Mike Minor, one of the more heavily discussed trade targets of 2019, has apparently been the subject of conversations held between the Rangers and Twins, according to a tweet from Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter link). Morosi adds that the “extent of progress in talks is unclear.”
We may not be aware of the degree of Minnesota’s interest in Minor, but we certainly know that Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine are keeping busy in advance of next week’s deadline. Just this evening, their club acquired Sergio Romo (the pioneer of the “opener” movement, it could be argued), and now we might presume they’re interested in additional staff reinforcements.
Minnesota has received a 3.88 collective ERA from its starters this year, with five of its rotation members–Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, Kyle Gibson, Michael Pineda, and Martin Perez–having already posted WAR values north of 1.7 on the year. They may not make for the most obvious Minor landing spot, but the time-worn adage of “never having enough pitching” may be looming large in the mind of Falvey and Levine. Plus, the executives are surely mindful Berrios is their only lock to return in 2020. Odorizzi, Gibson and Pineda are soon-to-be free agents, and Perez has a $7.5MM club option (or a $500K buyout). Minor’s due to make $9.5MM next season to close out his contract.
While Falvey and Levine may be interested in welcoming Minor to the Twin Cities, it is uncertain if the player would share their enthusiasm. Minor has a 10-team no-trade list, but it’s unknown if the Twins are on it. Moreover, as a key part of a Rangers team that has defied expectations en route to an above-.500 record, Minor did not take kindly when pressed recently about trade rumors connected to his name. He said simply that, for players, such rumors, “make us mad”. Minor has made clear he does not want to be moved by Texas, but it remains to be seen if the team will comply with those wishes.
Keep him outta Atlanta
Looks like the Twins may settle for middle of the road this deadline
He’s better than most of Atlanta’s rotation
Yep. Soroka is the only one better. It’s funny watching Braves fans act like Minor isn’t better than what they have or that it’s reasonable for all their noteworthy prospects to be untouchable. They’re a special group.
Fluuuuuuke
3.10 ERA in his last 38 starts. That’s a long fluke.
Pitcher: exists
Twins: I am intrigued
Should have been more intrigued by Kuechel and Kimbrel signing. Twins window will not be open long, maybe only this season. Go for the gusto!!!
Kimbrel has been a dumpster fire so far so I’m extremely glad they didn’t head down that road.
Exactly. And he wanted too much money over too many seasons.
Minnesota has been tied to pretty much every starter that is on the block.
They should have acquired Nova before Nova shut them down tonight.
Of course they have. Everybody’s talking right now…..
Julio come take out my dagburn trash
What? You a MAGA loser?
Twins have an open window. They should be burning through Sprint phone cards like cheddar cheese at a mouse convention.
You be too pickled!
Saturday night drunk!!??
Sorry Paco I don’t drink. :)
See your back on with your useless info. Please get back to work. My floors and toilets need cleaned up. Chop chop paco
I would rather get Lance Lynn over Minor.
2 more years for $20M. Cheap K machine going forward.
I’m just trying to gauge what a deal with Minnesota would look like. I could be overvaluing or undervaluing here.
Would a swap of Minor for Balazovic and Gordon make sense? Balazovic gives Texas a really good arm in return. Gordon’s shine has worn off as of late but he could rebound quite nicely in a different org. Texas could use some depth at 2nd with Odor being such a concern.
Far too much of a cost. Balazovic is gonna be a top 100 prospect now.
Mid season top 100 are out now is he ????
Balazovic is already prospect#82 on mlb.com
You’re out of your mind if you think Minor can be had for less than a top 100 prospect.
I would be shocked if a deal for Minor wasn’t headlined by a Top 100 prospect. Especially one in the 75-100 range.
A fringe top 100 is exactly what an all star with control like Minor demands. Balazovic is hardly a big ask and it leaves Lewis, Kirilloff, Graterol and Larnach untouched. I would think that’s a pretty perfect scenario for Minny. Instead of giving up at least 1 of those for one of the other guys.
I think if you swapped readiness on Balazovic and Gordon that deal would be perfect for the Rangers. I think they would be interested in a young arm that is ready or ready in 2020 for a spot at the rotation. The Rangers have insurance for Odor in Solak and Calhoun but I don’t see the Rangers moving on from Odor anytime soon with the contract holding him firmly in place. Either way Balazovic seems like a legitimate prospect and I think that amount of talent is about right to make the deal complete.
edit: do you or anyone know why Balazovic has been placed on the temporary inactive list 3 times from july 6 to july 22? Is he injured?
Heard he caught crabs and needed treatments those days so they wouldn’t come back
I agree with you on Odor. The Rangers FO seem insistent on getting him into the starting nine, regardless of an abundance of evidence on why he shouldn’t be there.
With that said, I think we’ve yet to see how Solak will perform at the Major League level and I don’t think Calhoun is a second base option moving forward. Honestly, when Choo’s contract is up, I’d be surprised if Calhoun wasn’t thrust into full-time DH.
One was for the Futures game. The most recent one was for the Pan Am games. Not sure about the third.
I think that this is a great idea. Twins have no need for Gordon after locking up Polanco to an extension, and the drafting of Royce Lewis has overshadowed Gordon’s once high ceiling. Texas could sure use him with Odor’s down year – a couple of former Twins players (Lynn, D. Santana, Forsythe) have become stronger since leaving Minnesota, so there’s reason to think Gordon could do well there.
Balazovic would be more of an incentive in the deal, of course, and would give Texas added pitching depth with the departure of Minor.
I wouldn’t even mind if the Twins threw in an extra PTBNL in a deal like this. But those two players are a great start to a potential deal.
I was thinking the same. Texas loves their players to be named later. Balazovic gives Texas their Top 100 prospect without snagging Minnesota’s top farm arm. As we’ve both already said, Gordon has lost a bit of his shine and he’s become expendable. Texas could see some real value there as we love trying to revitalize careers.
In my opinion, Balazovic is the Twins top arm so this would be an absolute fleecing of the Twins.
If you prefer to send Graterol over then be my guest. Either one will get the ball rolling here.
I would think neither would work since Minor isn’t very good.
Graterol/Balazovic, Duran, and a prospect 20-30 range if I’m Texas. Don’t give him away. Keep Minor if nobody’s willing.
Where does this notion come from exactly? Minor has thrown more than 1,000 career innings with a 3.85 ERA and has an ERA closer to 3.00 for his last 38 starts.
He’s been consistently good throughout his major league career, has had success in both leagues and has sustained solid No. 2/3 production through the better part of two seasons now.
He may not be an ace, but this idea that he’s not very good is just silly.
Either way this is just a minor trade
Do not want Minor at all. I’d rather have Lynn back.
This would probably be the worst SP they could trade for.
What’s wrong with minor? He’s definitely better than Lynn lol
Lots of numbers say otherwise except ERA. They’re pretty even on other things like contact rate, swinging strike rate and how hard the contact is.
Lynn K% 27
Minor K% almost 25
Lynn BB% 5
Minor BB% 8
Lynn FIP 2.94
Minor FIP 4.19
Lynn xFIP 3.66
Minor 4.44
Lynn HR/FB 9%
Minor HR/FB 13%
And the numbers get worse for Minor as the season goes on.
Minor also has a 3.10 ERA over his last 38 starts. You can deep dive into those stats all you want but we’re well past small sample size and Minor continues to dominate the stat that matters most.
ERA isn’t completely meaningless but it’s pretty close and it’s the best thing about him which is usually a bad thing.
His ERA the last month and a half is almost 4 and his FIP and xFIP during that time is over 5 for both. He’s regressing as he should be.
Let’s go Tribe!!!
@tsc32 Talking about ERA like it’s a meaningful stat… LOL!
Rangers fan here, Lynn is actually better. He would also cost a lot more with the extra year of control.