Division-by-division Dodgers trade targets: AL Central

Taylor Rodgers, Trevor May

The Twins have another exciting core of position players, and unlike the Twins, their ace, José Berrios, is young and certainly is untouchable.

So who could the Dodgers take on from this team? Relievers.

The Twins have a bevy of solid relievers who are young and possess some late-inning upside. The Twins may be opposed to dealing more than one of them, but selling high is something smart front offices like Minnesota’s like to do, and thus these two potential closers and set-up men could be solid Dodgers trade targets.

First, let’s look at Rodgers. In 69 innings, Rodgers collected 30 saves with an 86.2% strand rate and a career-best 2.61 ERA. The 6’3” reliever is left-handed and is a strikeout machine, as he had an 11.74 K/9 in 2019. The southpaw will enter his second year of arbitration in 2020, and he is quite controllable, as he will not enter free agency until the 2023 offseason. Because the Twins are still competitive, Rodgers is likely to be the toughest reliever to add from Minnesota, but the presence of other relievers with good stuff in the ‘pen could make parting with Rodgers easier.

The next reliever to spotlight is May. May is the only arm in this trio who had a strikeout rate under 30% (29.7%) and yet he still would have been second in the 2019 Dodgers bullpen amongst relievers with at least 25 relief appearances. May had a sub-3.00 ERA in 2019, and he’s a rental, which would make the Twins even more likely to deal him. He is predicted to make under $2.5 million in 2020, which would make him a bargain for the Dodgers.