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

[Doomtints]

 

If you’re convinced a bigger pitching acquisition is coming, you view this more favorably.

 

It would be sad if people still hold their breaths on that one after all these years.

 

But yes, people do....

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

Weren't some posters on this site calling Diaz "another Twins draft bust" as recently as this off season?  I think so.  I just hope the same ones aren't the ones bemoaning his loss today.  

[prouster]

It would be sad if people still hold their breaths on that one after all these years.

 

But yes, people do....

Why shouldn’t people think more trades are coming? They’ve been attached to multiple starters, and they’ve made multiple trades at the deadline both of the last two years.

 

They hired a new front office several years ago. That’s a pertinent fact.

[jkcarew]

Weren't some posters on this site calling Diaz "another Twins draft bust" as recently as this off season?  I think so.  I just hope the same ones aren't the ones bemoaning his loss today.

 

Nobody here was calling Diaz “another Twins draft bust”. The community is much more knowledgeable than that!

 

We were calling him “another Twins international signing bust”.

And I can’t believe we just GAVE him away.

[bird]

 

Good first move. I’d like to see another starter and two more relievers. I’d guess Perez could be a lefty in the pen the . Pretty interesting trade, I’m guessing that Balazovic may need to be moved, so this gets another high end arm to replace him at that level.

 

 

I don't think the talent evaluators would put Balazovic and Vallimont in the same value category.

[diehardtwinsfan]

This deal has the feel of a prospect for prospect swap. In that sense, I don't mind it. Diaz wasn't going to make this team and needed to be on the 40 man. We got some relief there for a couple prospects and happened to get a MLB releiver out of it too... I like the fact that Romo seems to have been pretty good since April...

 

but like others, Romo is a pretty underwhelming add. I hope it's not the only one. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

It would be sad if people still hold their breaths on that one after all these years.

 

But yes, people do....

What’s even sadder is assuming that no moves are coming because past front offices were overly conservative and assuming that same ethos applies to an entirely new front office that we’ve never seen operate under these conditions.

[strumdatjaguar]

Maybe Romo will induce a few inherited runners into double plays. Twins need a good lefty for their bullpen. That means trading for a lefty reliever or trading for a starter either Perez moving to the pen.

[tvagle]

Here's my guess on the PTBNL

 

Johnson, M.D.  Dallas Baptist (TX)
P
R/R
6' 6 185lbs
 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

If the sides cannot agree on a player, then cash is sent in lieu of the player. I don’t know if that is still the rule, or how often that happens. Or maybe it’s just a favor returned of some other sort.

Anyway, that would leave it at just the one minor leaguer, not 2 Minor Leaguers. Two sounds twice as good as one, I suppose.

 

I think a lot of times there are a list of players that they agree to work through... 

 

Then again, some PTBNLs turn out good. Liriano was the PTBNL in the AJ trade.

[Rigby]

 

Here's my guess on the PTBNL

 

Johnson, M.D.  Dallas Baptist (TX)
P
R/R
6' 6 185lbs
 

 

I'll play.

 

Luis Palacios P /   GCL

Edited July 28, 2019 by Rigby

[Mike Sixel]

I loved the improvement Diaz made this year. But it's pretty unlikely he'd have even gotten a shot here until 2021 at the earliest. By which point he'd have burned 2 options.

 

We have Cron and Cruz next year, and Rooker at least, if not Kirilloff and Larnach are above him in the pecking order.

 

A lot would have had to go right (or wrong) for him to get a realistic shot here before his final option season.

I hope they find someone better than Cron next year. He's been replacement level.

[gunnarthor]

 

What’s even sadder is assuming that no moves are coming because past front offices were overly conservative and assuming that same ethos applies to an entirely new front office that we’ve never seen operate under these conditions.

In fairness, we have seen the current FO in a playoff situation and they decided to be sellers. Not sure you can be more conservative than that. Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

[Mike Sixel]

In fairness, we have seen the current FO in a playoff situation and they decided to be sellers. Not sure you can be more conservative than that. Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

They've also cut salary, even after signing players to extensions. But, I do believe they will add players this week. We'll see

[FLTwinsGuy]

Listening to Rob Antony on Skor North, it sure seems like they would like to make another trade by Wednesday

[Twodogs]

I think Romo is better than Parker.  Now hopefully they can get a real frontline starter and move Perez to the BP.  Im hoping for Syndergaard??

[Mr. Brooks]

I hope they find someone better than Cron next year. He's been replacement level.

That depends which source one uses.

bWAR has him on pace for a 2.1 bWAR season.

Fangraphs likes him less.

Edited July 28, 2019 by Mr. Brooks

[Mr. Brooks]

Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

Isn't that exactly what Brock is saying?

Where did he give them credit for anything?

[wabene]

Many people are calling for Perez to the pen but didn't we get a look at that already? He was stinking it up before his hot run as a starter.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Given that they weren't up against an 11th hour deadline, isn't the most likely explanation is that it's a 2019 draft pick that can't technically be named yet?

Possibly, but it seems doubtful that would be the "most likely" explanation. There are lots of PTBNL deals and very few involve recent draftees, no?

 

It could be as simple as Miami being willing to give us 1 from a group of 3 agreed-upon players, and the Twins just wanted a little more time to check them out, and/or monitor their health if hurt, etc.

 

They weren't at the 11th hour of the trade deadline, but I bet the Twins wanted Romo immediately and didn't want to hold the deal up to look at more minor leaguers.

[nicksaviking]

In fairness, we have seen the current FO in a playoff situation and they decided to be sellers. Not sure you can be more conservative than that. Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

That “playoff” team was not a good team. They never seemed to have more than two or three players ever playing well at the same time. Upgrading that team would have futile, even half of the fans were saying it.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

In fairness, we have seen the current FO in a playoff situation and they decided to be sellers. Not sure you can be more conservative than that. Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

Being a fringe contender several games out of the second Wild Card berth is not even close to the same situation as being first in your division, only a handful of games out of homefield advantage in the American League.

 

And I'm not giving them credit for anything except picking up Romo, to which I have said "good pickup, need more, better players" more times than I can count in the past 24 hours.

 

What I'm not doing is complaining about them not making another move before I've found out if they make another move.

 

The difference there is plain as day.

[jorgenswest]

I hope they find someone better than Cron next year. He's been replacement level.

League wRC+ from first base is 108. Cron sits at 109. Tyler Austin is at 81. I would suggest Austin is at replacement level.

 

They can certainly look to improving on Cron. Kirilloff might be ready. They might move Sano there and utilize Gonzalez at 3B but I don’t see the support for replacement level at 1B.

[Mike Sixel]

League wRC+ from first base is 108. Cron sits at 109. Tyler Austin is at 81. I would suggest Austin is at replacement level.

 

They can certainly look to improving on Cron. Kirilloff might be ready. They might move Sano there and utilize Gonzalez at 3B but I don’t see the support for replacement level at 1B.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2019-replacement-level-killers-first-base/

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2019-replacement-level-killers-first-base/

So we're holding it against Cron that he happened to have three hot days at DH, which "makes him look" better than he really is at first, where he obviously is incapable of having three hot days in a row?

 

That Fangraphs writer kinda jumped the shark right there.

 

Honestly, that's a **** take. I'm not in love with Cron but if we're down to parsing his performance over three games while being plugged into the DH spot on a team that rotates players constantly, that's about 47 bridges too far down the "analytics" hole than any logical person should go.

[Mike Sixel]

Yes. That whole series is just hot takes.... Even though he often says teams have guys coming on, so they aren't really a problem...

[Danchat]

 

So we're holding it against Cron that he happened to have three hot days at DH, which "makes him look" better than he really is at first, where he obviously is incapable of having three hot days in a row?

 

That Fangraphs writer kinda jumped the shark right there.

 

Honestly, that's a **** take. I'm not in love with Cron but if we're down to parsing his performance over three games while being plugged into the DH spot on a team that rotates players constantly, that's about 47 bridges too far down the "analytics" hole than any logical person should go.

Totally agreed. Cron is on pace to be a 2.0 WAR 1B, which is a heck of a bargain for a guy we got on waivers and we only have to pay $4.8M. Plus he's very good defensively. I highly doubt a .810 OPS is replacement level, even at 1B. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Totally agreed. Cron is on pace to be a 2.0 WAR 1B, which is a heck of a bargain for a guy we got on waivers and we only have to pay $4.8M. Plus he's very good defensively. I highly doubt a .810 OPS is replacement level, even at 1B. 

Even if you use fWAR, he's likely to end up close or at a one win value.

 

Which literally is NOT the definition of a replacement player, unless we start using stupid math where the artificial value of a replacement player no longer means that artificial number is accurate if the player in question is one win higher than that artificial number and it fits our argument in the moment, which is totally not artificial at all.

[D.C Twins]

This trade was gold for TD... best natural click bait ever....

[Mike Sixel]

Even if you use fWAR, he's likely to end up close or at a one win value.

 

Which literally is NOT the definition of a replacement player, unless we start using stupid math where the artificial value of a replacement player no longer means that artificial number is accurate if the player in question is one win higher than that artificial number and it fits our argument in the moment, which is totally not artificial at all.

Actually, one fWAR is replacement level, unless you think it is that precise over a full year.....

 

As for his defense, that is what people said about Mauer. First base defense is just not that hard to find.