As contenders, Minnesota Twins should always be looking to make a splash in the trade market. We look at five players that are untouchable in trade talks.
The Minnesota Twins wrapped 2019 as American League Central Division Champions, and they head into 2020 in good position to repeat, with the Cleveland Indians taking another step back and the Chicago White sox looking not quite ready to compete.
Because they are primed for competition, the Twins will also be looking to improve via trade, whether it’s help for their rotation, another outfielder, or a relief pitcher. This means a lot of their roster is tradable.
Fortunately, some Twins players won’t be moved under any circumstances. These players either have too large of deals to be moved, are too valuable to the team, or just don’t have a lot of value in general. With that in mind, we rank the five players that will be the least likely to be moved.
Minnesota Twins Honorable Mentions
Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco
Reason for Untouchable Status: New Contract, Value
These two players are lumped together because they are in similar situations. Both Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco signed long-term extensions in 2019, keeping them as Twins for at least five more years. You don’t extend a player for that long with the intent to trade him.
However, if the Twins get an extremely good offer that would make them reconsider, there’s a possibility the team could look into trading one of the two, especially with Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff waiting in the wings. Trades involving them are very unlikely, but not impossible.
Byron Buxton
Reason for Untouchable Status: Value
Byron Buxton is a player who has been talked about in potential trade rumors, but is extremely unlikely to be traded away. The Twins value Buxton highly (rightly so), so the team would need an incredible deal to move him.
Buxton’s defense, speed, and solid bat make him incredibly valuable, but his injury history makes other teams shy away from trading for him. Because of this, a deal becomes very unlikely, making Buxton pretty much untouchable, but not out of the question.