9 trade targets for the Colorado Rockies from the Minnesota Twins

Unlike the Colorado Rockies, the Minnesota Twins were viewed as one of, if not, the strongest teams in their division entering 2021. After all, they were tied for the second-best record in their division (the American League Central) in 2020 with a 36-24 record. That’s equivalent to a 97-win team in a full 162-game season.

They also won 101 games in 2019 and won the AL Central by eight games. But in 2021, their pitching completely fell apart. By ERA+, the Twins had the fourth-best pitching staff in baseball (128). In 2021, that plummeted all the way down to 25th in baseball (89).

As a result, at the trade deadline, the Twins traded their DH Nelson Cruz as well as starting pitchers J.A. Happ and José Berríos. They ended the season by getting the news that their best-remaining starting pitcher, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda, would need Tommy John surgery. He missed September of 2021 and will miss all of 2022.

The Minnesota Twins are not going to be very good in 2022.

Entering the 2022 season, the Twins look a shell of themselves, especially on the pitching front. Currently, their ace is Dylan Bundy. They signed him for a one-year deal for $4 million and a team option for 2023 (and a $1 million buyout for the option).

Bundy, 29, got Cy Young Award votes for the Los Angeles Angels in 2020 after he had a 3.29 ERA in 11 starts (2.95 FIP, 1.036 WHIP) but he was not the same in 2021 and was never that good in a full season. From 2016 through 2019 with Baltimore, he had a 4.69 ERA (4.75 FIP) in 125 games (103 starts). In 2021, he made 23 appearances (19 starts) and had an ERA of 6.06.

And, as of now, he’s the Twins ace. In other words, the Twins are not going to be contending unless they make some major moves when the lockout ends. Realistically, they should trade some players away and rebuild.

Here are nine potential trade targets the Colorado Rockies should look at with the Minnesota Twins.

Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson should be considered by the Colorado Rockies

The 2015 American League MVP Josh Donaldson is entering his third season with the Minnesota Twins and, if healthy, he could be a big power bat for the Colorado Rockies. Donaldson, 36, had seen his fair share of injuries (almost always calf injuries) but, surprisingly, he has been healthier in the last three seasons. Out of 384 possible games to play in the last three seasons, he has played in 318 of those games, or 83 percent. In the previous two seasons, he only averaged 83 games played, or 51 percent of the schedule.

In 2021, he played in 135 games and he hit .247/.352/.475 with an OPS+ of 127 along with 26 homers and 72 RBI. Defensively, he was slightly above league average as he had 1 Defensive Run Saved (DRS).

He only played in 28 games in 2020 due to injury but for Atlanta in 2019, he garnered some NL MVP votes as he helped get them to the postseason. He played in 155 games and he hit 37 homers and had 94 RBI with a .259/.379/.521 slash line and an OPS+ of 126.

He’s entering the third year of a four-year deal with Minnesota. He is owed a base salary of $21.75 million for each of the next two seasons with incentives in each season that would combine to be just over $1 million more. For 2024, there is a team option for $16 million and a $8 million buyout.

The Twins will want to get out from some of that if they trade him but as long as they cover some of it, the Rockies should consider Donaldson for third base since they need a power bat and an infielder.

Minnesota Twins infielder Miguel Sano should also be considered by the Colorado Rockies

Minnesota Twins infielder Miguel Sano would also provide the Colorado Rockies with a power bat, a power bat that they desperately need.

Sano, 28, has primarily played first base for the Minnesota Twins in the last couple of years but he can play third base as well.

In 2021, he played in 135 games and he had 30 homers and 75 RBI with a slash line of .223/.312/.466 and an OPS+ of 112. In 2020, he was on a 40 home run pace for a 162-game season and in 2019, he only played in 105 games but he was on a great pace. He was on pace for 52 homers and 122 RBI (he had 34 homers and 79 RBI). He had a slash line of .247/.346/.576.

Defensively, Sano has not been great at either first or third so he would be best as a designated hitter for the Rockies. The Rockies really want somebody who would exclusively be a DH but he could be the primary DH and play at first base and/or third for two or three days a week.

Sano is owed $9.25 million in 2022 and there’s a team option for $14 million ($2.75 million buyout) for 2023 before he becomes a free agent so he could be a (relatively) cheap option for the Rockies to get a power bat in their lineup.

Minnesota Twins infielder Jorge Polanco would be good for the Colorado Rockies

Minnesota Twins infielder Jorge Polanco has quietly been one of the best infielders in baseball in recent years, particularly in the last two full seasons. Polanco, 28, had a very good season in 2019 (4.6 rWAR) when, in 153 games, he had 22 homers and 79 RBI with a slash line of .295/.356/.485 with an OPS+ of 121. He was an All-Star and came 13th in American League MVP voting.

He had a down season in 2020 but in 2021, he was, arguably, the best hitter for the Twins. In 152 games, he hit 33 homers and had 98 RBI with a slash line of .269/.323/.503 and an OPS+ of 125.

He has played shortstop for the Twins in recent years but in 2020, they moved Polanco over to second base. He also has had a handful of games third. Defensively, though, he is best at second base, as he had 5 Defensive Runs Saved at second in 2021 and -10 DRS at shortstop in 2019.

Contractually, Polanco, 28, is owed $5.5 million in 2022 before his pay steadily gets higher with each season ($7.5 million in 2023, a $10.5 million vesting option in 2024 that could go higher with incentives, and a team option for $12 million, that also has incentives, for 2024).

For a young infielder that is still on the good side of 30, he would be a good fit for the Rockies but with that team friendly contract, the amount of control, and his age, it will take a lot to get him.

Minnesota Twins outfielder Max Kepler could also provide the Colorado Rockies with a good defensive outfielder

Minnesota Twins outfielder Max Kepler hasn’t quite lived up to his hype as a prospect (MLB.com’s #44 overall prospect entering 2016) but he could still be a good player for the Colorado Rockies.

Kepler, who turns 29 in Feburary, has shown that he can have a good power bat but hasn’t been completely healthy in most seasons. He has only appeared in 135 or more games in a season twice in his five full seasons in the majors that he could have (2020 is the obvious exclusion).

In 2021, he played in 121 games and hit 19 homers and had 54 RBI with a slash line of .211/.306/.413, which was equivalent to an OPS+ of 98. He still had a 2.1 rWAR season because of his defense. He was much better in right field (97 games) than center field (22 games) as he had 9 DRS in right and -5 in center field but that defensive ability could play well in Coors Field. In 2018, he also had 15 DRS between right and center so he has had some really good defensive seasons.

Offensively, his best season came in 2019, where he even got MVP votes. In 134 games, he hit 36 homers and had 90 RBI with a slash line of .252/.336/.519 and an OPS+ of 123.

Contractually, he is owed $6.75 million in 2022, $8.5 million in 2023, and then his contract wraps up with a $10 million team option that could go higher with incentives.

So if he could stay healthy, he could be a good power bat for the Rockies but he still is a good defender.

Minnesota Twins catcher Mitch Garver would be a good defensive and offensive backup/platoon catcher for the Colorado Rockies

Minnesota Twins catcher Mitch Garver is, arguably, a great catcher … when he is not injured. He definitely would be one of the best backups if he was with the Colorado Rockies.

Garver, who turns 31 in a few weeks, is from Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is, of course, the home of the Rockies Triple-A affiliate. Garver also went to college at the University of New Mexico (which is in Albuquerque) as well. When he made it to the majors in 2017, he joined former Colorado Rockies player and new hitting coach in Albuquerque, Jordan Pacheco, in making it to the majors after being born, raised, and going to college in Albuquerque (both went to UNM).

Garver has been injured a lot in the last two seasons (including a back strain and an injured groin in 2021) so he has only played in 91 games since the start of the 2020 season. However, particularly in 2021, he was very good when he played.

In 68 games, Garver hit 13 homers and had 34 RBI with a slash line of .256/.358/.517, which amounted to an OPS+ of 139. Depsite catching less than half of his teams games (59), he was 11th among all MLB catchers in pitch framing metrics, including runs extra strikes on Statcast. That’s why he still had a WAR of 2.1.

In 2019, he only played in 93 games and he still had a staggering 31 homers and drove in 67. He hit .273/.365/.630 with an OPS+ of 159. That’s a 162-game pace of 54 homers and 117 RBI. Despite only playing in 93 games, he still won a Silver Slugger Award.

He is arbitration-eligible for the second time this offseason and he is projected to make about $3 million in arbitration this offseason.

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Randy Dobnak could be a diamond in the rough for the Colorado Rockies

Randy Dobnak is slated to be in the Minnesota Twins starting rotation in 2022 but he could be a diamond in the rough for the Colorado Rockies.

Dobnak, who turns 27 next month, is probably best known for his Goose Gossage-like mustache and for being an Uber and Lyft driver. As Dobnak told MLB.com in 2019, he had a 4.99/5 rating (all five-star reviews but one four-star review) so he was more than happy to sign a five-year extension for $9.25 million before the 2021 season that could net him $20.3 million more if his three team options are picked up. That came only four years after he was pitching in Independent ball.

He struggled mightily in 2021, though, partially due to a finger injury on his right-hand (his throwing hand). He only pitched in 14 games (six starts) and had an awful ERA of 7.64. His FIP suggests some bad luck but it was still awful itself (5.70), WHIP was 1.539, and he allowed two homers per nine innings.

However, there’s one thing that could intrigue the Colorado Rockies: his groundball rate.

In his short time in the majors (125 2/3 IP), it is very high (57.3 percent). In the minors, it has been over 45 percent each season, including roughly a 60 percent groundball rate in 2019.

As we’ve discussed in this series before, Germán Márquez, Antonio Senzatela, and Jon Gray are all in the top 17 among starters with at least 300 innings pitched since 2019 and they all pitched much better at Coors Field. Senzatela’s groundball rate is the highest among the trio at 52.1 percent.

If healthy, the Rockies would love to have a pitcher like Dobnak in their rotation for his controlability and groundball rate but with the team friendly contract, the Twins might not be willing to part with him.

Minnesota Twins reliever Tyler Duffey could bring some help to the Colorado Rockies bullpen

Minnesota Twins reliever Tyler Duffey has quietly been one of the more reliable relievers in baseball in the last three years and the Colorado Rockies need some more of that in their bullpen.

Duffey, who turns 31 in less than a week, made his MLB debut with the Twins back in 2015 as a starter. He pitched well in his first season (3.10 ERA in 10 starts) but struggled after that. The Twins made him a reliever instead and he struggled doing that at first two (5.53 ERA in 75 appearances between 2017 and 2018). But he has been great for them since 2019.

Since 2019, he has appeared in 144 games and he has a 2.69 ERA (164 ERA+) with a 3.19 FIP, and a 1.063 WHIP along with a good walk (3.0 BB/9) and strikeout rate (10.9 K/9).

The downside for the Rockies would be that Duffey is entering the final year of arbitration before entering free agency and in arbitration, he is projected to get around $3 million so they would not have much control.

However, given that the Twins likely won’t be in contention this upcoming season, the Twins could try to get something in return before he becomes a free agent either before the season begins or before the trade deadline, making a trade more likely.

Minnesota Twins reliever Taylor Rogers is the perfect fit of perfect fits for the Colorado Rockies.

Back in October, when we looked at one trade target per team that the Colorado Rockies should look at, Minnesota Twins reliever Taylor Rogers was our pick. As we said at the time, “[o]f the 29 players on this list, there may not be a better fit for the Colorado Rockies than Minnesota Twins reliever Taylor Rogers.” That is still the case for all the players on this list.

Rogers, 31, posted a 3.35 ERA in 2021 and had a phenomenal walk (1.8 BB/9) and strikeout rate (13.2 K/9). That led him to his first career All-Star appearance. In his six-year career, he has made 319 appearances (all in relief) and he has a career ERA of 3.15 (139 ERA+).

He always has had a good strikeout rate (above one strikeout per inning in all but one season and nearly 11 or more per nine innings in each of the last three seasons) and always a good walk rate (2.2 BB/9).

The Rockies need some bullpen help, which he would provide. They need a lefty, which he is. They need a veteran lefty, which he is. Having a groundball rate in a pitcher is a plus, which he also checks that box (48.8 percent since 2019). He also knows how to pitch at altitude as he is from the Denver suburb of Littleton.

The only issue with him is that he is a free agent at the end of the 2022 season and, considering that he’ll make around $6.7 million in arbitration this offseason, he still could get a fair amount in free agneyc. Whether it’s a trade for him or if they sign him in free agency, he is a perfect fit for the Rockies.

That wraps up this edition in our series and wraps up the American League Central. Tomorrow, we move on to the American League West and the reigning American League Champion Houston Astros.