The Minnesota Twins have had some rough returns on their trades in recent years and few have been as fruitless as the one that sent Jorge Polanco to the Seattle Mariners. But entering this weekend’s series against the Boston Red Sox, the Twins could get a glimpse at Gabriel Gonzalez, who has a chance to save the deal.
Aaron Gleeman of AaronGleeman.com speculated that Gonzalez could be in line for a call-up as Tristan Gray is set to be placed on the paternity list before Friday’s series opener at Fenway Park. While the Twins don’t have to make the move official since Thursday is an off day, Gonzalez was not in the lineup for Triple-A St. Paul and the other four healthy right-handed bats on the 40-man roster included Royce Lewis, Matt Wallner and Henry Mendez.
Wallner and Lewis aren’t getting called up after they were just sent down in the past week and Mendez has just 12 career at-bats at Triple-A, leaving him unlikely to get the call. This leaves Gonzalez as the most likely call-up and gives him a chance to salvage what has become a rough deal for the Twins.
Gabriel Gonzalez may be the last hope to salvage the Jorge Polanco trade
The Twins traded Polanco to the Seattle Mariners on January 29, 2024, in exchange for Gonzalez and pitchers Anthony DeSclafani, Justin Topa and Darren Bowen. DeSclafani never pitched for the Twins after suffering an injury to a tendon in his right arm and Topa was designated for assignment this week after over two years of injuries and poor performance that included an 8.05 ERA in 19 innings this season.
Meanwhile, Polanco rebounded from a rough first season in Seattle and became a catalyst for their run to the American League Championship Series, hitting .208/.269/.417 with three homers and eight RBI in 48 at-bats. That performance got Polanco a two-year, $40 million contract to play first base for the New York Mets last winter and left Twins fans still waiting to get something from that trade.
With Bowen currently in his second season at Double-A Wichita, Gonzalez may be the Twins’ best chance to recoup value in that deal. The 22-year-old was ranked 79th in MLB Pipeline’s top prospect rankings before the 2024 season and enhanced his stock with a strong 2025 campaign where he hit .329/.395/.513 with 15 homers and 66 RBI with eight stolen bases in 123 games between High-A Cedar Rapids, Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul.
Gonzalez hasn’t had the same success with the Saints this year, hitting .216/.294/.392 with eight homers and 21 RBI. But with Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez currently injured and the Twins wanting Kaelen Culpepper to continue his development in Triple-A, Gonzalez is the most likely option to be called up, even if it’s just for the weekend.
The Twins have a long way to go before they find out what they have in Gonzalez, but a couple hits against the Red Sox would be a good start. If anything, it would give Twins fans hope that they got something positive out of the Polanco deal and maybe a future cornerstone in the team’s rebuild.
Add us as a preferred source on Google