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The Twins reached out to a team they have become quite familiar with in trade talks in the past year. Infielder Kyle Farmer was traded to the Twins from the Reds in exchange for right-hander Casey Legumina.
The 32-year-old infielder from the University of Georgia has been the Reds primary shortstop the past two seasons. In 2022, Farmer played in 145 games and hit .255/.315/.386 (.701) with 25 doubles and 14 home runs.
Farmer made his MLB debut back in 2017 with the Dodgers and played some for them again in 2018. He was part of a trade with Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood that sent Homer Bailey, Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray to the Dodgers in December of 2018.
In 2019, he played six defensive positions for the Reds. Since 2021, he has been the team's primary shortstop, and he is terrific defensively no matter where they put him. In 2021, he played in 121 games at shortstop and 10 or fewer games at the other infield spots and left field. In 2022, he played in 98 games at shortstop, 36 at third base, and two games at first base.
On the surface, Farmer seems to have a lot of similarities to a guy the team acquired in March, Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Both are solid shortstops who make all of the routine plays. Both have a solid, contact, line-drive type of swing that can generate some extra-base hits. However, they are guys that will hit closer to the bottom of the lineup.
In his first season of arbitration eligibility, he played the 2022 season for $3.155 million. He will make somewhere around $5 million in 2023 and will be under team control for 2024 as well. Essentially, he's going to cost about half of what Gio Urshela would have, but he's a guy you can feel comfortable with playing at shortstop while waiting for Carlos Correa to sign (you never know) or Royce Lewis to return, and at that point, he can fill a utility role. He also can provide depth at third base should Jose Miranda struggle with the glove.
Casey Legumina was the Twins' eighth-round draft pick in 2019 from Gonzaga. His numbers don't jump out, but his stuff is something that clearly will excite several pitching coaches. That is why he was added to the 40-man roster earlier this week.
In the past six or seven months, the Twins have sent Legumina, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Steve Hajjar, and Chase Petty to the Reds in exchange for Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle, and now Kyle Farmer.
In reality, this move probably completely opens up third base for Spencer Steer to take and run with.
Do you Remember?
This highlight was all over the place in 2017. Farmer had a very nice major-league debut.
One Reds Fan's Perspective on the Trade
Kyle's Biggest Fan
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