Thread: Trade Value....Minors vs Bigs

On another thread, people were mentioning how the Twins have depth in relievers and they need to bring some guys up from AAA and "see what they have". So here's an interesting thought...on the assumption that the Twins would be willing to trade some of our AAA relievers to fill in other areas where we are weak, is it going to help or hurt their trade value to bring them up?


Let's look at Slama. Right now he has a 0.42 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP at Rochester. That looks pretty damn great. Now, if we leave him at AAA, he might keep that line. If we bring him up to the Twins, it's pretty unlikely that he would. If we wanted to trade him, would he be worth more as a guy with half a season of fantastic AAA numbers, or a a few months of fantastic AAA numbers and a few months of mediocre MLB numbers?


Another guy to look at would be Valencia. Is he going to be a more valuable trade asset burning up AAA or half-assing it in the Majors?

Now of course, it's always tough to predict how guys are actually going to handle the transition to The Show. I don't think ANYONE would've guessed that PJ Walters would the first (and so far only) guy on the staff to throw a complete game. But are there some guys who are worth more to send to another team before we risk them imploding on the big stage?

a. Slama is not doing anything that he has not done before (other than the ERA, and that does not matter.) Every team could have had a shot on him and nobody took it.
b. Unless the Twins get an MLB-ready in a year 3rd baseman, they cannot trade Valencia. They have nobody. Plouffe's MLB numbers are worse than Valencia's... FACT. The fact that Valencia has options is the reason he is in the minors now

Originally Posted by spideyo

Let's look at Slama. Right now he has a 0.42 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP at Rochester. That looks pretty damn great. Now, if we leave him at AAA, he might keep that line. If we bring him up to the Twins, it's pretty unlikely that he would. If we wanted to trade him, would he be worth more as a guy with half a season of fantastic AAA numbers, or a a few months of fantastic AAA numbers and a few months of mediocre MLB numbers?

Be careful... there are some on this site who will flame you just for thinking ill of Slama.

Career minor league relievers have no trade value. His only value to the Twins is either up here and succeeding, or up here and traded after succeeding. I cannot understand why they don't just give him a shot in another lost season.

The fact that Slama was passed on both waivers, when he could've just been claimed and 40-manned, and not claimed in the Rule 5 is intriguing.

The season is not lost, only you are lost!

Originally Posted by thrylos98

a. Slama is not doing anything that he has not done before (other than the ERA, and that does not matter.) Every team could have had a shot on him and nobody took it.
b. Unless the Twins get an MLB-ready in a year 3rd baseman, they cannot trade Valencia. They have nobody. Plouffe's MLB numbers are worse than Valencia's... FACT. The fact that Valencia has options is the reason he is in the minors now

Agree 100% on Slama.

As for Plouffe v Valencia, neither is likely as useful major leaguer long term.

Valencia has enough playing time that we can be pretty certain that he is a below average fielder. He also has enough plate appearances that we have a good line on his hitting ability. As a 27 year old with 1000+ PAs, he probably has leveled out. We know who he is and it isn't the caliber of a major league starter at 3B. Since teams don't generally keep a 3B on the bench, he appears to be a AAAA player.

Plouffe is 1.75 years younger. He doesn't have near the sample size. We can see that he is a poor fielding SS. Too early to judge how he might develop as a 3B. Given his age and smaller sample size, he probably has higher ceiling. I am not hopeful. I do think there is a better chance (although slight) that he will be a useful major league player. I would rather invest playing time in Plouffe at this point.

The Twins should be concerned about 3B for the coming years. After starting pitching, it is probably a spot where they seek a prospect if they are able to pull off a midseason trade.

Originally Posted by mike wants wins

Career minor league relievers have no trade value.

Unless you're trying to acquire a starting shortstop with some power and a pretty good glove, then they apparently have value.

Originally Posted by spideyo

On another thread, people were mentioning how the Twins have depth in relievers and they need to bring some guys up from AAA and "see what they have". So here's an interesting thought...on the assumption that the Twins would be willing to trade some of our AAA relievers to fill in other areas where we are weak, is it going to help or hurt their trade value to bring them up?

Generally, relief pitching prospects don't have much value (generally). The team trading for relief pitching would want to make sure they are getting a player that could help them now and would want some track record of success at the ML level (unless it's a salary dump). On the other hand, in tight races, guys like Perkins, Capps and Burton could all have some decent value and allow the Twins to bring up a guy like Guerra or Oliveres.