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Opinion/Rant: Don't Give Another Dime for Maeda

Cody Pirkl

Entry posted by Cody Pirkl ·

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blog-0645020001580997686.jpgLate last night we heard rumblings of a deal held up due to a questionable physical between the players exchanged with the Dodgers, Red Sox and Twins. This morning we found this to be true, as Ken Rosenthal confirmed. The deal is currently in limbo, as we wait to find out the next step between the teams exchanging Mookie Betts, David Price, Kenta Maeda and Brusdar Graterol.

 

Rosenthal reports today that the physical in question is that of Brusdar Graterol's. What is truly ridiculous is the wording given behind the hold up. Essentially Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox have decided that they see Graterol as a reliever long term. Totally fine. What's the next step the Red Sox take however? Of course, they're asking for more.

 

Graterol was already reported to be Boston's number one prospect if the deal went through. The 21 year old flamethrower hovered around the 3-5 mark in the Twins system. They also received Alex Verdugo, a 23 year old who put up 2.2 wins in only 106 games last season. It may not seem like a lot for Mookie Betts and David Price, but Boston stands to lose Bett's for nothing but a draft pick. As for Price, his injury history is arguably worse than Graterol's, with the difference being that he's 34 and owed almost $100m over the next 3 years, all to be paid by the Dodgers if the deal goes through.

 

The Red Sox have watched teams around them improve all offseason. Meanwhile, it seems that their goal has been to offload Betts. They even brought the Twins in on it to be a third team to make things work. They likely identified a piece they wanted in return, ultimately being Graterol. His injury history was public knowledge up to this point. The Twins even announced that they were using him in the bullpen going forward. Seems pretty ridiculous to me that they get down to dotting the i's and crossing the t's and all of a sudden have an issue with all of this.

 

This leads me to my point for writing this other than to rant about the Sox trying to gouge our Twins farm system. I love Kenta Maeda and was very excited to have him pitching in a Twins jersey. That being said, he's projected to slot in as our number 3. Very valuable, but there's a cap on that value. I also love Graterol and was sad to see him go. I believed it was a fair trade, though I recognized that there was a chance the Twins already regret the trade down the line.

 

The Twins were already projected to win the Central fairly handily before acquiring Maeda. Maeda however, didn't even move the needle that much.

 

 

The Twins were trying to be active in the trade market, but this isn't a bona fide ace that's fallen into their lap. The front office shouldn't be pressured to feel like this is a deal that needs to be done at all costs. Worst case scenario, Graterol is throwing 100 mph gas out of the bullpen to open the season and we continue to pursue trades elsewhere.

 

For the Red Sox to ask for more than Verdugo and what would be their number 1 pitching prospect, a 21 year old flamethrower who's already showcased his ability to get outs at the Major League level, is ridiculous. They're likely sitting in 3rd place in the east in 2020 with little salary space to work with (which they suddenly care about). They're in no position to decide a top prospect's future mid trade and demand more.

 

If the Red Sox want to play hard ball and pretend they hold all the cards, I say let them. Let them try to compete with the Yankees and Rays who make active attempts to get better while the Sox sit dormant for the next 3 offseasons while being weighed down by the remaining $96m owed to the 34 year old David Price. Let them enjoy one last season of Mookie Betts before cashing him in for a draft pick. Don't offer another piece, whether it's cash or a prospect. If Graterol is wearing a Twins jersey to start 2020, that's far from a failure.

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TFRazor

This deal is going to get done. The best part is that the Twins have all the leverage here. Boston WANTS to shed salary. Dodgers WANT Betts. Twins like Maeda but you know we could always make a deal somewhere else. Eventually boston will bow to the inevitable and sign on the dotted line

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Dman

Totally Agree with you.  Getting 5 years of Verdugo for one year year of Betts is already a good deal for Boston not to mention the 30M in salary LA is taking on.  Anything beyond that should be considered a bonus.  Moving Price and 15M of his salary is also something LA has to take on all for just one year of Mookie Betts.  Boston is already getting a hell of deal they don't need more.

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Cody Pirkl

 

This deal is going to get done. The best part is that the Twins have all the leverage here. Boston WANTS to shed salary. Dodgers WANT Betts. Twins like Maeda but you know we could always make a deal somewhere else. Eventually boston will bow to the inevitable and sign on the dotted line

We should have the leverage but there is also the possibility that they just cut the Twins out and the Dodgers send another big prospect over. Depends on their determination to get Betts. My argument is that if they threaten with this, don't give in. I'd rather they walk away and keep Graterol than replace him with Duran or balazovic or add another prospect.

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Cody Pirkl

 

Totally Agree with you.  Getting 5 years of Verdugo for one year year of Betts is already a good deal for Boston not to mention the 30M in salary LA is taking on.  Anything beyond that should be considered a bonus.  Moving Price and 15M of his salary is also something LA has to take on all for just one year of Mookie Betts.  Boston is already getting a hell of deal they don't need more.

They're taking on all of Price's salary. This would be over $100m in salary over the next 3 years. The amount of flexibility on the free agent market this would free up would be huge for the Sox. They're winning on multiple fronts in my opinion if this goes through. Everybody wins.

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Dman

 

They're taking on all of Price's salary. This would be over $100m in salary over the next 3 years. The amount of flexibility on the free agent market this would free up would be huge for the Sox. They're winning on multiple fronts in my opinion if this goes through. Everybody wins.

 

Boston can't expect some massive Prospect gain when they are dumping salary it just doesn't work that way.  Also it's only 1 year of Betts not 2 or 3 just one. They are getting a fantastic deal as it is even without Graterol.  Graterol is just a nice sweatner LA can give up because MN was willing to trade for Maeda and with Price they don't need Maeda.  I just don't see how Boston can ask for much more here. 

 

I mean to fit Price in LA had to do a salary dump of their own with the Angels.  I know the Boston fans and the press don't like the deal but this is what a salary dump looks like and it really is a good deal for Boston as they get 5 years of a player that come close to replacing what Betts does for much less and rid themselves of Price in the process.  It just doesn't get much better than that for one year of a player.

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Doctor Gast

To me MN has nothing lose either way. Hopefully if this doesn`t go thru for MN, they will approach Graterol differently selling him as a promising young ace (as he is) that they can be use as an opener & occasionally as a reliever (like Maeda) now, besides giving him opportunity to work on his secondary pitches w/o giving him too many innings in the minors. We can even find another #3 starter w/ even more upside w/o using primarily our pitching prospects

Actually after all this display I hope it does go thru for everybody concerned

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Cody Pirkl

 

To me MN has nothing lose either way. Hopefully if this doesn`t go thru for MN, they will approach Graterol differently selling him as a promising young ace (as he is) that they can be use as an opener & occasionally as a reliever (like Maeda) now, besides giving him opportunity to work on his secondary pitches w/o giving him too many innings in the minors. We can even find another #3 starter w/ even more upside w/o using primarily our pitching prospects

I'd guess the Twins are fairly confident in his future being in the bullpen. It's hard to say how his relationship is affected considering his age, but I don't think it'd be too much of a factor. They clearly think highly of him, bullpen arm or not. Strikes me as a situation where he's being bought by the Sox rather than sold by the Twins. 

 

Definitely agree that it's a win/win. The only way we lose is if the front office folds and gives up another big piece.

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rv78

 

Minnesota traded Graterol to LA for Maeda.  LA traded him to Boston.  If Boston wants more they need to get it from LA.

 Ding Ding Ding! Correct you are!

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Otwins

The part that has bothered me is they do not like Graterol's medicals then you would think they do not want him.  But it sounds like they want Graterol AND someone else.  If they do not like Graterol's medicals why not just substitute a different prospect. But they want to keep Graterol and get someone else.

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