Trading For Ty?

With the off-day yesterday, I find myself with little to write about. The Twins are coming off three consecutive series losses and are badly struggling to score runs. While this offense has occasionally been able to score some runs in spurts, they've generally had a difficult time gaining any consistency and it's pretty clear that at least one addition will be necessary if the Twins want to compete for a postseason spot.

There's some talk buzzing around about a potential trade that would bring Tampa Bay's Ty Wigginton to Minnesota. Wigginton is a 29-year-old third baseman who bats from the right side and doesn't make a ton of money, so he would fit several needs for the Twins. As a hitter, he's been fairly average throughout the majority of his career, but he has a bit of power which would obviously benefit a Twins' lineup that is frequently incapable of producing multiple extra-base hits in a game. Wigginton holds a career line of .265/.323/.447 in just over 2,000 at-bats, and he is currently hitting .263/.306/.458 with 11 homers and 33 RBI for the Devil Rays.

I think Wigginton would be a solid addition. Aside from third base, which is considered his natural position, he can play first and second. The problem is that he doesn't play particularly well at any of these positions, so the ideal scenario might be for him to step in as the regular DH while occasionally spelling Nick Punto or Justin Morneau. Wigginton's career slugging percentage (.447) does not speak of a man who possesses a ton of power, but he showed his potential in that department last season when he hit 24 homers and slugged .498 over 444 at-bats for Tampa Bay. This year he has already hit 11 home runs, which would rank him third on the Twins behind Morneau and Torii Hunter. Wigginton doesn't possess much patience at the plate and won't hit for a great average, but his ability to hit the long ball would make him an asset in the bottom part of the Twins' lineup. He's making $2.7 million this year and still has a couple years of arbitration eligibility remaining.

By adding Wigginton and making him their regular DH, the Twins would fill a major hole in their lineup. Wigginton is not a spectacular hitter and wouldn't necessarily be looked at as a long-term solution for the DH spot, but he would provide an improvement over the current rotation of Jeff Cirillo/Jason Tyner/Mike Redmond and he would add much-needed strength to the Twins' lineup against left-handed pitchers.

The big question is this: what would it cost to obtain Wigginton from the Rays? With a 5.49 team ERA (worst in the majors), Tampa Bay is in need of pitching, and the Twins have a lot of it. It's possible that the Devil Rays would want a major-league ready starter such as Scott Baker or Carlos Silva; they might also do the deal for a solid minor-leaguer such as Brian Duensing, who currently boasts a 2.37 ERA in three starts for Class-AAA Rochester after being promoted there from Double-A recently. Whether it would be wise to part with affordable major-leaugue pitching or a promising young lefthander like Duensing in order to obtain Wigginton is debatable, but there is no arguing the fact that this offense needs an upgrade and it is unclear whether or not better options than Wigginton will realistically become available before the trading deadline.