The Twins have acquired right-handed pitching prospect Brayan Medina from the Padres, per Minnesota’s director of communications and player relations Dustin Morse. Earlier this month, the Twins traded Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker to the Padres for Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan and a player to be named later, which has now been revealed as Medina.
Born in Venezuela, Medina is just 19 years old. He made 12 starts and 2 relief appearances last year between the Arizona Complex League and the Dominican Summer League. In 33 2/3 innings pitched, he had a 5.88 ERA, 30.4% strikeout rate and 14.9% walk rate. Last year, Baseball America ranked him the #26 prospect in the Padres’ system.
After going over the first luxury tax line last year, the Padres have seemed reluctant to do so again this year, as paying the tax in consecutive years comes with escalating penalties. Their current CBT number is just under $229MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That gives them only about $1MM of wiggle room before they are over the first CBT line, which is $230MM under the new CBA. As part of the trade with Minnesota, the Twins agreed to pay almost all of Rogers’ salary, helping the Padres limbo under that line. Medina seems to be their reward for doing so, adding an intriguing young arm to their system.
