Twins Trade Nelson Cruz to the Rays for Two AAA Starting Pitchers

[BD57]

I hope Nelly gets a ring.  He deserves it.

Glad we got more than a box of balls in return.

[Steve71]

Nelson, just consider it a 2-3 month vacation.  Your home is still here!!!!

[Otto von Ballpark]

For tonight's lineup, Donaldson moves into the DH spot and Astudillo will start at 3B.

Twins Daily staff is staking out the Omaha airport to see which Saint(s) will be coming to Minnesota for tomorrow's game.

[tony&rodney]

The next week could be interesting. I know that Terry Ryan was not a popular man with most of the people on Twins Daily, but I am still waiting to be impressed by anything from the current management team. I'm hoping Nelson Cruz was asked his thoughts on joining a pennant chase and that the trade today was a result of such conversations. Unless I hear differently, I will assume the best of intentions from Falvine and watch a few more Tampa games. 

[MMMordabito]

Best of luck Nelson Cruz!!! I hope the Rays win the World Series. 

[Danchat]

I like the return. I was right in thinking that the Twins would get "more than a low A prospect" and that he would command a decent return, and he did. Fangraphs marks them down as their #17 and #18 prospects, but their farm is loaded and these guys are close to the majors. Ryan profiles as a reliever with some nasty stuff, and Strotman has been inconsistent, but could end up as a #3/4 starter, or possibly move to the pen and see his stuff tick up. This is a solid return.

Cruz will be missed. Trading him was absolutely the right move, as he deserves a chance to win it all with the Rays. I will be cheering for them.

...and it looks like I'll have to update my avatar now. Thanks, Twins!

 

Also, is there anyone on Twins Daily who actually knew who Calvin Faucher is? I hadn't heard of him before today.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, tony&rodney said:

The next week could be interesting. I know that Terry Ryan was not a popular man with most of the people on Twins Daily, but I am still waiting to be impressed by anything from the current management team. I'm hoping Nelson Cruz was asked his thoughts on joining a pennant chase and that the trade today was a result of such conversations. Unless I hear differently, I will assume the best of intentions from Falvine and watch a few more Tampa games. 

In addition to winning the division twice, moving from an awful pitching staff to a good one both years?

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Danchat said:

I like the return. I was right in thinking that the Twins would get "more than a low A prospect" and that he would command a decent return, and he did. Fangraphs marks them down as their #17 and #18 prospects, but their farm is loaded and these guys are close to the majors. Ryan profiles as a reliever with some nasty stuff, and Strotman has been inconsistent, but could end up as a #3/4 starter, or possibly move to the pen and see his stuff tick up. This is a solid return.

Cruz will be missed. Trading him was absolutely the right move, as he deserves a chance to win it all with the Rays. I will be cheering for them.

...and it looks like I'll have to update my avatar now. Thanks, Twins!

 

Also, is there anyone on Twins Daily who actually knew who Calvin Faucher is? I hadn't heard of him before today.

Up to 10 and 11 in the mid season update.....

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

3 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Also, is there anyone on Twins Daily who actually knew who Calvin Faucher is? I hadn't heard of him before today.

Relief pitcher, he was pitching in AA Wichita and healthy.

Also try this from 2019: 

 

 

[Monticore]

Maybe they'll work out. Nellie Cruz was a good Twin. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

Not a bad trade, but…couldn’t they have thrown in Colome?

[USAFChief]

Seth: In his time with the Twins, Cruz played in 258 games. He hit .304/.386/.598 (.984) with 435 doubles, 76 home runs and 191 RBI

 

Holy cow that's a lot of doubles.

:)

[Otto von Ballpark]

As mentioned, Fangraphs gives these two pitchers 45 FV grades.

On their respective midseason lists, the Rays had 18 such prospects, so they've got the depth to make this kind of deal. (The Twins only had 8, although we just had a few graduations and the Rays haven't quite yet.)

[Otto von Ballpark]

2 minutes ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

Not a bad trade, but…couldn’t they have thrown in Colome?

Tampa likely would have kept one of the prospects then.

[TopGunn#22]

I Love Nellie Cruz !  Best of luck Nellie.  Win a World Series this year and sign back with the Twins THIS winter !!

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Just now, TopGunn#22 said:

I Love Nellie Cruz !  Best of luck Nellie.  Win a World Series this year and sign back with the Twins THIS winter !!

Wouldn't that be nice? That would make the trade essentially Faucher for Ryan and Strotman.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Faucher has had a pretty disastrous AA season so far. 19 games, 30.2 IP, 29 runs, 24 walks.

42 K's, but Faucher is a good example of why K/9 can be a poor metric, compared to K%. His K/9 looks like it is inflated by about 14% due to extra hits/walks and failing to record outs.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

1 hour ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

Over in the forums, @Musk21 shared an interesting Sports Illustrated article on Joe Ryan from late May 2021:

https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/05/24/pitching-prospects-college-joe-ryan-the-opener

There’s even an embedded video of Ryan striking out Sano in spring training.  

[Dantes929]

Nothing but plusses.  Cruz earned every cent with his performance, attitude and leadership.   He helped us to a couple titles and now has got us a couple good prospects.    The guy is amazing but no one wins the battle against time.   I would be just fine bringing him back on a one year contract next year.

 

[joefish]

Glad we had Nellie. A class guy. Now go beat NYY

[AmesFan]

I don’t think anyone should make a deal with the Rays. When was the last time any team (no being Tampa) was satisfied with the end result?

[Fritzderkat]

Here's mine to Hector, one of the classiest professional athletes I've ever had the good fortune to follow, that principally being his time here with the Twins, which provided the opportunity we'd otherwise seen from only afar. I've been following this team for 20 years, and few other Twins if any in that time have shown his commitment and effort.

Best of luck tomorrow and beyond, Hector. You're a credit to the game.

Edited July 23, 2021 by Fritzderkat
cut two excess words

[Dennesey55347]

The 435 doubles stated in the article that Cruz hit as a Twin is more than he has in his whole career. Hey, when Nellie sets his mind to it, it gets done! He was the last lovable piece for me and the old man was never challenged as the top dog here. Finally time to root for a Twin on the way to brighter lights.

[jorgenswest]

13 minutes ago, Mark Lair said:

 

I don’t think anyone should make a deal with the Rays. When was the last time any team (no being Tampa) was satisfied with the end result?

 

The Brewers must be pretty happy about Adames.

[Danchat]

38 minutes ago, Mark Lair said:

I don’t think anyone should make a deal with the Rays. When was the last time any team (no being Tampa) was satisfied with the end result?

Well, the Odorizzi trade went very poorly for them. Palacios flunked out of their minor league system and is back in ours, and we got two reasonably priced seasons out of him.

[Dman]

I am really going to miss Nelson Cruz.  Every time he came up to bat I held my breath because I knew he could change the game with a single swing.  He always kept the clubhouse loose and I loved his fun loving personality.  He tended to come up clutch too.  Need a single, a sac fly a HR?  He got it done more often than not.  He will leave a very big hole in this lineup.

That being said he has a chance to win a world series and become a world champion something I think he really deserves.  The Rays did very well and were smart to grab him before the frenzy began.  He will be a huge difference maker for them.  Whether in the DH spot a pinch hitter you name it he will be ready to change the game for them.  He could be their Albert Pujols or David Ortiz bat that can make such a huge difference in post season play.  The Rays just helped themselves a lot today.

Nelson I truly appreciate all you brought to the Minnesota Twins and wish you nothing but success.  Thanks for the joy you brought winning games for the team I love.  You will be missed.

[nicksaviking]

Sad to see Cruz go. I'm interested in the two pitchers though. I'd stick them in the rotation ahead of Ober, Jax and Sand right now. Or at least as soon as the Olympics are over. The Twins need to start finding some power arms for the rotation ASAP.

I little odd that the Twins are the sellers and they're the team taking on two guys requiring 40-man-spots though.

[twinssporto]

God speed Nellie! You were great to watch and cheer for. Go get yourself a ring!

[Vanimal46]

Rumor has it the only reason the 2nd pitcher was included from the Rays is because we’re also sending all of the Nelson Cruz Star Wars bobble heads that’s being handed out on Monday. 

[D.C Twins]

14 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Sad to see Cruz go. I'm interested in the two pitchers though. I'd stick them in the rotation ahead of Ober, Jax and Sand right now. Or at least as soon as the Olympics are over. The Twins need to start finding some power arms for the rotation ASAP.

I little odd that the Twins are the sellers and they're the team taking on two guys requiring 40-man-spots though.

Adding two AAA ready replacement pitchers would be consistent with a strategy to trade Pineda and Barrios (Sorry....nobody wants Happ...He will eat innings here the rest of the year