Twins interested in reliever Daniel Hudson

As the transaction season is just starting to slowly begin, the Blue Jays are at the centre of the seller market and will have eyes on them for any upcoming trades.

One of those rumoured to be available is reliever Daniel Hudson and the Minnesota Twins is one team that has been reportedly interested in the 32-year-old righty.

According to Jon Morosi, the Twins are also interested in both Ken Giles and Marcus Stroman, the other two premier trade options for the Jays this deadline.

Hudson might be the easiest to move and not expect a ton coming back to Toronto. He was signed as a free agent in the middle of spring training to a one-year, $2.5-million deal, after spending his previous three seasons with three different franchises.

After a down year with the Dodgers in 2018, Hudson was available for cheap and the Jays pounced on his availability — now it looks like it will work out for them. Essentially a nothing transaction has turned into one of the best relievers on the market that will be available for an inexpensive trade.

Through 45 innings for Toronto this season, Hudson has a 2.80 ERA, 4.31 FIP, and has been striking-out batters at a 8.80 K/9 rate. Among all qualified relievers in the majors, Hudson’s 2.80 ERA sits at 36th overall — two spots ahead of former Blue Jay Roberto Osuna.

With no real risk involved for the Jays, this deal should be easier to negotiate and acquiring any solid prospect in return should be considered a win for Toronto. In recent years, relievers have come at a premium as teams are placing more importance on their bullpens and having quality relievers can let them go far.

The Jays traded four relievers in the final week before the trade deadline last season: Osuna, Aaron Loup, John Axford, and Seunghwan Oh. Considering some of the prospects that have now burst onto the Jays’ prospect pool from those trades, like Forrest Wall in the Oh deal and Jacob Waguespack in the Loup trade, Toronto have gotten some solid returns for relievers recently.

Getting a pitching prospect like Luis Rijo (ranked 30th in their system) from the Twins or utility bat Travis Blankenhorn (28th in their system), could be two possible prospects coming the other way in return for Hudson.

Compared to other possible players that Ross Atkins will be trading before the July 31 deadline, Hudson should be an easy win and won’t really be seen as a big mistake if they end up losing the trade.