All I Want for Christmas is You: One Trade to Fix the Twins' Offense

Yesterday at 12:23 PM

The Twins have a talented roster that could use more offensive consistency.

The Minnesota Twins are in a unique spot. The pure talent on the roster makes them a playoff contender, but the volatility of said talent also means we can see a sharp turn in fortunes quickly, especially on the offensive end. Over the past two seasons, we've seen the Twins' bats swing from incompetent, to the best offense in the league, and back again. Between those who are injury-prone (Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis) and the young, streaky players (Edouard Julien, Jose Miranda, Matt Wallner, Ryan Jeffers, Royce Lewis again), the Twins should be looking to add bats this offseason.

Combine that need with Minnesota's swathe of young pitchers either currently or soon-to-be ready for Big League action and the cost of pitching in free agency (Mike Soroka and Matthew Boyd got HOW much??)... the trade market is pleading for Derek Falvey to get involved. Folks, let's talk Heliot Ramos.

Heliot Ramos, OF, San Francisco Giants

San Francisco has been making big moves under new POBO Buster Posey, signing Willy Adames and Matt Chapman to the first and third-largest deals in franchise history, respectively (with Adames' deal surpassing Posey's own contract). The Giants are now on the hunt for pitching via free agency and trade, dangling veteran outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and former Twin LaMonte Wade Jr. on the trade market. However, if both the Twins and Giants want to aim higher, I believe there's a Heliot Ramos deal to be made.

Ramos was an All-Star after a stellar first half and tailed off toward the end of the season, but is still only 25 with five seasons of team control remaining. He was one of the best hitters in the league against lefties (.370 AVG, 1.189 OPS), but struggled against righties. He was overextended in centerfield but better in the corners. There's also a good chance that Ramos' value has peaked, and with a new voice leading baseball operations in SF, Posey might not be as attached to Ramos as former Giants POBO Farhan Zaidi was.

Ramos would instantly fill the Twins' main roster hole as a lefty crusher while also freeing up Matt Wallner or Trevor Larnach for a separate trade or to start taking first base reps (which both should be doing at this point anyway). For Ramos to reach his ceiling, he'll need to to improve his walk and chase rates, but that is one batting skill the Falvey-led Twins have been fairly good at developing (see: Wallner, Larnach, Austin Martin, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins; or Edouard Julien for a too extreme example). And while Ramos wasn't stellar in center field, he could absolutely fill in for Buxton when needed. Plus, Target Field is a much more forgiving park than Oracle and he can't be worse than what we saw in center from Manny Margot and Austin Martin last season.

It would cost a lot to acquire him (think one of Joe Ryan/Bailey Ober with additional prospect capital on top) but these are the types of creative moves you have to find when ownership is capping the team's salary. Between Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, Zebby Matthews, recent roster additions Travis Adams and Marco Raya, and a host of other prospects that could debut in 2025 (Matt Canterino, Andrew Morris, Cory Lewis, CJ Culpepper, Connor Prielipp), the Twins have the pitching depth to make a big move for a young bat like Ramos. Trading away a controllable starting pitcher who has already shown All-Star-level results comes with unquestionable risk, but it's beyond time to start cashing in on that pitching pipeline.

Rapid Fire Alternatives

If the Twins want to deal from the bottom of the pitching pipeline rather than the top, any of these cheaper alternatives would also suffice.

• Taylor Ward, OF, Los Angeles Angels: Stop me if you've heard it before. Ward is a right-handed corner outfielder who crushes lefties (.873 OPS in 2024) and is good enough against righties to warrant everyday playing time. He's like if Manny Margot was good.
• Chas McCormick, OF, Houston Astros: The Astros likely need to be looking to acquire outfielders, not trade them away, but McCormick could probably use a change of scenery. He wouldn't immediately be in line for an everyday spot like Ward but could fill the Margot/Michael A. Taylor role for the Twins at the bare minimum. Probably more importantly for the Twins: his salary is projected to be about half of Ward's in 2025.
• Starling Marte, OF, New York Mets: The veteran isn't an All-Star anymore, but still puts up relatively good numbers and hits lefties well (shocker, I know). The Mets are reportedly looking to move Marte after signing Juan Soto and owner Steven Cohen has never been shy about eating money to secure a better prospect return.
• Coby Mayo (3B/1B) or Heston Kjerstad (OF/1B), Baltimore Orioles: The Twins and current Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle are a match made in heaven (more to come on that shortly), but if that can't be worked out, the Orioles may be more willing to part with Mayo or Kjerstad in a potential trade for Twins pitching. Both players have spent far too much time in AAA thanks to Baltimore's unprecedented run of hitting prospects and the acquisition of Tyler O'Neill last month. Mayo is three years younger and hits right-handed, making him the preferred target, but he'll be harder to pry away from GM and habitual prospect hoarder Mike Elias for the same reasons.