Front Page: One of the Greatest Trades in Twins History

[Cody Christie]

July’s trade deadline is one way for clubs to bolster their roster to make a deep playoff run. However, the biggest trade in Twins history took place in the off-season, not at the trade deadline. Minnesota need to make way for Joe Mauer to take over as the team’s everyday catcher and the team was able to acquire three very good pieces that would help the Twins to multiple division titles.

 

Here’s a look back at one of the greatest trades in Twins history.Mauer’s Presence

In the 2003-04 off-season, Mauer was coming off a tremendous minor league season. Between High- and Double-A, he hit .338/.398/.434 (.832) with 37 extra-base hits in 135 games. Baseball America awarded him the Minor League Player of the Year and he would be named the number one prospect that off-season. St. Paul’s hometown boy seemed destined to take his place behind the plate at the Metrodome.

 

Blocking Mauer was Minnesota’s starting catcher in 2003, AJ Pierzynski, and he was coming off a strong season himself. He had an All-Star season in 2002, but the 2003 campaign might have been his best in a Twins uniform. He slashed .312/.360/.464 (.824) with 49 extra-base hits in 137 games. He would only have one other season with a higher OPS in his entire 19-year career.

 

Minnesota was ready to hand the reins to Mauer, which left Pierzynski as a tradeable commodity.

 

Trade Time

From the Giants perspective, the trade didn’t look that bad on paper. Pierzynski was in the prime of his career as a 26-year old catcher that was coming off a 4.5 WAR season. To top it off, he had three years of arbitration left, so he wasn’t just a rental player. Regardless of his attitude problems, he was a very good player at a tough position that should have gotten quite the return.

 

From the Twins perspective, well… it’s tough to know what they were thinking at the time. Joe Nathan was a 28-year old reliever that was coming off his first decent season in the bullpen. There had been previous concerns about his shoulder and the possibility of those things lingering. Liriano hadn’t pitched more than 80 innings in any season of his professional career and he had injury concerns of his own. Boof Bonser saw his strikeout rate and velocity drop in the year before the trade.

 

At the time of the trade it looked like San Francisco had fleeced the Twins, but baseball is a funny game.

 

Hindsight is 20-20

Twins fans know what happened after the trade. AJ Pierzynski played one season in San Francisco and hit .272/.319/.410 with 41 extra-base hits. He was worth 0.3 WAR that season. Even though, he could have been arbitration eligible for two more seasons, he had caused so many headaches for the Giants that they let him go at season’s end. He ended up in Chicago and helped the White Sox to the 2005 World Series title.

Minnesota got quite the value from their cast-off pitching trio. Nathan would turn into one of the best relievers in the game and accumulate 18.4 WAR during his seven years with the Twins. Liriano exploded onto the scene in 2006 and it looked like the Twins would be unstoppable with a Johan Santana and Liriano combo. Tommy John surgery stopped that dream from becoming a reality, but Liriano was still able to accumulate 9.3 WAR in his Twins tenure. Bonser pitched over 390 innings for the Twins, including one playoff start, and was worth -0.3 WAR.

 

Terry Ryan and Minnesota’s scouting department must have known what they were getting in Nathan, Liriano, and Bonser. They also knew what they were giving up in Pierzynski.

 

What do you remember about this trade? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

 

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[strumdatjaguar]

Of course it was a great trade.   I'd like to see the Twins trade some of their radio and TV Analysts for AJ.   I know he is signed with FOX, but maybe they could loan AJ out to Fox North for a few games.  

[mikelink45]

The question this raises is - who is now ready to push a top quality player out?  Is Lewis a reason to trade Polanco?  Is Larnach, Kiriloff, Raley the impetus for trading Rosario - Kepler?  Give me the next scenario. 

[tony&rodney]

I do not think there is a "next" scenario right now. Jow Mauer was an exceptional talent. Jaffe (@Fangraphs) has him at # 7 all time among catchers. Catchy and supportable; he was an amazing player. 

Who can envision a crazy trade? The cold weather catches us dreaming up nonsense ideas. Would a Buxton, Berrios, plus lower mler for Paddock, Gore, and Patina be crazy enough? How valuable is Garver or Sano to other teams?

I can remember Liriano reducing Oakland's best hitters to dust in an April 2006 outing and Nathan's snorting like a horse was the prelude to exciting Twins' victories. Trades are difficult to pull off and I'm not sure there have been as many players in the 21st century as predictable for success as Joe Mauer. 

[Rosterman]

The only drawback, I seem to remember, is that Mauer was out for most of the 2004 season and we were stuck with Henry Blanco (who played the best he has ever played) plus Pat Borders and Rib Bowen.

 

Nathan was lights out. Boof and Francisco didn't show up until 2005.

[AceWrigley]

Don't know what AJ was like in the clubhouse, but I was bummed when he was traded. Always a tough competitor, I always looked forward to the Twins playing the Sox with him behind the plate. I think having a 19 year playing career and being 9th on the list of all-time games caught says a lot about how teams felt about him. Fun player to root for and watch play.

[REPETE]

still one of the best quotes ever, by his own manager, Ozzie Guillen, "If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less."

[Number3]

I wish AJ had been with the Twins for 19 years and that Mauer (and his roster busting salary) had played for the Yankees.

[bighat]

 

Don't know what AJ was like in the clubhouse, but I was bummed when he was traded. Always a tough competitor, I always looked forward to the Twins playing the Sox with him behind the plate. I think having a 19 year playing career and being 9th on the list of all-time games caught says a lot about how teams felt about him. Fun player to root for and watch play.

 

I'll never forget that huge playoff HR he had in the 9th inning of Game 5 in Oakland:

[TFRazor]

 

I wish AJ had been with the Twins for 19 years and that Mauer (and his roster busting salary) had played for the Yankees.

Ummmmm.... No?