Twins Trade Lewin Diaz for RHP Sergio Romo, 2 Minor Leaguers

The Twins and Marlins reached an agreement. The Twins will send 1B Lewin Diaz to the Miami Marlins in exchange for veteran Sergio Romo.

Per Passan: "The Minnesota Twins are deep into talks with the Miami Marlins on a deal that would send reliever Sergio Romo to Minnesota, sources with knowledge of the situation tell ESPN. The expectation is a trade will soon be finalized."

Moments later, Passan tweeted: "One Marlins source says the deal should be completed soon. It would add a much-needed bullpen piece to the Twins, who continue to be aggressive in pursuit of help to their pitching staff."

The 36-year-old Romo is in his 12th MLB season. He has 17 saves this season in 18 opportunities and a 3.58 ERA.

Want a Winner? Romo was part of three World Series championship teams with the San Francisco Giants.

Romo is excited to join a team that is making a pennant push.

Lewin Diaz had a tremendous 2019 season, returning to his prospect status. He began the year in Ft. Myers and has continued to mash since being promoted to the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

Chris Vallimont is a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher who was 4-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 13 starts with the Clinton LumberKings. He has now made six starts for Jupiter, the Marlins High-A Florida State League affiliate, and is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA. Combined, he has 122 strikeouts in 105+ innings this year. He is likely to join the Kernels in Cedar Rapids. He was the Marlins 5th round pick in 2018 out of Mercyhurst.



ANALYSIS... OK, Opinion

While I believe that Lewin Diaz can be a solid MLB 1B starting sometime in 2020, I don't have any problem with this trade.

Diaz has had a nice bounce-back season in 2019 after a disappointing 2018 ended early with an injury. However, he is behind CJ Cron, Miguel Sano, Brent Rooker, Zander Wiel and Alex Kirilloff in the Future 1B pecking order.

Sergio Romo isn't dominant, by any means, but he is a successful veteran who has won a lot of games and even three World Series championships (if you think that matters anymore). He's not a hard-thrower anymore, but he is crafty and gets the job done, especially lately.

Chris Villamont is an intriguing prospect. He can throw pretty hard, especially if he were to be moved to the bullpen at some point. He may be a similar prospect (Ranking-Wise) to Diaz, and yet he doesn't need to be added to the 40-man roster for two more years.

And hey, if he goes to the Miracle, it's possible that they could lose a starting pitcher or two over the next four days.

Finally, the Twins will also get a Player to be Named Later, a lottery pick, if you like.

So to summarize, for Diaz (who likely wouldn't have been added to the 40-man roster this coming offseason), the Twins will get 2+ months of a competent, quality veteran reliever, a hard-throwing pitcher currently starting in the Florida State League after being drafted just a year ago, and another minor leaguer.

Hard to argue with that.