4 players the Minnesota Twins should trade and 2 they should keep

It has become abundantly clear that the Minnesota Twins do not intend on getting involved in free agency, at least not the high end of it.

The only additions the team has made so far are low-risk gambles like Josh Staumont and Bubba Thompson. Both have intrigue but neither really moves the needle or does much to fill any of the voids that still exist on the roster.

Namely, the Twins need to find a replacement for Sonny Gray at the top of the rotation. Pablo Lopez is the team's ace, but he needs a Robin to his Batman which is something the Twins don't currently have. Chris Paddack will be a nice addition to the rotation but he's not a frontline starter, and neither is Joe Ryan who feels more like a No. 3 starter.

That's where a trade comes into play, something that has been teased all winter without any payoff. Minnesota will almost certainly make a move, something Rocco Baldelli is betting on, but the question becomes who should the Twins trade and who needs to stay?

3 players the Minnesota Twins should trade and 2 they should keep

Twins should trade: Jorge Polanco

We're not really breaking any new ground here by suggesting the Twins need to trade Jorge Polanco, but the lack of movement so far suggests the front office might need a reminder.

Minnesota has historically waited out the market and landed on its feet. That seems to be the strategy here with Polanco, as the slow free agent market combined with a small pool of infield help bodes well for the Twins finding great trade value. The question is how long is too long to wait for a deal?

Already Twins fans are bracing for the possibility that this could be an extended situation. The rumor mill has been quiet when it comes to Polanco with no signs of that changing. We've also been prepped for Polanco possibly still being on the roster when Opening Day rolls around, which seems like a failure even if having him in the lineup objectively makes the Twins better.

The logjam of infielders is what seals the deal for Polanco, as it's truly a matter of when not If he gets dealt. Brooks Lee, Austin Martin, and Junior Severino can all play second, with Edouard Julien occupying that space now. What the Twins can't afford to do is hang onto Polanco so long that it starts to ding his value, as front office will likely be much more inclined to offer a bigger deal now when putting together their rosters than after things are set and it's apparent that the Twins have no place for him in the lineup.

Maybe that's reading too far into it, but the longer Minnesota waits to make a deal the more frustrating the lack of movement becomes.

Twins should keep: Brooks Lee

Let's not overthink this one, which is something that's starting to happen with Brooks Lee. The arrival of Walker Jenkins bumped Lee out of the top spot in the Twins prospect rankings, but the hype around him is still there. He's been the best prospect in the farm system since he was drafted back in 2022, and last year saw him rise all the way to Triple-A St. Paul where he started to prove he might be Major League-ready sooner than expected.

There's a very decent chance that Lee gets called up this season, but the calls to trade him as part of a deal that brings back a Sonny Gray replacement are a bit misguided. One of the key hangups seems to be his future positional value, as the entire left side of the infield is spoken for.

Royce Lewis is going to be playing third for the foreseeable future, with Carlos Correa manning shortstop. Even second base gets tricky, as Edouard Julien needs to be in the lineup, although he can easily be moved to DH (or first base) since Lee is better defensively.

There's room for Lee in the infield, and the Twins should trade him before seeing what they have. That's something the team can afford to do and should do, especially with how well the youth movement worked last year. Lee's trade value is being amplified by the glut of talent Minnesota has coming up, but it shouldn't be misconstrued as a reason he needs to be dealt when there might be other options that allow the Twins to have their cake and eat it too.

Twins should trade: Jose Miranda

Minnesota is dealing with logjams at a few different positions, but Jose Miranda got in on the ground floor of getting boxed out of a job with the Twins. There was a ton of promise for him as he came up a few years ago, but injuries have stunted his development and he hasn't made as much of his time in the Majors as others at his position have.

Last year the Twins switched Miranda to third base, with the expectation that he'd settle in as the everyday man there. Instead, he struggled offensively and then got injured, which was compounded by the rise of Royce Lewis as a key piece of the core moving forward. Third base now belongs to Lewis, with Miranda merely being depth there.

Miranda made the move from first base, where he might still have a shot at earning a regular role in the lineup. The logjam at second base might have a ripple effect that takes this scenario out of play for Miranda, though. Edouard Julien needs to be in the lineup, but if Brooks Lee comes up -- or if Austin Martin fills in -- then moving Eddy to first makes sense. The Twins soft launched this idea last year and it's likely they'll return to it again.

That means at both corner infield positions, Miranda is depth. He's a much better player than simply being part of a platoon, which is where his trade value comes in. He might not command a ton of return on his own, but if Minnesota is looking to package players in a deal that lands a top-end starter, they can do worse than throwing in Miranda.

He had a down year, but the sales pitch revolves around how Miranda looked when he was healthy in 2022. He played in 125 games and slashed .268/.325/.426 and batted in 66 runs. There's a lot to build on there, but he just doesn't have a feasible place in the lineup anymore.

Twins should keep: Max Kepler (...for now)

This needs to be prefaced with the clarifier that the Twins should keep Max Kepler until the right deal comes around. The priority should be on moving Polanco and finding a package around him that can bring in the starting pitcher the Twins need. With the infield market so slow and shallow, it feels like there's more of a need for what Polanco provides than Kepler.

Minnesota can no doubt find good value for Kepler, but this comes down to potentially finding better value by moving Polanco. There's also a risk of creating a similar situation to what happened last year when the Twins traded Luis Arraez and decided to figure out how to replace him at first base later.

Unlike with Polanco, there isn't a logjam of MLB-ready outfielders to fill the void if Kepler is dealt. The question becomes: who plays right field if the Twins trade Kepler away?

Austin Martin is sort of being plugged into every potential roster hole, from being mentioned as part of that infield group to adding depth behind Byron Buxton in center. He could play right, but without Kepler he'd likely become the everyday man out there. Someone else to consider is Trevor Larnach, who ran the risk of being boxed out with the rise of Matt Wallner, but he might be able to handle the task of replacing Kepler.

That then raises another question: Could the Twins trade Larnach over Kepler?

If Minnesota wants maximum impact and value, Kepler is the best piece to move. However, unless he's being packaged with Polanco in a deal to land a replacement for Sonny Gray, the Twins might be better off riding into the season with him in right and then seeing if they can parlay his success closer to the deadline.

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