With June coming to an end soon, now is the time that baseball fans frequently flock to mlbtraderumors.com to get the latest trade rumors on their team. The Twins are 33-37 and even if they somehow reach .500 before the break even if they continue to tell fans they don't know if they are sellers or buyers, they will be sellers.
The Twins will have a few pieces to move and if they can get a good return they should not hesitate to pull the trigger like they did last July.
The first set of names are the common ones we've been hearing all along are Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau, and Kevin Correia.
Josh Willingham won't have near the value he had last summer, but with his team friendly contract and the Twins not having enough outfield spots for all their young up and coming outfielders unless they get absolutely nothing for him it already seems like a foregone conclusion that he will be moved before July 31st.
Justin Morneau has lacked power so far this season more than likely driving his value way down. Unless he goes on a power surge the Twins likely won't get true value for him at the deadline this season. The Twins may be better off holding onto him and either resigning him to a more team friendly deal or taking the draft pick compensation. I know most Twins fans hate hearing about the draft pick compensation, but if it's the best option for the Twins then we should go that route. The Twins have a bright future and adding to that with the draft pick may be the best route.
Kevin Correia has been a solid starter for the Twins this season and has a very team friendly contract as well and could be a good addition to the back of a rotation of a contending team.
A few other players who we could be hearing about are Jared Burton, Glen Perkins, and Trevor Plouffe.
Burton is a valuable reliever who can close games out if need be. Plouffe is going to become expendable in the near future with the emergence of Miguel Sano. Sano should be up here in Minnesota by the end of next season and if Plouffe could bring some value there is no reason not to move him and fill the hole with Escobar or Romero who is at Rochester putting up very solid numbers.
Now from what I have been reading Glen Perkins will be talked about this summer, but it will take a "haul" to get him and rightfully so. Perkins has been an asset to our bullpen and there is no reason to move him what so ever unless the return is something we cannot turn down. He has been dominate as our closer, he has a team friendly contract, and has grew up in St. Paul making him more likely to take another team friendly deal once this deal is up. He is an asset and unless we can get a top starting pitching prospect or two, or a can't miss shortstop prospect there is absolutely no reason to move him.
The last name to keep an eye on is Chris Parmelee. He hasn't taken the first base job or right field job and ran away with it like the Twins brass had planned and now they have to make a tough decision on him. Arcia and Morneau are putting up much better numbers across the board and with lots of outfield talent this was his year to prove himself and he hasn't done that. I don't think the Twins could really get much for him in a trade and he has nothing left to prove at the AAA level so it is pointless to send him back down there. I think where he could have value is thrown in a trade with one of the pieces I have already talked about to allow the Twins to get that prospect who may be just a tad better. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in another uniform come August.
All in all, the Twins have pieces to move again to help continue to build towards 2014 and beyond, the question yet again is will they pull the trigger and help this team for the future like they should have last year, or will they continue to settle for mediocrity? Only time will tell............
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987
The Twins will have a few pieces to move and if they can get a good return they should not hesitate to pull the trigger like they did last July.
The first set of names are the common ones we've been hearing all along are Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau, and Kevin Correia.
Josh Willingham won't have near the value he had last summer, but with his team friendly contract and the Twins not having enough outfield spots for all their young up and coming outfielders unless they get absolutely nothing for him it already seems like a foregone conclusion that he will be moved before July 31st.
Justin Morneau has lacked power so far this season more than likely driving his value way down. Unless he goes on a power surge the Twins likely won't get true value for him at the deadline this season. The Twins may be better off holding onto him and either resigning him to a more team friendly deal or taking the draft pick compensation. I know most Twins fans hate hearing about the draft pick compensation, but if it's the best option for the Twins then we should go that route. The Twins have a bright future and adding to that with the draft pick may be the best route.
Kevin Correia has been a solid starter for the Twins this season and has a very team friendly contract as well and could be a good addition to the back of a rotation of a contending team.
A few other players who we could be hearing about are Jared Burton, Glen Perkins, and Trevor Plouffe.
Burton is a valuable reliever who can close games out if need be. Plouffe is going to become expendable in the near future with the emergence of Miguel Sano. Sano should be up here in Minnesota by the end of next season and if Plouffe could bring some value there is no reason not to move him and fill the hole with Escobar or Romero who is at Rochester putting up very solid numbers.
Now from what I have been reading Glen Perkins will be talked about this summer, but it will take a "haul" to get him and rightfully so. Perkins has been an asset to our bullpen and there is no reason to move him what so ever unless the return is something we cannot turn down. He has been dominate as our closer, he has a team friendly contract, and has grew up in St. Paul making him more likely to take another team friendly deal once this deal is up. He is an asset and unless we can get a top starting pitching prospect or two, or a can't miss shortstop prospect there is absolutely no reason to move him.
The last name to keep an eye on is Chris Parmelee. He hasn't taken the first base job or right field job and ran away with it like the Twins brass had planned and now they have to make a tough decision on him. Arcia and Morneau are putting up much better numbers across the board and with lots of outfield talent this was his year to prove himself and he hasn't done that. I don't think the Twins could really get much for him in a trade and he has nothing left to prove at the AAA level so it is pointless to send him back down there. I think where he could have value is thrown in a trade with one of the pieces I have already talked about to allow the Twins to get that prospect who may be just a tad better. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in another uniform come August.
All in all, the Twins have pieces to move again to help continue to build towards 2014 and beyond, the question yet again is will they pull the trigger and help this team for the future like they should have last year, or will they continue to settle for mediocrity? Only time will tell............
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987