Dodgers: Twins players LAD can steal in trade after Minnesota’s brutal start

Even Dodgers fans who watched, stupefied, as a 13-2 start turned into a near-.500 campaign had to say to themselves, “This is not fun, but … you know what? The Twins having the worst record in baseball makes way less sense than the injury-ravaged backslide I’m watching.”

Good to have perspective, Dodgers fans. Glad I overheard that conversation.

Minnesota clattering to 13-25 over the past week seems to have started the midseason trade rumblings in earnest, especially as the Chicago White Sox appear to have fully engaged their machine (unless Tony La Russa tells them to try a bit less hard in the name of the unwritten rule book).

It seems plenty of stars will be there for the picking, unless Minny is convinced they’re poised for a 2019 Nationals-type run, the sort of mid-May reversal that only comes around once in a lifetime.

Of course, that was Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. This is Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda and JA Happ.

We don’t want to tell the Twins to “give up”; that would be unkind. Luckily, the world is doing it for us, so we figured we’d move the conversation along.

There will be plenty coveted trade targets if Minnesota does proceed with a teardown, and as of Wednesday, certain teams have already put their feelers out via MLB insiders who’ve chosen to drop nuggets. The Toronto Blue Jays were connected to Jose Berrios, and won’t be the last team to float that name. Byron Buxton, sadly on the IL yet again, was named by FanSided’s insider Robert Murray as a target to watch on this Wednesday’s Yanks Go Yard Podcast. The entire outfield could be available. The bullpen is dripping a bit. There are names to be had, folks.

Not everybody’s a fit for the Dodgers, of course, but LA’s depth has been tested far more than anticipated in the season’s first month and a half. We never expected to be patrolling a list of available Twins, but it’s officially time to close the Detroit Tigers roster tab and go bigger.

These 3 Twins feel like the best trade fits for the Dodgers.

3. Jose Berrios

Um … OK, let’s just get Jose Berrios ourselves! Get in, loser, we’re trading for Berrios!

With just a year and a half to go before he hits free agency, it’s safe to say Minnesota’s ace has been better in theory than in practice, even though we remain fans of his devastating curve and overall poise. He has displayed remarkable consistency across his career, with every ERA from 2017-present sitting between 3.68 and 4.00; unfortunately, his career total remains 4.16 thanks to a bloated debut season with an 8.02 mark. His FIPs sit right in line with those numbers, too.

Not quite an ace, nothing to scoff at, and someone that will have trouble edging his ERA above 4.00 over the course of a large enough sample size. That’ll help the back end (back end!) of the Dodgers rotation for sure.

We don’t believe an addition like Berrios will cost Keibert Ruiz, the most blocked Dodgers prospect in the game, and he’s the highest cost we’re addressing here. Ruiz and Michael Busch should all be off-limits for this type of upgrade, though you’d have to consider including Josiah Gray because the rotation isn’t exactly in shambles long-term.

Tony Gonsolin’s contributions for the remainder of the season seem tough to pin down, and David Price wasn’t even stretched out enough as a reliever to escape a month of baseball unscathed, though. Without Dustin May, the Dodgers should be looking to acquire “fifth starter” depth anywhere they can get it, and using Berrios to fill that hole would be as Dodgers a move as they come.