Minnesota Twins need to acquire Rays ace Chris Archer

The Minnesota Twins played the Tampa Bay Rays just in time to see what their future could be like with Chris Archer.

The Minnesota Twins 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night was….. a breath of fresh air.

While I admit losses are normally disappointing, I’d be lying if I said I was disappointed after this game. In fact, I was more hopeful than anything

Why was I hopeful? I saw exactly what the Minnesota Twins need to get in their rotation, a veteran starter with the stuff of a legitimate ace. That pitcher is Chris Archer, who allowed 2 earned runs in 7.2 innings of work with 11 strikeouts, shutting down a Twins lineup that has been potent of late.

The dominate start gave me goosebumps, as I thought about what it would look like to add him to a rotation already consisting of Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios. The price of getting an arm like Archer would be high though, so why should the Twins pay the price?

First off, the Twins would be getting a pitcher that can be the number one or two guy of the pitching staff for the foreseeable future. Archer’s contract runs through 2021, shown by Spotrac below, at a very reasonable price for a pitcher of his caliber and fits in with the Twins budget conscious ways. He is also in the prime of his career at 28 years old, so there shouldn’t be signs of slowing down any time soon.

"YEARAGEBASE SALARYSIGNING BONUSTOTAL SALARY201425$500,000$166,666$666,666201526$1,000,000$166,666$1,166,666201627$2,750,000$166,666$2,916,666201728$4,750,000$166,666$4,916,666201829$6,250,000$166,666$6,416,666201930$7,500,000$166,666$7,666,668202031$8,250,000–$8,250,000202132$8,250,000–$8,250,000"

Second, the Twins have desperately needed a pitcher at the top of their rotation with ace-like stuff. Yes, the Twins have Jose Berrios, but he is still rather unproven and could benefit from the tutelage of a veteran with just as filthy stuff, featuring a mid to high 90s fastball and dominating slider.

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Additionally, having two or three top notch pitchers in your rotation is almost mandatory in order to have success. Just look at last season’s champions, the Chicago Cubs, who had stars Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks at the top of their rotation.

With Archer, the Twins would have a great one, two, three punch, pending a Berrios collapse, and could make a deep playoff run. Add in Hector Santiago and a combination of either Phil Hughes, Adalberto Mejia and, sigh, Kyle Gibson, I can roll with that.

Finally, Archer has a track record of success to help the Twins win now. In his last three seasons, he’s averaged 33 starts, 10 wins, 202.2 innings pitched, and 219 strikeouts. His greatest asset may be his ability to go deep into a ball game and pitch over 200 innings in a season, which could help out an average Twins bullpen.

So, with that, what will it cost the Twins to make this kind of move?

Well, as already stated, a lot.

Realistically, it would force the Twins to trade away top prospect Nick Gordon, among other top prospects and/or players, but fact of the matter is that the move would not just make us better now, but in the future as well.

As mentioned in my previous article, a move like this may be a long shot, but if there’s a move to be made, this is the one.

Next: Twins management has a big decision to make

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