The Minnesota Twins found themselves in a weird position in 2021. They entered the year as a top team in the AL Central, setting up for a fight with the Chicago White Sox for the division title.

With a rotation headlined by star José Berrios and a bullpen solidified by new acquisition Alex Colomé, they felt they had the pitching they were missing in 2020. The lineup featured Nelson Cruz, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco, Josh Donaldson, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, and a young Alex Kirilloff.

While it was going to be a tough fight for the Twins to beat out the star-studded White Sox, they were poised for a close battle.

Their season was a wash just three weeks into it. The Twins fell all the way to 7-15 on the season on April 27 after losing 7-4 to the Indians. While it was too early to count them out, the Twins could not get themselves going. They fell to 14-28 on May 20, all but eliminating their hopes in 2021.

Following a heartbreaking end to 2020, where they were swept in the AL Wild Card round, they were banking on a great 2021. Instead, they were left with basically two lost seasons, and a lot of veteran players not getting any younger.

There have been talks throughout the industry that the Twins are going to be sellers this winter, as they look to shed contracts and stack the farm system.

They already began this process at the trade deadline, where they were discussing trades involving Donaldson, Buxton, Kenta Maeda, J.A. Happ, and Berrios. They ended up trading Berrios to the Blue Jays and Happ to the Cardinals. However, the rest of the players on the trade block didn’t budge because their price was too high.

The Mets were heavily involved at the deadline, where they were discussing Berrios, Maeda, Donaldson and Buxton in different deals. They ended up being outbid on Berrios and didn’t want to meet Minnesota’s expectations for Maeda, Donaldson, and Buxton.

While the Mets have been rumored to not want to shed many prospects this winter, they still may be potential trade partners for the Twins. So, who could be a potential fit to come to Twins?

Byron Buxton is the major name out of the bunch. Buxton, 27, was drafted second in the 2012 draft by the Twins. He had his best season in the majors in 2021, finally coming into the form the Twins had been waiting for since 2012. While he missed 100 games due to injury, he hit .306 with 19 home runs and 32 RBI. Those 19 home runs were three more than he had in any season prior. Had he been healthy, you can assume he would’ve hit closer to 40 homers. His speed and spectacular defense makes him a really valuable player that could interest the Mets.

While the Mets have a seemingly completed outfield–Mark Canha, Starling Marte, and Brandon Nimmo–they probably would go for Buxton at the right price. He is under contract through 2022.

The Mets have also shown interest in veteran Josh Donaldson. Donaldson, 35, is under contract through 2023. His appeal comes strictly from his power numbers. In 2021, he hit .247 with 26 homers and 72 RBI. The least home runs he hit in a full season was 24, and hit as many as 41 in his MVP season in 2015.

However, the Mets seemingly found their third baseman in Eduardo Escobar. With the money that comes along with Donaldson, it likely wouldn’t make much sense for them to go after him to be a bench bat.

The best fit would likely come in lefty reliever Taylor Rogers. Rogers is entering the final year of team control, but is possibly the best option the Mets have. (Mike Puma of the New York Post reported the Mets “have eyes” on Rogers, which generally spurred the essence of this article.)

After losing Aaron Loup to the Angels, the Mets don’t have any lefties in their bullpen. The best possible free agent option is probably Andrew Chafin. Rogers has been very consistent throughout his career, and even has experience closing games.

In 2021’s All-Star season for Rogers, he had a 3.35 ERA in 40 games with a WHIP of 1.140. The Mets likely wouldn’t need to give up major talent to pry him from Minnesota, making him a desirable option.

If the Mets don’t bring back Javier Báez, they could target Jorge Polanco to play second base. Polanco, 28, is under team control through 2023. He is a shortstop by trade, but the Mets could throw him over to second base.

The switch-hitter hit .269 in 2021 with 33 home runs and an impressive 98 RBI. The Mets already added a similar player in Eduardo Escobar this winter, a former teammate of Polanco. However, those 33 home runs would have been second most on the Mets in 2021.

There are plenty of options on the Twins for the Mets to choose from if they don’t fill all their holes in free agency. However, they likely wouldn’t be pursuing those options until after the possible lockout starting this week.