. Current Twins first baseman C.J. Cron hit .253/.323/.492 with 30 home runs. Then a former Twin, catcher Wilson Ramos, hit .297/..346/.488 before being traded.

There was of course Cy-Young winner Blake Snell who went 180.2 innings with an incredible 1.89 ERA. Sergio Romo doubled as closer and opener and logged 67.1 innings, recorded 25 saves, and had a 75/20 K/BB.

Possible Trade Interest

Rays may want: The Rays missed out on Nelson Cruz and could be in search of a 1B/DH type bat as well as bullpen help.

Twins may want: The Twins continue to need pitching, but there is clearly one fit between these two teams and that trade could net the Twins some prospects.

I am going to stray away from suggesting multiple trade proposals as is normal in this series simply because I only see one true fit between these two teams. So here we go.

 Trade Proposals

Trade Proposal #1: 1B Tyler Austin for C Nick Ciuffo and a second low-level prospect

If you have been following what we write here at Puckett’s Pond this trade proposal shouldn’t shock you. Tyler Austin may very well be squeezed out of the Twins lineup unless they do some unique roster construction. The Rays lost out on Cruz and right now are set to rely on Ji-Man Choi which they may not be comfortable with.

Austin may not have a ton of trade value but should be able to bring back a couple of prospects for the Twins. Nick Ciuffo has always been praised a good defensive catcher since being drafted. His bat will need to continue to improve but appears to be doing so after hitting .262/.301/.380 at Triple-A last season.

It is possible that the Rays and Twins could look to hook up on a deal involving a bullpen arm like Addison Reed. I just don’t see the Twins giving up any of their current bullpen arms of value since they too are trying to improve that part of their roster.