The Twins are receiving trade interest both in their upper-level middle infield prospects and in controllable players on their big league roster, writes Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. That’s not exactly earth-shattering news, given the manner in which teams covet affordable long-term pieces — particularly this offseason. Rosenthal still outlines a possibility of Minnesota moving someone like second baseman Luis Arraez in order to slide Jorge Polanco over to second base. Doing so could come as part of a trade package for a high-end shortstop (e.g. Trevor Story) or help in the rotation, with a free-agent shortstop then being brought in as a bridge to top prospect Royce Lewis.
We’ve written about the possibility of the Twins making middle-infield moves despite a clear hole here at MLBTR, and from my vantage point it doesn’t seem the Twins would even need to move Arraez to justify bringing in a shortstop upgrade if they wish. Polanco has never been a strong defensive shortstop, even prior to a pair of ankle surgeries, and would seem perfectly well suited to play the same super-utility role that was recently held by departing free agent Marwin Gonzalez. There are myriad avenues they could take, but a move at shortstop doesn’t seem outlandish for the Twins, even with Polanco in tow. He’s set to earn $4.33MM in 2021, $5MM in 2022 and $7.5MM in 2023 before the Twins have a pair of club options valued at $10.5MM and $12MM.
More out of Minneapolis/St. Paul…
- The Twins announced earlier this week that catcher Ryan Jeffers underwent an offseason procedure to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that the operation isn’t expected to delay Jeffers’ availability for the 2021 season, though, with manager Rocco Baldelli telling Miller and others that Jeffers is already nearly back up to speed. Jeffers, 23, jumped to the Majors to fill in for an injured Mitch Garver in 2020 and not only held his own but may have even cemented his spot on the 2021 roster. In 26 games, the 2018 second-rounder took 62 plate appearances and posted a .273/.355/.436 slash with three homers. Jeffers did skip Triple-A entirely due to the lack of a minor league season, though, so the Twins could conceivably add a veteran backup if the hope is to get him a bit more seasoning. Doing so would also afford Jeffers everyday reps rather than have him serve in a more limited role behind Garver.
- Minnesota’s decision to release Fernando Romero yesterday (and Romero quickly signing with the Yokohama BayStars) was examined by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes, who reports that Romero didn’t draw much trade attention from MLB teams. The Twins simply weren’t certain whether Romero would be able to pitch in the United States after visa issues prevented him from entering the country in 2020, and as president of baseball ops Derek Falvey said, “it felt like given all the circumstances around this year and going forward, plus his desired pursuit of Japan, it kind of felt like the best combination.”
i still dont get the notion that the Twins would or should upgrade their middle infield. Polanco and Arraez are a good combo
That’s what I was thinking too. Meanwhile, they have a top prospect coming down the road for shortstop anyway so why not leave things as is for now? 1st world problems…
Darkside- “ROSENTHAL still outlines a possibility of Minnesota moving someone like second baseman……”
The key word is Rosenthal not any Twins front office personnel !!!! I wonder what the percentage of “rumours” that are conjectured by writers just to have something to write????
AND/OR
The Angels can get “trade interest” in Mike Trout, but that doesn’t mean they are interested in trading him…..
RUMORS are just that until something happens….and like you speculated nothing happened!
I totally agree with you…controllable prospects that look like mlb quality means nothing will probably happen! If all the “rumors” came true the same player would be playing for 25 different teams at the same time.
I should have become a baseball writer then i could get paid for writing bs.
I feel someone has to post this every day in response to people like you but the site is called “MLB Trade Rumors”… why do you care? Rosenthal is pretty respected and tapped in around the game.
Why do you care that i commented. If i want to point what is and is not a potential creditable source of an actual trade vs. pure speculation!
You do not have to point anything out…. it is a “rumour” site, but there is a difference between a having a source and pure speculation!!!!
Boy howdy, @thelongnall.
It’s kind of amazing, serious.
/ reads baseball rumor on a site dedicated to baseball rumors /
/ posts angry response about it being merely a rumor /
Man, the staff here at MLBTR does a *great* job of vetting what shows up here. Just take a spin around the internet & you’ll get an idea of just how many truly preposterous trade & free agent rumors are out there, man.
& @dhs, it’s good that you used 5 exclamation points & 4 question marks. Most folks would have left off after one leaving us all confused in regards to their true intent.
This bodes well for your burgeoning career as a baseball writer.
Your too butcket
Lol
My goodness…”Your too butcket”. That doesn’t remotely resemble something coherent.
Good stuff, mon cheri! Priceless. Totally cracked me up.
I think we’ve discovered the major impediment to you getting paid “for writing bs.” Ya know. That whole basic literacy requirement. Good gravy. Thank you for the laugh, sir.
Or as you would say, “me they’re satchrum”.
I wouldn’t be laughing at “Your too butcket”… I’m pretty sure you just hexed by a witch doctor and now all your oxen will go lame
Rockies should offer Story for Arraez and a high-end pitching prospect. But do the Twins have enough payroll space for Story’s 2021 salary?
Yeah, that damn salary cap…wait.
Just because there’s no cap doesn’t mean they have payroll limits
I understand. Stupid attempt at humor.
Point is, you make room for a talent like Story.
I like Arraez a lot. Trade him for something if you want but I would be mad if hes on an irrelevant team tbh
If Romero had visa issues, why didn’t he just use MasterCard instead?
Yeah, I’ll go now…
Connfyoozed – lol lol lol
I mean if he really wanted to get to the states he’d have used American Express.
I already used that on the original Romero post….
Arraez and Polanco looks great on paper offensively but they seriously lack defensively. The thought would be to better your team somehow up the middle.
Input better than article.
Dhs79
Good post-well said