Ramón Laureano Presents the Twins With a Second Chance Following the Trade Deadline

[Matthew Taylor]

The Minnesota Twins missed the boat at the trade deadline, but a waived right-handed bat on Saturday presents the Twins with a second chance at acquiring just the player they need.
 

Image courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Author's note: According to Jon Heyman, Ramón Laureano has been claimed by the Cleveland Guardians following the posting of this article.

 

The biggest need that the Minnesota Twins had at the 2023 trade deadline was a right handed corner outfielder. With Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, Alex Kirilloff and Matt Wallner, the Minnesota Twins have a surplus of left handed bats, yet nothing to speak for in terms of right handers.

As we know, the Twins didn’t make a move at the deadline to acquire a right handed corner outfielder, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t still bring one in.

On Saturday afternoon, the Oakland Athletics announced that they waived 29-year-old outfielder Ramón Laureano, and he is now eligible to be picked up via waivers. Laureano is a right hander who has a career OPS+ of 110 and has played all three outfield positions over his six-year career with the A’s. 

Laureano burst onto the scene as a 23-year-old with Oakland in 2018 when he posted an .832 OPS in 48 games as a rookie before following it up with a .860 OPS in 123 games in 2019. Laureano’s bat has fallen off a bit since his first two seasons, but even in a down season in 2023 he is doing what he has always done — hitting left-handed pitching.

The Minnesota Twins’ struggles against left-handed pitching this season have been well documented. Currently the Twins rank last in all of baseball with a .662 OPS against left-handed hitting.

Ramón Laureano is a career .790 OPS hitter against left-handed pitchers. Even in a down year in 2023 he is still performing well against southpaws, posting a .793 OPS.

In addition to hitting left-handed pitching, Laureano runs well and has the flexibility to play center field as well.

Laureano is owed about $1 million for the rest of the 2023 season and has an additional year of team control following the season where he will be in his final year of arbitration. Additionally, Laureano still has minor league options remaining, which would give the Twins even more flexibility.

If the Twins were to put in a waiver claim on Ramón Laureano and add him to their roster, he would likely take the spot of Joey Gallo or newly acquired Jordan Luplow. Laureano would be a better fit than either of them and would be the perfect addition to this Minnesota Twins roster.

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[Dman]

Doesn't he have to make it to Minnesota first?  I mean he would be a good fit for KC or Detroit as well.  Seems unlikely to make it to the Twins and if he does then other teams must feel he is cooked.  Hard to believe Oakland of all teams gave up on him.  Something doesn't smell right to me.  He also does look like platoon only bat as his current OPS is .650.  I like him better than Luplow but he has to make it to our turn to claim first.

[Sjoski]

"He would likely take the spot of Joey Gallo"....which is why it won't happen....unfortunately. 

[Dave Borton]

Help on DFA pecking order, please.

What if the releasing FO receives multiple calls? First one gets it or is it in inverse relationship to W-L record for current season?

[chpettit19]

19 minutes ago, davidborton said:

Help on DFA pecking order, please.

What if the releasing FO receives multiple calls? First one gets it or is it in inverse relationship to W-L record for current season?

Starts with the league of the releasing team (so AL in this example) and goes from worst record to best. If none of them place a claim it goes to the other league and goes from worst record to best. 

[CRF]

Wouldn't mind it, but extremely doubtful it happens. Why would the FO do it when we already have that perennial all star Gallo? 

[jorgenswest]

He is worth a shot but you have to wonder why there were no takers at the deadline. It could be his significant drop in performance since return from his 80 day PED suspension. It could also be his frequent injuries with two stays in IL this year (groin, fractured hand).

[AceWrigley]

I'd stick with Luplow and his 1.000 batting average with the Twins 😀.

[chpettit19]

No thanks. Doesn't bring anything Luplow doesn't. Switching around our "hits against lefties only" cOF bat does nothing for me.

[Brandon]

Meh

[nicksaviking]

Why? This guy is more of an offensive black hole than Taylor. I just don't understand why the front office an fans are so interested in other team's cast offs who are unlikely to be any better than the half dozen players they could call up from AAA or AA who are already under contract. 

[USAFChief]

4 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Why? This guy is more of an offensive black hole than Taylor. I just don't understand why the front office an fans are so interested in other team's cast offs who are unlikely to be any better than the half dozen players they could call up from AAA or AA who are already under contract. 

Because there aren't "a half dozen players they could call up from AAA" that could play a decent corner OF and not be a black hole against LH pitching? Garlic maybe? 

Just spitballin' here. 

[chpettit19]

Sounds like he's headed to Cleveland.

[gman]

If he can play first base as well and hit at all then he could replace Gallo. Still I would prefer Prato gets a shot as a corner right hand bat.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

4 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Sounds like he's headed to Cleveland.

Got close to the Twins.  Cleveland still showing they are at least trying to compete, and will be without Ramirez for a bit.  

[nicksaviking]

4 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Because there aren't "a half dozen players they could call up from AAA" that could play a decent corner OF and not be a black hole against LH pitching? Garlic maybe? 

Just spitballin' here. 

There are way more than a half dozen player in AAA and AA that have higher upside than Laureano.

Who's been better this year? The vets from other teams this club keeps sticking in the lineup? Or the guys they've been calling up? It's not even close. 

[Dman]

3 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Sounds like he's headed to Cleveland.

Yep Minnesota didn't even get a chance to claim him as Cleveland needs outfield help as well.  Looks like the 4th team in line grabbed him so he didn't make it very far.

[Blyleven2011]

Looks like Cleveland  for laureano ....

missed it by thhhhhhhat much ....

I think he would have been a better choice over Luplow , plays defense well with a good arm , injuries and suspension has hurt him for regular playing time ....

 

[USAFChief]

6 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

There are way more than a half dozen player in AAA and AA that have higher upside than Laureano.

"Higher upside"?

heh

 

Better MLB outfielders for August and September, 2023?

Name them.

I understand your extreme obsession with minor leaguers, but it's not reality.

 

[AWOLNATION_11]

51 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Starts with the league of the releasing team (so AL in this example) and goes from worst record to best. If none of them place a claim it goes to the other league and goes from worst record to best. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/08/how-to-acquire-players-after-mlb-trade-deadline.html

No longer goes by league. 

[Dman]

10 minutes ago, Dman said:

Yep Minnesota didn't even get a chance to claim him as Cleveland needs outfield help as well.  Looks like the 4th team in line grabbed him so he didn't make it very far. Orr according to trade rumors 8 teams passed on him.

 

[randy_moist]

32 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

No thanks. Doesn't bring anything Luplow doesn't. Switching around our "hits against lefties only" cOF bat does nothing for me.

It's a moot point, now. But I see it the other way. Luplow hasn't hit lefties that well outside a couple seasons. Laureano has done it more consistently and more recently. I also think he offers more defensive value than Luplow (doesn't do any CF). We'll get to see though!

[Mike Sixel]

24 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Why? This guy is more of an offensive black hole than Taylor. I just don't understand why the front office an fans are so interested in other team's cast offs who are unlikely to be any better than the half dozen players they could call up from AAA or AA who are already under contract. 

This.

[nicksaviking]

9 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

"Higher upside"?

heh

 

Better MLB outfielders for August and September, 2023?

Name them.

I understand your extreme obsession with minor leaguers, but it's not reality.

 

I don't care about outfielders and I don't care about August and September of 2023. This team does not need more Ramon Laureano's. Taylor, Gallo, Castro, Farmer, Solano, Luplow. There's never been a championship team that has had 46-54% of their offensive players a breath away from being DFA'd. Laureano will NOT improve this team's chances at winning the World Series. This has to be amongst the worst constructed rosters this organization has ever put together because they insanely thought they could get by with platooning half of the lineup. They need higher ceiling players and they should be rostering, and auditioning as many of the in house options as they have right now so they don't end up doing the exact same thing in 2024.

That's the reality.

[chpettit19]

9 minutes ago, AWOLNATION_11 said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/08/how-to-acquire-players-after-mlb-trade-deadline.html

No longer goes by league. 

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. 

[chpettit19]

13 minutes ago, randy_moist said:

It's a moot point, now. But I see it the other way. Luplow hasn't hit lefties that well outside a couple seasons. Laureano has done it more consistently and more recently. I also think he offers more defensive value than Luplow (doesn't do any CF). We'll get to see though!

I guess my overall point is simply that neither of them make any real difference. I'm not interested in playing the "which below average player is going to be 2-5% better than the other below average player" game. Neither of these guys significantly improve the team's chances of winning playoff games so I'm just not interested in which player they shouldn't be relying on that they go with. I don't want either of them on the roster. But, as you said, moot point now.

[USAFChief]

18 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I don't care about outfielders and I don't care about August and September of 2023.

Clearly

[Trov]

2 hours ago, davidborton said:

Help on DFA pecking order, please.

What if the releasing FO receives multiple calls? First one gets it or is it in inverse relationship to W-L record for current season?

If it is waiver claim, then you go reverse win percentage on who gets priority on claim, there is no more revokable waivers like before where you can work out a trade, this is straight up release.  Meaning if no one claims him, then he is FA to sign with whoever, or we can put in a claim and assuming no one with a worse record did then we get him.  

[RpR]

Bah to Ramone, this is what they need as so many here want to see kids brought up:

 

This 12 Year Old Kid Hit The Farthest Home Run In Baseball History Yesterday

https://thespun.com/more/top-stories/fans-are-in-awe-of-12-year-old-baseball-players-massive-home-run

 

Henry, who is listed at 5-foot-10, 215 pounds according to his Perfect Game profile, cleared the batter's eye in center field, hitting the ball well past the fence stationed 275 feet from home plate.

We don't have an exact measurement on the homer, but it had to be pushing 400 feet.

Henry's titanic blast has had the baseball world buzzing since last night.

"12 year old Leyland Henry Jr has some crazy power," said the Barstool Baseball Twitter account.

"Y’all see what Leyland Henry Jr is doing? HE'S 12," one fan said.

"Leyland Henry Jr. will break the MLB career HR record in 2049," added another fan.

"Leyland Henry. Remember the name," chimed in the Baseball Lifestyle Twitter account.

A fifth commenter added that Henry has "taken the world by storm." That will happen when you hit the ball MLB-level distances as a pre-teen. 

Hopefully Henry has a bright future ahead of him on the diamond.

   

 

 

 

 

 

[old nurse]

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

I guess my overall point is simply that neither of them make any real difference. I'm not interested in playing the "which below average player is going to be 2-5% better than the other below average player" game. Neither of these guys significantly improve the team's chances of winning playoff games so I'm just not interested in which player they shouldn't be relying on that they go with. I don't want either of them on the roster. But, as you said, moot point now.

As a situational hitter a .270 hitter against lefties versus a .170 is more than 2 % better.  The question becomes does the situation arise often enough to warrant carrying that limited of a player. The analytically driven front office last off season came up with the answer of no