San Francisco Giants: Building a trade with the Minnesota Twins

San Francisco Giants Trade Proposal #1

To Twins: LHP Will Smith
To Giants: SS Wander Javier, RHP Jhoan Duran, 1B/OF Brent Rooker

The Twins pen has held its own in high-leverage situations with a combination of Blake Parker, Taylor Rogers, and Ryne Harper, but none have particularly strong resumes. Furthermore, advanced numbers suggest that all have benefited from luck through the first two months of the season.

So let’s build a package for them to acquire Will Smith.

I’ll start with raw shortstop Wander Javier, who signed as a 16-year old with the Twins for a $4 million bonus back in 2015. Since starting his pro career, Javier has shown promise when on the field, but a string of injuries have limited him to only 50 career games.

He still has all the tools to be an All-Star up the middle and would fit in nicely with Marco Luciano as another high-ceiling in the lower minors. At the same time, he has yet to play above rookie ball and has dealt with a string of injuries, so the Twins might be willing to move him in the right deal.

Right-hander Jhoan Duran would be an attractive complementary piece to Javier.

The Twins acquired him from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the package for Eduardo Escobar. The 21-year-old is arguably the best pitching prospect in the Minnesota system outside of Brusdar Graterol, and there’s still room for him to take another step forward. The Twins system is thin on impact arms, but if they want to make a play at the top of the trade market, they’re going to have to give something up.

Rounding out the package is first baseman/outfielder Brent Rooker. The 24-year-old has a profile similar to Chris Shaw at this point in his career, and he has struggled at Triple-A this season. His 60-grade power carries enough intrigue that he’s worth taking a chance on, though. The Giants system depth could allow him to go back to Double-A to see if he can make some adjustments.