The latest Twins rumors 5 days before the MLB trade deadline
Five days before the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline and rumors are beginning swirl around the big leagues, with news Tuesday suggesting the Tampa Bay Rays are in serious talks with the Chicago White Sox for right-handed starting pitcher Lance Lynn.
As contenders like the Rays are looking to get better, so too are the Minnesota Twins, who have two very obvious needs: bullpen and a right-handed bat. The obvious question facing the Twins is if they will be active on the trade market or entrust players returning from injuries to fill the gaps.
Minnesota is due to get Jorge Polanco back from a hamstring injury any day now, and relief pitchers Brock Stewart and Caleb Thielbar are believed to be close to returning. Also on the mend and possibly back in mid-August is Royce Lewis, who was on fire at the plate before he suffered a strained oblique in early July.
“I don’t think that we’ll match any of that kind of addition [of those four players], and I don’t think we’re trying to, quite frankly,” Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey told Do-Hyoung Park on Tuesday. “Those are really impactful players. We want to find ways to upgrade our team, but as we look at our group, you think about the bench that we have and those guys coming.”
Falvey admitted that teams have expressed interest in Minnesota's crowd of left-handed hitting corner outfielders.
"There are other teams that don't have any of that and they're dying to get some. It does come up in a lot of conversations. We have a high bar for all of those guys, though," Falvey told Park.
Falvey didn't name players, but the left-handed hitting corner outfielders could include Max Kepler, Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach
Meanwhile, a report from The Athletic suggests the Twins could trade left-hander Dallas Keuchel, who has a 0.69 ERA in five starts at Triple-A St. Paul. Keuchel's contract gives him the power to opt out and become a free agent 48 hours after the Aug. 1 trade deadline if the Twins haven't added him to the big league roster.
Keuchel getting the call to the Twins would likely require an injury to a starting pitcher this week because there are no signs that Minnesota intends to change the current starting five of Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez, Kenta Maeda, Bailey Ober and Sonny Gray.
