Twins Trade Graterol to Dodgers for Kenta Maeda in Blockbuster Deal

[Thegrin]

All trades involve risk.  Let us pray. 

[Splash45]

Why the hell did the FO feel it was necessary interjecting themselves in this trade?? I mean, if we were planning on trading Graterol all along I’m certain there were better fits around the league than a damn #3 starter. And if not, what’s wrong with signing Walker and retaining a potential relief ace?? I mean, remember when we gave away Anderson for nothing, and don’t forget about the Pressly deal either!!!

Who else do you think the Twins could have gotten for Grateral? Teams aren’t out here trading #2 starters, let alone #1’s, for guys who aren’t even top 50 prospects.

[h2oface]

I smell David Ortiz all over again. The one pitcher that should have been off limits is gone. At least we got a #3 for him. That is something. 32 as the season starts. I would have rather went with Grateral to help us. Not a fan of the trade. 

[Pius Jefferson]

The Rays connection with Chaim Bloom does make me wonder if he sees something in Graterol.  

[Shane Wahl]

I like the deal quite a bit, actually. Graterol is likely not going to be a starter capable of 180+ innings until 2022.

[Lasorda_This_Out]

I think someone has said this over the last 120+ years of MLB, that if both sides have a sick feeling over a trade, then it's probably a great trade for both sides...?

[Lasorda_This_Out]

This is the trade we have advocated...high impact...high risk?

Trust in FalVine........

[Lasorda_This_Out]

YouTube Kenta Maeda highlights....were eyeballing a STUD!

[Crackedfungo]

This trade is going to bite us in 2 years, and Maeda will produce 4.25-4.50 in ERA in AL at best. Graterol will hold his own in year 1 and have a more productive year 2-4 than Maeda. This seems a desperate move, and is largely due to the other 3 meh/putrid signings of bailey, hill, and Chacín. I hate these moves, and we are kicking the can down the road in blocking our other young starters with all these #4 and #5s. Maeda will be a low 3 to high 4 only during year 1 and part of year 2, while Bailey won’t make it through this year and will perform like a 5, and I think hill will be with us for 1-2 weeks max (Chacín will never make mlb roster this year)

[twins_89]

Another move that looks focused on raising the teams floor. At some point Falvey is going to have find a way to raise the ceiling of the starting rotation, since that is the glaring weakness that is going to kill us in the playoffs.

[Michigan Twins Fan]

Pitchers who come from the Japanese league to the MLB seem to be more durable than their MLB-only counterparts. Odo's numbers improved under our system, and Maeda's numbers are close to Odo's. Perhaps he'll improve here. I don't know. We fans speak from both sides of our mouths; we complain when they hoard prospects, and we complain when they give them away. I remember when Curtis Granderson was a part of the Max Scherzer deal. Most fans in Detroit were apoplectic because Grandy was such a fan favorite. Deal ended up being pretty sweet for the D. Let's hope this one is as well. 

[by jiminy]

To be worth it they have to expect him to pitch enough innings to reach his incentives, which add up to $13,150,000 per year. For another $7 million they could have had Ryu and kept Graterol. They must not think very highly of Graterol.

[Boots Electric]

This reminds me of the Twins’ rotations of the early 00’s. No number 1 and no number 5 starter just a bunch of number 3 types. Hope some guys pull ahead of the pack and can handle being the ace for the year!!

[highlander]

My first reaction was huh! I ws really hoping the Twins would make Brusdar the Big Bad Bull in the back of the pen.

 

I don't wish ill to Brusdar, but I think the injury risk played a part in this decision.

[by jiminy]

Maeda makes $13.15M as a full time starter, and Bailey makes $7 million. Together that adds up to more than Ryu is making.

 

Would you trade them both for Ryu? I would have thought yes.

 

Ryu is guaranteed for four years though and these guys are not. But is Graterol worth the cost of insuring Ryu's contract?

 

Maeda isn't even younger than Ryu. I guess they just like Maeda better. I trust they know more than I do but it seems odd.

[Archaeopteryx Enthusiast]

 

 

Graterol wouldn't have gotten us a #2 with a #1 ceiling, but if you're going to accept the gut punch of dealing one very good prospect, then deal two very good prospects, and get somebody with a higher ceiling, who isn't over 30, whose numbers don't look better than they will here, because he pitched in the NL, in a pitcher-friendly park, with a very good team.

 

It wouldn't have hurt twice as much to send Graterol + Gordon, or Graterol + Blankenhorn for somebody that has the ceiling of a #2, at least...Jon Gray, or somebody.

 

And as a previous post-er already said, perfectly: How many #3 or 4 pitchers do we need?

[Highabove]

Its interesting to read what is being written about this trade in

Los Angeles 

Dodger Nation

It goes without saying that the versatile Maeda will be sorely missed by the fan base and clubhouse alike. In his Dodgers career, the right-hander appeared in 137 games (103 starts) with an ERA of 3.87. In today’s baseball world, that is beyond serviceable. Furthermore, he went 2-1 in postseason play in 24 appearances; along with a 3.31 ERA in October.

Certainly Los Angeles is getting an incredible player in Betts. However, Minnesota is getting one tremendous pitcher in Maeda, and that shouldn’t be a footnote in all of this

 

Dodger Digest

. Kenta Maeda, meanwhile, has wanted his role as a starter defined and he probably gets that with the Twins, who get an above-average starter and a player with four years of team control for around $12 million guaranteed. The Dodgers are awash in average to above-average starters, so that’s not really the issue here, but the fact that he was nails in the pen for a bullpen who still have question marks could end up being the bigger loss.

[twinsfanstreif]

I've been digesting this one a bit and the more I think about it the more I'm pleased. It's not a sexy or exciting trade for us but it's a solid one. This now makes our playoff rotation Berrios, Odorizzi, Maeda, and Pineda with Bailey, Hill, Dobnak, Smeltzer, and Thorpe all as #5s or fall back plans in case of injury. That's a really deep rotation to go along with a deep bullpen. With a top 3 line up in all of baseball to go along with really deep pitching we are going to make some noise. Is it this a dominant, scary rotation? nope, but it's one that's solid with promise. I've also openly questioned Graterol's long term viability as a starter as well as his injury risk on this board, the Twins just confirmed my concern with this trade

[Archaeopteryx Enthusiast]

It doesn't matter how deep our rotation is if they're all 3s, 4s, and 5s.

 

Like - we just added another tugboat! I feel so great about our navy because we have so many tugboats!

 

But... we have no speedboats.

[Doctor Wu]

I hate to see the Twins lose a potentially great arm in Graterol, but I'm okay with this trade. As others have pointed out, it's unlikely that Grateroll would have been a big factor on the team this year (okay, that's still debatable ...) but if the team is serious about contending this year, and more importantly advancing in the playoffs, then I think getting an above average starter like Maeda is a savvy move. Starting to look forward to this upcoming season very much!

[Richard Swerdlick]

If you want quality from another team you have to give up some value to get it. Also, I do not accept that Chacin in a lock for a starting job with Twins. We will see how he does in Spring Training and how the Dobnyk does too. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

... vs Gibson making 10 million and Perez 6 million...

Says it all right there.

[Darius]

I hate this deal. Maeda just isn’t that good. He doesn’t throw a ton of innings. He gets some Ks, but has had ERAs north of 4 in the NL 2 of the past 3 years. If we’re looking at WAR (and some other things) Pineda and Bailey we’re both better last year. This guy may not even be in the rotation if Hull gets healthy.

 

The Dodgers thought so highly of him that they didn’t give him any playoff starts in 2019. He’s had struggles and been shuffled back and forth between the rotation and pen multiple times throughout his career.

 

This just isn’t a needle mover, and it cost a guy who, at minimum, looked to be a dominant back end reliever at age 21, who has absolutely carved every level at which he’s spent significant time. Oh, and he’s been clocked at 104.

 

We have enough middle of the road starters. We don’t need one of those. We need a guy who can lock down the Yankees in a playoff game. Come playoff time, we just traded one reliever for a worse reliever.

[TFRazor]

 

Maeda will produce 4.25-4.50 in ERA in AL at best. 

If you actually believe this, I've got an ocean-front timeshare in Vegas that we need to talk about

[Doctor Wu]

 

Man, I'm not sure I like this trade for the Twins. I know I hate it for LA and love it for the Red Sox.

I'm not sure the Red Sox did so well in this trade. I realize one of their big goals was to shed salary, but it doesn't seem like that got a big haul in return for Betts and Price. Then again, I don't know much about this other prospect that got from the Dodgers. Anyway, best of luck to Brusdar in Fenway.

[Doctor Gast]

 

How many #3 starters does one rotation need?

Boston & LA made out like bandits but MN got shafted. If they were thinking about trading Graterol why did they tell everyone they were going to put him in the BP. Even if they saw something that they liked in Maeda, Graterol is worth almost 2 Maedas. Gonsolin   + a throw in would`ve been a better match. I was placing my hopes on Graterol to be our future ace, I don`t mind that they traded away Graterol but not for a solid #3. We just helped Boston & LA out of their problems so they can better their chances to win it all, while we`re still not improved that much & gave away a part of our future. We had already given David Ortiz to Boston for nada isn`t that enough!!!

 Let`s check out this deal

LA gets all-stars Bets & Price + $$$

Boston gets future great CF & ace

MN gets a 31 year old pitcher that didn`t make the play-off roster

What a gut punch! I`m so bummed that I can`t bring myself to continue read TD articles

[laloesch]

 

Love this trade!  Maeda is not a 3rd or 4th starter.  He is more of a #2. 

No way he's a #2. At best a #3.

[laloesch]

 

If you actually believe this, I've got an ocean-front timeshare in Vegas that we need to talk about

Why not? He's going from the NL to the AL and he's been a 4 something ERA pitcher most of his MLB career. Not at all out of the realm of possibility.

[laloesch]

 

 

I hate this deal. Maeda just isn’t that good. He doesn’t throw a ton of innings. He gets some Ks, but has had ERAs north of 4 in the NL 2 of the past 3 years. If we’re looking at WAR (and some other things) Pineda and Bailey we’re both better last year. This guy may not even be in the rotation if Hull gets healthy.

The Dodgers thought so highly of him that they didn’t give him any playoff starts in 2019. He’s had struggles and been shuffled back and forth between the rotation and pen multiple times throughout his career.

This just isn’t a needle mover, and it cost a guy who, at minimum, looked to be a dominant back end reliever at age 21, who has absolutely carved every level at which he’s spent significant time. Oh, and he’s been clocked at 104.

We have enough middle of the road starters. We don’t need one of those. We need a guy who can lock down the Yankees in a playoff game. Come playoff time, we just traded one reliever for a worse reliever.

Exactly.

[Vanimal46]

 

I hate this deal. Maeda just isn’t that good. He doesn’t throw a ton of innings. He gets some Ks, but has had ERAs north of 4 in the NL 2 of the past 3 years. If we’re looking at WAR (and some other things) Pineda and Bailey we’re both better last year. This guy may not even be in the rotation if Hull gets healthy.

The Dodgers thought so highly of him that they didn’t give him any playoff starts in 2019. He’s had struggles and been shuffled back and forth between the rotation and pen multiple times throughout his career.

This just isn’t a needle mover, and it cost a guy who, at minimum, looked to be a dominant back end reliever at age 21, who has absolutely carved every level at which he’s spent significant time. Oh, and he’s been clocked at 104.

We have enough middle of the road starters. We don’t need one of those. We need a guy who can lock down the Yankees in a playoff game. Come playoff time, we just traded one reliever for a worse reliever.

 

You were able to determine Graterol is a dominant back end reliever in a sample size of 14 innings? That's impressive, man. I realize there are a lot of prospect lovers on this site, and I'm sorry for your loss. I hope y'all can forgive Falvine by opening day.