Hansel Robles Traded to Boston Red Sox for RHP Alex Scherff

[Seth Stohs]

Right-handed reliever Hansel Robles has been traded to the Boston Red Sox for minor leaguer Alex Scherff.

Struggling Twins reliever Hansel Robles was moved moments before the close of the 2021 MLB trade deadline for Red Sox minor leaguer Alex Scherff. Scherff, a 23 year old right-hander, was drafted by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2017 MLB draft.

Register Pitching

Year	Age	AgeDif	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	RA9	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W
2021	23		2 Teams	2 Lgs	A+-AA	BOS	3	1	.750	2.45	3.07	23	0	15	0	0	4	29.1	22	10	8	1	13	0	46	2	0	3	127	1.193	6.8	0.3	4.0	14.1	3.54
2021	23	-1.8	Portland	AANE	AA	BOS	1	0	1.000	1.35	2.70	6	0	3	0	0	1	6.2	5	2	1	0	2	0	9	0	0	0	28	1.050	6.8	0.0	2.7	12.2	4.50
2021	23	-0.4	Greenville	HAE	A+	BOS	2	1	.667	2.78	3.18	17	0	12	0	0	3	22.2	17	8	7	1	11	0	37	2	0	3	99	1.235	6.8	0.4	4.4	14.7	3.36
All Levels (3 Seasons)							10	18	.357	4.41	4.92	67	43	15	0	0	4	228.2	244	125	112	22	92	0	212	13	0	20	999	1.469	9.6	0.9	3.6	8.3	2.30

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/30/2021.

 

Robles signed with the Twins early last offseason as a free agent for just $2 million. He had a rough 2020, as many of us did. In 18 games with the Angels, Robles posted a 10.26 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. In 2019, he had gone 5-1 with 23 saves, a 2.38 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. 

In 45 games with the Twins this year, he went 3-4 with ten saves, a 4.91 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He had his moments of good success and big-moment saves, but he walked 24 batters in 44 innings and was very inconsistent. 

Robles will be a free agent at the end of the season making it an easy decision to trade him if they got any return. The Twins were unable to trade fellow impending free agents Andrelton Simmons, Alexander Colome, and Michael Pineda. Likely the Twins received no offers for Simmons and Colome. However, one would think that the Twins could have received something, maybe even something of quality, for Michael Pineda. 

Whereas Robles received late-inning opportunities with the Twins, he is more likely to be used in middle relief, maybe in the sixth or seventh innings, for the Red Sox. 

Scherff isn't going to appear on top prospect rankings. However, the former fifth-round pick has had a nice year at two levels. And 46 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings is very impressive. 

What do you think of this deal? 

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[Mike Sixel]

I mean, how can you not love this trade? even if it doesn't work, they added a RP in AA......

[Brandon]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

I mean, how can you not love this trade? even if it doesn't work, they added a RP in AA......

I did like the waiver claim from the Reds earlier today.  We recieved a reliever with options for this season for nothing.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Brandon said:

I did like the waiver claim from the Reds earlier today.  We recieved a reliever with options for this season for nothing.

concur

[glunn]

At first glance Scherff looks promising.

https://www.milb.com/player/alex-scherff-669085

 

[Alex Schieferdecker]

With a name like that, he's sure to be a big success.

[ashbury]

Converted from starting and suddenly has strikeout stuff. Hope the pitching coaches can bring him along.

[bean5302]

Anything for Robles was a win. Just like Happ, really.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, ashbury said:

Converted from starting and suddenly has strikeout stuff. Hope the pitching coaches can bring him along.

I really do think teams should do this more often with marginal starters.......though I get you need starters in the minors too.....

[Mill1634]

Similar to Happ, getting something more than cash for Robles is a W. This guy looks like he might have a chance as a reliever, and even if he doesn't, who cares. No reason to keep Robles around. Let Stashak/Cano/Hamilton/Moran get his innings. 

[roger]

Was hoping there would be one late surprise.  Sounds like this email got to the MLB Headquarters at 3:59.59 EDT.

Just looking at the numbers, interesting.  Any return for Robles is a positive move.  Gotta believe there are now a couple openings on the 40-man, although a couple of those 60-day IL may need to be activated.  But as I said elsewhere, appears to be another asset for the soon to be Texas League Champion Wichita Wind Surge.

As for the Twins, got to believe they are going to be a man or two short tonight.

[Brandon]

Did the Twins trade Pineda? Or anyone else today?

[clone52]

seems like this guys got a great shot to be a good reliever.

[Cap'n Piranha]

I'm quite excited about this!  Worth noting he is now rule 5 eligible, so there's a non-zero chance we see him at Target Field before the year is over.

[garn from vancouver]

and sadly donaldson is still here...

[Squirrel]

13 minutes ago, garn from vancouver said:

and sadly donaldson is still here...

I don't get why so many people are disappointed in not trading Donaldson

[Scott klinkenborg]

44 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

I don't get why so many people are disappointed in not trading Donaldson

Agreed. His fire is desperately needed in the clubhouse and his play has been about average.

[Whitey333]

I don't understand the Donaldson thing from some fans.  I'm glad they didn't trade him.  I think he's been pretty much as advertised. Robles had to go.  Sad part is they couldn't even get a batboy for Colome' and Simmons.  So today we traded Berrios, Happ, Robles, and previously Cruz.  In return we got 6 prospects and 1 major league pitcher.  Very interesting.  I hope those prospects turn out to be future major league talent   like always we will have to wait and see.  Twins always wait too long to sign free agents and trade.  By the time they make a move the better return is gone.

[Bomba2026]

Happ and Robles are both gone. I have no issue with this.... 

[twinfan]

I thought we could get good value for Donaldson even though we might have had to pay some of his salary for this year. He is a good ballplayer but we aren't going anywhere next year after losing both Cruz and Berrios, we may lose Buxton over the winter via trade and Pineda to free agency. So why not go further to obtain future ballplayers. Donaldson has difficulty staying healthy and has a big contract which could have hurt the chances of trading him if he was in play.

[terrydactyls]

I've now completed a 180 degree reversal on Byron Buxton.  I now think the he and the Twins will arrive at a mutually agreeable contract (part guaranteed and part incentives) after this season. 

[chpettit19]

27 minutes ago, twinfan said:

I thought we could get good value for Donaldson even though we might have had to pay some of his salary for this year. He is a good ballplayer but we aren't going anywhere next year after losing both Cruz and Berrios, we may lose Buxton over the winter via trade and Pineda to free agency. So why not go further to obtain future ballplayers. Donaldson has difficulty staying healthy and has a big contract which could have hurt the chances of trading him if he was in play.

The offense has been good enough to contend for the division this year. Losing Cruz obviously hurts now, but he was a FA and would have had to have been resigned for next year anyways. I think it's more than reasonable to expect the returning position players to provide another year of division winning caliber offense next year. Pitching has been the destroyer of the Twins world this year.

Going into next year I think Berrios, Maeda, Rogers, Duffey, and Alacala were the only 5 guys on the current staff that had their spots locked up. Now it's just Maeda, Rogers, Duffey, and Alcala. So the question for next year, in my opinion, is what can they do to build a staff with Maeda, Rogers, Duffey, Alcala, and their upper minors prospects (including Ober, Jax etc. in the prospect category for ease of not typing them all out) plus about $50M?

I think there's a reasonable chance they can use 50M and their upper minors prospects to build a staff around the 4 incumbents next year. Not WS good, but certainly much better than this year. I'm not writing next year off. If 1 or 2 of the upper minors guys can step into rotation or BP spots they have half a staff with 50M to fill in the rest. Think it's doable.

All this to say I think holding onto Donaldson isn't a terrible thing and losing Cruz and Berrios doesn't bury them.

[Reptevia]

I would have been happy with a bag of chips for Happ or Robles if they paid their salary. 

[Roaddog]

It's funny. I'm actually in St Louis this week. They seem excited about Happ. Beautiful ballpark by the way.

[Loosey]

Honestly I’m surprised they didn’t deal Pineda.  There seems to be a mutual respect between the team and him and probably a decent chance they could re-sign him after next year.  Obviously that isn’t guaranteed, I believe that was what people thought with Escobar a few years back too. 

Getting anything for Happ and Robles is a win.  Scherf seems like a guy who could be a decent middle reliever in a year basically replacing Robles role.  Overall I’d give the Twins a B at the deadline.  

[joefish]

We are a better team with Donaldson.

Both offensively and defensively.

[wabene]

On 7/30/2021 at 5:07 PM, Scott klinkenborg said:

Agreed. His fire is desperately needed in the clubhouse and his play has been about average.

His play has been the 5th best 3rd baseman in MLB.

[twinstalker]

Great trade.  Who'd we get?

[Major League Ready]

On 7/30/2021 at 10:12 PM, Loosey said:

Honestly I’m surprised they didn’t deal Pineda.  There seems to be a mutual respect between the team and him and probably a decent chance they could re-sign him after next year.  Obviously that isn’t guaranteed, I believe that was what people thought with Escobar a few years back too. 

Getting anything for Happ and Robles is a win.  Scherf seems like a guy who could be a decent middle reliever in a year basically replacing Robles role.  Overall I’d give the Twins a B at the deadline.  

My guess is they were holding out (as reported) for a substantial return on Pineda which required them to play hard ball until the final hour and it ended up not happening.  I think this was probably quite calculated by our FO for a handful of reasons.  

1. They need a mentor for all the young pitchers and there is probably a bit of a language barrier with Maeda.

2. It might help in resigning him if that is their goal.

3. Not risking it getting really ugly the rest of this season had they gone down to one experienced SP. 

With this in mind they were willing to forego hold on to him if their price was not met.  That's the price you pay when you bluff on the river and get called on it.

[ashbury]

4 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

That's the price you pay when you bluff on the river and get called on it.

You're about the last person I'd expect to view the trade deadline as a poker tournament. Sure, there's a little fog-of-war.  But don't you think the FO fielded whatever offers there were, tried to get the other teams to sweeten them a little, and concluded that no one was offering much for an average-ish starter, and decided to stand pat on that one?  Oops, poker terminology after all.