The Twins finished last week with Mitch Garver at catcher, Josh Donaldson at third base and a need for another starting pitcher. A trio of gutsy trades have them entering this week with Gary Sánchez, Gio Urshela and Sonny Gray manning those respective positions—and also saw them trade for shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, only to ship him away a day later.
Talk about an eventful weekend.
Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports; Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota’s torrent of activity kicked into overdrive a hot stove that long had been dormant prior to the end of MLB’s 99-day lockout. Moreover, it signaled that a team one year removed from winning back-to-back division titles was not ready to strip things down for a rebuild after coming in last place in 2021.
After ranking 15th in runs scored, 26th in ERA and 27th in defensive runs saved in last year, the Twins needed to make improvements across the board to return to their winning ways. They set out to accomplish this first by shipping Garver to the Rangers for Kiner-Falefa, then landing Gray from Cincinnati for last year’s first-round pick and finally by trading Kiner-Falefa, Donaldson and backup catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Yankees for Sánchez and Urshela.
Executing a trade is so difficult due to the different ways clubs evaluate their players, so seeing three trades by one team in such quick succession—and involving primarily big league players—is a rarity. It’s impossible to know exactly how Minnesota’s brain trust conceived of these moves, but if we allow ourselves to speculate, we might be able to parse some of the thinking behind them.
The Gray trade is perhaps the most telling of the three. The Twins gave up 18-year-old righthander Chase Petty for the two-time All-Star who’s due to make $10 million in 2022 (with a $12 million team option for ’23). That is not something a team does if it’s looking to cut salary, which is what the subsequent Donaldson/Kiner-Falefa trade appears to accomplish when viewed on its own. Swapping (essentially) Garver and Donaldson for Sánchez and Urshela is a downgrade in production at each position for added cost-saving, which wouldn’t appear to square with the Gray trade that preceded it by a few hours.
All of this speculation leads to the conclusion that the Twins aren’t done yet. Minnesota reportedly has “lots of irons” in the fire, and has been in contact with shortstop Trevor Story, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. The Twins currently project to have former All-Star Jorge Polanco at shortstop with Luis Arráez at second base, though the latter can play multiple positions while the former is better suited at second. Any money saved by shipping Donaldson to New York could certainly be allocated toward bringing Story into the fold and would further position Minnesota to reenter the ranks of AL Central contenders. A right side of the infield featuring Story at short and Urshela at third is better than one with Kiner-Falefa and Donaldson. (Of course, that makes you wonder why the Yankees just didn’t sign Story and call it a day, but New York’s puzzling side of this deal is a separate issue.) The Twins also aren’t done improving their rotation; they are reportedly interested in veteran righthanders Johnny Cueto, Michael Pineda and Zack Greinke.
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Minnesota came into 2021 with such promise and ended up as perhaps the league’s most disappointing team. But in a division that had just one team finish with a winning record, the door for contention remains wide open. Whether or not they land Story (or a player of similar caliber) is an unknown of great consequence, but the Twins have already positioned themselves to at least be in the running as the Central’s second-best team. With one more AL playoff spot this year, teams stranded in the middle of MLB’s contention spectrum have more hope of sneaking into the postseason, and it’s encouraging to see a franchise like the Twins opt for a more aggressive approach when given the opportunity.
If the past couple of days are any indication, they’ve only just begun.
