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  • Twins Trade Lewin Diaz for RHP Sergio Romo, 2 Minor Leaguers

    Seth Stohs

    By Seth Stohs

    According to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (And now many others), the Twins and Marlins are nearing a deal that would bring veteran relief pitcher Sergio Romo to the Minnesota Twins.

    Twins first base prospect Lewin Diaz is heading to the Marlins in return. The Twins will also receive a minor league pitcher Chris Vallimont and a Player to be Named Later in return.

    Image courtesy of Jeff Curry, USA Today

    Twins Video

    The Twins and Marlins reached an agreement. The Twins will send 1B Lewin Diaz to the Miami Marlins in exchange for veteran Sergio Romo.

    Per Passan: "The Minnesota Twins are deep into talks with the Miami Marlins on a deal that would send reliever Sergio Romo to Minnesota, sources with knowledge of the situation tell ESPN. The expectation is a trade will soon be finalized."

    Moments later, Passan tweeted: "One Marlins source says the deal should be completed soon. It would add a much-needed bullpen piece to the Twins, who continue to be aggressive in pursuit of help to their pitching staff."

    The 36-year-old Romo is in his 12th MLB season. He has 17 saves this season in 18 opportunities and a 3.58 ERA.

    Want a Winner? Romo was part of three World Series championship teams with the San Francisco Giants.

    Romo is excited to join a team that is making a pennant push.

    https://twitter.com/DaniAlvarez_16/status/1155291606402179072

    Lewin Diaz had a tremendous 2019 season, returning to his prospect status. He began the year in Ft. Myers and has continued to mash since being promoted to the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

    https://twitter.com/MarianaGuzzy/status/1155289081351430145

    Chris Vallimont is a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher who was 4-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 13 starts with the Clinton LumberKings. He has now made six starts for Jupiter, the Marlins High-A Florida State League affiliate, and is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA. Combined, he has 122 strikeouts in 105+ innings this year. He is likely to join the Kernels in Cedar Rapids. He was the Marlins 5th round pick in 2018 out of Mercyhurst.

    ANALYSIS... OK, Opinion

    While I believe that Lewin Diaz can be a solid MLB 1B starting sometime in 2020, I don't have any problem with this trade.

    Diaz has had a nice bounce-back season in 2019 after a disappointing 2018 ended early with an injury. However, he is behind CJ Cron, Miguel Sano, Brent Rooker, Zander Wiel and Alex Kirilloff in the Future 1B pecking order.

    Sergio Romo isn't dominant, by any means, but he is a successful veteran who has won a lot of games and even three World Series championships (if you think that matters anymore). He's not a hard-thrower anymore, but he is crafty and gets the job done, especially lately.

    Chris Villamont is an intriguing prospect. He can throw pretty hard, especially if he were to be moved to the bullpen at some point. He may be a similar prospect (Ranking-Wise) to Diaz, and yet he doesn't need to be added to the 40-man roster for two more years.

    And hey, if he goes to the Miracle, it's possible that they could lose a starting pitcher or two over the next four days.

    Finally, the Twins will also get a Player to be Named Later, a lottery pick, if you like.

    So to summarize, for Diaz (who likely wouldn't have been added to the 40-man roster this coming offseason), the Twins will get 2+ months of a competent, quality veteran reliever, a hard-throwing pitcher currently starting in the Florida State League after being drafted just a year ago, and another minor leaguer.

    Hard to argue with that.

    Seth Stohs has been blogging about the Minnesota Twins since May 2003. A founder and owner of Twins Daily, Seth has been a Twins fan for 40 years and has a passion for covering the minor leagues and prospects.
    Follow Seth Stohs on Twitter: sethtweets

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    Featured Comments

    prouster

    prouster 1,799

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 6:23 PM, Doomtints said:

    It would be sad if people still hold their breaths on that one after all these years.

     

    But yes, people do....

    Why shouldn’t people think more trades are coming? They’ve been attached to multiple starters, and they’ve made multiple trades at the deadline both of the last two years.

     

    They hired a new front office several years ago. That’s a pertinent fact.

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    jkcarew

    jkcarew 3,876

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 6:25 PM, RaymondLuxuryYacht said:

    Weren't some posters on this site calling Diaz "another Twins draft bust" as recently as this off season?  I think so.  I just hope the same ones aren't the ones bemoaning his loss today.

     

    Nobody here was calling Diaz “another Twins draft bust”. The community is much more knowledgeable than that!

     

    We were calling him “another Twins international signing bust”.

    And I can’t believe we just GAVE him away.

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    bird

    bird 6,083

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

      On 7/28/2019 at 4:59 PM, TKGuy said:

    Good first move. I’d like to see another starter and two more relievers. I’d guess Perez could be a lefty in the pen the . Pretty interesting trade, I’m guessing that Balazovic may need to be moved, so this gets another high end arm to replace him at that level.

     

     

    I don't think the talent evaluators would put Balazovic and Vallimont in the same value category.

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    diehardtwinsfan

    diehardtwinsfan 14,830

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

    This deal has the feel of a prospect for prospect swap. In that sense, I don't mind it. Diaz wasn't going to make this team and needed to be on the 40 man. We got some relief there for a couple prospects and happened to get a MLB releiver out of it too... I like the fact that Romo seems to have been pretty good since April...

     

    but like others, Romo is a pretty underwhelming add. I hope it's not the only one. 

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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 6:23 PM, Doomtints said:

    It would be sad if people still hold their breaths on that one after all these years.

     

    But yes, people do....

    What’s even sadder is assuming that no moves are coming because past front offices were overly conservative and assuming that same ethos applies to an entirely new front office that we’ve never seen operate under these conditions.
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    strumdatjaguar

    strumdatjaguar 649

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Maybe Romo will induce a few inherited runners into double plays. Twins need a good lefty for their bullpen. That means trading for a lefty reliever or trading for a starter either Perez moving to the pen.

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    diehardtwinsfan

    diehardtwinsfan 14,830

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

     

      On 7/28/2019 at 3:51 PM, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

    If the sides cannot agree on a player, then cash is sent in lieu of the player. I don’t know if that is still the rule, or how often that happens. Or maybe it’s just a favor returned of some other sort.

    Anyway, that would leave it at just the one minor leaguer, not 2 Minor Leaguers. Two sounds twice as good as one, I suppose.

     

    I think a lot of times there are a list of players that they agree to work through... 

     

    Then again, some PTBNLs turn out good. Liriano was the PTBNL in the AJ trade.

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    Rigby

    Rigby 589

  • Verified Member

    • Posted (edited)

     

      On 7/28/2019 at 7:33 PM, tvagle said:

    Here's my guess on the PTBNL

     

    Johnson, M.D.  Dallas Baptist (TX)
    P
    R/R
    6' 6 185lbs
     

     

    I'll play.

     

    Luis Palacios P /   GCL

    Edited by Rigby
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    Mike Sixel

    Mike Sixel 41,021

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 4:05 PM, Mr. Brooks said:

    I loved the improvement Diaz made this year. But it's pretty unlikely he'd have even gotten a shot here until 2021 at the earliest. By which point he'd have burned 2 options.

     

    We have Cron and Cruz next year, and Rooker at least, if not Kirilloff and Larnach are above him in the pecking order.

     

    A lot would have had to go right (or wrong) for him to get a realistic shot here before his final option season.

    I hope they find someone better than Cron next year. He's been replacement level.

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    gunnarthor

    gunnarthor 11,234

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

     

      On 7/28/2019 at 6:57 PM, Brock Beauchamp said:

    What’s even sadder is assuming that no moves are coming because past front offices were overly conservative and assuming that same ethos applies to an entirely new front office that we’ve never seen operate under these conditions.

    In fairness, we have seen the current FO in a playoff situation and they decided to be sellers. Not sure you can be more conservative than that. Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

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    Mike Sixel

    Mike Sixel 41,021

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 10:08 PM, gunnarthor said:

    In fairness, we have seen the current FO in a playoff situation and they decided to be sellers. Not sure you can be more conservative than that. Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

    They've also cut salary, even after signing players to extensions. But, I do believe they will add players this week. We'll see

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    Mr. Brooks

    Mr. Brooks 7,174

  • Provisional Member

    • Posted (edited)

      On 7/28/2019 at 10:01 PM, Mike Sixel said:

    I hope they find someone better than Cron next year. He's been replacement level.

    That depends which source one uses.

    bWAR has him on pace for a 2.1 bWAR season.

    Fangraphs likes him less.

    Edited by Mr. Brooks
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    Mr. Brooks

    Mr. Brooks 7,174

  • Provisional Member

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 10:08 PM, gunnarthor said:

    Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

    Isn't that exactly what Brock is saying?

    Where did he give them credit for anything?

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    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,320

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 4:01 PM, Mr. Brooks said:

    Given that they weren't up against an 11th hour deadline, isn't the most likely explanation is that it's a 2019 draft pick that can't technically be named yet?

    Possibly, but it seems doubtful that would be the "most likely" explanation. There are lots of PTBNL deals and very few involve recent draftees, no?

     

    It could be as simple as Miami being willing to give us 1 from a group of 3 agreed-upon players, and the Twins just wanted a little more time to check them out, and/or monitor their health if hurt, etc.

     

    They weren't at the 11th hour of the trade deadline, but I bet the Twins wanted Romo immediately and didn't want to hold the deal up to look at more minor leaguers.

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    nicksaviking

    nicksaviking 26,755

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 10:08 PM, gunnarthor said:

    In fairness, we have seen the current FO in a playoff situation and they decided to be sellers. Not sure you can be more conservative than that. Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

    That “playoff” team was not a good team. They never seemed to have more than two or three players ever playing well at the same time. Upgrading that team would have futile, even half of the fans were saying it.

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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

     

      On 7/28/2019 at 10:08 PM, gunnarthor said:

    In fairness, we have seen the current FO in a playoff situation and they decided to be sellers. Not sure you can be more conservative than that. Let's see how this plays out before we give them credit for things they haven't done.

    Being a fringe contender several games out of the second Wild Card berth is not even close to the same situation as being first in your division, only a handful of games out of homefield advantage in the American League.

     

    And I'm not giving them credit for anything except picking up Romo, to which I have said "good pickup, need more, better players" more times than I can count in the past 24 hours.

     

    What I'm not doing is complaining about them not making another move before I've found out if they make another move.

     

    The difference there is plain as day.

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    jorgenswest

    jorgenswest 5,941

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

      On 7/28/2019 at 10:01 PM, Mike Sixel said:

    I hope they find someone better than Cron next year. He's been replacement level.

    League wRC+ from first base is 108. Cron sits at 109. Tyler Austin is at 81. I would suggest Austin is at replacement level.

     

    They can certainly look to improving on Cron. Kirilloff might be ready. They might move Sano there and utilize Gonzalez at 3B but I don’t see the support for replacement level at 1B.

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    Mike Sixel

    Mike Sixel 41,021

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

      On 7/29/2019 at 1:11 AM, jorgenswest said:

    League wRC+ from first base is 108. Cron sits at 109. Tyler Austin is at 81. I would suggest Austin is at replacement level.

     

    They can certainly look to improving on Cron. Kirilloff might be ready. They might move Sano there and utilize Gonzalez at 3B but I don’t see the support for replacement level at 1B.

    https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2019-replacement-level-killers-first-base/

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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

     

      On 7/29/2019 at 2:18 AM, Mike Sixel said:

    So we're holding it against Cron that he happened to have three hot days at DH, which "makes him look" better than he really is at first, where he obviously is incapable of having three hot days in a row?

     

    That Fangraphs writer kinda jumped the shark right there.

     

    Honestly, that's a **** take. I'm not in love with Cron but if we're down to parsing his performance over three games while being plugged into the DH spot on a team that rotates players constantly, that's about 47 bridges too far down the "analytics" hole than any logical person should go.

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    Danchat

    Danchat 11,131

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

      On 7/29/2019 at 2:27 AM, Brock Beauchamp said:

    So we're holding it against Cron that he happened to have three hot days at DH, which "makes him look" better than he really is at first, where he obviously is incapable of having three hot days in a row?

     

    That Fangraphs writer kinda jumped the shark right there.

     

    Honestly, that's a **** take. I'm not in love with Cron but if we're down to parsing his performance over three games while being plugged into the DH spot on a team that rotates players constantly, that's about 47 bridges too far down the "analytics" hole than any logical person should go.

    Totally agreed. Cron is on pace to be a 2.0 WAR 1B, which is a heck of a bargain for a guy we got on waivers and we only have to pay $4.8M. Plus he's very good defensively. I highly doubt a .810 OPS is replacement level, even at 1B. 

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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

     

      On 7/29/2019 at 3:11 AM, Danchat said:

    Totally agreed. Cron is on pace to be a 2.0 WAR 1B, which is a heck of a bargain for a guy we got on waivers and we only have to pay $4.8M. Plus he's very good defensively. I highly doubt a .810 OPS is replacement level, even at 1B. 

    Even if you use fWAR, he's likely to end up close or at a one win value.

     

    Which literally is NOT the definition of a replacement player, unless we start using stupid math where the artificial value of a replacement player no longer means that artificial number is accurate if the player in question is one win higher than that artificial number and it fits our argument in the moment, which is totally not artificial at all.

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    Mike Sixel

    Mike Sixel 41,021

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

      On 7/29/2019 at 3:19 AM, Brock Beauchamp said:

    Even if you use fWAR, he's likely to end up close or at a one win value.

     

    Which literally is NOT the definition of a replacement player, unless we start using stupid math where the artificial value of a replacement player no longer means that artificial number is accurate if the player in question is one win higher than that artificial number and it fits our argument in the moment, which is totally not artificial at all.

    Actually, one fWAR is replacement level, unless you think it is that precise over a full year.....

     

    As for his defense, that is what people said about Mauer. First base defense is just not that hard to find.

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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

     

      On 7/29/2019 at 3:32 AM, Mike Sixel said:

    Actually, one fWAR is replacement level, unless you think it is that precise over a full year.....

    As for his defense, that is what people said about Mauer. First base defense is just not that hard to find.

    Sure, so now one WAR is replacement level.

     

    Why not two WAR? Why not -1 WAR? -2 WAR?

     

    The literal definition of the phrase ceases to have meaning if you play that fast and loose with it. First off, a "replacement player" is not necessarily available. You could go from what is close to a guaranteed +1 WAR to a -1 WAR without blinking. Or maybe you'll get a +3 WAR, who the **** knows?

     

    The point is that a replacement player's value is centered around a number. Cron is better than that. Therefore, by the literal definition, he is not a "replacement level" player. Because if you eschew the artificial definition of a phrase you've put as a baseline because it suits your purposes, the phrase ceases to have any meaning whatsoever.

     

    And keep in mind that the writer of that article couched his "replacement level" view of Cron based on three games as a designated hitter. Because that means something, right?

     

    Just admit it was a trash take and move on, Mike, If you want to argue the legitimacy of Cron's performance, do it honestly.

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