Twins Claim Ralph Garza Jr.
The Twins have claimed right-hander Ralph Garza Jr. off waivers from the Astros, per a club announcement. Garza has been assigned to Triple-A St. Paul for the time being. A corresponding 40-man roster move isn’t necessary, as Minnesota already had an open spot. Their 40-man roster is now full.
Garza was designated for assignment by the Astros over the weekend when they activated Josh James from the 60-day injured list. The 27-year-old Garza made his MLB debut earlier this season, totaling 11 innings out of the Houston bullpen and allowing five runs on 11 hits and seven walks with 14 punchouts. The righty sat at an average of 92.6 mph with his four-seamer and 90.6 mph with his sinker, also logging a 12.4 percent swinging-strike rate and a 30.9 percent opponents’ chase rate.
A 26th-round pick back in 2015, Garza has never ranked among Houston’s top tier of farmhands but has delivered decent results in the upper minors. He’s appeared in parts of four seasons in a very hitter-friendly Triple-A environment, working to a 3.72 ERA with a solid 25.8 percent strikeout rate and an 11.3 percent walk rate he’ll want to improve upon. Garza’s contract was only selected to the MLB roster this season, meaning he can be optioned freely for the remainder of the year and still carry another pair of option years down the road.
Twins Release Matt Shoemaker
The Twins released right-hander Matt Shoemaker this afternoon, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune). Minnesota had already passed Shoemaker through outright waivers earlier this season, so the move won’t clear up a 40-man roster spot.
Minnesota signed Shoemaker to a one-year, $2MM deal over the winter in hopes of stabilizing the final spot in the rotation. The union didn’t pan out, as the veteran tossed 60 1/3 innings of 8.06 ERA/5.41 SIERA ball before being designated for assignment in early July. It was a nightmarish campaign for Shoemaker, who posted a career-worst 14.1% strikeout rate and served up fifteen home runs in sixteen appearances.
To his credit, Shoemaker has tossed 20 innings of four-run ball since accepting an assignment to Triple-A St. Paul. With the Twins expected to use the final few months of their lost season to take a look at younger, controllable arms, it nevertheless made sense to move on. Shoemaker will now get to explore other opportunities, and he’ll presumably latch on somewhere via minor league deal with a chance to pitch himself back to the big leagues down the stretch.
July Headlines: American League
We covered the National League yesterday, so let’s look at the American League’s biggest transactional headlines from a wild month of July…
Windy City Trade Winds: “Help from within” had a few different meanings for the White Sox last month, as the return of Eloy Jimenez from the injured list and Luis Robert beginning his own rehab assignment could end up being the biggest factors for the Pale Hose down the stretch. However, the Sox also found help from within the Chicago city limits, lining up with the Cubs (of all times) on a pair of trades that brought Craig Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera into an already-solid bullpen. A prospect package of Nick Madrigal and Cody Heuer was required to land Kimbrel, but it was a steep price the White Sox were willing to pay.
Madrigal’s season-ending hamstring tear in June created a vacancy for the White Sox at second base, so once again, the Sox looked within the AL Central and picked up Cesar Hernandez from the Indians. Hernandez could be a rental player, or he might be a factor for the 2022 team considering his affordable $6MM club option for next season.
Rays On Cruz Control: It was in many ways a typical deadline month for the Rays, who both added and subtracted some key personnel in order to constantly improve the roster (and payroll) situations. Landing Nelson Cruz from the Twins was perhaps the atypical move, as the Rays took on Cruz’s $4.8MM in remaining salary, yet Cruz offers superstar-level power to the lineup. Beyond Cruz, Tampa Bay also at least looked into the likes of Trevor Story, Craig Kimbrel, Kris Bryant, Jose Berrios, and Kyle Gibson.
Lower-level trades saw Tampa add Jordan Luplow and DJ Johnson (from the Indians), Shawn Armstrong (from the Orioles), and JT Chargois from the Mariners. That same Seattle trade saw Diego Castillo head to the M’s, while the Rays also dealt left-hander Rich Hill to the Mets in yet another move. You’d think a team moving its nominal closer and a veteran starter would fall into the “seller” category, but that isn’t how the AL East-leading Rays operate.
Athletics Stock Up: The A’s focused mostly on the position player side of their roster, highlighted by the trade that brought Starling Marte from the Marlins in exchange for prized (albeit oft-injured) pitching prospect Jesus Luzardo. Miami will eat the rest of Marte’s approximate $4.57MM salary for the season, so the Athletics were willing to part with a quality young arm for essentially a free rental player who should provide an immediate jolt to the Oakland lineup. A subsequent deal with the Nationals brought even more veteran depth in Josh Harrison and Yan Gomes.
On the pitching side, the Athletics landed Andrew Chafin in a deadline deal with the Cubs, while also adding Sam Moll as further depth in an early-July swap with the Diamondbacks. While the A’s definitely fortified themselves for the wild card race and a challenge to the Astros’ AL West lead, Oakland didn’t make any rotation adds — a decision that loomed large when James Kaprielien landed on the injured list yesterday.
Rangers’ Rebuild Continues: As one of the AL’s clear sellers, the Rangers were a popular team for trade calls, and the end result was seven young players added — four from the Yankees in exchange for the power-hitting Joey Gallo and lefty reliever Joely Rodriguez, and then another trio from the Phillies for Kyle Gibson, closer Ian Kennedy, and a noteworthy prospect in righty Hans Crouse. The deal with Philadelphia netted the most notable name of the seven in Spencer Howard, who has yet to emerge after 52 2/3 MLB innings but is still considered one of baseball’s better young arms.
Texas was able to score such a haul since Gibson’s career year drew him a lot of attention, and Kennedy (a minor league signing in the offseason) bounced back from a rough 2020 to continue his late-career reinvention as a quality bullpen arm. The Rangers looked into a contract extension with Gallo, but when talks failed to extend the team’s control beyond the 2022 season, the decision was made to move the homegrown All-Star while he still held a lot of value. Time will tell if the Rangers made the right calls, yet the hope is that at least some of these seven newcomers will become building blocks of the next winning Texas club.
Twins Fall Short Of A True Fire Sale: Minnesota thought their 2021 side would be “the next winning Twins club,” except a disastrous start to the season made it apparent early that the Twins would be sellers. The team took calls on pretty much every notable veteran on the roster, but since Minnesota is looking to limit the disappointment to just one year, the Twins mostly focused on moving players only under control through 2021. The ageless Nelson Cruz was the biggest name of this bunch, as Cruz was traded to the Rays while J.A. Happ (Cardinals) and Hansel Robles (Red Sox) were also sent elsewhere.
Jose Berrios was the exception, as the right-hander is controlled through 2022 but the Blue Jays made too good of an offer for the Twins to pass up. In acquiring top prospects Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson from Toronto, big league-ready young arms Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman for Cruz, change-of-scenery candidate John Gant from St. Louis, and even high-strikeout righty pitching prospect Alex Scherff from Boston, the Twins brought in a collection of players that could help them as early as 2022.
Yankees Load Up The Left Side: After a lackluster first half of the season and a lot of ground to make up on the Red Sox and Rays, there was some sense that the Yankees might be deadline sellers rather than buyers. Uh, nope. The Yankees added a pair of left-handed hitting sluggers (Joey Gallo, Anthony Rizzo) to their heavily right-handed lineup, picked up southpaw Andrew Heaney in a trade with the Angels, and also brought left-hander Joely Rodriguez from Texas as part of the Gallo trade. Just to break up the left-handed theme, righty Clay Holmes was also acquired in a deal with the Pirates.
New York had to give up a lot of quality prospects to make these trades, and also had to carve out some luxury tax space by moving Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson to the Reds. However, the Yankees were able to make these sorely-needed upgrades without moving any of their true blue-chip prospects, and they also continued their season-long quest to stay under the $210MM luxury tax threshold.
Blue Jays Win The Berrios Sweepstakes: Jose Berrios’ ability and his extra year of control made him a hot commodity on the trade market, and Toronto had to move two big prospects (Austin Martin, Simeon Woods Richardson) to get the Twins’ attention. While Berrios will help the club beyond just 2021, the Jays are similar to the Yankees in not being discouraged by a big deficit in the AL East standings, as the Blue Jays feel their powerful lineup and the benefit of actually playing in Toronto again will fuel a surge.
Since late-game breakdowns have led to a number of tough losses, the Blue Jays have prioritized bullpen additions in July. They picked up Trevor Richards from the Brewers early in the month, then added two veterans in Brad Hand and Joakim Soria to join with incumbent closer Jordan Romano in protecting late leads. Between all the trades and the injuries that led to Toronto’s bullpen predicament in the first place, the Jays’ bullpen mix is almost entirely different from their collection of relievers on Opening Day.
Who’s On First At Fenway: Kyle Schwarber‘s unreal home run tear in June added to his reputation as one of the sport’s better power bats, and with the Nationals in pure selling mode, the Red Sox took advantage in landing Schwarber (probably a rental player, given his 2022 mutual option) for a solid but non-elite pitching prospect in Aldo Ramirez. Boston’s lineup will become even more dangerous with Schwarber returns from the 10-day IL, though the team reportedly intends to use Schwarber to fill its first base vacancy, despite the fact that Schwarber has played exactly one game at first base in his 10 professional seasons.
The Red Sox otherwise added bullpen depth in acquiring Hansel Robles from the Twins and Austin Davis from the Pirates, with the latter deal sending former top-100 prospect Michael Chavis to Pittsburgh and former Red Sox GM-turned-Bucs GM Ben Cherington. Like the A’s, the Sox didn’t bring in any rotation help, which stood out as perhaps Boston’s biggest need heading into the deadline. The Red Sox will be counting on Chris Sale to essentially be that midseason rotation boost, as the ace continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery rehab.
Houston, We Have A Bullpen: The Astros had a relatively quiet deadline in comparison to many of the top contenders, though with a heavy-hitting lineup and a good amount of rotation depth, Houston had arguably fewer holes to fill than most. It’s also safe to say that avoiding the luxury tax was also a chief concern, given how the Astros’ moves played out.
That left the relief corps as the Astros’ primary target. Houston brought in Yimi Garcia (from the Marlins), Phil Maton (from the Indians) and, in a surprising deal between two division rivals, Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero from the Mariners. The Astros gave up youngster Abraham Toro and veteran reliever Joe Smith to Seattle, while speedy center fielder Myles Straw went to Cleveland for Maton and catching prospect Yainer Diaz. It made for a decent but not overly substantial price to pay for bullpen upgrades, and the cost will look pretty negligible if the Astros make another deep playoff run
Trader Jerry At It Again: That aforementioned Graveman/Montero trade left some hard feelings within the Mariners’ clubhouse, considering that the surprising M’s are in the thick of the wild card race. However, GM Jerry Dipoto insisted that the move was part of a larger plan, and the Mariners indeed made some further pitching additions by acquiring Tyler Anderson for the rotation and Diego Castillo to replace Graveman in the bullpen. All in all, the Mariners made what they feel is an overall improvement to the roster, while not going overboard in dealing young talent when the team might really be looking at 2022 as its true return to contention.
Guarding Their Assets: Getting a new team name counts as a pretty big acquisition, but while the Indians aren’t out of the playoff race, their July moves were mostly geared towards saving some payroll space and preparing for a better run in 2022. Cesar Hernandez was traded to the White Sox and Eddie Rosario was dealt to the Braves, clearing some money off the 2021 books, and the Tribe also got an interesting pitching prospect in Peyton Battenfield in exchange for moving Jordan Luplow and DJ Johnson to the Rays. Losing Phil Maton to the Astros is an acceptable price for a new everyday center fielder, and Cleveland hopes it landed such a player in Myles Straw.
Royals Say Goodbye To A Franchise Staple: The Royals were undoubtedly disappointed to be deadline sellers considering their aggressive winter and their red-hot star to the season, but K.C. stuck to moving veteran rentals rather than any longer-term players (such as Whit Merrifield, who was again the topic of much trade speculation). The most notable name moved was longtime hurler Danny Duffy, who agreed to waive his no-trade protection to chase a ring with the Dodgers. Former AL home run leader Jorge Soler was also dealt to the outfield-needy Braves, ending Soler’s Kansas City tenure on the disappointing note of a rough 2021 campaign. The Royals also swung a few lower-level deals earlier in July, acquiring Joel Payamps from the Blue Jays and dealing Kelvin Gutierrez to the Orioles and Alcides Escobar to the Nationals.
Arms Leave Anaheim: The Angels had a pretty quiet deadline, perhaps befitting a team that doesn’t entirely want to sell (since stars like Mike Trout will return from the IL) but also faces a big hill to climb to truly get back into the playoff race. The Halos ended up moving a pair of impending free agents in starter Andrew Heaney and reliever Tony Watson, netting some prospects for the long term, but in the short term hampering a pitching staff that is already a weak link. In another minor deal earlier in July, the Angels dealt southpaw Dillon Peters to the Pirates.
Sellers Barely Sold: The Orioles and Tigers were seen the AL’s most clear-cut deadline sellers, yet in the end, neither team did much trading in July. Detroit’s only deal of the month sent Daniel Norris to the Brewers, while the Orioles traded Freddy Galvis to the Phillies and Shawn Armstrong to the Rays.
Red Sox Acquire Hansel Robles From Twins
The Red Sox acquired reliever Hansel Robles from the Twins, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Twins are including $500k in the deal, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). That should cover much of the remaining money owed to the right-hander, who signed a one-year, $2MM deal with the Twins this past winter. In exchange, the Twins will receive RHP Alex Scherff, the teams announced.
Robles fills a need for Boston as a hard-throwing righty in the pen. He will slot in somewhere behind setup man Adam Ottavino and closer Matt Barnes in the pecking order – though it’s worth noting that bullpen usage is hardly ever that clean, and Robles should no doubt expect some high-leverage work in the heart of the AL East playoff race.
Robles spent three and a half years with the Mets and two and a half years with the Angels before joining the Twins this offseason. He closed for a short time in LA, notching 23 saves in 2019 while tossing 7 2/3 innings and marking a stellar 2.48 ERA/2.88 FIP. He looked like a borderline elite bullpen arm at that point, but he hasn’t matched those run prevention numbers in the two seasons since.
The overall numbers for Robles this season aren’t all that confidence-inspiring: 45 appearances covering 44 innings with a 4.91 ERA/4.82 FIP worth -0.7 rWAR. He does have 10 saves as he stepped up to cover some high-leverage situations throughout the year. He’s struggled of late, however, with an 11.12 ERA in his last 12 appearances dating back to late June. He doesn’t have to be “the guy” in Boston, however, where he’ll make up just one part of manager Alex Cora‘s final line of defense to close out games.
For the Twins, they are adding an intriguing bullpen arm to their system. The 23-year-old Scherff has split this year between High-A and Double-A, racking up exceptional strikeout numbers. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs notes that his fastball is “is 92-96 with a good changeup”.
Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com was the first to note that Scherff was the return.
Cardinals, Twins Swap John Gant For J.A. Happ
In a swap of two struggling pitchers, the Cardinals and Twins swapped righty John Gant for lefty J.A. Happ, per announcements from both clubs. Minnesota also picks up minor league southpaw Evan Sisk in the deal.
Gant, unlike Happ, is controllable for another year beyond the current campaign. The 28-year-old Gant has long worked as a swingman in St. Louis, pitching to a 3.72 ERA in 339 innings dating back to his 2016 debut with the Braves. He’s sporting a solid-looking 3.42 ERA on the season, but that’s a deceiving mark; Gant has issued a staggering 56 walks in 76 1/3 innings this year, to go along with an identical 56 punchouts. That lack of command makes him a surefire regression candidate if he can’t right the ship.
That said, while command has never been Gant’s strong suit, he’s also never struggled to quite this level. Gant walked a still-too-high 12.1 percent of batters from 2017-20, but he’s seen that mark balloon to 16.2 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, his 20.6 percent strikeout rate from 2017-20 has dropped, matching that 16.2 percent walk rate.
Gant is earning $2.1MM this year and is due a raise in arbitration this coming offseason, so there’s no guarantee he’ll be tendered by the Twins. But he’ll give his new club some length in the bullpen or perhaps even as a starter down the stretch, where he’ll have a couple months to prove he can improve his command and contribute next year.
In Happ, the Cards will pick up a veteran innings eater, but one whose struggles have been rather alarming. The 38-year-old has soaked up 98 1/3 innings for the Twins this season but been clobbered for a 6.77 ERA along the way. Happ has been impacted a bit by an elevated .332 average on balls in play, but he’s also been among the game’s most homer-prone pitchers, averaging 1.92 dingers per nine innings pitched.
Even more perplexing is that Happ’s struggles have only grown in recent weeks. He hasn’t made a quality start since April 28 and hasn’t surrendered fewer than three runs in an outing since the end of May. Dating back to June 1, Happ is toting an 8.13 ERA, and sticking to just the month of July, he’s yielded more runs (28) than innings pitched (27).
Even with the Twins taking back Gant’s contract and kicking in cash, it’s something of a surprise to see the Cardinals include a minor leaguer in this deal. Sisk isn’t one of the organization’s top prospects, but he’s turned in a 3.31 ERA in 32 1/3 innings out of the bullpen between Class-A Advanced and Double-A so far in 2021. He’s fanned a very strong 29.1 percent of his opponents, but he’s also walked batters at an ugly 12.7 percent clip. Sisk, the Cardinals’ 16th-rounder back in 2018, induces grounders at a strong clip and at least has a chance of eventually emerging as a lefty option in the Minnesota ‘pen.
It’s probably more than most would’ve expected the team to get for the struggling Happ, but it underscores the Cardinals’ need to simply accumulate innings to fill out the rotation after doing little to address their questionable starting pitching depth in the offseason.
La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune first reported the Twins were moving a starting pitcher. Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that the Twins were acquiring Gant. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweeted Happ was going to Minnesota. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweeted that the Twins were also getting Sisk in the deal
Twins Listening On Maeda, Buxton, Donaldson
1:45PM: The Twins are also listening to offers on righty Kenta Maeda, tweets Heyman. He’s signed through 2023 with an annual base salary of just $3MM, although he can earn an additional $10MM of incentives based on starts and innings pitched each season.
1:36PM: Both Buxton and Josh Donaldson are being shopped by the Twins, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets. Donaldson is in the second season of a four-year, $92MM contract with Minnesota.
12:56PM: The Twins have already traded Nelson Cruz and Jose Berrios, and they’re surely not done for the day, with several other players to shop to contending clubs. Center fielder Byron Buxton‘s market has picked up steam since last night, tweets Dan Hayes of The Athletic, although it’s no sure thing he’ll be moved just yet. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Phillies “love” Buxton and are one six or seven teams inquiring with the Twins.
Buxton, 27, is currently on the 10-day injured list with a fractured hand that he sustained when he was hit by a pitch earlier in the summer. He’d only just come off the injured list after missing more than a month due to a strained hip flexor.
The Twins and Buxton have had extension talks as recently as this month, but those negotiations didn’t bring about a contract. Minnesota was reportedly willing to offer upwards of $80MM and include some incentives to boost the contract’s overall value. It’s not the first time the Twins and Buxton have talked extension, but nothing has come of those efforts just yet and Buxton now finds himself 15 months from reaching free agency at the conclusion of the 2022 season. He’s said even after those extension talks broke down that he hopes to remain in Minnesota long-term and is very much open to future talks.
Buxton is one of the toughest players in the game to value either in a trade or on an extension. He’s arguably the best defensive player in all of baseball, at any position, and is among the sport’s five or so fastest players as well. While the former No. 2 overall pick struggled at the plate in his first several seasons, he’s batted .282/.322/.581 with 33 homers, 44 doubles and four triples in his past 540 plate appearances — a star-level offensive output.
Of course, the problem is that those 540 plate appearances have been spread across three seasons. Buxton has been on the Major League injured list a whopping 11 times, and while some have come as the result of freak injuries — the current broken hand, a foot fracture suffered on a foul tip — the lack of durability is an obvious concern both for the Twins and for potential trade partners.
Buxton is nearing a return from the injured list, and his play so far in limited at-bats in 2021 would be MVP-caliber over the course of a full season. He’s batted .369/.409/.767 with 10 homers and 11 doubles in just 110 plate appearances. The Twins figure to set a high asking price, as they did on both Cruz and Berrios. Whether another club will part with impact young talent and take on the health risks associated with Buxton remains to be seen.
Twins Claim Edgar Garcia From Reds
The Twins announced that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Edgar Garcia off waivers from the Reds and optioned him to Triple-A St. Paul. Cincinnati designated Garcia for assignment earlier in the week.
The 24-year-old Garcia has seen MLB time with the Phillies, Rays and Reds but limped to a 7.14 ERA in 46 1/3 innings. His Triple-A numbers are quite good, however, as he’s pitched to a 3.28 ERA with a 31.4 percent strikeout rate and 10.2 percent walk rate in 57 2/3 innings. Garcia averaged 95.1 mph on his heater in his brief time with the Reds and is in the last of his three minor-league option years. He can be shuttled between Triple-A and the big league roster for the rest of the season if the Twins choose, but he’ll be out of options next spring.
Kyle Gibson Rumors: Deadline Day
Rangers right-hander Kyle Gibson is enjoying a career year, reaching his first All-Star Game and posting a 2.87 ERA and 50.8% grounder rate over 113 innings. There are some red flags (a 4.46 SIERA and a below-average 20.4% strikeout rate), but for a veteran arm controlled through 2022 on an $8MM salary, Gibson has been drawing a lot of attention. Here is the latest on Gibson as the deadline approaches…
Latest Updates
- Spencer Howard is part of the Phillies’ talks with the Rangers, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The two sides could be discussing a deal that would see both Gibson and Ian Kennedy go to Philadelphia.
Earlier Today
- The Rays may be the leaders to acquire Gibson, The Athletic’s Levi Weaver tweets. Tampa Bay was initially linked to Gibson a few days ago, as the team has continued to overhaul its starting and relief pitching mix.
- The Phillies are a new team in the Gibson sweepstakes, as MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that Philadelphia is “making a hard push” for Gibson’s services. The Phils are known to be looking for help at the back end of their rotation, behind their top trio of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and the currently-injured Zach Eflin.
- The Padres were also rumored to have interest in Gibson earlier this week, and they have “maintained” that interest heading into this afternoon, according to The Athletic’s Dennis Lin. Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda is another name on San Diego’s radar, but the “price tag has been too high for the Padres’ liking,” which could indicate that the club is perhaps now turning more towards Gibson or other rotation options.
Blue Jays Acquire Jose Berrios
12:02pm: The Blue Jays have announced the trade.
11:31am: The Blue Jays and Twins have a deal in place sending right-hander Jose Berrios to Toronto, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports that top pitching prospect Simeon Woods Richardson is part of the return. Infielder Austin Martin, the No. 5 overall pick from last summer’s draft, is also going to Minnesota, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic.
Berrios, 27, gives the Blue Jays perhaps the second-best pitcher on this summer’s trade market, trailing only Max Scherzer, who is expected to join the Dodgers later today. Unlike Scherzer, he’s controllable beyond the 2021 season, as he’s only in his second arbitration season. Berrios is earning $6.1MM in 2021 and will be due one more arbitration raise this winter before reaching free agency upon conclusion of the 2022 campaign.
Berrios will join Hyun Jin Ryu and the resurgent Robbie Ray atop the Toronto rotation, comprising what now looks to be a formidable trio. He’s in the midst of one of his finest seasons, pitching to a 3.48 ERA with a career-best 25.7 percent strikeout rate, an excellent 6.5 percent walk rate and a career-high 43.6 percent ground-ball rate. He’s posted those numbers through 20 starts and a total of 121 1/3 frames, standing out as one of the dwindling number of pitchers in today’s game who averages six-plus frames per outing.
Of course, Berrios isn’t simply durable on a per-game basis. He’s been one of the game’s most durable starting pitchers overall, throughout the entirety of his career. He’s never been on the Major League injured list and is currently on pace for what would be his fourth straight season of a full slate of starts. He made 26 appearances back in 2017 — the final season he was optioned to the minors — and has since made 32 starts, 32 starts, 12 starts (a full workload in last year’s 60-game season) and 20 starts so far in 2020.
During that time, he’s never posted an ERA above 4.00 and has pitched to an overall 3.76 mark with a 24.2 percent strikeout rate and a 7.2 percent walk rate. Berrios may not quite be a Cy Young-caliber, top-of-the-rotation ace, but he’s as consistent and durable as it comes for a second/third starter.
The Blue Jays paid a steep price to acquire a year and a half of that consistency. Martin, last year’s No. 5 overall pick, was viewed by many in the industry as the best all-around player in the draft class. It was a legitimate surprise when he slipped beyond the No. 2 overall pick and fell to the Jays with the fifth selection. He’s currently ranked as the No. 16 prospect in the game at MLB.com, No. 21 at Baseball America and No. 23 at FanGraphs.
Martin starred at Vanderbilt in college, hitting .368/.474/.532 in his college career. The Jays dropped him right into Double-A to begin 2021, his first professional season, and it hasn’t looked like he’s missed a beat. In 250 plate appearances, Martin has posted a .281/.424/.383 with a pair of homers, ten doubles, two triples and nine stolen bases. He’s walked at a hearty 14.8 percent clip against a 21.2 percent strikeout rate. That batting line is 32 percent better than league average in an immensely pitcher-friendly Double-A environment, by measure of wRC+.
The main question on Martin is simply one of where he’ll play. He’s split his time evenly between shortstop and center field in Double-A this season. At the time of the draft, some scouts questioned whether he could stick at shortstop in pro ball, but the Jays have been giving him that chance. Even if shortstop isn’t his ultimate home on the diamond, however, most scouting reports on the 22-year-old Martin agree that his athleticism will translate to third base, center field or second base. The general expectation surrounding Martin is that he’ll be an above-average regular regardless of where he settles in on the diamond.
Woods Richardson has had a rougher season as Martin’s teammate in Double-A, but he’s only 20 years old — nearly five years younger than the average age of his competitors at that level. He entered the season widely regarded as a top 100 prospect, and while he’s since dropped off Baseball America’s list following the draft, he still ranks 49th at FanGraphs and 68th at MLB.com.
The Jays initially acquired Woods Richardson from the Mets in the trade that send Marcus Stroman to Queens. He’s made 11 starts in New Hampshire this season and posted a grisly 5.76 ERA, although that number is inflated by a .359 average on balls in play and an abnormally low 58 percent strand rate. Woods-Richardson has walked too many hitters (12.8 percent) but also fanned a third of his opponents so far on the year. Woods Richardson is away from the club right now, pitching for Team USA in the Olympics (as is fellow newly acquired Twins pitching prospect Joe Ryan).
FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen writes that Woods Richardson works with both a four-seamer and a two-seamer, also praising the righty’s changeup and the shape of his curveball. MLB.com’s report praised Woods Richardson’s changeup as the best in Toronto’s system, and the general consensus on the right-hander is that if he can add a little velocity as he continues to fill out, he has the makings of a No. 2 or No. 3 starter.
It’s an impressive haul for the Twins, though the organization has to be disappointed that the season came to this. Minnesota entered the year as defending AL Central champs and hopeful contenders, but their season spiraled out of control early and has yet to recover. That’s prompted the front office to pivot to what certainly looks like it’ll be an accelerated retooling of the roster.
The Twins still have an impressive crop of controllable hitters, and the additions of Martin, Woods Richardson, Ryan and Drew Strotman in their first two trades of deadline season give them four upper-minors talents who could impact the club by 2022 (perhaps 2023, in Woods Richardson’s case). Parting with Berrios means bidding adieu to the best pitcher the organization has developed in more than a decade, but they’ll hope that the recent influx of talent quickly supplements their foundation of young hitters and produces another arm or two of Berrios’ caliber before long.
Blue Jays Are Leading Suitor For Jose Berrios
With Max Scherzer now likely headed to the Dodgers, Twins right-hander Jose Berrios becomes the clear top starter left on the trade market. The 27-year-old righty is earning $6.1MM in 2021, is controlled through 2022 via arbitration, and is in the midst of arguably his best season yet. Through 121 2/3 innings, Berrios has pitched to a 3.48 ERA with a strong 25.7 percent strikeout rate and an excellent 6.5 percent walk rate. Berrios has been as durable as they come, and while he might not be the bona fide, Cy Young-caliber ace that Scherzer is, he’s a clear option to start in a playoff game for most contenders.
It originally looked as though Berrios was a long shot to move, but the interest in him has been intense. The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported yesterday that market for Berrios had exceeded the Twins’ expectations, making a deal increasingly likely. Virtually every contender or fringe contender has inquired, as you’d expect. Not all of them will remain in the mix as talks continue into the eleventh hour of deadline season, so with that in mind, we’ll run down today’s latest Berrios rumblings in this post…
- The Blue Jays “appear” to be the leading suitor for Berrios at the moment, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets.
Earlier Updates
- Darren Wolfson of 1500 SKOR North in the Twin Cities tweets that the Twins have at least four offers in hand, coming from teams on both coasts. The Padres, Wolfson adds, “will be in it until the end.” That meshes with last night’s report from AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, wherein he indicated that Berrios is now the Padres’ “primary target.”
- The Padres, Rays and Mets are among the teams still talking to Berrios this morning, per The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (Twitter link). The Twins’ asking price has been too steep for the Mets for weeks, and that appeared to still be the case last night as well. The Rays haven’t been extensively tied to Berrios for long, but MLB Network’s Jon Heyman listed them as one of the most aggressive clubs on Berrios last night. It’s been a whirlwind deadline for the Rays, who’ve added Nelson Cruz but also subtracted some notable pieces in Diego Castillo and Rich Hill. Berrios would immediately become Tampa Bay’s top starter, at least as long as Tyler Glasnow is out. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that both the Rays and Blue Jays are still very much in the running.
- The Yankees and Mariners also remain in the mix for Berrios, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, who also notes that interest in Berrios has picked up even since last night (Twitter links). It’s been an active deadline in both the Bronx and Seattle, although the Yankees have yet to address their starting pitching. Seattle has added Tyler Anderson, but he’s a rental and more of a back-of-the-rotation arm. Beyond that, with myriad injuries throughout their expected starting staff, the Mariners could certainly use multiple starters.