Twins Trade Luis Arraez for Marlins' Pitcher Pablo López

[HoskenPowell]

I like it     To get good pitching you need to give up something good in return.  Unless you think the Twins should start handing out 35-45 million a year contracts to free agent pitchers.   Miami was a good partner to trade with....Twins  need arms badly and Miami  needs hitters.     The prospects to me put this trade in our favor , but they may flame out just as easily. Time will tell......those Miami players now come to a team that can make the playoffs easier than the Marlins probably can.  Lopez's stats should improve in a weak central division compared to the AL East.   I had hoped Carbrera or Luzardo but Lopez is as good as anything we have and better than most. Injuries on both center peices of the trade may be issues also.   Araez could sure make contact , but that was his only skill.   No position to speak of....serviceable 1b and terrible 3rd and bad 2nd! slower than a plow horse didn't help either.   

[mikelink45]

What a shock. I'm on my way back from Panama and having something to eat in Chicago and then I see my favorite player has been traded. I do say that the twins front office did a good job even though I hate seeing him go

[mikelink45]

The unanswered question now is who gets on base?

[weitz41]

Can't have too much pitching. Can't have too many short stop prospects when you want to trade for an ACE either.

[twins_89]

I'm fine with the deal. The overall value seems pretty solid and I think the Twins were overstocked on the infield with Kirilloff, Polanco, Correa, Miranda, Arraez, Gordon, and Farmer (plus Lewis, Lee, Austin and Julien potentially to being ready at some point this season).

The Twins have built some pretty good starting pitching depth for upcoming season. The team is still lacking a true #1 starter, but I'd rate the Twins #2-10 starters as being as good a group as there is in the Majors.

[KGB]

All these trades for pitching the last couple years, make me wonder when the "pitching pipeline" is going to kick in.

[PseudoSABR]

I think the Twins were smart to deal Arraez prior to the shift being implemented. I think his bat-to-balls skills won't quite out-pace the league like they did last year.  Likewise, a guy like Kepler could see his bat really improve due to the shift being banned, and he could increase his value as an asset in season.

[PseudoSABR]

1 minute ago, KGB said:

All these trades for pitching the last couple years, make me wonder when the "pitching pipeline" is going to kick in.

Clearly it hasn't beyond Ober (and Ryan, if you want to count him), but at least the FO is addressing the situation by acquiring starters by any means.

[Otaknam]

I love Arraez but I thought the Twins would have to give up more than Arraez to make this deal because of his limited power, limited versatility and injury history. Getting a top five prospect and another young prospect from Miami made this deal even better. And they still haven’t traded Julien, Lee, and Lewis. 

[gman]

Who is this top 100 prospect that people keep talking about? I must not be seeing the whole trade.

[PseudoSABR]

1 minute ago, gman said:

Who is this top 100 prospect that people keep talking about? I must not be seeing the whole trade.

Salas, I think he was rated 93 by BP.  So border line top 100.

[tbruggs11]

This is like eating a raw salad with no dressing.  Probably good for you but it tastes terrible and leaves you unsatisfied.

Arraez was fun.  Loved watching him play.  Did we get good “value” sure but it makes the Twins less watchable IMO.

[dex8425]

6 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

The unanswered question now is who gets on base?

Yeah, who bats 1-2-3? Buxton, Polanco, Correa? Polanco could hit leadoff too. 

[RJA]

Four thoughts.  First, trading Arraez hurts emotionally for me and many, but he is also an on base machine.  We now have lost Arraez and Urshela who were two of our best OBP players last year.  Hopefully, Gallo or one of the young guys steps up this year.  Second, it does appear that the FO is trying to make us more athletic in adding the two youngsters.  That is a good thing as Miranda, Larnach, Wallner, and Kirilloff are not really "athletic."  Third, I would have preferred one of the other guys with more control and upside, but I suspect the asking price was rich.  We need to get our pitching pipeline going as trading for pitchers is way too costly.  Finally, I think more is coming.

[terrydactyls]

I would like to see the Last Vegas odds on which comes first:  Arraez' knees give out or Lopez's shoulder explodes.

[Elite Benchwarmer]

I think Lopez slots as our best SP.  This is key as I don't think Maeda can pitch more than 120 innings. 

However, I will greatly miss every Arraez at bat.  I fully expected him to "hit it where they ain't" every time and was disappointed when that didn't happen.

[Riverbrian]

16 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

I'll reserve judgement until 10 years from now so we can find out what happens to all four players involved.

That is one of the most sensible things ever posted on this website. 

Cheers to you! 😀

[yellan]

Question: why did the Twins shop Arraez rather than Polanco?  I feel like Arraez' skill set is much rarer, and more likely to age well.  Is this simply a case of selling high?

[beckmt]

This one hurts, but Gray is 32 and will probably want more years/money than the Twins feel comfortable with.  Mahle had shoulder issues last year and will be at least midseason before Twins feel like possibly offering an extension and Maeda is 34 and Twins should see what he wants, and if doesn't work he walks at the end of the season.  Ryan to me is a #4 starter with some upside.  So where is your ongoing pitching coming from?  Some of the prospects will probably make it, but asking 3 of them for next year seems like a lot.

Julien will be here, and had no open spot. So they made one.  Now the question is what do the Twins do with Polonco? (Kepler is good as gone).  

[jmlease1]

5 minutes ago, yellan said:

Question: why did the Twins shop Arraez rather than Polanco?  I feel like Arraez' skill set is much rarer, and more likely to age well.  Is this simply a case of selling high?

one part selling high, one part Polanco being a more valuable player since he's a more effective 2B and can hit for power.

[DJL44]

I don't know how they did it but the Twins might have received the two best players in this trade.

[Shs_2]

I hate this for 2 reasons :

1 Miami is a new York Yankees Pipeline of sorts

If L Arraez ends up a Yankee I am done as a baseball fan.

 

2 you have to have guys with bat skills and inhumane like hand eye coordination like Arraez , Altuve , Wendle to win big games  aka a W Series 

[Twinsrtheworst]

2 hours ago, howeda7 said:

Bad move that will go over like a fart in Church with the fan base. Not that they care.

I'd say your take is like a fart in church

[Twinsrtheworst]

1 hour ago, rwilfong86 said:

Yep this is a loss. An average pitcher for the batting champion and fan favorite. At least I didn't get an Arraez jersey yet. Oh well. 

But honestly you had 3 years to do so.  Sounds like our FO said yes let's trade him you now since you were right about to buy a jersey

[miracleb]

Arraez just didn't have a spot in the field.  Slap hitting 1st baseman....not a recipe for success.  Did I mention he is also a short first baseman.   I'm sure he is an awesome teammate......but I love this trade!

[Dave Borton]

2 hours ago, TouchEmAllGuy said:

Good get for the team and the return seems favorable. As a fan, I am disappointed..

Perfectly summed up for me. ⬆︎

"Live with ambivalence and learn to love it."

[Elite Benchwarmer]

Zips has Lopez projected at 2.6 WAR for 2023.  That fits in nicely to create a solid top 4 SP.

 

[Dave Borton]

Let's see, two pitchers named Lopez now on the staff.

You do realize what this is going to do to Gladden on the radio cast, don't you?

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=abbott+costello+who's+on+first&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3fb10c5a,vid:2ZksQd2fC6Y

 

 

 

[Lasorda_This_Out]

Tough to see Arraez go but to acquire talent you have to give up talent?

These are the kind of trades that separate the men from the boys...

Go Twins!!

 

[Joey Self]

Anytime I see a trade like this, I am reminded of the mindset of selling stocks.  If I dump 100 shares of Apple, someone is buying them.  I sell because I think they are going down, the buyer thinks they are going up.  

Some here think Arraez peaked last year.  I don't, and obviously, the Marlins don't, or they wouldn't have traded for him.   He's 25, and I have no reason to think that he won't do even better at the plate in the next 10 years than he did this year.  

BUT...I realize the Twins front office has to evaluate what his upside is as opposed to what they get for him, and *I* am not bothered by the $$$ that are in play.  

Still, all that said, I agree with the lady in THE PRINCESS BRIDE: