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Weekend Recap:
On Saturday, the Twins traded catcher Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Twins legend Isiah Kiner-Falefa and right-handed pitching prospect Ronny Henriquez.
Sunday afternoon, the Twins traded 2021 first-round pick Chase Petty to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray and right-handed pitching prospect Francis Peguero.
And finally, late Sunday night, the Twins traded third baseman Josh Donaldson, Kiner-Falefa, and catcher Ben Rortvedt to the New York Yankees for infielder Gio Urshela and catcher Gary Sanchez.
Since the season is only a few weeks away, let’s focus on the three players who will make an impact on the Twins from the get go.
Sonny Gray
Trading a first round pick who was only drafted nine months prior and has thrown his fastball over 100 miles per hour as a prep pitcher means that you must have a lot of faith in what you are getting in return.
A two-time all-star, Gray has had a successful career to this point, going 82-72 with a 3.61 career ERA while pitching for the Athletics, Yankees, and Reds. In 2021, Gray was 7-9 with a 4.19 ERA. In a vacuum, these statistics are very average, as the MLB average ERA is 4.26. However, Gray pitched better than these numbers suggest. Let’s dive into it.
Gray suffered from poor batted-ball luck when he was on the mound in 2021. Although his ERA was 4.19, his expected ERA (xERA) based on the quality of contact he allowed was 3.22. This is something to point to when people may suggest that Gray is past his prime.
In his three years in Cincinnati, who have revamped their organizational philosophy to develop strong pitchers, Gray posted 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. This is a big change from his two seasons in New York, in which he posted 8.4 strikeouts per nine. One reason for Gray’s increased success has been the improvement of his slider. Gray has one of the best sliders in baseball. According to Baseball Savant, Gray has the eighth most vertical movement on his slider and the ninth most horizontal movement among all qualified pitchers in Major League Baseball. His baseball savant percentile ranking chart is a thing of beauty, showing that he is near the top of the league in limiting hard contact, which will be a huge positive for a team that struggled so desperately to limit hard contact in 2021.
Finally, Gray is only due to make $10.2 million in 2022 with a $12 million club option in 2023, making him a relatively cheap option for the next two years for the Twins.
Gio Urshela
Unlike Gray, Urshela is a player who has been overlooked his entire career. After going unselected in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft, Urshela made the rest of the league seem foolish when he hit .314/.355/.534 (.889) with 21 home runs in 2019 for the Yankees. He followed up that performance with a short-season .298/.368/.490 (.858) performance in 2020.
In 2021, Urshela took a minor step back after having an injury riddled season. He hit .267/.301/.419 (.720) and only posted 1.0 fWAR in 116 games. With the Twins trading away slugger Josh Donaldson, they will need Urshela to step up in a big way in 2022 at the hot corner.
Similar to Gray, there is some promise in Urshela. His 2021 season was not very good statistically, as his Baseball Savant numbers are shown above. These struggles could very well be injury related and he could return to his 2019-20 form where he was in the 98th percentile of all hitters in expected batting average and the 90th percentile in terms of strikeout rate. Urshela is promising with the bat, not anything special with the glove, but he could definitely be a solid contributor for the Twins in ‘22.
Gary Sanchez
When a TwinsDaily writer brings up the name Miguel Sano, you usually hear a variety of different opinions ranging from “send him down to AAA” to “don’t trade him, he is the next David Ortiz”. Well Twins fans, get ready for another polarizing player in Gary "The Sanchise" Sanchez.
When Sanchez made his debut in 2016, it seemed like we were witnessing the next Yankee great. That year, he hit 20 home runs in 53 games. His .657 slugging percentage was the best ever by a rookie (min. 200 plate appearances). He followed it up by hitting .278/.345/.531 (.876) with 33 home runs in 2017.
After those two years, Sanchez has been very average offensively, still hitting for power but failing to have an OBP above .316 since 2017. He also has been one of the worst defensive catchers in baseball. In 2021, Sanchez was the fourth worst catcher in baseball in terms of framing, costing his team six runs because of his inability to frame.
Sanchez could be a primary DH for the Twins when not catching, and with his extreme power potential he could be a scary force, especially against lefties, against whom he posted a .835 OPS in 2021.
The Twins added three players who all could make a very good impact on the team’s 2022 success if they live up to their potential. Which of these players are you most excited to watch? What move do you think the Twins make next? Leave a comment below and start a discussion.
Thank you for reading, and Go Twins!
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