Passan reports Twins trading Donaldson, Kiner-Falefa, and Rortvedt to NYY for Sanchez and Ushela

[lecroy24fan]

21 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

In television commercial voice: we’ve replaced the normal general manager with AJ Preller. Will Twins fans be able to tell the difference?

Nah it's Jerry Dipoto.

[notoriousgod71]

I wonder what Buxton is thinking right about now.

[cHawk]

58 minutes ago, notoriousgod71 said:

So then we have no 3b.

Jose Miranda can play 3B.

[Game7-91]

Being a Twins fan:

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

I was fully prepared to delete this thread, assuming it was low-grade trolling by the title.

I guess it may still be low-grade trolling — by the front office!

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

1 hour ago, Game7-91 said:

There has to be another piece coming back from NYY, has to be......

Maybe Luis Gil!!!

[tony&rodney]

A curious addition in this trade was Ben Rortvedt. The Yankees would absolutely not ask for him unless they saw great value ..... or .... were the Twins unhappy with the talkative catcher and maybe suggested him. Curious.

[Azviking101]

I’m so done.

the defense which was bad a week ago somehow got worse. 
Garver to Sanchez and Donaldon to Ursela is a clear downgrade.

There are no pitchers left to spend money on and Story, the only guy that makes sense is a Rockies player who rakes at home and is beyond average on the road.

Great. Falvine has completely lost it. 
 

[Squirrel]

47 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

A curious addition in this trade was Ben Rortvedt. The Yankees would absolutely not ask for him unless they saw great value ..... or .... were the Twins unhappy with the talkative catcher and maybe suggested him. Curious.

For taking on all of Donaldson's contract, I think they had to get something. But wow, getting rid of BOTH Garver AND Rortvedt? Yikes.

[RpR]

51 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

A curious addition in this trade was Ben Rortvedt. The Yankees would absolutely not ask for him unless they saw great value ..... or .... were the Twins unhappy with the talkative catcher and maybe suggested him. Curious.

Yeah, his superior fielding skills are the last thing the Twins want.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, Game7-91 said:

Being a Twins fan:

Ah, the Twins infield next year.

[JesusisLord7]

This trade makes no sense. You get an elite shortstop and with Donaldson has really good defense. Then you trade them for a couple of guys who are washed up and probably have inflated stats because they play in N.Y. And you give them Rortvedt as well. I can understand removing the Donaldson contact but what did we get. Just junk. The Yanks destroy us on the field and now destroy us in this trade. I was so excited about the trades we had made before this one. You give up a catcher (Garver) with elite OPS to get an elite defensive shortstop and then you flip him for a has been catcher. This is miserable. Is Falvey on NY's payroll?

[shortround81]

*sets Falafel jersey on fire*

I'm really looking forward to the 2023 season

[lecroy24fan]

7 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

A curious addition in this trade was Ben Rortvedt. The Yankees would absolutely not ask for him unless they saw great value ..... or .... were the Twins unhappy with the talkative catcher and maybe suggested him. Curious.

Former Twins catching coordinator Tanner Swanson is now with the Yankees so I'd guess he spoke up.

[big dog]

9 hours ago, Game7-91 said:

Being a Twins fan:

That's Sanchez picking up a passed ball, isn't it? I think I recognize the clip.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, lecroy24fan said:

Former Twins catching coordinator Tanner Swanson is now with the Yankees so I'd guess he spoke up.

I'm actually more upset that we lost Rortvedt in this deal. It's one thing to trade one of Garver and Rortvedt, but both? Even as much as I liked Donaldson and his 'spark' and his defense and offense, when he wasn't DL'd, I get moving him. I didn't want to, but that I get. We can always sign a SS (hoping we do), but ... we don't have a backup catcher and going with Sanchez? Ew. And we still need pitching. I mean, this just can't be where we leave things.

[wsnydes]

9 hours ago, cHawk said:

Jose Miranda can play 3B.

So can Arraez.

[Five minute major]

This HAS to be a move to free up the ability to sign TWO big free agents.

[Original_JB]

FO sees the Tom Brady news and starts flipping through their Rolodex, "Yeah, hey Joe, listen; we got a proposition for you.  Yep, just for one season; we'll do it up with a Bobblehead Day, a Jersey Day, heck, we'll even talk to Tommy Copper about a commercial and  some knee sleeves".

[Number3]

Maybe the Twins have replaced the old Kansas City A's as the Yankees Major League farm team. It is ironic that the same bunch that acquired Castro for his defense and framing ability to improve the pitching staff has now traded for a poor defensive catcher who might hit a few long balls and is hurt a lot. Get your tickets now while they last.

[stringer bell]

Tough crowd. Obviously the key here is $$$$. Getting Donaldson's salary off the books made the uneven trade work. It gives the Twins plenty of salary room to pick up pitching and a shortstop. I just think they have botched the catcher thing every which way. I wasn't opposed to sending Garver for a starting SS, but now we don't have a SS and we don't have Garver or Rortvedt. 

I am not a fan of Gary Sanchez and doubt that Urshela will hit like he did in 2019-20. My recollection is that Urshela is a good glove, especially at third (probably better than Donaldson), but he's only played 41 games a short (33 starts) and he's only been okay there. If they're opening up today, Urshela is the SS and Arraez and Miranda are manning third base. I guess Miranda deserves a shot after his minor league season last year, but there could be much trouble in the infield this year.

[Squirrel]

7 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Tough crowd. Obviously the key here is $$$$. Getting Donaldson's salary off the books made the uneven trade work. It gives the Twins plenty of salary room to pick up pitching and a shortstop. I just think they have botched the catcher thing every which way. I wasn't opposed to sending Garver for a starting SS, but now we don't have a SS and we don't have Garver or Rortvedt. 

I am not a fan of Gary Sanchez and doubt that Urshela will hit like he did in 2019-20. My recollection is that Urshela is a good glove, especially at third (probably better than Donaldson), but he's only played 41 games a short (33 starts) and he's only been okay there. If they're opening up today, Urshela is the SS and Arraez and Miranda are manning third base. I guess Miranda deserves a shot after his minor league season last year, but there could be much trouble in the infield this year.

This is pretty much my concern ... trading away TWO catchers ... bad move, depending on who/what they pick up.

And moving Donaldson's money only makes that a good trade IF they actually use the money to sign a GOOD starting SS, a back up catcher and a couple of pitchers.

If not? We are left with a low payroll and a bad team and gave away one of our best pitching prospects for a couple of seasons of losing teams.

And, at this point, I'm a bit concerned with the clubhouse. Does/could it make a difference? I don't know. But right now it feels like they are throwing a bunch of stuff in the mix and hoping for it to gel. A lot of new guys trying to fit together ... I just find that iffy. <shrug> But what do I know.

[howeda7]

58 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

This is pretty much my concern ... trading away TWO catchers ... bad move, depending on who/what they pick up.

And moving Donaldson's money only makes that a good trade IF they actually use the money to sign a GOOD starting SS, a back up catcher and a couple of pitchers.

If not? We are left with a low payroll and a bad team and gave away one of our best pitching prospects for a couple of seasons of losing teams.

And, at this point, I'm a bit concerned with the clubhouse. Does/could it make a difference? I don't know. But right now it feels like they are throwing a bunch of stuff in the mix and hoping for it to gel. A lot of new guys trying to fit together ... I just find that iffy. <shrug> But what do I know.

Bobby Wilson is available...

[Unwinder]

I gotta say, even though I'm very anxious about the outcome here, it's really fun to see the Twins making a lot of waves.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Ho hum.

 

Business as usual around here.

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, Unwinder said:

I gotta say, even though I'm very anxious about the outcome here, it's really fun to see the Twins making a lot of waves.

Yeah, that's basically my take too.  I've analyzed the trades of the past few days every way I can think of, and basically it comes down to what they do with the new $30M over 2022/2023 that they freed up.  Until that becomes resolved, all I can grade is an Incomplete, and the eventual grade could be anywhere from an A to an F.

[jdgoin]

17 hours ago, a-wan said:

My first cynical thought is sweet they're saving all of Donald's salary for the Pohlad's pockets.

That is not what is going on here. It's not to line the Pohlad's pockets.

[gman]

I expected the Twins to unload Donaldson to the Yankees this entire off season. I was hoping they would get one of the 2 top Yankee shortstop prospects in return. I didn't think it would cost us both Garver and Rortvedt to unload that contract though.

[jdgoin]

13 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Yeah, that's basically my take too.  I've analyzed the trades of the past few days every way I can think of, and basically it comes down to what they do with the new $30M over 2022/2023 that they freed up.  Until that becomes resolved, all I can grade is an Incomplete, and the eventual grade could be anywhere from an A to an F.

You are correct. None of this will make sense unless they are able to complete the moves they want to make after freeing up this money. Fans may never know what those first options were if they don't pan out.