Manager Russell Martin insisted that Saints have “highlighted” the need to sign a new winger due to their lack of depth in the attacking third.
Currently, Southampton only have Sam Edozie, Sam Amo-Ameyaw, and Kamaldeen Sulemana as dedicated wingers at the club. New signing Ben Brereton Diaz is also capable of playing out wide, while Adam Armstrong performed well off the right last season.
Southampton have lost Welsh international David Brooks and Newcastle United’s Ryan Fraser following the end of their loan deals. The St Mary’s side have been linked with Crystal Palace’s Jesurun Rak-Sakyi this summer and have attempted to re-sign Fraser.
In the video above, Hayes acknowledges the steep asking prices of the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox. He explained that if a trade had occurred, it would have centered around utility prospect Luke Keaschall (Minnesota’s fifth-ranked prospect at FanGraphs) instead of the untouchable Jenkins, Lee, and Rodriguez trio.
As the clip nears its end, Hayes states that Detroit and Chicago didn’t want to see the Twins win, a stance driven by ego. The Tigers and White Sox created unnecessary boundaries by implementing an “intra-division tax,” making it impossible for Minnesota to trade for Flaherty or Fedde unless they parted with one of their three consensus top 50 prospects.
Taking this stance as an organization is absurd and one of the many reasons Detroit and Chicago have largely been incompetent baseball franchises over the past decade. The Tigers acquired prospects Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Flaherty. On the other hand, the White Sox acquired post-hype position player Miguel Vargas and 19-year-old prospects Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus in the three-team trade that sent Fedde to the St. Louis Cardinals. None of Liranzo, Sweeney, Perez, or Albertus appear on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list, while Keaschall ranks 54th.
Again, it is frustrating that Twins decision-makers elected not to make any substantial moves at the trade deadline. Could they have pursued Kikuchi more aggressively? Perhaps. But if Hayes’s reporting is to be trusted, which it should be, it appears the organization’s front office wanted to engage in meaningful trade discussions with the Tigers and White Sox. For those franchises to shut them down for being in the same division isn’t Minnesota’s fault. Instead, it shows which organization is serious about winning and which can’t break the cycle of needing to rebuild.
With the market not working in the front office’s favor at the trade deadline, the club faces uncertainty surrounding their fourth and fifth rotation spots. Simeon Woods Richardson has performed well this season, owning a 3.74 ERA and 3.75 FIP over 91 1/3 innings pitched. However, during that stretch, he has underwhelming peripheral numbers (3.95 xERA and 4.32 xFIP). His most recent start against the New York Mets, where he gave up six earned runs over 3 1/3 innings, has made those who follow the team concerned that his underwhelming peripheral numbers indicate negative regression.
However, fifth starter David Festa performed well in his past two outings against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Mets. He allowed only three earned runs while striking out a combined 13 batters over 9 1/3 innings. The team will rely on two rookies, Woods Richardson and Festa, to push them as they try to catch the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central crown while fending off the Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, and Seattle Mariners for one of the two final Wild Card spots.
The Twins are spread thin in their starting rotation, and electing to stay idle at the trade deadline places a cruel spotlight on their most prominent deficiency. However, given the asking prices, the team was wise to stand pat.
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