The Minnesota Twins are sitting at 29-55 on the season, which has them in last place in the A.L. Central, 22 games behind the Cleveland Indians. They are also 17 games back of the Boston Red Sox for the second wild card spot in the A.L. So it’s time to make some deals to try to help the Twins for the future and that’s exactly what I would do.
The Twins don’t have a lot of appealing players to deal at the trade deadline, so they are going to have to be creative, which could lead to them packaging two or three veterans to make a deal happen. Eduardo Nunez has been outstanding for the Twins all year long. He has always been a good offensive player, but he’s not a good defensive player. That being said, the Indians, Giants and Royals would all likely have an interest in dealing for Nunez or Trevor Plouffe. All three of those teams would also have a big interest in lefty reliever Fernando Abad, so maybe the Twins could package them together to ensure a nice trade return. Abad also likely appeals to the Blue Jays, Astros, Marlins, Cubs and Cardinals….so he has a lot of value as a trade chip. Righty reliever Brandon Kintzler could appeal to teams like the Tigers, Mariners and Cardinals. He probably wouldn’t bring a huge return, so the Twins might want to consider keeping him.
Teams are desperate for starting pitching right now and righty Ervin Santana could bring back the Twins a nice return. The Orioles, Red Sox, Tigers, Royals, White Sox, Rangers, Mariners, Mets, Marlins, Pirates and Giants would all likely be interested in him. Righty Ricky Nolasco and lefty Tommy Milone would likely also interest those teams, but I don’t see any of them willing to give up much of either of them.
The Twins would probably love to move catcher Kurt Suzuki, but barring an injury to a starting catcher, I don’t see another team making an offer for him. The Twins do not have a good enough player to trade that would make them able to attach Suzuki to a deal.