Article: Twins Trade Kendrys Morales for Seattle Reliever Stephen Pryor

[John Bonnes]

The Minnesota Twins announced on Thursday afternoon that they have traded designated hitter Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners for reliever Stephen Pryor. To fill Morales spot on the roster, they recalled Jorge Polanco from Single-A.

 

Pryor was the Mariners right-handed “closer of the future” back in 2012 but has been sidetracked by injuries since. The most recent, a torn back muscle on his pitching arm side, cost him most of 2013 and meant a late start in 2014. He’s spent most of the year in AAA with only one relief appearance with the Mariners (against the Twins this month). In AAA-Tacoma, he’s had 27 strikeouts in 31 innings but has also had 18 walks. Control has been a bit of a problem for Pryor throughout his minor league career: he has walked 88 batters in 162 IP in the minors. In his major league career, he has 35 K in 32 IP with 16 BB and a 1.313 WHIP.Kendrys Morales was signed on June 7^th by the Twins to help with their playoff push, but both he and the team struggled soon after. Overall, he’s hit just .234 with a .584 OPS for the Twins, and has seen only a slight uptick from that production in recent weeks. By trading him to the Mariners now, the Twins will only be responsible for a month-and-a-half of his $12M salary, or about $3M.

 

It’s somewhat a surprise that the Twins traded for a reliever instead of a pure propsect, but while Pryor is a relief pitcher, he is also a power arm prospect that could play a significant role in the Twins bullpen for several years. Or, he could be damaged goods. He turned 25 yesterday and has over a year and a half of service time, so he’ll likely be eligible for arbitration after the 2015 season.

 

It is doubtful the Twins could have received a significant prospect for Morales, who is not hitting enough to be in high demand, and that's not including his defensive limitation. This is a “sell-low/buy-low” trade for both teams, but the Twins will have more time to wait for Pryor to regain his form, and will spend less money while they wait.

 

It also clears up any debate about the direction the Twins plan to take at the trade deadline. They are "sellers" and this could be one of several moves the team makes over the next week.

 

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[Dr. Evil]

I don't like trading a good player who is in his early 30s for nothing. This trade stinks.