bighat

Dude that's my exact thoughts! I was really pumped about getting 2 years of IKF and thought he'd be a fantastic addition to this team. Sonny Gray made me even more enthusiastic. And now....this? WTF is going on. Initial thought is that I don't like what we're getting in returns here. Gary Sanchez is kind of a punchline at catcher. Gio Urshela is 30 years old, and coming off a 14-HR season as an every day 3rd baseman. We start to build for the present, then - boom - big salary dump.

MLB Network thinks so.

Guys, the Twins didn't trade the 2019 version of Mitch Garver for the 2021 version of IKF - this was a trade for the 2022 version of both players. The Twins clearly think that the 32 year-old catcher's best years are behind him. His trade value is at its peak right now. They also think IKF's best years are AHEAD of him, and that his numbers will improve as he hits his athletic prime. Plus they got a AA arm that they think has potential to contribute next year. How can you hate that idea before we even see what happens? They were never going to get a #3 starter for Garver. Obviously they tried, and nobody bit. They got the best they could and it was for an on-the-rise guy that fills a hole at a key defensive position. In short: Jeffers takes a step forward, IKF takes a step forward, Henriquez takes a step forward, while Garver takes a step backwards. That's the idea. Is that all so unlikely? Would you still hate the trade if that all happens?

I think it's too early to say that. In fact, this trade indicates that the Twins are going to spend their remaining $$$ on pitching. Johnny Cueto and Michael Pineda are going to be signed.

"Best bats"? Whaaa? All of a sudden everyone is moaning like Garver is Johnny Bench. Why? He had a great year during a juiced ball season. He's a slightly above-average hitting catcher with slightly below-average defense. The end.

Yes but the Twins aren't the Yankees, Dodgers, or Red Sox and they never will be. Signing Trevor Story or Carlos Correa just isn't something we Twins fans can expect to happen. Especially when the best starter on the team is a rookie who's tossed a grand total of 20 MLB innings. This is what we get. Now this trade isn't exactly a blockbuster but it's certainly not "disappointing". Garver had a great year during the Juiced Ball experiment of 2019, otherwise he's a very average player. And he's getting old without much in the tank. The Twins flipped a one-year wonder for a 27 year-old Gold Glove infielder who can bat in the middle 3rd of the order and play 162 games. The downside of course is that you have to believe Jeffers is going to hit .250 this year, but it's spring and this is baseball, so we can hope. Free agency's not done yet, and the trading has just begun. IMO we should be happy that the Twins are active and fixing holes.

Cool. I just moved back to the USA last year after living for 7 years in Guatemala, so I recognized it right away!

Your profile picture looks like Lake Atitlan in Guatemala?

I'm going to chime in and agree with you here. Mitch Garver is 31 years old - if the Twins were going to get anything for him, it would probably have to be now. They may believe his best years are behind him. Don't forget that Garver had some absolutely miserable slumps for this team, including a horrific 2020 that saw him start the year 1-for-40 or something ridiculous like that. His value at this time last year was much lower than it is now. In short, I don't think Garver is as good as most people here think he is. Kiner-Falefa is 27, can play SS and 3B and is a monster upgrade over Simmons. The Twins must think that Jeffers/Rortvedt is the answer at C, which is a big gamble but you have to gamble sometimes when you're a GM. Mark me down for liking this trade.

That's because many of them are complete buffoons. I think a common mistake we make is to assume that these "billionaire business owners" are intelligent, self-made men who got where they are today thanks to an incredible work ethic, negotiation skills, and god-given wits. Bull roar. Jim Pohlad's dad was a self-made billionaire, but Jim himself probably couldn't figure out how to work the check-out counter at Pump-N-Munch. Same goes for many (not all) of the other owners. 75% of them are rich kids of the ultra-elite, sitting on a mountain of family wealth. These guys aren't smart and haven't worked a day in their lives, unless you count the little fake jobs their dads set up for them once they turned 25. Seriously, just pick an owner and google them, here are a couple at random: Ricketts family, CHC. - Their dad founded TD Ameritrade, but they've never done a damn thing. They moved to Chicago for college (thanks to "donations" from their dad to the University of Chicago), and liked drinking and partying in Wrigleyville so much that their dad eventually bought the team for them. That's pretty much it. Robert Nutting, PIT - Dad owned a huge newspaper publishing business, sent him to a fancy east coast college and handed him the reigns to the empire as soon as he finished undergrad. Bored an approaching a mid-life crisis, he bought the Pirates. John Malone, ALT - Born rich, inherited tons more wealth when daddy died and then their lawyers started gobbling up land on his behalf. Currently listed as the single largest landowner in the United States, but the guy hasn't ever set foot on 99% of it. Yes, there are exceptions, but the majority of these MLB owners wouldn't know how to negotiate their monthly bill with DirecTV, let alone make a deal with the Player's Union. They sit back and let their lawyers negotiate for them, people who have no interest in the game and are only looking to expand their own lifestyles so they can buy that 5th condo in Breckenridge. Time to stop calling these owners "businessmen", when all they've really done in life is sat on a fat pile of money their families left them.

Great list! Thanks for the write-up, I agree with most of your assessments. One tiny misgiving: How in the heck does Larnach get a B minus? Were you watching the same games I did? Did you take a glance at the stats? It's so weird that I keep having to appear like some kind of Larnach-hater on this site when all I'm doing is pointing out that the kid was, frankly, a major disappointment. I get that we all want him to be good, and I get that we all still think he might be good in the future. Unfortunately that didn't change THIS: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/larnatr01.shtml

Was reading the MLBTradeRumors article, here's what unbiased baseball writers say about Charlie Barnes. "Barnes, 26, is a soft-tossing lefty and former fourth-rounder who made his big league debut out of necessity to help soak up some innings in an injury-ruined season for the Twins’ rotation. He was clobbered for a 5.92 ERA while striking out just 20 of the 175 batters he faced." I realize most here agree he's not much more than organizational depth, but I guess it's worth emphasizing just how awful so many of the Twins' "prospects" are. With Berrios long gone and Buxton soon to be shown the door, I'm not sure how this team doesn't become the Baltimore Orioles for the next 10 years.

Right, I mean at this point all we can do is just hope that Jeffers gets better. But we'd need him to get lots better to be the next Mitch Garver. If he gets a little better, he'll still be bad. So that's the issue I have right now with Ryan. As for Sano, I'm not really in the mood to get into a Sano debate - my post was about Jeffers so I'd like to stick to him if you don't mind.

Not sure why so many are bullish on Jeffers. Among catchers with 250 plate appearances in 2021, Jeffers ranked 38th in BA (.199) and 28th in OPS (.670). He did come in first in one category: #1 in K% - that's right, his 36.9% strikeout rate was the worst in baseball at the catcher position. With so many stats out there, we often like to jump to our desired conclusion first (ie: Jeffers is a solid starting catcher) and then work our way backwards, cherry picking stats to backup our positions. As you can guess, that's not really the correct way to assess a player. Even if we give Jeffers the benefit of the doubt that catcher is a weak-hitting position, he still ranks at the bottom of almost every category among fellow backstops. I anticipate the whole "but he's young" (25 next season) argument or "His BABIP is .269" but neither of those change his BA, OPS, or K%. I know cheering for our boys is just part of being a fan, and I'll look forward to Jeffers proving me wrong. But let's all do our best to stop lying to ourselves about players like Larnach and Jeffers. Yes, they deserve a chance, but we need to see them for who they are right now: below-average 25 year-olds who - unless we see drastic improvement - will not make an impact in 2022.

I have plenty of fond memories of the Metrodome - those will never change. But do I miss watching the Twins play indoors in the worst stadium in professional sports on a beautiful 75 degree spring day? Never. The stadium was gimmicky and was outdated 15 years after it was built. Good riddance to the dum-dome. Target Field is light years better.

I really don't see the reason for the snark. I know it's just the default tone on the internet most days, but this isn't Twitter. Your comment wasn't helpful or insightful, it was just mean. I think it's a shame the Twins lost Baddoo to the Rule 5 draft. I don't recall saying he played on the MLB squad. I was also lamenting the loss of Wade. I'm not sure what set you off so much about my comment, but there are more civil ways to disagree.

Kirilloff doesn't look like an OF to me, but if he can stay healthy and work on his defense he might be able to play a few years there. If he hits like we expect he will. Larnach was the worst offensive player in MLB between June 1 and his demotion in August. Defensive liability. I'm not sure there's a future for him with this organization. Hope I'm wrong.

I agree! To put it simply, Luis Arraez is the Twins high-end utility man. He's not supposed to be the full time left fielder. Speaking of which, let's put Arraez back in his old utility role and pick up a solid corner outfielder who can hit 30 HR, drive in 100+ and play 162 games? Funny thing, didn't we have one of those guys already? I kid, I kid. I don't want them to re-sign a Eddie, but they should be looking for a guy who can give them 2019-like Eddie numbers. Players like that are a dime a dozen. Amazing that the Twins need outfield help when they let Wade and Baddoo go and got nothing in return.

We've got a great player on an incredible contract. That's pretty much what everyone wants - so yeah, his trade value is fantastic....but why would the Twins get rid of him? Are the Braves chomping at the bit to get rid of Ozzie Albies? No, because they have an incredible young player on a great contract. And they want to win. And to win you need incredible players. Polanco is the Twins most valuable asset. Period.

Yeah, you missed it. Here's him in 2018: https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-sports/miguel-sano-ill-lose-weight-and-get-in-better-shape

Super fun - now I miss Twins baseball! All I needed was 2 weeks off, I guess. Thanks again for these highlights.

Good article - Rooker's fate is certainly one of the biggest mysteries as the Twins make moves this winter. Nice to see a pro-Rooker article here, as there have been many discussions far more critical. I like the kid too, just not sure where he fits.....we shall see.

Nice list, but I strongly disagree that we can project long-term value based on what Trevor Larnach produced. His body of work at the MLB level was disappointing across the board. A couple long homers don't really count for much, both his advanced and standard stats were pretty terrible. Just because we all want Trevor Larnach to be good (and I am among them) doesn't make it true. I will be cheering for the kid next year, but if Larnach is a regular in 2022 it'll be because this team isn't competing. He could be the next Brent Rooker and it could happen quickly.

Jeffers ended the season batting .198 - a healthy sample size, too. Are we sure he and Rortvedt are the answer for the Twins? What are the Twins going to do if they trade away the only catcher who can hit?