Twins Trade Sanudo for former Gopher Kvasnicka

[Seth Stohs]

According to Dustin Morse (via Twitter), the Twins have acquired OF/C/3B Mike Kvasnicka from the Houston Astros organization in exchange for RHP Gonzalo Sanudo.

 

Kvasnicka was the 33rd overall pick of the Astros (supp 1st) in 2010 from the University of Minnesota. He has not played above A-ball yet. His father, Jay, was the Twins 8th round pick in 1988 (also a Gopher) and played in the minor league ball through 1992. He got to AAA.

 

Sanudo is a right-handed pitcher who spent the past two years in the GCL. He pitched very well there a year ago and held his own in the Mexican Winter League.

[Seth Stohs]

Side story - last Friday, the Twins released RHP Gerardo Ramirez who, like Sanudo, is from Mexico. Ironically, since then, Ramirez signed with the Astros, so they'll be teammates again, likely in the Appalachian League this year.

[nicksaviking]

I assume the Twins wanted some organizational catching depth? I see Kvasnicka has played more OF/3B the last two years than catcher though. Or did Cedar Rapids ask the Twins to trade for him in the hopes of getting his family to buy some season tickets?

[gunnarthor]

IIRC, the Astros drafted him to catch but moved him to 3B. The new regime came in and put him back behind the plate so he's been yanked around a bit. I think it's an ok move. At this point, he probably doesn't make the majors but it gives us some more catching depth and who knows, a former first rounder isn't a bad risk.

[cmathewson]

I wonder if Romero's absence affects this. They probably needed a third baseman for New Britain. The fact that Kvasnicka has versatility makes it all the better. When Romero finally makes his way from the Dominican, he'll have a place to play, wither in the outfield or behind the plate.

[nicksaviking]

He had some pop but I can't imagine the Twins view a promotion to AA is in order after a .275 OBP and 25% K rate season.

 

Though I do see the Twins have always had interest in him, looks like he was orignally drafted out of HS by the Twins in 2007.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I assume the Twins wanted some organizational catching depth? I see Kvasnicka has played more OF/3B the last two years than catcher though.

Actually, according to BB-Ref, after almost exclusively playing 3B in 2011, he split 2012 between RF and C, so his games caught are trending upward in that limited sample.

 

The Twins drafted him in 2007 as an OF out of high school.

 

And, as always, the Baseball Cube comes through with college stats:

Mike Kvasnicka Statistics (2008-2012) - The Baseball Cube

 

Good college hitter (although sometimes not in the K/BB department), but definitely has not transitioned well to the pro's.

[Oldgoat_MN]

Kvasnicka will be 24 years old this year and has never played above A ball, nor had on OPS of .700.

 

OK, well, good luck to him. Certainly wish him all the best.

 

Sanudo had a decent SO/9 rate, but they know him better than I ever will. In fact, I would need to know a lot more than I do to make anything out of this trade.

 

Things like this just puzzle me.

[Seth Stohs]

What's puzzling? They get a versatile guy (who is a catcher!) who was a first-round pick just 2 1/2 years ago with some power potential who comes with risks in terms of contact rate, etc. For a guy with some talent who just spent two years in the Gulf Coast League. Catchers have value!

[nicksaviking]

That Rookie League K rate is only average. Look at last years draft class, I'll be a half dozen Twins had +11K/9. Everyone strikes out in Rookie League. If either of these two ever play in the majors it would probably be a surprise.

[cmathewson]

What's puzzling? They get a versatile guy (who is a catcher!) who was a first-round pick just 2 1/2 years ago with some power potential who comes with risks in terms of contact rate, etc. For a guy with some talent who just spent two years in the Gulf Coast League. Catchers have value!

 

I wonder if a Drew trade is in the works. It seems like a huge luxury for a rebuilding team to have so many catchers. By my count, the Twins have three in AAA and four in AA, not counting Kvasnicka, who should be assigned to AA, but probably will end up in Fort Myers.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Would be interesting to hear the Twins plans for Kvasnicka. IF they think they can turn him into a decent defensive catcher, he could have some value as organizational depth; Butera 2.0?

 

I know nothing about Sanudo -- he doesn't strike me as much of a lotto ticket, but any kind of upside is probably more valuable to the Astros these days than a guy like Kvasnicka.

[Seth Stohs]

I wonder if a Drew trade is in the works. It seems like a huge luxury for a rebuilding team to have so many catchers. By my count, the Twins have three in AAA and four in AA, not counting Kvasnicka, who should be assigned to AA, but probably will end up in Fort Myers.

 

I would not necessarily think that this trade is a result of any plans to trade Butera. That said, I would not in any way be surprised if the Twins weren't talking to teams about Butera at this point. He certainly has some value.

[stringer bell]

After glancing at the 40-man roster, I just don't see anyone more likely to leave it for Wilkin Ramirez than Drew Butera. I am not a true hater, although I think it is a waste of a roster space to have such a weak hitter taking up one of four bench positions. Drew has value as a receiver and several teams are looking for durable backup catchers.

[nicksaviking]

And considering the likelyhood that Herrmann is going to put up better offensive numbers than Butera, it may be hard to justify bringing him back up when another catcher is needed. Perhaps they will trade Drew.

[stringer bell]

When Herrman was sent down I read somewhere that they wanted him to work on outfielding and perhaps learning first base. They used Rohlfing at both first and in the outfield in spring training and now they acquire a guy with experience in the minors as a catcher, third baseman and outfielder. It looks to me like the Twins want backup catchers who are versatile after going years having catchers that only played catcher.

[glanzer]

Kvasnicka's uncle is my company's HR guy, and he gave me the family-insider scouting report!

 

"Yep, a lot of excitement with the family here, hopefully will be playing at Fort Myers (Upper Class A) under new coach Doug Mientkiewicz, and I believe Mike’s winter workout friend, Kyle Knudson (former Gopher catcher), is on the roster also. Astros couldn’t figure out where his best position is (3B?, C?, RF? Other?) was assuming he would only be playing right field going forward (has a gun for an arm), but they may try him again at catcher. Plus he’s a switch-hitter, so no doubt he provides some versatility. Twins drafted him out of high school in 2007, have continued to keep tabs on him in the minors, so they like him for all of his abilities in the field and as a switch-hitter with power potential. Could be that a change of scenery and different management style will be a positive change for him; Twins tend to take guys that are class acts, and they got a good one here in Michael."

[Thrylos]

If you look at his fielding percentage at 3B, no wonder that experiment ended (40 errors in 141 games...)

 

Sanudo as a 20 year old in 36 innings struck out 33 and walked a grand total of 2 last season. Guess those guys are a dime a dozen and it is alright to trade them for a 24 year old with .275 OBP in A ball.

[kab21]

If you look at his fielding percentage at 3B, no wonder that experiment ended (40 errors in 141 games...)

 

Sanudo as a 20 year old in 36 innings struck out 33 and walked a grand total of 2 last season. Guess those guys are a dime a dozen and it is alright to trade them for a 24 year old with .275 OBP in A ball.

 

Both guys sound like org filler to me.

[jokin]

What's puzzling? They get a versatile guy (who is a catcher!) who was a first-round pick just 2 1/2 years ago with some power potential who comes with risks in terms of contact rate, etc. For a guy with some talent who just spent two years in the Gulf Coast League. Catchers have value!

 

Pitchers have more value, especially when they're 4 years younger, if the Twins really have a need to upgrade at catcher (which I strongly advocate), they should have looked at other options.