Twins Daily 2020 Top Prospects: #4 Brusdar Graterol

I think the trade is a referendum on Graterol's change up.

I believe the FO was not confident in the long term development of the third pitch and hense his ability to start.

If they believe the in his ability to develop the third pitch, no way is he traded

Far too much upside as a starter to not keep developing him there.  The Derdgers are stacked enough with pitching.  Give him an actual shot before considering him a failed starter.

there was a medical reason at 21 you move a guy to the bullpen and a second teams doesn't like his medical.  ikely some serious scare tissue, I think the twins thought he was a tickin time bomb and there was only so many bullets trying to get the most out of him before major injury sinks in were he either cant pitch again or isn't effective.  a guy with that kind of stuff and a developing change at 21 doesn't get moved to the pen otherwise.  With the kid the best, would have loved to hang onto him but I believe there was more going on medically and the twins thought Maeda was the better gamble. 

would have like to see a write up on #21 on the list to fill in here for my own selfish enjoyment.

OK, you have him at #4.  A better question is:  Where does he rank in the Dodger system?  Is he #4?  Higher?  Lower?

I just want to express my gratitude to Twins Daily and all your fine writers. The content is first rate and really helps to get me through the long Minnesota winters. Looking forward to a special season, whether or not we go deep into the playoffs.

Or perhaps they anticipated that, even if he could develop into a starter, it would simply take too long for what our window currently is. Say Graterol builds innings as a starter / primary pitcher at AAA, but can't crack the rotation until sometime 2021. Instead, the Twins can pencil in a #3 starter for an absolute bargain and have him under contract for 4 years. The move gives the Twins more certainty for the rotation in 2020-21, while sacrificing upside for the future.

Or perhaps they felt Maeda was a better fit this year .....if they are going to try to make a run at the World Series.

Always thought Graterol was a good fireballer that had some good stuff but not until I saw him pitched against the Yankees that I saw greatness (which I don`t throw out very often). This young 21 yr. old poised against the NY monsters, I figured we had something special that we should hold on to. A true impact pitcher that could come in under any circumstances & get the job done. Twins lost patience w/ him, for goodness sake, he`s only 21 not 32. He should have been given every chance to start in his time not to fill in at BP in the beginning of this season, we have a few desperate pitchers that would love to fill in that role. Work w/ him sometime during the season he`d be ready to start if not he could put in some innings at the end of the season in BP. 

  I still can`t understand why they traded him & not a positional player. If LA was so determined to trade Maeda for Graterol & not a positional prospect, FO should have walked away. We could have done better else where w/o trading Graterol.

 I saw greatness in David Ortiz when he was w/ the Twins, it hurt me tremendously when they let go. Likewise I was hurt when they traded Graterol. I`ll miss the great moments & career he should have had in MN

PS- "impact" is a word that`s thrown around a lot lately incorrectly " valuable that fits a certain need" is more acurate

Back in the days of yore, I saw greatness in Matt Kinney. No doubt in my mind he was a better prospect than Johann. There is a very good reason why the search committee didn't pick one of the 11,000+ members here on TD.

I’m just thankful you didn’t have Brusdar at 1 or 2.

I remember being ridiculed a few years ago for suggesting that Graterol was destined for the pen. I still think there's no way he actually becomes a starter, too much effort and too many injuries. I like Graterol as a reliever, could become a Kelvin Herrera type of guy, but I'm also glad we flipped him now for an actual starter because the flame out potential is high

I agree there have been big red flags for some time with Graterol in terms of his being a major-league starter. And also agree that pointing those out wasn't a way to become popular here. His TD prospect rankings these last two seasons are indications that the writers on this site mostly chose to ignore those flags.

Still, I don't know that he NEVER becomes a starter. Never's a long time. But, it's clear to me based on the deal they made, that the Twins think it's unlikely to work for the foreseeable future.