Insider: Blue Jays, Twins Make Perfect Trade Partners

The Minnesota Twins have already lost two important pitchers from their rotation this offseason in Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda. Now, according to Insider Jon Morosi, they'll look to trade one of their expendable bats, notably Max Kepler and/or Jorge Polanco to bring in an arm.

Morosi suggests that the Toronto Blue Jays "make a ton of sense. They need to bring in multiple bats."

The Blue Jays and Twins are potential trade partners, as we discussed this morning on @MLBNetwork. pic.twitter.com/5fsBoEjFpX

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 18, 2023

The Jays do have a need in the outfield and in the middle infield, and Kepler and Polanco would be able to fill those voids respectively. 

Kepler, 30, slugged 24 home runs last season in 130 games, while Polanco, 30, only played half the season (80 games), but still managed 14 long balls and a .335 on-base percentage. In his last full season (2021) he mashed 33 homers with 98 RBIs. 

Toronto has an enviable starting rotation of Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi and... Alek Manoah? It's unlikely they'd trade any of those – even Manoah – for one of those Twins, but you never know what a bigger package could look like. 

The Blue Jays have been targeting their offense for improvement this winter, though their big blow-out bids for Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto fell short. They could still be in on the Cody Bellinger sweepstakes, but failing that, Kepler and Polanco could have some interest for them. 

Still a lot of interesting times ahead this offseason.  

Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports