Should the Minnesota Twins target hitters at the trade deadline? If so, who?
The Minnesota Twins’ offense has been hit or miss, and it’s been like this all season. Should they target hitters at the MLB Trade Deadline to help with some of these inconsistencies?
The Twins have a lot of good offensive players in their lineup, and when fully healthy, it looks something like this:
- Luis Arraez
- Byron Buxton
- Carlos Correa
- Max Kepler
- Jorge Polanco
- Alex Kirilloff
- Jose Miranda
- Gio Urshela
- Gary Sánchez
That’s without Nick Gordon, who’s a good utility player, and Trevor Larnach who’s been out for a couple of weeks with a core injury.
There should be no issues scoring, yet some nights they forget how to produce runs by simply leaving too many guys on base. Minnesota will either look like the best offense in baseball or one of the worst – there’s hardly any in between.
For example: on June 14, they lost 5-0 and then won the next game 5-0 against the Seattle Mariners. During the Chicago White Sox series, the Twins were outscored 32-10. They followed that performance up by scoring 17 runs (two games) against the Detroit Tigers after the All-Star break.
Their team stats rank amongst one of the best in the league:
- .253 BA – 6th
- .743 OPS – 5th
- 120 HR – 9th
- 444 R– 12th
The offense has arguably been the most frustrating area this season (the pitching is still the weakest link). They’re a top-10 offense, but there are far too many games where they completely disappear.
Who are some potential names they could target at the MLB Trade Deadline?
The two most likely players the Twins will target are Mancini and Bell. If you’ve listened to my podcast, you know I’ve been on the Bell train since the beginning of the season. He’s an unrestricted free agent and is hitting over .300 for a team that has the worst record in baseball.
With Miguel Sanó back with the team, the need for a first baseman/designated hitter isn’t as big of a necessity. Minnesota has Arraez, Kirilloff, Miranda and Buxton (CF/DH), who has played some combination of first/DH.
Despite the Orioles’ recent success, it’s likely they move on from Mancini. It appears he’s under the assumption that he will be playing for a different team next week.
Minnesota may want to find backup catcher with Ryan Jeffers sidelined until at least September. KSTP’s Darren Wolfson has reported that the Twins have explored trades for a backup. Murphy is one of the best catchers on the market, but he may cost the Twins a lot. He’s making less than $1 million and is under team control until 2026.
The Twins could use more offense, but they’d be better off trading their assets for pitching. That’s been the biggest need all season, and this offense can be one of the best in baseball when they put it all together.
