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The annual MLB Winter Meetings are over, but the offseason is really barely started and there will be plenty of moves to come. The Minnesota Twins are in the market for bullpen help, but with many notable free agent relievers off the market general manager Terry Ryan may now have to turn to trades for reinforcements.
Dating back to the general manager meetings in November, the Tampa Bay Rays have fielded trade interest in relievers Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger. Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports went a bit further this week, with a report that trade talks surrounding McGee had “intensified” over the preceding day or two.
Sources: #Rays trade conversations on reliever Jake McGee have intensified over last 24 to 48 hours. @FOXSports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 11, 2015
Of note: #Dodgers officials Friedman and Kapler know McGee from Tampa, and LA still looking for back-end reliever after failed Chapman deal.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 11, 2015
Morosi mentions the Los Angeles Dodgers as a team that could have interest in McGee, which makes sense with the Aroldis Chapman trade going by the wayside and former Rays’ executive Andrew Friedman’s presence in Los Angeles. But the Twins should absolutely be in the mix for McGee, and he fits the exact profile for what they need in a bullpen arm.
Outside of closer Glen Perkins (8.5 K/9), only Trevor May (10.6 K/9 over 32 relief appearances), Kevin Jepsen (8.0 K/9 over 29 appearances with the Twins) and J.R. Graham (7.5 K/9) stood out as strikeout arms out of the Minnesota bullpen last season. It’s notable that Perkins is the only left-hander among those four, with Brian Duensing (4.4 K/9), Aaron Thompson (4.7 K/9, 5.01 ERA), Ryan O’Rourke (6.14 ERA) and Neil Cotts (5.9 K/9 over 17 appearances for the Twins) the other southpaws with a notable role in the Minnesota bullpen during the 2015 season.
McGee missed the start of last season as he recovered from offseason elbow surgery, and he also missed around a month (Aug. 20-Sept. 26) after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. But over 39 appearances last season (37.1 innings) McGee had a 11.6 K/9 rate, with good control (1.9 BB/9) and a ground ball rate just under 39 percent. He made at least 69 appearances each season from 2012-2014, with more than 70 appearances twice, so I’m willing to consider last season a blip on the durability radar for McGee.
This is McGee’s second year of arbitration eligibility, so with two years of team control left he is an appealing trade target. The Twins have the farm system depth to make a solid deal with the Rays, so McGee should be near the top of any trade target list Ryan may have now.
Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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