Back in the days of my youth, before a wife, before kids, and frankly, before I was reasonable, I liked to put together offseason plans and suggest trades and basically pretend I was smarter than I am. Now, with less time and the realization that modern day GMs are invested in statistics and have the advantage of professional scouts, I don't really add much to the conversation, if I ever did. Still, it was fun, and I liked doing it. Since there is an utter lack of headlines out there, and I have a rare bit of time on my hands, I thought I would go for it.
There are two major themes to all of Minnesota's offseason goals. They need to manage their payroll in the wake of their absent TV deal, and they also would like to add an elite starting pitcher to replace the loss of Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda. The obvious means in which to whittle away at their payroll is to offload replaceable players that have larger salaries. The best way to get an inexpensive, controllable starting pitcher on the trade market is to trade prospects to teams whose window is no longer open.
Jorge Polanco is the clear choice to be included in a trade that reduces payroll. He's a good offensive player, particularly for a second baseman, who has tread left on his tires and a not outrageous contract on the verge of expiration. Edouard Julien has already usurped the role, and if he falls flat in year two, Nick Gordon, Austin Martin, Brooks Lee or even Royce Lewis are options to man the keystone. Teams are not often as blessed for depth as the Twins are in the middle infield, and Polanco has been in demand elsewhere.
Polanco, then, is eminently tradeable. He has value on the market, and the Twins would like to get his payroll off the book. Unfortunately, teams like the Mariners or Blue Jays who have reportedly been interested in his services, don't really need to feel compelled to trade away one of those controllable starting pitchers the Twins so clearly desire and need.
What I am trying to say is, this sounds like a good time for a multi-team trade! The Blue Jays and Twins have matched up before in a major trade, so there is a line of dialogue there. In this scenario, they work together to bring Brewers ace Corbin Burnes to Minnesota for a year. It's a pretty easy deal when discussing the return for the Twins and Blue Jays. Twins get Burnes, Blue Jays get Polanco. The Brewers, in turn, get 5 players.
The Blue Jays would deliver veteran middle infielder Cavan Biggio and pitching prospect Brandon Barriera (#4 in the Blue Jays organization) while the Twins would pass along minor league infielder Tanner Schobel and pitchers David Festa and Connor Prielipp (7, 9, 6, respectively) to soften the blow for Milwaukee. This would give the Brewers three pitching prospects to replace Burnes (and Brandon Woodruff, also likely not to pitch for the Brewers again.
Additionally, Milwaukee will prepare for the possible departure of Willy Adames, their shortstop who is as likely as Burnes to be traded this offseason by adding Biggio for a couple of years of stability, and Schobel as an option to replace Adames somewhere down the road.
As is my constant and universal disclaimer, I don't know anything, and I can't get inside organizations to fully understand their player valuations, but the takeaway is that to attain the goals the Twins are trying to achieve, it's going to be complicated.
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