On Friday, they will start a new series back in Minneapolis against their National League neighbor, the Milwaukee Brewers, with their best (active) pitcher Joe Ryan (80 IP | 2.93 ERA | 89 SO) scheduled to take the mound.

Despite their recent slide back to .500 (37-37), and the extreme lead Detroit has taken in the AL Central, though, the Minnesota Twins remain squarely in the American League Wild Card race, sitting 1.0 games back of the third and final slot, currently held by Boston.

Minnesota Twins targeting Marlins outfielder

As of today, with just over a month remaining until the MLB Trade Deadline, the Twins still consider themselves as a buyer. And at the top of their “shopping list” — if the Pohlads will allow us to call it that — is a left-handed outfield bat.

In an article posted Friday morning, former MLB GM-turned-Insider Jim Bowden (The Athletic) revealed Miami Marlins outfielder, Jesus Sanchez, as a top target for Minnesota, and one they’ve already locked onto, even this early in the process.

At 27 years old, Sanchez has proven himself as a consistent, quality bat, during his six-year MLB career. If acquired, he won’t blow the top off this lineup’s ceiling, but he would undoubtedly raise its floor.

The Twins have made it clear to opposing general managers that they are looking for a left-handed-hitting outfielder. Sánchez is one of their trade targets. He has slashed .251/.324/.412 with seven doubles, seven homers and seven steals in 53 games. Last year he hit .252 with 18 home runs and 64 RBIs. He ranks in the 92nd percentile in bat speed and the 76th percentile in average exit velocity. Sánchez, 27, is under team control through 2027.

Jim Bowden – The Athletic

Jesús (The Truth) Sánchez pic.twitter.com/HLTLNtgPIb

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 7, 2025

Related: Could Tampa Bay Rays Sale Help Pohlads Sell Minnesota Twins?

With a .736 career OPS and 99 career OPS+ (499 games), Jesus Sanchez would be a nice addition to the Minnesota Twins lineup. He probably won’t lift them defensively, though. Jesus can play all three outfield positions, but he’s not a positive defender at any of them, and he’s a liability in center.

Sanchez has all sorts of range (2.45 career range factor per game), but he’s also committed the fourth-most errors (2) of any MLB outfielder so far this season, and he finished in that same spot back in 2021, with 5 total outfield errors in only 62 games played.

Miami Marlins want LHP Dasan Hill for Jesus Sanchez

Trading for a player like Sanchez won’t be an easy decision for Minnesota Twins president Derek Falvey, especially given what the Miami Marlins appear to be demanding, in exchange, which according to Bowden, is 19-year-old left-handed pitcher Dasan Hill.

Hill, who the Twins selected in the 2nd round of the 2024 MLB Draft, is absolutely ripping up low-A ball this season (1.65 ERA | 43 K | 27.1 IP) for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. This time last year, he had just graduated high school, out of Grapevine, TX.

In return, the Marlins would get Hill, a 19-year-old righty [Dasan Hill] whom the Twins selected in the second round of last year’s draft. He’s been dominant in the Low-A Florida State League this season, posting a 1.65 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings. This is the type of trade that’s been prioritized by Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, who has shown a preference for accumulating talent over big-league readiness.

Jim Bowden – The Athletic

Dasan Hill, the 69th overall pick in the 2024 @MLBDraft, dominated on Saturday for the @MightyMussels💥

4 IP / 2 H / 0 R / 1 BB / 7 K#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/maU9MU7yMq

— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) June 9, 2025

Related: Former Minnesota Twins Pitcher Ejected From Little League Game… and There’s Video

I get that the Minnesota Twins are looking for a lefty bat that can balance out the lineup a little bit, in the short term. However, left-handed hitting outfield prospects like Walker Jenkins (AA) and Emmanuel Rodriguez (AAA) are both one call away from big league action, once they can prove any ability to stay healthy.

Meanwhile, the Twins already have left-handed bats in the outfield, like Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach, who are already contributing positively to the big league club. Thus, I’m not really sure why Falvey would trade away a top draft pick who’s off to an incredibly hot minor league start, in exchange for a temporary outfield rental.

Nonetheless, Bowden seems very sure that this is exactly the type of trade the Minnesota front office is searching for. And no doubt, he knows more about what the Twins are seeking than I do.

In the meantime, there’s some news down on the farm. Minnesota’s prospect pool had a solid showing on Baseball America’s top 100 list earlier this year, when the preseason 2025 rankings were first released.

Top Twins prospects like Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez have become mainstays on all accredited prospect lists. Both Luke Keaschall and Zebby Matthews can usually be found on most of them, as well.

Dasan Hill becomes next MN Twins top prospect

But as of this week, left-handed starting pitcher Dasan Hill joined the group of elite prospects in the Minnesota Twins organization when he made his debut at No. 85 on the Baseball America Top 100 list.

The Twins selected Hill in the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft. The high school lefty out of Texas is just 19 years old and, playing his first full season of pro ball this year, down at Low-A Fort Myers.

Five Minnesota Twins prospects are listed in the latest Baseball America Top 100 list:

11. Walker Jenkins
25. Emmanuel Rodriguez
32. Luke Keaschall
46. Zebby Matthews
85. Dasan Hillhttps://t.co/dXwQMN0JyW#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/4vUq7cUrsj

— Talkin' Twins (@TalkinTwins) May 7, 2025

Through his first four professional starts Hill owns a 1.50 ERA. It’s just a 12 inning sample size, but Hill has started off his Twins minor league career with an incredibly impressive 21/5 K/BB ratio.

Hill isn’t some soft-tossing southpaw either. The flame-throwing teenager totes a mid-90’s fastball that has a realistic chance to reach triple digits, as he grows into his body.

His draft profile at Baseball America spoke glowingly of his high-end abilities, despite being young and relatively raw.

“He’s the Lone Star State’s best prep southpaw prospect since Kyle Muller, who signed for $2.5 million as a Braves second-rounder in 2016. After parking around 89-90 mph and topping out at 93 with his fastball last summer, Hill has grown 3 inches, added 15 pounds and started dealing in the low 90s while reaching 96. His best pitch is a high-spin slider in the low 80s that he backfoots well against right-handers. He also has a solid upper-70s curveball with more depth and a low-80s changeup with sink and similar promise. Hill not only possesses four viable offerings but he also has the ability to throw them all for strikes. He still has room to add plenty of muscle to his lanky frame, so his repertoire could continue to get stronger.”

MLB

Dasan Hill, the 69th overall pick in the 2024 @MLBDraft, was dominant in his first career professional outing 💎

4 IP / 1 H / 1 R / 0 BB / 7 K

The 19-year-old averaged 96 MPH and had a 50% whiff rate on the day⛽️#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/DLBOwgqepJ

— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) April 6, 2025

Given his age, it’s fair to assume Hill is at least two years away from the big leagues. That timeline is probably aggressive in and of itself. It is worthwhile to compare him to 2023 first round pick, and fellow 19-year-old, Charlee Soto though.

Soto made his professional debut last year and turned in a 5.23 ERA in 74 innings. His 87 strikeouts were impressive though, and like Hill, the Florida native has triple-digit heat. Soto has struggled with was command issues (33 walks), early in his pro career, which isn’t uncommon.

Soto is at High-A Cedar Rapids this season and turned in three solid outings, before going on the injured list. His 1.38 ERA across 13 innings is good to see. The 15/4 K/BB isn’t quite where Hill has been at though.

The Minnesota Twins, and many teams, don’t typically push young arms. That said, if Hill keeps this up, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get time with Cedar Rapids by the end of the year.

Twins pitching pipeline paying dividends

Since he was hired the hope was that Derek Falvey could recreate the pitching pipeline that Cleveland became synonymous for. Minnesota Twins fans have waited patiently for that to come to fruition and it seems as though we’ve reached that point.

Despite David Festa, Zebby Matthews, and Andrew Morries all looking ready at Triple-A, the Minnesota rotation simply doesn’t have room. Pablo Lopez looks like a Cy Young candidate and Joe Ryan isn’t far behind. Bailey Ober has a 1.98 ERA across 41 innings since making a start while sick to begin the season.

Pablo López, Wicked 85mph Sweeper. 🤢

10th K pic.twitter.com/P3QE9HHCC3

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 7, 2025

The soft spot of the rotation was supposed to be both Simeon Woods Richardson and Chris Paddack. The former has a 4.01 ERA and has treaded water. The latter took a perfect game into the sixth inning during his last start and owns a 2.51 ERA across his last 32 1/3 innings.

Minnesota’s rotation has the fifth-highest fWAR in baseball. Their 3.34 ERA is also fifth-best. More talent coming through the pipeline will help to sustain that excellence for years to come.