Article: BREAKING: Twins Flip Granite To Rangers

[Parker Hageman]

FORT MYERS, FL - The Minnesota Twins announced that they have acquired a minor-league pitcher, Xavier Moore, and cash from the Texas Rangers in exchange for outfielder, Zack Granite.The Twins made the decision to waive Granite after signing Marwin Gonzalez.

 

Drafted in the 13th round in 2013 out of Seton Hall, the speedy Granite played six seasons in the organization, including 40 games with the Twins in 2017, where he hit .237/.321/.290 in 107 plate appearances.

 

A shoulder contusion in spring training limited Granite's play to just 73 games in 2018. An MRI in July revealed a tear in his rotator cuff that ended his season prematurely.

 

A few hours later the Twins made another trade, sending Moore to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for $750,000 in international bonus money.

 

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[Post-Concussive Blues]

I think he’s got a shot at sticking to the Rangers roster. He was stuck behind Wade, Reed, and Cave for 4th OF in Minnesota.

[wabene]

Happy for him; and the Twins!

[mikelink45]

I would like to see him do well.  I liked the tools he brought to the team and it was sad to see him hit by injuries.

[Danchat]

Another Twins prospect bites the dust...

[wabene]

 

Another Twins prospect bites the dust...

13th round 3 tooler

[MN_ExPat]

I’m not sure bites the dust is an entirely correct analogy. IMHO, Granite is almost a victim of the numbers game. I still really like him as a player and the skills he can bring to the game. I just don’t think he was really going to get a good opportunity here. It sucks to see him go, but in the end I’m happy for him and I wish him nothing but the best in his next chapter.

[MMMordabito]

Does this really qualify as breaking news? Granite had become an afterthought. He was redundant as another LH outfielder behind Rosario, Kepler, Cave, and Wade.

 

I would put this in the category of "Other Minor League Notes".

[Rosterman]

Injuries last season prevented him from making a name for himself, bringing his speed and defense to the majors. Instead it was Jake Cave who got the call. And LaMonte Wade passed him on the depth chart and other outfield candidates are further in the wings.

 

Glad the Twins were able to at least get a low level pitching prospect for him, rather than just letting him walk.

 

But Granite is the perfect example of the numbers game. You get one chance when you are a player of a certain caliber. You may be decent depth in an organization, but if you can't make good on being that "call-up" when needed, you will be hop-scotching thru other organizations. Yes, he is a decent fourth outfielder, if you can afford to carry that extra bench base player. The Twins haven't in the past.

 

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

Granite was a good guy who is getting a better opportunity

Twins got something of value in return - e.g. better than if Granite passed through unclaimed

I agree with calling this Breaking News

[Seth Stohs]

In case you missed the article update: 

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/1102297598071840775

 

[wabene]

Update: Now we're talking! More creativity from this front office. That 700k would just about cover 5 Brusdar Graterols! That money is more appealing than the prospect imo.

[Joe A. Preusser]

Love all of this. Granite will hopefully get a good chance, and bonus pool cash for us. Does anyone know where that puts our total pool now?

[jorgenswest]

Looks like the fringes if the 40 have some value to other teams. It is a positive sign when players aren’t easily passed through waivers.

 

Granite’s defense in CF was second to Buxton. Kepler and Cave are adequate in CF so the need for Granite wasn’t there. I am not sure Reed will be around after they get to 25 and I hope they don’t need to go 4 deep in CF.

[Tibs]

 

In case you missed the article update: 

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/1102297598071840775

I'm going to be asking the Twins for a refund on my Xavier Moore jersey I just bought

[ashbury]

I'm going to be asking the Twins for a refund on my Xavier Moore jersey I just bought

"What was your favorite Xavier Moore moment?"

 

Mine is that one time.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Good luck Zack. We all hope you will be another  Aaron Hicks.

[specialiststeve]

Nice flipping a guy that we were going to have to let go for international spending. Really like our new front office. Making smart moves at most corners. 

[Joe A. Preusser]

I'm going to be asking the Twins for a refund on my Xavier Moore jersey I just bought

All sales final. Its a big world, chances are another guy named Moore will play for us at some point. Probably several. In this context you actually got a steal.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Of course this is breaking news. This trade was only a few letters away from involving Zack Greinke!

[clutterheart]

Another Twins prospect bites the dust...

 

What the hell is this?

 

Granite was a later round toolsy pick who overcame the odds and played 40 big leauge games for a team that made the playoffs.

 

He got traded for significant international cash.

 

Good for him and hope he gets a chance to play.

[bighat]

Gosh, came here to read the discussion on Xavier Moore and...now this! Glad the Twins made this move, I wasn't really big on acquiring another A-ball level arm. God speed Xavier.

 

As for Granite, I was happy to have the guy in the Twins OF during that great 2017 season. But he'll always be remembered (by me, anyway) as the guy who missed stepping on 1st base during the huge playoff game in New York. I also remember how darn tiny he looked up there - like a little kid wearing his dad's batting helmet. He's got some talent though. I'd like to see him succeed. The only downside is if Buxton implodes again, we'll be watching Granite and Hicks play for other organizations...

 

But I think this says a lot about how the Twins feel about Wade. I think Wade's impressed in Spring Training.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Update: Now we're talking! More creativity from this front office. That 700k would just about cover 5 Brusdar Graterols! That money is more appealing than the prospect imo.

Could be, but this money is for the current international signing period, which is fairly close to ending. (Trades of future international bonus money are prohibited.) I'm not even sure if there would be 5 Graterol level signings available anymore? FWIW, Graterol signed near the start of his signing period (August), albeit just after his 16th birthday -- but any interesting prospects who turn 16 now might be waiting until July when a lot more teams have a lot more money to bid.

 

Should be interesting to see what we do with the money. Probably better than the minor leaguer we traded away, but it's hard to get too excited about extra international bonus money this time of year. (And that's probably why were able to get as much as $700k for a guy like Xavier Moore -- the utility of $700k is lower this time of year.

Edited March 3, 2019 by spycake

[TheLeviathan]

Nice, hard to be unhappy with this.

[Mr. Brooks]

Another Twins prospect bites the dust...

That's quite a liberal use of the term prospect.

The Twins did extraordinarily well to get any value whatsoever out of Granite, considering his draft status and limited tool set.

[rdehring]

I understand that the Twins got $700,000 or $750,000 International Bonus Money from the Orioles.  As I understand, it has to be used during this signing period, ie, before June 30 (or is it an earlier date?).  

 

I also recall that the Twins spent their entire allocation for the young outfielder from Venezuela (Urbana).  Does anyone know if they signed any other prospects for more than the minimum (is it $5,000 or $10,000?) and are over the allocation and this trade will allow them to not have to deal with the penalty?

 

If not already over, this will enable them to sign one or more late bloomers to contracts.  Have to believe they have one or more players in mind if this is the case.  Does anyone know anything about this?

 

In any case, I really like them getting something in return for a player that had to be removed from the 40-man to make room for someone much more valuable to the team.  Great maneuvering by the FO.

[Otto von Ballpark]

From MLBTR:

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/03/twins-acquire-international-bonus-money-from-orioles.html

 

the Twins are adding a notable amount to their bonus pool, as they had just under $80K remaining as of Feb. 8

Perhaps why the Orioles were willing to trade it:

 

Of course, even after these deals, the Orioles continue to lead the majors in international spending capacity. Thus, they could see these trades as easy ways to pick up minor league talent they like while continuing to hold the league’s largest bonus pool. It’s unclear how much the Orioles have left at the moment, but they had $6MM remaining – far more than the second-place Dodgers ($1.4MM) – before the Lebron and Moore acquisitions.

[Channing1964]

there's nothing bad to say about Z.Granite or this deal. There was no way he was gonna crack into this roster at this time. This is one I have to give Falvine credit for. I have been very critical of them about last year. I'm not afraid to give them credit when it is due. He now has enough time to maybe get a chance with the Rangers.

[wabene]

At this level the difference between the middle and the top teams is minuscule. This FO doesn't miss these little details. I find I'm learning more about MLB mechanization following these two. It is a refreshing ride.    

[Danchat]

 

What the hell is this? Granite was a later round toolsy pick who overcame the odds and played 40 big leauge games for a team that made the playoffs. He got traded for significant international cash. Good for him and hope he gets a chance to play.

I commented that because there was some buzz in 2017 about Granite becoming a MLB regular. I even remember Darren Wolfson talking about how much the Twins FO liked him and he hypothesized trading Rosario to make room for Granite to come up. Plus according to various sources, Granite was supposed to be the 4th OF last season before the shoulder injury happened. So my comment should be noted with the context that some were overhyping a 13th rounder, but also just some frustration to see another young guy flame out with the Twins, even if he was a longshot.