According to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Twins are receiving “as much interest in Kyle Gibson as in any of their players.” The Twins have waved the white flag on the 2018 season this week, shipping out both infielder Eduardo Escobar to the Diamondbacks and right-handed reliever Ryan Pressly to the Astros.
Of course, it should be noted right of the bat that Rosenthal’s source believes the Twins would need to be “blown away” to trade the right-hander. After a mostly mediocre career, the former number 22 overall pick is finally showing the brilliance Minnesota had always hoped they’d see. After back-to-back 5.07 ERA seasons, Gibson sports a 3.42 mark across 129 innings so far in 2018. He’s also struck out nearly a batter per inning and sports a healthy 46.2% ground ball rate, making him a fairly safe bet to continue his solid production moving forward.
It’s odd that the Twins don’t seem motivated to move Gibson, considering he’s only controllable through the 2019 season; Pressly was set to become a free agent at the same and he was dealt only yesterday. Of course, it’s certainly possible that the club was “blown away” by the return they got for Pressly, as Houston’s 10th- and 15th-best prospects came back to Minnesota in that deal. Gibson’s playing on a $4.2MM salary this season, meaning he will still remain quite affordable even after an arbitration bump in the coming winter.
Then again, the Twins might consider Gibson to be a valuable element of their hopes to jump back into contention in 2019. After all, Escobar was only controllable through the end of the year, so while we’re likely to see Brian Dozier moved in the coming days, it’s possible Minnesota might rely on bounceback seasons from Ervin Santana, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano along with some minor-league reinforcements in order to field a competitive team next year. After all, they’re in a division that looks to be very weak for years, outside of the AL Central-leading Indians.
There are certainly teams that might be willing to overwhelm Minnesota in order to land a quality starter. The Brewers appear poised to make an aggressive run at a postseason berth, and their rotation looks unsightly at the moment due in part to injuries. Also in the NL Central, the pitching-needy Cardinals don’t appear willing to punt the 2018 season and are certainly hoping to make a push in 2019. Gibson would also prove an upgrade over some of the Diamondbacks’ in-house options, and the same could be said of the Nationals, to whom he could also serve as insurance in case Stephen Strasburg is unable to return to health and form. This is all purely speculative, but regardless, if Gibson’s not dealt, it will be due to lack of an aggressive offer, not lack of suitors.
Please Stearns! He’d be great! Or at least an improvement!
Yeah Stearns give us 2 top 30 prospects for Gibson
One of those prospects would probably need to be in the 8-12 range.
With Gibson’s record against the yanks and sox this year a top ten is a must, two should be start of talks. You have a guy that is win or two against the teams in the playoffs, and you get him next year.
Braves trade Teheran for Gibson and LoMo
Why would Atlanta need Lomo?
Or Gibson for that matter.
Terehran to SD for Renfroe
Why would Minnesota want Teheran?
Yeah twins should trade Gibson and lomo for soraka, Wright and gohara! See I can propose ridiculous trades that will never in a million years happen too.
After looking at the Brewer’s top 30 prospects I’d say The Twins would pass on a Dozier trade. After the trades the Twins have made recently they are full on OF and Pitching prospects. They also don’t have much extra room on the 40-man roster to take on prospects without potentially losing others during the next Rule-5 draft. The Twins front office would likely want a Catcher, 3B or 2B in that order ready to replace the position players like Escobar and potentially Dozier. Considering where KESTON HIURA (1), LUCAS ERCEG (6) line up in the Brewer’s Top 30 the Brewer’s would not want to part with those high end prospects for a rental. Best bet the Twins trade Dozier to another team.
Hey what about Kyle Gibson?
Seeing the way the market has shaped out with regards to number and quality of prospects. I’d say the Twins to trade Kyle Gibson (remember, having to be “blown away”) who has another year plus being better than any other pitcher traded to this point…. Etc. You’d be looking at something like #6 LUCAS ERCEG (3B) and #12 JACOB NOTTINGHAM (C/1B)
I like these 2 prospects. trade Gibson for these 2.
With the acquisition of Moose it’s highly unlikely dozier is moved to the brewers. Boston seems like the only real logical spot left
Yankees and Brewers seem like the logical candidates. I doubt Gibson is moved though.
I agree with the article that the Twins would need to be blown away. If the Twins trade him they’ll need a player that will be ready to make a big impact to 2019 as the main part of the return, preferably in the rotation. Guys like Justus Sheffield, Burnes or Peralta.
Now I know how ridiculous that sounds. And I know those teams would very likely say no or laugh, and that’s perfectly fair and I actually agree with that response. If I were a fan of those teams that is exactly how I’d react to this post.
Gibson is not an ace and has only been this good for one calendar year and only has one more year of control but he’s so important to the Twins rotation next year that they really should have to be blown away in order to trade him. He’s been pretty close in quite a few stat comparisons with Berrios. He’s more important to the Twins than probably any other team which is why it’s unlikely he moves.
The Twins shouldn’t throw in the towel next year because so many things went wrong this year (Lost two guys via injury for significant time, one suspension, two underperforming former top prospects). There’s probably more. They are where they should be right now but if even just two of those things go the right way next year they could win their terrible division. Plus they have a ton of money coming off the books.
Keep Gibson unless blown away. I agree.
What about a 3 team deal involving Gibson, Gray, and another team’s prospects?
It’s all dependent on the other team and who gets what
This. The twins would probably want another decent prospect along with gray in order to make a deal, since grays stock is pretty low right now.
Brewers!
Giants should consider some talk for Gibson. Give up B- Prospects for Gibson.
And what else? If that’s all the giants came to the table with the twins would block their number to avoid them wasting their time in the future, considering what they just got for pressley.
Giants should consider some talk for Gibson. Give up B- Prospects for Gibson.
“After all, they’re [the Twins] in a division that looks to be very weak for years, outside of the AL Central-leading Indians.”
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No.
The trades and signings Dayton Moore has made the past 2 years – especially the past 6 weeks – are masterful. This is an experienced, credentialed baseball person with a likewise experienced scouting staff.
The Royals will not contend in 2019, but even in a best case Twins scenario the Royals will be better then them in 2019.
Oh honey… you poor thing… next year is gonna be really disappointing for you.
lol
Oh little one… you poor thing…you ought to check out my track record.
I’ve watched the Twins play. The FO is as bad as the last one. Other then the new pitching coach the rest of the coaches and manager need to go.
Dayton Moore is again building a team of baseball players that wins. One that once again will confound fantasy league players and analytical
The Royals run differential is -192. They are by far the worst team in all of baseball, not just this division.
I don’t doubt Moore ability to build a contender. But he’d be the first to say they have no designs on being a .500 team by 2019. Twins on the other hand may well be a .500 team this year, and the immediate future remains very bright.
Other then Rosario, name me 3 starting position players on the Twins that are well rounded, “average” players. They have one terrific starter plus Santana coming back. Who knows what the bullpen will look like in 2019.
They can’t play defense. Can’t bunt or move runners along. Most are pull hitters that are incapable of beating the shift. They have no leadership on the field – Dozier did it for a few years, but the new FO neutered him.
The Royals are a fundamental organization. Look at how most players Moore is bring in can play D, run the bases, and hit to all fields. The Twins, Sox, and Tigers cannot play baseball. With an unbalanced schedule, I can see the Royals getting to .500 in 2019.
You do any sports betting? I’d love to make a wager with you over this. I’ll even give you 5-1 odds.
The royals maybe the worst team in the MLB right now and the twins are 6 games under 500 with literally just about everything going wrong for them this year. Not saying the royals haven’t made some good moves but you if you think the royals will be better than the twins next year I have a great deal on a time share to sell you.
Not from KC. Watched MLB since the mid-50’s. Two years before the Royals won I started watching their games regularly on the MLB package. It was obvious that once they gelled, they would win. Big. And it was fun watching them develop. The past month I’ve picked up the signs again.
It used to take 4-5 years to build a winner. But most FO’s today are slaves to analytics. All these cookie-cutter teams look at the same data as they play ‘strikeout or HR derby’. Consequently they build fantasy league teams that a fundamental-based team with an experienced manager and coaching staff can exploit. Moore built the Royals of a few years ago, and worked himself up to John Schuerholz’s chief assistant that built consistently superior teams with the Braves. Due to the inept competition, this rebuild will not take 4-5 years. With Perez, Duffy, and Merrifield, the leadership is already in place.
Gibson is a keeper. He’s figured it out, and he’ll be cheap next year. The Twins CANNOT find a better, less expensive option for a quality starting pitcher in 2019 to be his replacement. So, any trade for him in 2018 would have to be an outrageous overpay.
Now, if nearly everything goes wrong for the Twins next year as it did this year, sure, they would trade Kyle to a contender at that time.
Hopefully the Twins decided to buy out Gibson’s 3rd Arbitration Year and turns it into a three-year contract.