The clear answer is NO they don't need him. He has more trade value than any player on the roster right now and they only use him a few innings a week. There are a few contending teams in the league that would give us some incredible young prospects for his arm TODAY if we asked.
The southpaw has emerged as one of the most dominant relievers in the game and his value has never been higher. In addition to carrying the vaunted "proven closer" label, Perkins ranks 14th among MLB relievers in ERA (one spot ahead of Mariano Rivera), seventh in xFIP and 15th in K/9 rate. His contract is extremely team-friendly -- perhaps the best in baseball for a high-end closer.
In other words, he offers the best deal around for teams looking for a great closer.
I can't believe how much I'VE jumped on the Perkins bandwagon since he became the set-up man to Joe Nathan a few seasons back. I dreaded the possibility that this guy would be our 8th inning man. Between arm trouble and an average fastball, I couldn't believe he was still on the team. As a starter he was inconsistent at best.
But something wonderful happened after his recovery from surgery. His speed increased. His control was spot on and ... AND... he learned to really mix up his curve and fastball. Suddenly he was the best set-up man in baseball, and when Nathan left, no Twins fan I know of had a problem with him becoming our closer.
That he was a Minnesota boy who had a nice college career at the U of M just made him more appealling.
But sadly, a team as bad as the Twins are right now simply are wasting Perkins value if they continue to hold on to him. And IF he develops injury problems again, his value to the Twins will become absolutely worthless.
The Royals had a similar situation with their sensational closer, Joakim Soria, a couple of seasons ago. He was great. The Royals were awful. They decided to keep him. He got hurt. That decision killed the Royals. They could have had half a dozen good to great players for that arm of his and instead they ended up with nothing.
Since Perkins has a long-term deal already in place with the Twins, more teams would be willing to part with their elite young talent to get him. It's not like they are going to lose Perkins to free-agency at the end of the season.
IF the Twins trade Perkins, and they should (even though I hate the idea it's good for the team's future) look for the Twins to trade off tons of other players as well, getting even more prospects that will be ready to play in a year or two at the major league level.
Once you trade ONE guy, you're kind of committed to trading EVERYBODY of real value KNOWING that you're not going to make a run for the pennant anytime soon anyway.
Those types of trades will also make it easier for Joe Mauer to jump ship as well. He wants to play on a contender as badly as anyone. Trading everyone else will also give us the opportunity to unload Mauer and his huge contract that's killing us financially as a franchise.
Look for a very different Twins ball club next season. And look for a new manager to lead the charge as well. If we are cleaning house, we may as well do it right.
Maybe we'll get a guy who sees the value of using all our pitchers in a three inning rotation that doesn't depend on starters. I have hope right now. When we are this bad, we have no where to go but up. New managers are much more willing to try out new ideas. Dinosaurs like Gardy will never change. And I don't want to wait for the world to rotate around dinosaurs.
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