Minnesota Twins Holiday Wish List Item No. 2: Trade at least one left-handed outfielder
The Twins only two offseason additions have come in the form of catcher Christian Vazquez and outfielder Joey Gallo. Vazquez made a lot of sense, as he filled an extremely important need, but Gallo (while I do like his power and glove) create an even more crowded outfield made up almost entirely of left-handed bats.
While designating Mark Contreras for assignment helped, the team still needs to move at least one more outfielder and possibly add a right-handed one in his place. At this point, that seems to almost certainly means trading Max Kepler.
The 29-year-old lefty has drawn a lot of trade interest over the past month, and despite a poor past couple of seasons, Kepler offers a lot in terms of defense and will benefit from the shift being banned.
He likely won’t be the centerpiece of a major trade, but he could definitely fetch a prospect or two, clear out some money, and most importantly add another roster spot for another bat, whether outfield or not.