The Twins are “working aggressively to trade for a starter today,” tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Morosi reiterates their interest in the Angels’ Dylan Bundy and the Rangers’ Lance Lynn, which he has previously reported. Darren Wolfson of KSTP has a different take, noting the Twins’ existing rotation depth and tendency to “call every team to get a gauge on price points.”
The Twins have been working with Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Rich Hill, and Randy Dobnak in the rotation, and they’ll add Michael Pineda tomorrow as his suspension concludes. Jake Odorizzi is working his way back from an abdominal bruise, while Homer Bailey’s biceps tendinitis makes him more of a question mark. Wolfson’s point: this is not a team in desperate need of starting pitching.
Lynn, 33, figures to be one of the day’s hottest commodities. The 12-21 Rangers are one of perhaps seven obvious sellers, and Lynn has been excellent since signing a three-year deal with Texas in December 2018. He’s owed about $1.5MM for the remainder of the season, plus an affordable $8MM salary for 2021. The Angels are in a similar spot with Bundy, a 27-year-old for whom things seem to be clicking after seven starts.
It’s worth noting that Lynn made 20 starts for the Twins in 2018 before being traded to the Yankees, at which point his resurgence began. After that season, the Twins hired Wes Johnson as their pitching coach. It’s not clear how the organization’s familiarity with Lynn affects their interest. If the Twins do push for a starter today, their efforts will likely be muddied by the division-rival White Sox, who have also been connected to both Lynn and Bundy.
Best division in baseball.
Going to be a dog fight for the twins this year.
I’m just hoping and waiting for the update that says the Braves trade for Clevinger..
Get it done AA..Waters, Shewmake, Touki, Trey Harris…
Don’t want him if it costs Waters. Waters will be in ATL much longer than Clevinger and has a very high ceiling. Swap Pache for Waters and I’m all in.
Forget about Lynn, the Twins FO should be pushing hard for either Hader, Bauer/Garrett, or Bradley/Ray.
I don’t think I would touch Hader for anything near what the Brewers are asking.
I’d take Lynn over Hader, Bauer, Garrett, Bradley or Ray. It will depend on what we’d have to give up in return.
RH bat biggest need, even after Donaldson returns.
Other sites are reporting that the Twins will trade Royce Lewis and prospects for Mike Yastremski or Lewis and Polanco for Xander Bogaerts. The first one must be a pipe dream from a Giants fan because Yazstremski isn’t worth even Lewis straight up and the second doesn’t pass the giggle test as the Red Sox don’t need 2 SS.