Twins Trade Mitch Garver to Rangers for Shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa

[Seth Stohs]

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Twins have an agreement with the Texas Rangers to acquire shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa. 

According to Jeff Passan, the Twins may have found their shortstop, Isiah Kiner-Falefa. 

As excited as I was to hear about Kiner-Falefa, that positive feeling went out the door when learning that the Twins were dealing Mitch Garver to the Rangers in the deal.  

Garver is a Silver Slugging catcher who, after an injury-plagued 2020 season, And despite some freak injuries in 2021, he hit .256/.358/.517 (.875) with 15 doubles and 13 homers in 68 games. Defensively, he wasn't going to be a Gold Glover, but as one former coach told me, he went from being perhaps the worst pitch framer in the league to an average, or even above average, pitch framer in a league that had shown improvements across the board. 

The move certainly puts the pressure on Ryan Jeffers and Ben Rortvedt, likely the Twins catchers on Opening Day. 

Before the lockout, the Rangers made a big splash with signing both Marcus Semien and Corey Seager in free agency. That made Kiner-Falefa available. The 27-year-old played in 158 games for the Rangers in 2021, starting 155 of them at shortstop. In 2020, he won the AL Gold Glove at third base. He is really good defensively. Will he hit? 

In 2021, he hit .271/.312/.357 (.670) with 25 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. 

Henriquez split the 2021 season between High-A Hickory, where he was 1-3 with a 3.75 ERA in five starts. The 21-year-old then moved up to Double-A Frisco where he went 4-4 with a 5.04 ERA in 16 games (11 starts). In 93 2/3 combined innings, he struck out 105 batters and walked just 25. He also gave up an alarming 17 home runs. 

Henriquez is small. He's listed at 5-10 and just 155 pounds. Still plenty of room to gain strength. He has a mid-90s fastball that touches 97 and a good slider. He also throws a changeup that is inconsistent. He has thrown a lot of strikes and shown good control and decent command. Most see him as a long-reliever in the big leagues someday, maybe as early as 2022. He was the Rangers #29-ranked prospect according to Baseball America coming into this season. 

Mitch Garver ends his Twins tenure having spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues. He was a senior sign as the Twins ninth-round draft pick in 2013 out of the University of New Mexico. In 310 games with the Twins, he hit .256 with 52 doubles, six triples, and 53 home runs. He won that Silver Slugger Award in 2019. 

In addition, Garver was twice a Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Year (2014, Cedar Rapids, 2017, Rochester), and he even came to a Twins Daily Winter Meltdown for awhile. 

 

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[Bradfoot]

For Mitch Garver, interesting.  Additional prospect heading our way too.

[Brock Beauchamp]

[NatteringNabob]

Reportedly for Mitch Garver. The Jeffers era begins!

[Brock Beauchamp]

At first glance, it's really hard to like this trade. They better be right about this.

[Richmond Dude]

I'm not sure I like it, but time will tell.  This appears to indicate that Lewis will not be ready this year, but Kiner-Falefa has played 3B and C, too, so could be moved around.  I will really miss Garver, but we had one too many catchers and too many 1B, too, so no place for all those people to play.  Best of luck, GarvSauce.

[dxpavelka]

How quickly those who constantly clamor for moves to be made forget that those moves come at a cost....

[wsnydes]

They must be pretty confident that Jeffers will take off with regular playing time.

This seems like more of a "future" move rather than a "now" move, IMO.

[Rosterman]

Kiner-Falefa gives them a shortstop without breaking the bank. The Twins have him for two seasons at the worst. 

We may feel we are weakened at catcher, but now it will be up to Jeffers and Rortvedt to become the duo behind-the-plate for the next five years.

 

And, yes, our new shortstop can also catch!

 

We can pretty much assume now that the Twins really don't see Palacidos, Martin or Lewis coming to the majors in 2022, unless as a drastic injury call-up or added to the roster in September. Beckham is now the main emergency guy at AAA if he has a nice spring training. Gordon and Arraez are the spare infielders who can also play the outfield. Question now is will Kiriloff/Sano/Rooker/Donaldson be 1B/DH rotation with some play in leftfield for two of them, and will this also mean that Miranda might make the roster to join the above four names to rotate around the four positions. But, then, how much playing time do Arraez and Gordon get?

 

Still need pitchers to go mroe than five innings, now that a hard cap of 12 arms is being palced on teams (although I do expect expanded to 28 rosters for the first month).

[USAFChief]

Terrible. 

 

 

 

[Squirrel]

No!!! ?

[Vanimal46]

Immediate reaction is I don’t like it, at all. 

[Ryan_K]

Checking out IKF baseball savant page I am not impressed. I recall he won a GG at third in 2020, but looking at his metrics from 2021 in OAA, like why not just sign Niko Goodrum?

[lukeduke1980]

Catching depth is an illusion. I don't love this one.

[curt1965]

I Was looking forward to the start of ST, but then one of my favorite players was traded! Falvine better find some pitchers, or it’s going to be a long season!

[Dman]

I think Garver has a solid 800 OPS bat and while he may be limited to 1st base or DH in short order that swing will play for a long time yet.  I guess this is what happens when you have nothing at short.  They had to balance the roster even if it was at a high cost.  If the Twins didn't see Garver as a catcher for much longer then they had a log jam forming at 1st base and DH.  I don't like that it was Garver who they decided to move but the move does at least give us something at short and balance the roster a bit.

This is great deal for the Rangers IMO.  They get an elite power bat that can play 1st or catcher and can be a good DH as well.  This might be the Rangers plan B for not being able to get Freeman or Olson as Garvers production isn't that far off from either player.   Playing him at first should also help eliminate injuries. This is a good win now move for the Rangers.

Sounds like Henriquez is an intriguing arm as well.  Fangraphs says "If Henriquez's breaking ball quality and/or consistency improves, then he's a candidate to move into the top 100. If it doesn't, then he's still a likely impact member of a staff who I'd slot in a multi-inning relief role."  So there is potential there as the Twins still need arms.  If he does end up working out then getting a good fit at short for at least two years and a pitcher that they would control for 6 years there is a chance for this trade to be a win but my money is still on Garver's bat, certainly short term anyway.

 

[Ryan_K]

We are also paying more IKF projected at 4.9 million and Garv only 3.1 according to mlbtr I didn't see any agreements in the quick Google search so I may be wrong.

[The Mad King]

Wow. Here's hoping Rordvelt hits better. I'm good with Jeffers. Who's catching at AAA? 

[LastOnePicked]

I liked Garver, but I think this could end up being a smart trade. I'm not sure Garver was going to do much more at C for us, and we don't need another 1B/DH option. The additional return of a pitching prospect makes it even potentially better.

[mike8791]

Biggest complaint is that Garver, one of the best trade candidates on the current roster, could have been a much more valuable  chip in obtaining a more-desperately needed starter!   This trade has a very low probability of moving the needle for 2022 prospects.  Took away a   plus offensive contributor in Garver for a decent offensive upgrade at SS.  Not sure they couldn't have found a comparable SS without giving up such a valuable trade piece.

If Jeffers continues to develop offensively and K-F does the same, this could be a decent long term move, but it certainly won't improve team's 2022 chances.  Looks like "contending in 2022" was a pipedream, at least to date.

[umterp23]

so the move makes some sense but also looks like a youth movement move.  Wear and tear of a catcher above age 30 can be a factor, especially after the injuries last few years. Would have liked them to move Sano, but $11MM and inconsistency had to be a factor with no deal for Sano.  If Kiriloff ends up in OF more than 1B, then Sano at 1st, then Garver could be your DH.  Next domino to fall should give us more indication of youth movement or salary constraints

 

[cmoss84]

This is a good trade for both teams. IKF is better than you all think...it's tough to lose Garver, but this move makes sense. 

 

[chinmusic]

Garver will be missed, but I like that the Twins are getting younger and faster.

[blindeke]

We'll always have 2019. Here's lookin at you, Mitch.

[darwin22]

May be in the minority here, but I like this deal for a number of reasons.  First, it improves our infield defense as Kiner-Falefa is a gold glove worthy defender at SS.  It allows allows Polanco to remain at 2B, where he proved to be much better last season.  Second, Kiner-Falea adds a component to our offense thats been missing for years-----SPEED.  I believe Kiner-Falefa will only improve on his 20 SBs from last season being a legit 20-25 SB threat for years to come.  Projecting Polanco to build on his SB improvement combined with what Buxton can provide---thats 75 SBs that could aid this offense this season.  This team, imo, has to revamp its offensive strategy moving forward as the loss of Cruz, now Garver and next year with Donaldson departing necessitates a change. Finally, the durability of Kiner-Falefa (158 GP last season) is an upgrade.  As much as I liked (and still do) Garver, you can't ignore that FACT that he only played in 184 of 384 games (47.9%) over the last 3 seasons.  Knowing the propensity of Baldelli not to overwork his catchers, I see the FO bringing in a veteran free agent ( Stephen Vogt or Kurt Suzuki) to platoon with Jeffers as I don't believe Rortvedt's bat has proven he can regular ABs.

[h2oface]

I now officially hate this FO. First Berrios, now Garver. And still no pitching.

Get rid of Escobar, Get rid of Pressly. Anderson. Littell. Graterol. May. Rosario. Wade. Baddoo. 

Sign Happ, Shoemaker, Colome, Rodney, Robles, Dobnak, Bailey, Perez, Parker, Dyson, Reed, Barraclough, Belisle, Cave.

And that is just off the top of my head.

I hate this Front Office. Visitors. I hate them.

[puckstopper1]

17 minutes ago, The Mad King said:

Wow. Here's hoping Rordvelt hits better. I'm good with Jeffers. Who's catching at AAA? 

Crash Davis!

[bighat]

14 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

I liked Garver, but I think this could end up being a smart trade. I'm not sure Garver was going to do much more at C for us, and we don't need another 1B/DH option. The additional return of a pitching prospect makes it even potentially better.

I'm going to chime in and agree with you here.

Mitch Garver is 31 years old - if the Twins were going to get anything for him, it would probably have to be now. They may believe his best years are behind him. Don't forget that Garver had some absolutely miserable slumps for this team, including a horrific 2020 that saw him start the year 1-for-40 or something ridiculous like that. His value at this time last year was much lower than it is now. In short, I don't think Garver is as good as most people here think he is.

Kiner-Falefa is 27, can play SS and 3B and is a monster upgrade over Simmons. The Twins must think that Jeffers/Rortvedt is the answer at C, which is a big gamble but you have to gamble sometimes when you're a GM.

Mark me down for liking this trade.

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

In some way, trading for Kiner-Falefa is a better hedge against the variance in Lewis' outcomes than either a big multi-year free agent (e.g. Story) or a one-year stop-gap signing (e.g. Iglesias, I suppose) would be. If Lewis is going to be a long-term SS, IKF doesn't really block him, but does provide a plan for 2023 if Lewis takes a while to get back up to speed after the injury.

However, I was surprised that IKF had only 2 years of contractual control left. Which means that if Lewis isn't going to stick at short, by late 2023 they're gonna need another plan.

[bighat]