Trade Deadline Open Thread

Prospects are great. Pennants are better.

The MLB trade deadline is 6 p.m. eastern time, today. Things have been quiet for the Twins as of this morning, but they are rumored to have a lot of irons in the fire. Around the league, yesterday saw some moves start to shake out. Some of the action has held up while teams try to sort out the Juan Soto bidding (and perhaps Shohei Ohtani), but deadlines spur action, and today figures to be active.

Pitching, in any form, remains the most obvious need. Even though the biggest starting pitching names on the market have been moved — Luis Castillo to Seattle, Frankie Montas to New York — there are still several starters that would be improvements for the Twins potentially available. Just to name a few:

• LHP Carlos Rodón (can opt-out after 2022)
• RHP Pablo López (under control through 2024)
• RHP Tyler Mahle (under control through 2023)
• RHP Noah Syndergaard (free agent after 2022)
• RHP Nathan Eovaldi (free agent after 2022)
• RHP Merrill Kelly (under control through 2024)

The Twins had plenty of interest in Rodón last offseason in free agency and Mahle has long been rumored to be a Twins trade target. This morning it appears that they are still in the mix to acquire him:

The team is also desperately in need of competent relief help. While we haven’t heard as much rumored about who the Twins have been engaged on in that market, deadline day is almost always filled with relievers big and small swapping teams. While LHP Josh Hader was finally flipped by Milwaukee yesterday, RHP David Robertson has not moved yet. AL Central division rivals Kansas City (RHP Scott Barlow, RHP Josh Staumont) and Detroit (RHP Michael Fulmer, LHP Andrew Chafin, RHP Joe Jiménez) have multiple relief arms that could move. San Francisco could move RHP John Brebbia if they truly decide to sell. Miami and Arizona should be in that mix (RHP Anthony Bass and LHP Joe Mantiply, respectively), among a myriad of others, as well.

Beyond the pitching, Minnesota also has a sudden need for corner outfield depth. Injuries to Alex Kirilloff, Max Kepler, Kyle Garlick, and Trevor Larnach have decimated the outfield depth and it seems likely the Twins will do something (likely inexpensive) today to fortify that position group. Joey Gallo is a name to keep an eye on there. Despite the huge swing and miss rates, he’s a talented defender and overall athlete that could make a lot of sense as a buy-low rental. Other possibilities could be Ian Happ, Joc Pederson, Ben Gamel, and Whit Merrifield.

In addition, it seems there is a good chance the team does something cheap to strengthen its catching depth.

As is always the case, the Twins’ preference is likely to be adding players with control beyond this season as they seek to straddle the line between improving the club’s chances in 2022 and continuing to build for the future. One of the considerations in potential trades is the upcoming offseason roster moves. The Twins face a potentially significant 40-man roster crunch with a large number of players on the 60-day injured list and the need to add additional prospects to the roster. Those upcoming decisions could play a role in who is moved around today.

Join us today as we find out what they get done.

Update: Twins Acquire All-Star Closer Jorge López from Baltimore Orioles