Minnesota Twins Acquire Outfielder Manuel Margot from Dodgers in 3-Player Trade

[Seth Stohs]

The Minnesota Twins have been rumored to be searching for a right-handed outfield bat, partially as a backup plan for Byron Buxton. They got it on Monday afternoon, when they agreed to trade minor-league Gold Glove-winning shortstop Noah Miller to the Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Manuel Margot, a prospect, and cash.

Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins have accumulated a lot of outfield talent over the years, but much of that is left-handed. Byron Buxton is scheduled to play center field, and if he is healthy, he will be in the lineup a lot. 

According to major-league sources, the Twins have acquired the talented Manuel Margot (and $5.5 million) from the Dodgers. Of course, earlier in the offseason, Margot was traded to the Dodgers (with Tyler Glasnow) from the Rays for two pitching prospects, Jonny DeLuca and Ryan Pepiot. 

Before the 2023 season, Margot signed a two-year, $19-million deal with the Rays that included a $12 million option for 2025 (with a $2 million buyout). Under the terms of the Glasnow-Margot deal, if the option would have been declined by the Dodgers, the Rays would have sent $2 million to Los Angeles to offset the buyout. Will that portion of the deal be transferred to the Twins? An MLB source says that the Twins will pay about half of Margot's $9.5 million in 2024. 

Margot, 29, originally signed with the Red Sox in 2011. He was traded to the Padres after the 2015 season in a multi-player deal, for closer Craig Kimbrel. He made his MLB debut with 10 games for the Padres in 2017. He remained with San Diego until right before the first spring training games of 2020, when he and a minor leaguer were traded to the Rays in exchange for Emilio Pagan. 

In 2023, Margot played in 99 games and hit .264/.310/.376, with 21 doubles and four home runs. His best season was in 2019 with the Padres, when he played in 151 games and hit .234 with 19 doubles and 12 homers.

While Margot will be Buxton insurance, he can play all three outfield spots and should get plenty of time even when Buxton is in the lineup. However, any rumors about a Michael A. Taylor return or signing someone like Enrique Hernández end with this deal. 

The Twins also received minor-league infielder Rayne Doncon in the deal. The 20-year-old from the Dominican Republic played in 107 games at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2023. He hit .216/.283/.368 with 21 doubles and 14 home runs. He played 45 games at third base, 37 games at shortstop and 25 games at second base. The Twins have seen a lot of Doncon and are gambling on a powerful bat, albeit one coming off a down year and with more thump than feel to hit.  

The Twins traded former first-round pick Noah Miller to the Dodgers. While the switch-hitting shortstop has not yet hit with any consistency or much power, there is still belief that he could. However, he is certainly best known in the game for his defense at shortstop. He is smooth, has soft hands, good range and a strong arm. He was named the minor league Gold Glove winner in 2023. If the Dodgers work their developmental magic on Miller, he might have a bright future, but this trade shores up the team's present by rounding out the positional roster. 

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What are your thoughts on this trade? Do you like Margot, or would you have preferred that the Twins pony up for Taylor instead? Join the conversation below.

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[Musk21]

According to this (https://www.mlb.com/news/tyler-glasnow-manuel-margot-traded-to-dodgers), TB sent $4 million to LAD in the original trade. Perhaps that cash is sent the Twins way?

[PseudoSABR]

A fine addition, in backing up CF from the right side.  Miller didn't have a ML path forward, even if he does end up hitting.  I hope some cash is coming our way as well.  

[Heistyman]

I like this deal for both sides.  Margot is also a good defender although he may not have the range he once had.  He should be a good 4th OF'er type and could replace Buck when needed.  The Bums have alot of bats and could use a glove first SS if injuries arise.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Damn,  that sucks.  Said it many times I really liked Noah Miller.  Margot is a decent backup outfielder.  Hopefully Doncon shows something.  I don't know much about him other than he is 20 years old.  Curious where he would rank in our prospect rankings.  

[GNess]

Good move. Margot is a solid MLB, proven OF and a reasonably good hitter. Miller is promising, but Twins have a number of SS options ahead of him in the system.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Solid move. Can folks lay off the front office at least until tomorrow morning?

[LewFordLives]

So if the Twins are willing to pay $4 million for Margot, then what was Michael A. Taylor asking for?

[sweetmusicviola16]

I really liked Miller. I don't care about any cash. Margot has not ever been that much of a hitter. So so. I hope the prospect is good. Sorry to see Miller gone.

[CRF]

I'm ok with this deal. Don't we need to lose someone off the roster now? Who's that gonna be? 

[UK Twin]

Good trade. Margot is a very solid OF option. While Miller is a promising prospect, SS is not a position we are lacking in for depth. Besides, SS is taken care of for the foreseeable future by Correa.

[danielp19653]

Don't love it, Margot was worth -5 runs in CF so not really a great option when we have plenty of other options that can play there in the minors. the 80 OPS+ against lefties (Edit: last year) certainly doesn't offer a lot of hope as a platoon option. I don't know if Noah Miller ever ends up helping the MLB roster with the infielders we have but I don't see Margot helping either. Especially if the Dodgers aren't picking up almost his entire salary.

[wabene]

So the contender is giving this guy plate appearances?

He has a career 119 OPS+against leftys, but still not exciting.

Edit; the 80 OPS+ referenced above is last year.

[sweetmusicviola16]

Martin and Larnach are now AAA and delegated to injury replacements I can assume.

[roger]

As you would guess, Seth, this trade absolutely breaks my heart.  Kind of like when I broke up with the love of my life 60 some years ago when I went off to college.

Got a feeling Twins management are going to be kicking themselves four or five years from now.

[bighat]

6 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

I really liked Miller. I don't care about any cash. Margot has not ever been that much of a hitter. So so. I hope the prospect is good. Sorry to see Miller gone.

I'm in the same camp. Miller looked great and could be a Corey Seager type of SS. 

I guess the Twins are thinking Lee, Julien, and Lewis will be anchoring the infield for the next decade....

But trading Miller for a backup outfielder? Yikes. 

 

 

[Karbo]

Hopefully Margot can hit like he did a couple of years ago. I remember him being an above avg. fielder, and an adequate hitter. Miller will be a gold glove winner in the MLB if he can hit well enough to get there. That kid can really pick it!

[RpR]

From the stats, he was not chosen for his bat.

[sweetmusicviola16]

3 minutes ago, roger said:

As you would guess, Seth, this trade absolutely breaks my heart.  Kind of like when I broke up with the love of my life 60 some years ago when I went off to college.

Got a feeling Twins management are going to be kicking themselves four or five years from now.

What ever happened to her, did you keep up with her? That's sad.

Yeah, LAD seems to usually come out on top in these deals.

[dex8425]

Is Margot better than Duvall or Taylor? Why not just sign Taylor for $4m and not trade a first round pick? Don't really like this...

[nicksaviking]

Ugh, dislike.

I don't care about Miller, he was never going to hit enough, but this just clogs up the 26-man roster. Now the only offensive players with options, are the ones who shouldn't be optioned. Margot and Santana have shut down the Minneapolis-St. Paul taxi service. Roster flexibility is pretty much crippled; they better pray that 2023 wasn't an outlier year for Kepler and Santana and that it was for Vazquez.

I'll give them credit for getting a player without strikeout issues though. Better decision than signing Taylor or Duval from my perspective.

[Parfigliano]

So Martin now definitely AAA bound.

[sweetmusicviola16]

1 minute ago, dex8425 said:

Is Margot better than Duvall or Taylor? Why not just sign Taylor for $4m and not trade a first round pick? Don't really like this...

Also makes you wonder how little they think of Martin too at the same time.

[bigdave]

This trade makes no sense. Margot isn't any better than Duvall or the other options out there. Giving up on a former first round draft choice this soon is a complete bungle by the front office.

[Brandon]

I always thought of Noah as a future bench player like Punto.  someone who will carve out a career because of his defense.  I am surprised that the Twins and Taylor couldn't come to an agreement.  That would have been better.  better defense.  similar offense without giving up a prospect.  but the trade is ok.  If Margot's defense is slightly above average anyways and it could be with more separation from his injuries.  I doubt we get the elite defense though.  

[nicksaviking]

2 minutes ago, bigdave said:

This trade makes no sense. Margot isn't any better than Duvall or the other options out there. Giving up on a former first round draft choice this soon is a complete bungle by the front office.

I don't like the trade, but for the Twins purposes, yes, Margot is better than Duvall. How many 30%+ strikeout guys do you think this team can carry?

[LewFordLives]

6 minutes ago, dex8425 said:

Is Margot better than Duvall or Taylor? Why not just sign Taylor for $4m and not trade a first round pick? Don't really like this...

Yeah, it's odd. Maybe Duvall and Taylor wanted too much?  I don't know.  They are certainly better players than Margot. 

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

8 minutes ago, bighat said:

I'm in the same camp. Miller looked great and could be a Corey Seager type of SS. 

I guess the Twins are thinking Lee, Julien, and Lewis will be anchoring the infield for the next decade....

But trading Miller for a backup outfielder? Yikes. 

 

 

Corey Seager? I don't think you could find a worse comp for Noah Miller.

[sweetmusicviola16]

One other question I have on this trade, does this throw some doubt on the health of Buxton at all? As I recall we acquired Taylor late off season as well and he ended up being our CF. I hope Buxton is well. Always seem to use the word hope with Buxton.

[Road trip]

Hard for me to like this trade.  Maybe Noah Miller never learns to hit, but trading a recent first-rounder for a 29 year old backup outfielder who has pretty much proven to be a below-average MLB bat doesn't seem a good path to improvement.

For a little more money we could have just re-signed Taylor and kept Miller.

If money is so tight then give Martin a chance.  Martin might hit well, while we pretty much know that Margot will be below average.

I fear this means a summer of watching Margot play a lot of LF while Wallner sits on the bench.  I'd live with this if the alternative was a proven hitter, but for Margot?  Not a great scenario.