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It’s Trade Deadline Day, and you know what that means? It’s time to drink exactly one beer and then call the Marlins.
Just kidding.
But it is an exciting day for baseball, though. This year, most of the Twins trade deadline talks are revolving around closer Brandon Kintzler.
#Twins have fielded a lot of calls on Brandon Kintzler in the last 24 hours. He's a hot commodity.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 31, 2017
As @jcrasnick just said, Brandon Kintzler is the most in demand of the #Twins in play.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2017
Kintzler—who made the All-Star Team this year—is an easy piece for the Twins to move because he is only signed through the end of the 2017 season. That means a potentially lower return for the Twins, but also doesn’t create a bigger hole for them to plug.
Twins MLB.com beat reported Rhett Bollinger predicted Kintzler as the most likely Twin to be moved before today’s trade deadline.
According to the latest rumors, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals are currently pursuing Kintzler, who would rather stay in Minnesota if he could (but they all say that, right?) I previously listed the Nationals as one of the teams who I thought would be interested in Kintzler.
Kintzler said he was more worried about trade rumors last year than this year. Likes it here and would like to stay beyond 2017.
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) July 30, 2017
nats still looking to beef up 9th inning options. would love britton (would balt trade w/ them?) hand, kintzler also in play @chelsea_janes
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2017
Was just told #Dbacks are in the mix for Kintzler as well. Final hours setting up well for #mntwins on that front.
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) July 31, 2017
Kintzler, who will turn 33 tomorrow, has a 2.78 ERA with a 1.147 WHIP through 45.1 innings of relief this year. He previously pitched for the independent league St. Paul Saints before being signed by the Brewers in 2010.
The MLB non-waiver trade deadline is at 3:00 pm CT today, so stay tuned...
UPDATE [1:26 pm CT]:
Sounds like the Twins are waiting for the other dominoes to fall with this Kintzler trade. This one could go down to the wire...
Source: Twins "remaining patient" in Kintzler talks. Have to think they're waiting to see which teams miss out on Hand and/or Britton.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 31, 2017
UPDATE [1:58 pm CT]:
We’ve got about an hour to go. The Nationals seem like the front-liners here.
#Twins are in the "red zone" on a Brandon Kintzler trade. #Nationals are the most speculated-upon team, but not sure if it's them.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 31, 2017