Article: Twins Trade Garcia To Yankees For Two Pitching Prospects

[Seth Stohs]

It was nice to know you, Jaime Garcia.

 

While reports following the Twins lost in Oakland late last night indicated that the Twins and Yankees were nearing a deal for Garcia, news has come out from various national writers that a deal has been agreed upon.

 

The Twins will trade left-handed start Jaime Garcia to the New York Yankees for RHP Zack Littell and LHSP Dietrich Enns. The Twins will also send cash to the Yankees. No, that is not a misprint.Garcia was traded to the Twins on Monday in exchange for Elizabethton RHP Huascar Ynoa. At the time, the Twins were in the thick of contention in the AL Central, and in the wild card. But things have gone sour for the Twins since. They are now well out of contention in both.

 

Garcia made just one start for the Twins. On Friday night, he gave up three runs in 6.2 innings to earn a win, the one game the Twins have won since they acquired him.

 

Depending on the site, Littell was ranked around #20 in Yankees prospect lists. The right-hander has a four-pitch mix with a fastball in the low 90s.

 

This season between High-A Tampa and AA Trenton, he is 14-1 with a 1.87 ERA. He's been even better in AA, posting 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings compared to just 7.2 per nine in High-A.

 

26-year-old Deitrich Enns is on the Yankees 40-man roster. With AAA Sranton-Wilkes Barre, he has a 2.29 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 39.1 innings in seven starts this year.

 

Enns will report to Rochester. Littell will head to Chattanooga.

 

And so it begins...

 

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[rdehring]

Have you looked at Enns numbers in 2016, Seth? Other than he missed part of this year and 2015, could he be the better of the two prospects?

 

Littell, plus Enns, plus that minor league catcher for YNOA and $4+ million looks to me to be an excellent net result.

[SarasotaBill]

Good recovery after making the mistake for trading for Garcia.

 

The Twins need to selling any short term asset.

[D.C Twins]

For those in the know….are Littell and Enns better than Ynoa?  If so, how much? 
Seems like a good overall sequence of transactions.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Littell is 21, and doing extremely well in High A and AA. Ynoa is 19, and struggling (although SSS does apply) in advanced rookie ball. This is a very rudimentary analysis, but I'd say Littell>Ynoa, so to get Enns as well is a very nice move by Falvine. Unless the Braves are in love with Ynoa, they have to be pissed.

[DocBauer]

Of course, I know nothing about either of these guys or their potential/ceilings or potential timetable. But in paper it seems like we just did a flip and an upgrade in a week's time. Yes? No?

[Winston Smith]

From what I can see Yankee fans think they gave up to much.

[Willihammer]

Of course, I know nothing about either of these guys or their potential/ceilings or potential timetable. But in paper it seems like we just did a flip and an upgrade in a week's time. Yes? No?

I'd say it really depends on your projection of Ynoa. Some people see a Fernando Rodney ceiling whereas Littell seems to have #4 starter ceiling with a better chance to reach it.

[tobi0040]

Littell was 19th by Newsday back in June. Maybe he is up a few with good numbers this year. Decent write-up here:

 

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/yankees-top-20-prospects-in-2017-1.13549624

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

I have done a detailled and thorough analysis of these transactions and have come to the following conclusion:

 

We gonna have to wait and see how it turns out

[mikecgrimes]

Lets do this every year heck lets do this every week.  We still haven't traded anyone off the Twins roster and yet have improved or at least seem to have. Even if neither of these guys ever amount to half the major league player Garcia was this was a great move.

[mikecgrimes]

 

I have done a detailled and thorough analysis of these transactions and have come to the following conclusion:

 

We gonna have to wait and see how it turns out

 

I do like to look at pretty minor league stats over ugly ones even for players that never make it so in that sense we already won the meaningless element of the trade.

[nicksaviking]

Littell's 11th round draft selection should be of note as well. Since the bonus pools are all based on the first 10 rounds, the 11th round pick is very often the HS kid with signability concerns meaning he almost certainly was much more highly regarded as a draft pick than his round would suggest.

[jorgenswest]

Comp in Twins system - Felix Jorge?

[kab21]

 

Littell's 11th round draft selection should be of note as well. Since the bonus pools are all based on the first 10 rounds, the 11th round pick is very often the HS kid with signability concerns meaning he almost certainly was much more highly regarded as a draft pick than his round would suggest.

He signed for 100K so that really isn't the case here.

[Parker Hageman]

Littell has a very nice curveball in his repertoire:

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/891671501354790913

 

According to multiple sources, Enns' best pitch is his changeup. Has a four-pitch mix. 

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/891675921169747968

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

Chattanooga rotation looking pretty formidable now

 

Gonsalves/Jorge/Romero/Littel/Stewart

[Blake]

 

From what I can see Yankee fans think they gave up to much.

Then it's an outstanding trade, no matter how the prospects turn out.

[kab21]

 

Chattanooga rotation looking pretty formidable now

 

Gonsalves/Jorge/Romero/Littel/Stewart

Lets move one of those guys up to AAA.

 

Have you looked at Enns numbers in 2016, Seth? Other than he missed part of this year and 2015, could he be the better of the two prospects?

Littell, plus Enns, plus that minor league catcher for YNOA and $4+ million looks to me to be an excellent net result.

Probably not. Enns is 26 and has done good but not great yet. Littell is doing great in AA at 21. Enns could be better than most of the #4/5 pitchers that the Twins have cycled through this year though and I expect to see him up within the next month.

[nicksaviking]

Littell has a very nice curveball in his repertoire:

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/891671501354790913

 

According to multiple sources, Enns' best pitch is his changeup. Has a four-pitch mix. 

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/891675921169747968

Litell looks like Tyler Duffey with a change up.

[jorgenswest]

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/7/30/16064776/the-back-up-plan-yankees-get-jaime-garcia-for-zack-littell-and-dietrich-enns

[ahart10]

Enns is 26 and has done good but not great yet. Littell is doing great in AA at 21. Enns could be better than most of the #4/5 pitchers that the Twins have cycled through this year though and I expect to see him up within the next month.

If this is true Falvine just got a lifetime deal from me.

[jorgenswest]

Enns career ERA in the minors is 1.87 in almost 400 innings. I almost always ignore ERA but that is hard to ignore.

[Dman]

 

Lets move one of those guys up to AAA.

 

Probably not. Enns is 26 and has done good but not great yet. Littell is doing great in AA at 21. Enns could be better than most of the #4/5 pitchers that the Twins have cycled through this year though and I expect to see him up within the next month.

Yeah some of the guys on the Yankee's site thought Enns would have been a better choice for 5th starter than the guys the Yankee's were throwing out there so he has potential.  From what I can tell on Yankee site the Yankee's were going to have a tough time protecting all the guys they have so seemed to be willing to sweeten the pot.  This looks like a pretty good trade for MN.  Lets hope these guys don't turn into pumpkins like Murphy did.

[SwainZag]

 

Littell is 21, and doing extremely well in High A and AA. Ynoa is 19, and struggling (although SSS does apply) in advanced rookie ball. This is a very rudimentary analysis, but I'd say Littell>Ynoa, so to get Enns as well is a very nice move by Falvine. Unless the Braves are in love with Ynoa, they have to be pissed.

 

Gotta consider the Braves got out from under $4M or so from Garcia's contract as well.

[kab21]

 

If this is true Falvine just got a lifetime deal from me.

This seems like an extraordinary deal. Especially considering what the Twins gave up. Huascar Ynoa has upside but he is looking like a longshot right now.

 

 I feel like I should temper my expectations a little though. Littell's numbers suggest that he should be better than a 20-ish prospect but perhaps that is due to the strength of the Yankees system. And it is possible that Enns becomes the better of the two.

The best reason to like this trade is that Enns is an option this year and Littell could be up sometime next year. The Twins just acquired two legit prospects that likely get rotation tryouts at some point. This is brilliant.

And here is what made that happen. The Twins are picking up the cash in the deal and getting better prospects in the end. Who would have thought that was possible?

[Dance with Disco Dan]

MLB.com has already slotted Littell in as the Twins No. 16 prospect between Lewis Thorpe and LaMonte Wade--two guys I think have a chance to be major league contributors.

[mudcat14]

Bottom line is we flipped a 19-year old Rookie league arm and about $4mil for two pitchers who will compete for MLB roster spots next spring.  Ennis may get a shot this year.  Perhaps he's a been a bit old at each level that he's pitched, but his career MiLB ERA is 1.89, with more than 1 K/Inn.  Conversely, Little has always been on the young side, but has gotten better with every step up the ladder.  

 

At this point, I think it's all about adding better quality depth at the upper levels.  These two are definitely a step in that direction.

[Respy]

Wow Enns looks very, very similar to Gonsalves in that video.

[Seth Stohs]

 

MLB.com has already slotted Littell in as the Twins No. 16 prospect between Lewis Thorpe and LaMonte Wade--two guys I think have a chance to be major league contributors.

 

Here's the link... this is the range that I figured he might be in... http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=min

 

I think he should be in the same range as Felix Jorge...