Twins Should Consider Trading Morneau

Although the Twins have been playing better baseball lately, they are still non-factors in this year's pennant race. Whether the team will admit it or not, the Twins are in a rebuilding mode and don't appear to be serious contenders for the next two years.

But all does not have to be lost. Teams that are not contending still have an opportunity to make their teams better by making the (sometimes difficult) decision to trade players that are not crucial to the future.

The Twins have a handful of players that fall into this category, including first baseman Justin Morneau.

The first baseman makes $15 million this year in last season of his contract. Morneau has proven his health is intact in 2013, but the former MVP has mysteriously lost almost all of the power that made him a household name in the late 2000's.

From the Twins standpoint it makes sense to move Morneau. They refused to negotiate a contract extension with him a couple of weeks ago, making it seem as though they are not interested in having him back. A team acquiring Morneau would owe approximately $8,000,000 for the rest of the season.

The downside of a Morneau trade is that the level of prospects attained may not be enough to offset the bad PR that comes with trading someone who is familiar to most Twins fans for something fans cannot see immediately paying dividends.

Most likely destination: New York Yankees. The Yankees are slipping out of the AL East race at the moment, but are still very much in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. They are currently starting Lyle Overbay at first base with Mark Texieria out for the season with a wrist injury.

A move for Morneau, combined with the return of Derek Jeter (and A-Rod to a much, much (much) lesser extent) could be just the thing to put New York into the playoffs.