The Reds and Twins agreed on a Friday evening trade sending infielder Kyle Farmer from Cincinnati to Minnesota. The Reds landed right-hander Casey Legumina in return. Farmer is second year arbitration-eligible, and is projected to make $5.9MM, according to MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’ predictions.
Farmer, 32, turned in a solid, if unspectacular, season for the Reds, batting .255/.315/.386 with 14 home runs. That was good for a wRC+ of 90, or ten percent worse than league average. He split time between short (98 games) and third base (36 games), grading out better at third where he was worth two Outs Above Average, against -3 at shortstop.
Originally drafted as a catcher in the eighth round of the 2013 draft by the Dodgers, Farmer made his debut 2017 with L.A. He’d go on to make 97 plate appearances over the next two seasons, working mostly at catcher and third base, before going to the Reds as part of a blockbuster deal involving Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood.
The Reds used him in 15 games at catcher in 2019, but he mostly bounced around the infield positions and that wound up being the last of his time behind the plate. He’d spent the next couple of seasons as a utility infielder before winning their starting shortstop job for 2021. While he turned in a .263/.316/.416 line with 16 home runs that year, he did play some above-average defense, earning six Outs Above Average.
While Farmer’s numbers have never really stood out, he’s generally been a sound contributor and has been worth 3.3 fWAR across 292 games over the past couple of seasons. He can be controlled via arbitration for two more seasons, so he won’t reach free agency until after the 2024 campaign.
It’s the second major trade of the day for the Twins, after they shipped out Gio Urshela and his projected $9.2MM salary. Urshela was a bit more valuable for the Twins last year (2.4 fWAR), but Farmer offers a saving of around $3MM, and greater positional flexibility. It’s entirely possible Farmer returns to a utility role in Minnesota. With Urshela out the door, the Twins could well go with Jose Miranda and Luis Arraez at the corners, with Jorge Polanco at second. That’d mean either Farmer or an external addition at shortstop, but regardless, the arrival of Farmer gives them a bit more flexibility there.
Legumina started 2022 at High-A but spent much of the season at Double-A. He struggled as a starter, making 16 starts this year with a 5.23 ERA, striking out 8.5 batters per nine innings. As a result of his struggles, the Twins moved him to the bullpen and he immediately stood out. There, the 25-year-old threw 22 1/3 innings of 3.57 ERA, with his strikeouts rising to 12.7 per nine innings. Legumina has a four pitch mix, combining a mid-90s fastball with a slider, changeup and curveball.
The eighth round draft pick from 2019 was added to the Twins 40-man roster a few days ago ahead of the Rule 5 draft protection deadline, so he’ll take a spot on the Reds 40-man moving forward as well.
Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes of the Athletic first reported the Reds and Twins were in agreement on a trade sending Farmer to Minnesota. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic was first to report Cincinnati would receive Legumina in return.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Twins, nice catch decent-ok utility player.
Nice move
He’s a sneaky good player. Very under the radar.
I agree. He a good down to earth simple guy too from what I have seen in interviews.
He seemed to gain some stability at SS for Reds. Hope he can get more time on the field.
Not for $6M
Good, but not a game changer
Twins mediocre
Trade Gio Urshela for another Gio Urshela type?
Cheaper Gio Urshela type. See if they spend saved money effectively.
Worse than Urshela. What am I missing here?
$$$
They saved 3 million and lost 2+ war.
HORRENDOUS dealing
They saved 3 mil and lost a made up, unprovable stat so they lost nothing.
They like miranda and I hope are making room for a high AAV for Correa?
Farmer has an additional year of team control.
This is not totally disconnected from the Urshela trade, in the sense that if they hadn’t traded Gio, the infield likely would have had no room to add. But this looks like a move to get shortstop depth to open 2023, which the Twins were seriously lacking.
There were and are several ex-shortstops on their roster (including Urshela until today) but no one they would trust to start there regularly, if at all.
I can only guess they’re still aiming higher, whether that’s re-signing Correa or having faith that Royce Lewis can play SS after his latest knee surgery. But this allows them to proceed with the offseason without worrying about a non-existent SS depth chart.
The Twins have 1 (one) catcher on the 40 man roster and the guys in the minors are very uninspiring. If Farmer can be the emergency third catching option at the MLB level then they only need to find one more. If worst comes to worst and they completely swing and miss in the SS sale-a-thon then they have a guy to stand there and take grounders until the kids are ready to get a shot. He’s the last line of defense that ensures they have bodies at all spots as they go shopping this winter. Plus he’s a nice guy, I guess.
So they passed on the Gio for Farmer.
Probably lower salary
3 million lower. Significantly lower production
And they still have Pagan
For now. Still think he’s gone before spring training.
No indication Pagan will be gone, they had plenty of opportunities last year to cut him or DFA him, they didn’t have to tender him a contract. They enamored by cherry picked stats and think he’s Better than the disastrous pitcher he continues to prove to be
He still has some trade value. if they go that route. They aren’t the only team that sees potential in the peripheral numbers. If they still think they can fix him, he’s a low leverage reliever to start the season.
As a now even more pissed off Reds fan, Minnesota you will love Farmdog. Hard nosed clubhouse leader who will be a great addition to the team.
Agree. One of only 3 the Reds had left that are a legit everyday position player.. The Reds have to be the worst ran team in MLB.
Lol, the most overrated Red since Stynes, Keppinger, ?
Seriously, makes me laugh every day listening to people in Cincinnati get all upset when our 100 loss team trades away a .700 hitter.
What does everything think he actually does well? Defense? No. Hit? No. Base running? No. Just a scrappy lightly talented white dude that us Cincinnatians love for weird reasons..
Intangibles can’t be shown in statistics.
Dude is a ball player. When you see him on a daily basis, you know why Reds fans love him.
I like how people that have no idea about a player like to try to degrade those who do.
Lifelong (42 years old) Cincinnatian and Reds fan. I know all I want about Farm dog. He’s a decent 25/26th man. If he’s your starter at any position then your team is in dire straits.
I’m a Reds fan and I don’t love him.
What does his whiteness have to do with anything
For racists, it’s always about race.
A lot of Cincinnatians really miss Charlie Hustle.
Reality makes it news because American non-whites weren’t represented in the World Series.
The phenomenon of sports media being more likely to describe white players in terms of “scrap” and “hustle,” and to describe Black and Latino players in terms of “natural talent” while more often criticizing their effort, has been researched and written about for years.
It’s not a surprise if that starts to affect fans’ perceptions.
He crushed it 2nd 1/2 of 2021. Actually through like all July and august. Was one of the top hitters in the league and was in his late 20s seeming to have broke out, but he didn’t.
Do you Reds know there are more teams to trade with than the Dodgers, Mariners and Twins.
They been doing well with Ms and twins so if it ain’t broke….
MIN swaps Gio for Farmer because…
Clueless FO. This is the same team that took the pagan and paddack deal that the Mets laughed off the table
Although it is a different front office, but this is the same team that once released David Ortiz!
….they wanted a shortstop on their roster who could start Opening Day if they needed him to, but isn’t too good to play backup to Carlos Correa or Royce Lewis.
Urshela plays shortstop just fine. They didn’t get a valuable prospect for him at all. The 3 million dollars saved is not worth the loss of production. Do you think urshela would file a grievance or something if he was named a utility player
The Twins clearly didn’t want to play Urshela at SS. They started Jermaine Palacios regularly rather than putting Urshela there.
If they didn’t see him as a SS, then it’s pretty apparent that that informed this sequence of moves and their valuation of these players.
No i see it as it saved 3 million dollars, and there’s an extra year of control. That is the twins mentality
They NEEDED at least one guy who can play SS. It feels like Mr. Toads Wild ride again. I’m feeling another trade with Twins sending one of Polanco/Arraez/Gordon plus Gray/Mahle and a prospect for multiple seasons of an ace, Lopez/Woodruff
Cheap ass ownership strikes again
Another 100+ loss season on the way
This trade is a joke. Farmer is a good, solid player. He’s a clubhouse leader and can help the younger players. If management is planning on playing Barrero full time, their heads are in the wrong place. Ownership stinks. I’ve been a Reds fan for over 50 years and I’ve never seen anything like this before. Ownership needs to just sell the team to someone who wants to win.
It’s worse than the Dick Wagner years now.
Purely a cost cutting move. Again, why is it needed? The payroll is ridiculously low as it is.
Dude he’s 32 years old, past whatever prime he had, and the Reds have approximately 75 infielders in AA and above. Don’t need him
Reds crushed it today ! They turned some dude they don’t need into a former first round ss and a potential bullpen arm with a higher floor than rp they lost.
Reds have been much better since Krall has been in charge. Y’all should come around on him a bit. This is a clear win
Big whiffa;
Krall is a few years behind Perry Minasian. In both cases the fans want someone like Preller or Dipoto that comes in and makes juicy trade after juicy trade for years until the team hits a wall and the payroll is in the Luxury Tax.
The first thing is to clear out the deadwood which takes a few years; pick up some young players and build a foundation.
These fans loved it 3-4 years ago when the Reds were overpaying free agents – the fans thought they were “trying to win”. The Reds didn’t have enough of a core to go anywhere, and those FA’s were in no way worth the money. It was obvious what was going to happen.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the moves Mr. Krall has made. He’s accumulated a number of quality young players while waiting for the outrageous contracts of Mike Moustakas and Joey Votto to expire. At that point he’ll have a nice batch of young players as well as some payroll room to work with. No guarantees about the future, but the Reds will have chance.
Juicy trades require juicy players. Juicy free agents require juicy money. None of which the Reds have
A guy who had an almost 5 ERA and that was in AA, which he hadn’t been above? I don’t call that a great return. Sounds more like here a list of three guys we were going to release anyway. Pick one.
Cheap ownership strikes again
Reds fan: Farm is a great leader, and a solid citizen. great pick up for twins. *bonus…a very capable emergency 3rd catcher.
Twins: “We got Farmer. Bum ba-dum bum bum bum bum!”
I see India moving from 2nd to 3rd. His legs took a beating last season..
Nah. Steer will stay there. If you move India to third, you’ll have to move him again when Noelvi Marte is called up.
Move India to LF. He’s a poor defender that’ll get exposed worse now that the shift is banned and he’ll have to cover much more ground. Lopez, Steer, some low priced FA to cover 2B and 3B until more of the kids are ready.
Have you actually watched the Reds? Or are you basing your analysis solely on when he was playing hurt.
India isn’t moving anywhere.
I’m sorry, I like moving players to where they are not liabilities. India is a really good hitter but he’s a poor defender. Reds have a ton of infielders coming up that are superior with the glove. That’s what smart teams do. The banned shift will further expose his shortcomings. Do you know baseball or just read the narratives the lame beat writers spew?
I appreciate your thinking outside the box, but India isn’t bad. Last year, yes. A full year in 2021 suggests he is average.
Played/watched more baseball than you have years on earth, I imagine. I believe what I see with my eyes and don’t listen to the hype the team tries to feed us before they make the big leagues.
Paul Householder and Clint Hurdle were supposed to be five tool players. I bet you don’t even know who they are. And if you saw the movie, you know Billy Beane was supposed to be better than Darryl Strawberry.
No way the Reds were going to pay Farmer $ 5.9 million dollars a year. If you are set to earn more than $5 million dollars a year, you get traded from this team. The whole organization is a joke.
Farmer’s 32yrs old already, doesn’t walk, only a .702 ops w/decent glove and versatle but in line for $5.9 Mill? That’s 5x as much as Mantle made in his entire career. How things have changed.
The average rent in 1964 was $71 per month. Its 30 times that now.
The average college tuition, fees, and books was $243 a year in 1963-1964. Its $27,560 in 2022 or more than 100 times more.
The average salary in MLB was $54k in 1964 when there was no free agency. Its $4.41 million in 2022.
Seems MLB salaries are in line with inflation in those other areas.
Farmer is solid all around; just not spectacular at anything.. A couple of real nice bonus things he provides is he pretty much murders left handed pitching & he can be an emergency 3rd catcher…
This is not good for the Reds . Farmer is a class act guy who filled a need at shortstop when the other players couldn’t cut in the majors . He deserved a long term contract from the Reds
101 losses instead of 99? lol
Dude are you kidding? Poor hitter and poor defender. The locker room loved him but you can EASILY replace his production with the youngsters
What youngsters? Barrero? Don’t make me laugh? Anyone else hasn’t played above AA so they aren’t ready.
Twins will love Farm Dawg.
Steer, Lopez, Encarnacion-Strand, EDLC is less than a year away, McLain, Marte.. They just got Newman, who’s a similar player to Farmer but 7 years younger. You’re killing me. 2023 Reds were going to lose 90+ with Farmer and will lose 90+ without him but will give at bats to guys who will be in the league in 5 years
sorry, Newman is 3 years younger. Misread
Steer has been inconsistent at best in a short timespan. Jury still out. Lopez is a professional hitter without a position basically. Defense not his strong suit. Think he would be a great DH. I suppose you think those guys should hit home runs.
None of the rest are near ready. I know you want to believe the hype but I go with what my eyes have seen so far. Have more years watching/playing baseball than your time on earth, I imagine.
Farmer was the last remaining player from the big seven-player trade between the Dodgers and Reds in 2018. All of the other players had been moved along.
Loved what Farmer brought to Cincy as pretty much a throw-in in the Dodgers deal. But he wasn’t going to be a long-term staple with a .700 OPS. Plus we have infield prospects on the way that need playing time. Don’t know much about Legumina though.
Should’ve gotten Urias from Baltimore.
This farmer knows how to field.
I see what you did there. I see it. Yes.
Maybe he can farm a few cans of corn. Kekekekeekeke
Twins call up another player from AAA Cincinnati
If Cincy is your farm team you have too many problems to solve on this thread
So the Twins had a plan all along.
Farmer is a guy I thought the Angels might target as a stop gap SS/utility guy.
I like Urshela better.
LOL…..exit Correa…..enter Farmer
IKF with more power
He would always play like an All-Star against the Cubs. So yay for the Cubs! Sad for Farmer as his numbers will nose dive in the AL
I view this as separate from the Gio trade. Trading Gio for anything looks better than non-tendering a veteran.
Farmer can be either a competent SS until Lewis is back or a solid bench piece if they sign a SS better than him.
Farmer is only good against the Cubs. So as. cubs fan, I approve of this trade…
I think you have to keep a few ML players on your roaster to sell tickets. He is a ham and egger plus. He is the third or 4th best player on your team. A salary dump for a maybe. Reds got hosed!