Answering fans' biggest Twins questions ahead of Trade Deadline

This story was excerpted from Matthew Leach’s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MINNEAPOLIS – We’re now less than a week from the Trade Deadline, and if that thought sends a chill down your neck, fear not: Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said Tuesday that the club is planning to buy at the Deadline.

It seemed like a good time to put together a mailbag, so here are answers to a few questions I received on social media as Monday approaches. Reminder: you can always find me talking baseball and a variety of other topics on BlueSky.

From Rye Lange: QO or trade Ryan Jeffers - what are the Twins thinking and what would you do?

Zoll was asked directly about Jeffers on Tuesday, and while you’re never going to speak completely categorically about a player, especially a pending free agent, he did not sound like a man with any interest in trading his starting catcher.

And I think that makes sense. My friend Joe Sheehan (subscribe to his newsletter!) had an interesting piece this week that noted that the returns on rental players have gone down drastically over the past 10 years. Unless you’re dealing basically the single best player on the market – think Tarik Skubal – you’re probably not getting a Top 100 prospect for a rental.

So, given that the Twins view themselves as buyers and are trying to add for a playoff push, and given that the return would probably be disappointing even for a player having as good a year as Jeffers is having, I think holding is the right play.

From johhnypbrclops: How willing is the front office to call up top prospects in the middle of a pennant race? Will they clear a spot by trading Josh Bell? Or Royce Lewis?

I asked this one today, and the short answer is, if a deal makes sense that clears a space for someone like outfielder Walker Jenkins (Twins' No. 1 prospect) or shortstop Kaelen Culpepper (No. 2), they’re absolutely willing to call one of those guys up. I would also not lose sight of the fact that Matt Wallner has played well at Triple-A St. Paul and could be in line for a call if they were to move an outfielder.

I don’t think it’s likely they do what I think you’re suggesting, though, which is to move a Major League player with the express purpose of clearing space for a prospect. Jenkins and Culpepper have both played well, to be sure, but neither has been so sensational as to force the issue in that way.

What’s more likely is simply that they find that the best way to add pitching is to trade an outfielder or an infielder, which opens a space for one of those guys, and we see them added.

From Baseball and Cats: Thoughts on Ha-Seong Kim as a target? He's been awful this year but injuries seem like a plausible explanation and rehab has gone well. … Broader question beyond just Kim is do you think the Twins might get creative like this where they'd look for roster crunch situations like Kim and add outside the obvious bullpen/5th starter roster locations if the price was right and they saw a chance for upside?

So I’ll take the second question first, and I do think that’s a possible tack. This is a .500 team, so even though they’ve outperformed expectations and are in a playoff race, it’s not like the bullpen is the only place they could use an upgrade. And infield defense is definitely one place they could stand to improve. So if a good defensive utility infielder, or someone who fit another need, became available, I could see them doing that for sure.

As for Kim specifically, I don’t see a fit. He’s making $20 million this year, and while this would’ve seemed a weird thing to say over the winter, I don’t think he’s an upgrade over Ryan Kreidler. It’s not that they wouldn’t be willing to take on some salary – but I think it’s fair to say that if they did, it would be for an impact player, not a flyer on a guy who might be an upgrade as a fifth infielder.