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

[nicksaviking]

Ha, the Twins have now traded their first five picks from the 2021 draft.

And that's fine by me, that was the draft I thought the least of with this current front office. CES looks good and Petty might start making waves, but who drafts Big 10 pitchers anymore, let alone two in the first three rounds?

Christian MacLeod better might want to get on the phone with his agent.

[nicksaviking]

4 minutes ago, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

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

Closer to Seager than A-Rod I suppose.

Closer yet to Pedro Florimon most likely though.

[chaderic20]

4 minutes ago, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

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

Yeah, seems a more apt comp would be Andrelton Simmons - all glove, no bat. Seems like getting a right-handed 4th OF, which this team needed, $5.5m, and a lottery ticket infielder is a decent return.

[DocBauer]

While I'm not a fan of losing the potential of Miller, I actually like this deal. Not having cash coming back, and not having the young prospect coming back, I would have liked this deal less.

Miller has got a ML glove right now. But there are still real questions about the bat, though that's not unusual for a young 20-21yo kid in A ball. Doncon has primarily played SS so far in his brief career...80 games there....and a split of 52 and 45 games between 2B and 3B. He appears to have some speed (SB ability) as well as XB power. Unfortunately, his actual hitting took a down turn in 2023 after an OK stateside debut in 2022. But the Dodgers are pretty good at finding and signing talent, so while he's a long way from MLB, I don't think this is just a dismissive flier.

Margot is no stud, but he's a balance of Taylor vs Duvall/Pham. Instead of adding a RH bat that could play either CF with speed and some power, OR a corner OF with bigger power, they end up with a player who gives the ability to play all 3 spots and is a little bit of a mix of all options, with speed and at least a little power. He's only a 91 OPS+ for his career, which is not great, when facing RHP. But he's got a career 119 OPS+ against LHP.

Do I like or hate that we traded a prospect that's a bit risky, but offers some potentially high reward, for what is probably a 1yr deal? Well, he fills a need for this year that I like a heck of a lot better than any Kiki Hernandez possibility, and he doesn't block anyone going forward. But unless there's some more $ coming back to help cover his 2025 option, he's a 1 and done. That part I'm not totally happy with, but then again, he's not blocking anyone going forward, and we got an interesting prospect back that I don't think we should easily dismissed. 

I still think I would have just signed Duvall or Pham for 1yr and $5-7M...if possible...rather than go this route. But Margot really does check off a few different boxes. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

5 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

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.

For all of the talk about how healthy Buxton is he has yet to make an appearance in the first 4 exhibition games. Yes I know they are exhibitions. Still. Other regulars have appeared. Just a bit concerning to me.

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

Twins got a more highly ranked prospect from the Dodgers' system and a capable 4th OF who hits right-handed and all people can talk about is "giving up on a first round pick" as if his draft position means he's more likely to turn it around in the batter's box.

Talk about getting attached to pure upside...

[MMMordabito]

Career numbers against lefties and playing defense look really good for the role.

2023 numbers were not good for either though. 

Hope he bounces back to his career numbers, otherwise, I don't see the needle moving much from Castro.

Larnach, Martin and Keirsey will just have to play OF in St. Paul for awhile.

[Paul]

Yuk, yuk and yuk!

[Matt Braun]

22 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? The 6'4" Corey Seager who OPS'd .915 at AA at the same age Noah Miller did .648 at A+? 

[Danchat]

The deal seems alright at first glance, though I didn't realize how little power Margot has. I'm surprised they went with him over Taylor, though outside of the HRs Taylor was not good at the plate last year.

Miller has a pretty low chance of being a MLB-viable hitter. Maybe the Dodgers will work some magic on him but I find it doubtful he will become anything more than an occasional utility call-up. Plenty of prospects with great fielding abilities but no bat have come and gone, so I don't see losing him as much of a loss, given what this organization has at the position.

[UK Twin]

I think this will end up being a shrewd move. He'll hit better against lefties than Kepler or Wallner and he's a better player than any of the FA options. 

[PseudoSABR]

 

[Blyleven2011]

34 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.

Its likely just for this year , I can't see the twins picking up the option for 12 million plus next year on Margot ...

The the 2 million buy out is paid by Tampa Bay  ..

More of a Solano type player , not much power , but his defense should be good in the outfield   ...

[nicksaviking]

2 minutes ago, PseudoSABR said:

 

Yeah, if I had to choose between two players who've struggled to hit the ball, I'd take the one who's younger with twice the power.

[Major League Ready]

10 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

Career numbers against lefties and playing defense look really good for the role.

2023 numbers were not good for either though. 

Hope he bounces back to his career numbers, otherwise, I don't see the needle moving much from Castro.

Larnach, Martin and Keirsey will just have to play OF in St. Paul for awhile.

Exactly what I thought upon looking over his splits.  I hope they got an interesting prospect because this does not move the needle much.  

[Musk21]

6 minutes ago, Matt Braun said:

Corey Seager? The 6'4" Corey Seager who OPS'd .915 at AA at the same age Noah Miller did .648 at A+? 

The 4-time All-Star and 2023 AL MVP runner-up Corey Seager?

 

[jkcarew]

18 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Closer to Seager than A-Rod I suppose.

Closer yet to Pedro Florimon most likely though.

Offensively, the obvious comp is Owen Miller.

[Mike Sixel]

30 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

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.

100 percent this. Not a fan at all

[Heiny]

Yeah, well I'm not real big on this deal.  I would prefer giving Martin and Larnach a shot at the last roster spot at this point of the season.  If they didn't work out, Im sure there could be some other trades possible between May and August.  Margot could turn out to be okay, but I'm just not feeling it.  Just Blahhhh.  Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Linus]

3 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Its likely just for this year , I can't see the twins picking up the option for 12 million plus next year on Margot ...

The the 2 million buy out is paid by Tampa Bay  ..

More of a Solano type player , not much power , but his defense should be good in the outfield   ...

That is what I noticed as well. It’s really one year of Margot for Miller. Maybe the prospect makes a difference. 

[MTV]

26 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...

Both Duvall and Taylor would be more expensive than Margot, likely needing around 10m, Taylor was rumored to be looking for a 2-year deal. The Twins will only be paying $4.5m of Margot’s contract. Both Taylor and Duvall don’t walk, hit for a Low AVG, and strikeout a ton. Margot is more of a contact hitter that strikes out less, and will play good defense. Margot makes the most sense team-wise out of the 3, and $4.5m is a good cost. And Yes, the front office is being cheap.

As for Miller, he’s got a great glove but hasn’t produced an OPS above .700 in the low minors; that just won’t play out in the MLB no matter ur defense. Yes he’s young, but he’s been playing for 2.5 years now. With better SS prospects Miller was a surplus and could be traded. 

[purplesoldier4u]

The Twins are really playing that "woe is me" card!

[Mike Sixel]

On the plus side, nope, can't think of one. This team is clogged with old veterans that can't be optioned at the end of the bench and bullpen. Just not a fan at all. 

[Blyleven2011]

Just now, Linus said:

That is what I noticed as well. It’s really one year of Margot for Miller. Maybe the prospect makes a difference. 

Doncon , i Hope so , the cash coming back to help pay down the salary of Margot was a big factor to ...

I wonder what Taylor was looking for in money and terms ...

[Bamboo Bat]

For all the moaning about Duvall or MAT or any other free agent outfielder available, my thoughts immediately went to Martin. 

He's a kid with a lot more upside than Margot for 2024, but Margot has a track record of being a steady, mediocre MLB ballplayer. I guess that's what the front office is valuing at the moment. But it's another year of the kids being stashed in AAA without the opportunity to break camp with the big league club. 

I could understand if this was a big man they brought in. But IMHO he doesn't push the needle much from what Martin can likely contribute. I don't get it. 

[jkcarew]

This isn’t that complicated, IMO. You have to have a real CF to play 80+ games at the position. And you have to plan on that…you just have to. All Buxton seasons end the same, and this isn’t the first year he’s gone into a season healthy. It doesn’t matter.

The bad news is they don’t think Martin can handle that type of exposure in CF.

The question is, why not just sign MAT?

Losing Miller doesn’t bother me a bit.

[DocBauer]

Regarding Rayne Doncon, again, he's primarily a SS but has split his time between 3B and 2B pretty close even when not at SS. He's athletic and won't turn 21yo until late September. 16/21 in SB for a 76% success rate so far. Decent power and power potential. From what I'm reading, he barrels a fastball pretty well but is at least somewhat allergic to breaking stuff. (not much of a surprise there). Despite being a decent athlete, might not have the ability to stick at SS. 

Top 30 prospect in the Dodgers system wherever you look, as high as 19 with the Athletic. So again, he's not just a throwaway.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, DocBauer said:

Regarding Rayne Doncon, again, he's primarily a SS but has split his time between 3B and 2B pretty close even when not at SS. He's athletic and won't turn 21yo until late September. 16/21 in SB for a 76% success rate so far. Decent power and power potential. From what I'm reading, he barrels a fastball pretty well but is at least somewhat allergic to breaking stuff. (not much of a surprise there). Despite being a decent athlete, might not have the ability to stick at SS. 

Top 30 prospect in the Dodgers system wherever you look, as high as 19 with the Athletic. So again, he's not just a throwaway.

Don't care. The issue is the back of the MLB bench being old without options. And not all that good. Blocking the minor league guys. 

[Major League Ready]

3 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

This isn’t that complicated, IMO. You have to have a real CF to play 80+ games at the position. And you have to plan on that…you just have to. All Buxton seasons end the same, and this isn’t the first year he’s gone into a season healthy. It doesn’t matter.

The bad news is they don’t think Martin can handle that type of exposure in CF.

The question is, why not just sign MAT?

Losing Miller doesn’t bother me a bit.

My guess is he is insistent upon 2 years and the Twins don't want to roster him for two years.  I doubt it has anything to do with the AAV he is asking.  They might also be serious about cutting down the Ks.

[Muppet]

Margot hit .173 with 2 outs, but .336 with 0 outs. Heh... A new leadoff guy? 

Last year he also hit slightly better with RISP (.293) and a bit over .300 in ABs that were 'late or close' though both likely had too few PAs to be significant. (Those stats did not hold up over his career)

Here's to hoping for a career year out of Margot!