We’re just weeks away from the MLB Trade Deadline, and we’re starting to get a sense of what the market might look like.
It doesn’t sound like the Minnesota Twins are going to be too active in making trades. President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey said during the All-Star Break that he likes the amount of talent the Twins have and thinks if it comes together the way it should the team should be in for a great second half. Ken Rosenthal over at The Athletic echoed that in his latest column.
Essentially, the Twins feel like they might have enough already and don’t need to dip into the prospect pool to make a trade that doesn’t move the needle enough.
Then again, there are obvious needs the team has and could use the deadline to fill. Finding relief pitching is one area, as is potentially finding a bat to help spice up the offense. To Falvey’s point, the Twins seem to be slowly clicking in the two series since the All-Star Break, but we’ve seen the team fumble away momentum in the past.
If the Twins make moves at the deadline, though, some fans believe the team should be sellers instead of buyers. Sonny Gray is a popular name that has been popping up in trade debates, and it’s starting to look like his potential trade value is coming into focus.
Twins Rumors: What is Sonny Gray’s trade value?
According to MLB insider Jon Morosi, the Los Angeles Dodgers are apparently showing an interest in possibly trading for White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito.
That’s not the intriguing part, although it will be interesting to see how much the Sox sell at the deadline. Morosi cites the fact that Los Angeles has nine of the Top 100 prospects in baseball, which suggests that Giolito is worth a top prospect in a trade package.
The Dodgers are interested in White Sox RHP Lucas Giolito, one of the top available pitchers, sources say.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 13, 2023
Giolito, who went to high school in LA, has a 3.45 ERA this year. The Dodgers have an @MLB-best 9 of the industry’s top 100 prospects, per @MLBPipeline.@MLBNetwork
Gray is by far the Twins best pitcher this season, and could end up being in consideration for a Cy Young trophy at the end of the season. The arguement for trading him seems revolve around the idea that he probably won’t re-sign in Minnesota after this season and the Twins could maybe flip him at max value without taking too much of a step back in a very winnable AL Central.
That’s a bit shortsighted, as winning the AL Central and winning in October are two different things. For the first time in what feels like forever, the Twins pitching staff is solid and feels like strong enough to win a series in the postseason.
Trading away Gray sort of blows that up.
Stoking the coals of trade debates is the fact that Gray talked about possibly retiring at the end of the season. That doesn’t really change the conversation as whether he retires or refuses to re-sign has the same outcome for Minnesota. That extra texture, though, as emboldened the crowd that believes trading Gray at the peak of his value is the right move.
It seems unlikley that the Twins will make a big splash at the deadline, a category that trading Gray would fall into.