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Twins’ Owner: Team “Absolutely Not” Going Into Rebuild

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Anyone who’s even loosely followed the 2021 MLB season knows it’s been a disaster year for the Twins. The American League Central’s last-place club, Minnesota has already traded Nelson Cruz, will likely trade Michael Pineda in the coming days and will surely have interest in several other key pieces. That said, given the team’s payroll space, cost-controlled group of young hitters, solid farm system and other factors, it’s long seemed likely they’ll aim to reload and be competitive again in 2022. Owner Jim Pohlad effectively confirmed that this week in an interview with Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Asked by Hayes whether this nightmarish season could “change your direction to rebuilding,” Pohlad replied emphatically: “Absolutely not. We want to be in the win window all the time. We expected that to be the case this year.”

Obviously, that didn’t happen for the Twins, who have weathered absences for Byron Buxton, Mitch Garver, Luis Arraez, Max Kepler, Kenta Maeda, Pineda and others. More problematic has been that nearly all of Minnesota’s offseason free-agent expenditures (the since-traded Cruz being a notable exception) have failed to live up to expectations.

The subsequent 43-58 record has positioned the Twins as a clear deadline seller, but Pohlad’s comments today reinforce what was already widely expected: this isn’t likely to be an “everything must go” fire sale. The team is receiving interest in players controlled beyond 2021, most notably top starter Jose Berrios, but the asking price on him has reportedly been high and focused on near-MLB assets. Given Pohlad’s comments and the fact that the Twins zeroed in on Triple-A pitchers in last week’s Cruz trade — both Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman could be options in Minnesota this year — that focus on big-league-ready talent is to be expected.

All of this is particularly worth considering as the clock ticks toward Friday’s 4pm ET trade deadline. For instance, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweeted this morning that the Twins have had some early talks on Kepler. That was already known after multiple reports linked Kepler to the Yankees last week, but the broader question of Kepler’s general “availability” (or lack thereof) should be considered in conjunction with ownership’s comments. Were the Twins looking to completely start over, players like Kepler, Berrios, Taylor Rogers (prior to his finger injury) and others would be strong trade candidates. As it stands, they’re more long shots with weighty asking prices.

It’s also possible that some of the impending free agents who do seem like locks to move could be flipped and then again pursued in free agency. Pineda, who pitched well tonight in what could be his final start with the Twins, told reporters after the game that Minnesota has come to feel like home and he hopes to remain (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park). A trade still seems overwhelmingly likely, but Hayes tweets that Pineda would have interest in returning for 2022 and beyond even if (or when) he is ultimately traded this week.

Michael Pineda Drawing Trade Interest

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Twins righty Michael Pineda is drawing trade interest, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network.  The 32-year-old takes the bump tonight at Target Field against Matt Manning and the Tigers, in what figures to be a well-scouted affair.  According to Darren Wolfson of KSTP TV, the Twins have not held extension talks with Pineda, who’s due for free agency after the season.  Wolfson notes that the Padres have scouted Pineda this month.

The cellar-dwelling Twins dealt one impending free agent last week as they shipped Nelson Cruz to the Rays.  In addition to Pineda, Andrelton Simmons, J.A. Happ, Alex Colome, and Hansel Robles are set for free agency after the season and may be sent packing by Friday’s deadline.  More desirable, but perhaps less likely to be dealt, are a trio of quality Twins players who are controlled through 2022: Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios, and Taylor Rogers.  The Twins figure to be central to this year’s trade deadline action.

The Twins re-signed Pineda to a two-year, $20MM deal back in December 2019, despite the knowledge that he’d miss the first 39 games of 2020 due to a PED suspension.  Assuming Pineda is making $10MM this year, more than $3MM will remain at the deadline.  Pineda sports a 3.93 through 13 starts this year, missing time with thigh and forearm injuries.  Pineda’s average fastball velocity is down to a career-worst 90.8 miles per hour this year.  On a related note, he’s punched out only 21% of batters faced, his worst mark since 2014.  Pineda’s strong control remains intact, with a walk rate south of 6%.  As a flyball-heavy hurler, he’s always been prone to the longball.

Despite adding Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove in the offseason, the Padres continue to seek starting pitching depth.  Dinelson Lamet, working his way back from forearm inflammation, will make a temporary move to the bullpen once he returns.  Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune previously linked the club to Kenta Maeda, Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles, Danny Duffy, and Jon Gray.

As Jon Heyman of MLB Network sees it, almost all contenders aside from perhaps the White Sox and Astros are prioritizing starting pitching.  Morosi sees at least seven contenders as active in the starting pitching market at present: the Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, Dodgers, Padres, Astros, and Phillies.  Though Morosi did not mention the Mets, SNY’s Andy Martino says they’re in the market for help in both the rotation and bullpen, with a focus on rentals.

Twins Reinstate Michael Pineda From Injured List

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The Twins have reinstated Michael Pineda from the 10-day injured list, and the right-hander is scheduled to start this afternoon’s game with the White Sox.  Righty Griffin Jax was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Right elbow inflammation sidelined Pineda back on June 14, though fortunately his elbow issue ended up being relatively minor enough for him to get back to action prior to the All-Star break.  (Pineda also had a minimal IL stint in May after a minor procedure to remove an abscess from his thigh.)  It also provides time for Pineda to essentially audition for other teams, since the Twins are going to be selling at the trade deadline and Pineda is a free agent after the season.

In terms of bottom-line numbers, Pineda has a solid 3.70 ERA/4.23 SIERA over 56 innings for Minnesota.  Pineda has always been good at limiting walks through his career, and his 6.5% walk rate in 2021 is comfortably above the league average.  Beyond that, however, there isn’t much to like about Pineda’s Statcast metrics, and his .343 xwOBA is much higher than his .299 xOBA.  There are enough teams looking for starting pitchers, however, that Pineda will surely draw interest, and likely some teams will suspect that his overall performance might turn around with a change of scenery.

Twins Place Michael Pineda On Injured List

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The Twins announced Monday that they’ve placed righty Michael Pineda (right elbow inflammation) and infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder (hamstring strain) on the 10-day injured list. In a pair of corresponding moves, they’ve reinstated Kenta Maeda and Luis Arraez from the injured list. Center fielder Byron Buxton has not yet been activated, though Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that he traveled with the team to Seattle, which suggests a return is near.

The loss of Pineda is notable on multiple levels. The big righty has been one of the Twins’ few effective starters so far in 2021. He also stands out as one of the more obvious trade candidates on the roster for a disappointing Minnesota club that looks more and more likely to sell veteran pieces as the summer wears on.

Pineda, 32, was terrific for the first two months of the season, pitching to a 2.62 ERA with a 26.7 percent strikeout rate and a 6.8 percent strikeout rate. However, Pineda had one start pushed back this month, and he exited another — his most recent outing — with elbow discomfort after just four innings. He’s followed up that terrific April/May run with a three-start stretch that has seen him total just 11 1/3 innings while yielding 10 runs.

On the whole, Pineda still has plenty respectable numbers. He’s accumulated 56 innings on the year and posted a 3.70 earned run average with a 22.1 percent strikeout rate, a 6.5 percent walk rate and a 38.1 percent ground-ball rate. That type of production would help to bolster just about any rotation in baseball, and given that Pineda is playing out the second season of a two-year, $20MM contract, his salary is manageable enough for the majority of contenders. The Twins may not want to commit to selling just yet, but at 26-39 and 15 games back of the division lead, that’s the likeliest outcome.

Refsnyder, 30, was a pleasant surprise for an injury-ravaged Twins club. The journeyman utilityman signed a minor league deal over the winter but unexpectedly gave the Twins a .321/.371/.500 batting line in 62 trips to the plate before going down with his own injury. He’s taken on a good bit of the workload in center field while Buxton has recovered from a hip flexor strain.

In Maeda and Arraez, the Twins will be getting back a pair who were expected to play significant roles on a division contender. Maeda finished runner-up to Shane Bieber in last summer’s Cy Young voting, but he hasn’t looked right at all this season.

In nine starts before landing on the injured list with a groin injury, he pitched to a 5.27 ERA that was nearly double last season’s 2.70 mark. Maeda’s strikeout rate plummeted from 32.3 percent last year to 20.5 percent in 2021, while his walk rate has jumped from four percent to 5.8 percent. Most problematically, he’s given up home runs at the highest rate of his career (1.90 HR/9). Time will tell whether the stay on the IL can get the righty back on track.

Arraez, meanwhile, got out to a blistering start but saw his bat go ice-cold for several weeks before injuring his shoulder on a slide into second base. The versatile Arraez hit .331/.390/.429 with more walks than strikeouts in 487 plate appearances from 2019-20, but that output has slipped to .278/.358/.333 so far in 2021.

Twins Notes: Maeda, Pineda, Buxton, Arraez, Kepler

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The Twins have been plagued by injuries in recent weeks, but they’re on the verge of getting several key players back. Right-hander Kenta Maeda will be activated from the injured list to start tomorrow night’s game against the Mariners, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Dan Hayes of the Athletic). He hasn’t pitched since May 22, when he went on the IL due to a groin strain.

It’s been a difficult season for Maeda, last year’s AL Cy Young award runner-up. The 33-year-old has managed just a 5.27 ERA over his first nine starts. Maeda’s strikeout rate has fallen from an elite 32.3% in 2020 to a below-average 20.5% this season. He’s also seen rather significant drops in his swinging strike and groundball rates, with opposing hitters making much harder contact off him.

Those struggles aside, the Twins will assuredly be happy to get their Opening Day starter back on the mound. Minnesota’s assortment of back-end starters (Matt Shoemaker, J.A. Happ, Randy Dobnak, Bailey Ober) have struggled to varying degrees, perhaps the biggest reason for the team’s horrible 26-39 start. Making matters worse, righty Michael Pineda is day-to-day after leaving this afternoon’s start with right forearm tightness (notes Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). Baldelli suggested Pineda could require an IL stint of his own (via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com).

While the rotation has been a massive disappointment, the Twins also haven’t been helped by a series of injuries to some of their top position players. Byron Buxton was off to an MVP-level start, but he went down with a right hip strain on May 7. Buxton has been on the IL for the past five weeks, but Baldelli said the star center fielder will accompany the team to Seattle (via Park). The same is true of utilityman Luis Arráez, who’s been out since May 26 with a right shoulder strain.

Buxton and Arráez have been on rehab assignments at Triple-A St. Paul, but they’re evidently nearing a return to the majors. They should be followed in relatively short order by Max Kepler. The 28-year-old outfielder began a rehab assignment of his own today, serving as the designated hitter in St. Paul. Kepler put up a .212/.303/.424 line in 152 plate appearances this season before straining his left hamstring.

Twins Notes: Buxton, Colina, Arraez

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Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli said earlier this week that the organizational hope was for Byron Buxton, on the injured list with a hip strain, to begin a rehab assignment this weekend. It seems that won’t happen quite yet, however, as president of baseball ops Derek Falvey now tells reporters that Buxton is still having trouble decelerating without discomfort when he is running (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Dan Hayes). An exact timetable for his rehab assignment isn’t clear, but it apparently won’t begin until next week at the earliest.

The Twins have run journeyman Rob Refsnyder out to center field in place of Buxton and, in rather stunning fashion, received similar production at the plate. The 30-year-old Refsnyder, who signed a minor league deal over the winter, is hitting .438/.472/.719 in 36 plate appearances and has made the first nine appearances of his career in center field with the Twins. Obviously, that type of output won’t last, but it’s helped the Twins to patch things over in the absence of Buxton, who was hitting .370/.408/.772 with nine homers in 98 plate appearances before landing on the IL. Minnesota is arguably the game’s most disappointing team so far, but the Twins have won five of their last six.

Some more notes on the club…

  • Falvey also revealed that hard-throwing righty Edwar Colina underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his right elbow today and will be shut down from throwing for at least the next couple months (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Colina would obviously need time to then build back up, so it would seem fair to wonder just how much he’ll be able to pitch at all in 2021. The now-24-year-old Colina tossed a combined 97 1/3 innings of 2.96 ERA ball across three minor league levels in 2019, topping out with a four-inning showing in Triple-A. He faced seven batters in the big leagues with the Twins last year but retired only one in that ultra-brief MLB debut. Colina averaged 97.3 mph on his heater last year and fanned more than a quarter of his opponents in that solid 2019 campaign. He’s ranked 21st among Twins prospects over at Baseball America and at FanGraphs, while MLB.com tabs him 17th in the system.
  • Minnesota announced today that utilityman Luis Arraez is headed to the 10-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain. He first incurred the injury while sliding headfirst into second base in this past weekend’s series against the Indians. The versatile Arraez is an atypical hitter in today’s brand of three-true-outcome baseball. He’s fanned in just 11.1 percent of his plate appearances this year while walking at a 10.5 percent clip and using an all-fields approach with virtually no power. The 24-year-old is a career .318/.382/.406 hitter with more walks than strikeouts in 649 trips to the plate. His placement on the IL creates an avenue for the Twins to reinstate right-hander Michael Pineda from his own 10-day IL stint. Pineda is on the hill for today’s series finale against the Orioles.

Twins Place Michael Pineda On Injured List, Select Luke Farrell

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The Twins have placed right-hander Michael Pineda on the 10-day injured list and selected the contract of right-hander Luke Farrell from Triple-A St. Paul in a corresponding roster move. Pineda was scratched from his most recent outing after undergoing a procedure to remove an abscess from his thigh, and he’ll now head to the injured list to continue mending. The Twins had an open 40-man spot after designating righty Derek Law for assignment yesterday.

This will mark Farrell’s second stint with the Twins in 2021. Signed to a minor league contract over the winter, the journeyman righty and son of former Red Sox skipper John Farrell tossed a scoreless frame earlier this year while the Major League roster was dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak. He’s pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate and allowed one run on two hits and two walks with nine punchouts.

Farrell, 29, has a 4.92 ERA, a 24.4 percent strikeout rate and a bloated 12.7 percent walk rate in 64 big league frames compiled between five teams. He’s worked primarily as a starter in the minors, where he has a 4.15 ERA in 266 2/3 Triple-A frames and a 3.25 mark in 113 2/3 Double-A innings. The Twins have been using him as a reliever over in St. Paul, however, and that’s where he’ll be ticketed with the MLB club.

There’s no definitive word on how lengthy an absence Pineda is expected to require, but nothing right now suggests it’ll be a significant absence. Any absence at all is another blow to a reeling Twins team that is, rather shockingly, the worst in MLB so far in 2021. Pineda has been one of the team’s bright spots, pitching to a 2.79 ERA with the second-best strikeout percentage (25.3 percent) of his career and a characteristically strong 6.3 percent walk rate. If the Twins can’t dig themselves out of this hole — they’d need a 2019 Nationals-esque run to do so — the veteran Pineda could well find himself on the trade market this summer, as he’s slated to become a free agent at season’s end.

Twins Activate Buxton, Pineda; Donaldson To Be Activated On Wednesday

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3:37PM: The Twins officially announced that Buxton and Pineda have been reinstated.  LaMonte Wade Jr. was optioned to the alternate training site in a corresponding move, and righty Juan Minaya has been designated for assignment.

9:07AM: The Twins didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline but will still receive some key additions this week. Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets that center fielder Byron Buxton will be activated from the injured list today, while right-hander Michael Pineda will return from his reduced 60-game PED suspension tonight as well. Third baseman Josh Donaldson will be reinstated from the IL tomorrow, Hayes adds.

The Twins have faceplanted over the past week, dropping six straight games to fall to third place in the American League Central. They’re still in playoff position but are now slotted in as a No. 7 seed under the expanded format, whereas they’d previously been in the mix for the top overall seed in the American League. There’s still time to right the ship, of course, particularly with six more games against the first-place White Sox and three more against the second-place Indians still on the schedule.

Buxton began the season in a 1-for-15 slump but has hit .264 with five homers and a .566 slugging percentage in 15 games since. Unfortunately, he’s only drawn one walk on the year, leaving him with an ugly slash line of .221/.225/.456. He’s been out since Aug. 20 due to shoulder inflammation, but the hope will be that he can continue his power output while showing a bit more discipline to boost that OBP in a meaningful way. Buxton’s glovework remains sound as ever; he’s checked in at +5 Defensive Runs Saved and a +3.0 Ultimate Zone Rating in just 170 innings.

Pineda, meanwhile, will make his season debut when he’s reinstated from the restricted list. The Twins re-signed the big righty to a two-year, $20MM contract over the winter, knowing full well he’d need to miss 39 games under the 60-game PED ban he received late last year. Of course, at the time, the expectation was that those 39 games would represent just 24 percent of the 162-game schedule — not 65 percent of a 60-game schedule.

The 31-year-old Pineda was a key member of the Twins’ staff prior to last year’s suspension, logging 146 innings with a 4.01 ERA and 4.02 FIP. He’ll join a rotation mix that also includes Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, Rich Hill and Randy Dobnak.

As for Donaldson, he’s played just seven games this year due to a calf strain — an injury that president of baseball operations Derek Falvey recently said the team approached in a deliberately conservative manner given the slugger’s history with calf issues. Donaldson, who inked a four-year, $92MM deal with the Twins in the offseason, opened the season in a 4-for-22 skid, though he belted 37 homers with an even .900 OPS for the Braves a season ago. Marwin Gonzalez has received the bulk of playing time at third base in Donaldson’s absence and struggled at the plate (.225/.299/.324). He’ll likely return to a super-utility role when Donaldson is activated.

Trade Notes: Mets, Twins, Pirates, Red Sox

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Typically one for bold and confident statements, Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen offered a more measured approach when asked about the trade deadline this week, per Newsday’s Tim Healey. While the Mets will be open to making improvements, Van Wagenen spoke of exercising caution and being “responsible for the future of the organization.” The agent-turned-GM added that he expects other clubs to take a similarly conservative approach due to the short nature of the 2020 season — particularly the post-deadline period. None of this rules out a move of note for the Mets, and Van Wagenen went to the oft-used “opportunistic” as an adjective to describe his mentality as Monday’s deadline loom.

The Mets dropped both games of yesterday’s doubleheader against the Marlins, falling to 12-16 in the process. However, they’re part of a tightly bunched group of NL clubs with mediocre records. The Pirates are currently the only team in the NL more than 2.5 games back from a potential playoff spot.

Some more trade chatter from around the game…

  • The Twins are tied with the Rays for the second-best record in the American League, but a major move to further separate them from the pack may not be in the offing. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey instead emphasized to Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune the importance of getting some key internal reinforcements in the near future. Righty Michael Pineda will be eligible to return from a reduced PED suspension Sunday, adding a big arm to the club’s rotation mix. Likewise, third baseman Josh Donaldson, out for much of this month with a calf issue, is nearing a return. Falvey acknowledged taking an overly “conservative” approach to Donaldson’s rehab, given his history of calf troubles and the desire to have him at 100 percent for the playoff push. The Twins are open to trade opportunities, of course, but don’t seem as pressed to make a move thanks to their strong start and existing depth.
  • On the opposite side of the coin, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is “trying to sell everything,” one rival executive tells Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. That’s hardly a surprise given the Pirates’ miserable start to the 2020 season and the recent regime change that installed Cherington atop the baseball ops hierarchy. Cherington will have a difficult line to walk as his best chips (Keone Kela and Joe Musgrove) have injury concern while others who should be appealing (e.g. Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell, Adam Frazier) have gotten out to disastrous starts that will likely weaken the offers submitted by other clubs (or eliminate interest entirely).
  • Christian Vazquez knows that the Red Sox will be fielding offers for him over the next five days, writes Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, but he hopes to remain in Boston and says he’d prefer to spend his whole career with the Sox. That’s obviously out of his control at the moment, with the Sox likely willing to move just about anyone outside of Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers. As Speier examines, the history of starting catchers changing hands and making a sizable impact during deadline season is more limited than some might think. Vazquez himself weighed in on the challenges that would exist in jumping to a new club and trying to educate himself on a new pitching staff and build a rapport with so many new arms, likening it to being a “rookie” all over again. Vazquez is guaranteed $6.25MM in 2021 and has a $7MM option for the 2022 season, though, which does make him a rather appealing trade target for clubs with catching needs that span beyond 2020.

A Mariners-Yankees Blockbuster That Busted

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If we go back eight years to January 2012, we’ll find a huge trade centering on two players who looked to be among the premier young building blocks in Major League Baseball at the time. The Mariners sent right-hander Michael Pineda and fellow righty Vicente Campos to the Yankees for catcher Jesus Montero and RHP Hector Noesi. As it turned out, though, the swap didn’t go according to plan for either side.

Pineda was the most proven major leaguer in the trade when it happened, and that hasn’t changed. Then 22 years old, he debuted in the majors in 2011 and fired 171 innings of 3.74 ERA/3.42 FIP ball with 9.11 K/9 and 2.89 BB/9 to serve as one of the majors’ top rookies. But that All-Star season wasn’t enough for the Mariners to keep Pineda. Instead, desperate for a big hitter to build around, they shipped Pineda to New York in an attempt to bolster their offense.

It was easy to dream on Montero when the trade occurred. He was a 22-year-old who was once grouped with the likes of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper and considered among the top-notch prospects in baseball. And Montero terrorized opposing pitchers during his first major league stint late in the 2011 season, hitting .328/.406/.590 with four home runs in 69 plate appearances (perhaps you remember the first two homers of his career). Expectations then mounted that Montero would hold his own in the majors, whether with the Yankees or someone else, but that didn’t happen.

Instead, as a member of the Mariners from 2012-15, Montero stumbled to an overall .247/.285/.383 line with 24 homers in 796 plate appearances. The big-bodied Montero was never an ideal fit for the catcher position, where he logged just 735 innings as a Mariner and accounted for minus-20 Defensive Runs Saved. Clearly not the savior they thought he’d be, the Mariners cut ties with Montero heading into the 2016 season. Montero has since spent time in the Blue Jays’ and Orioles’ system, not to mention stints in Mexico and Venezuela, but he has not appeared in the majors since his Seattle tenure concluded.

It’s still hard to believe Montero flamed out so quickly. After all, at the time of the trade, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman compared Montero to two of the greatest players of the past few decades, saying: “To me, Montero is Mike Piazza. He’s Miguel Cabrera.”

Not so much. New York didn’t lose out on another Piazza or Cabrera, and it did come out on the better side of the trade, but that’s not really saying a lot. Pineda missed what would have been his first season with the Yankees as a result of the April 2012 right labrum surgery he underwent. He also sat out the next season, but he did pitch to a solid 4.16 ERA/3.65 FIP with 9.09 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 across 509 innings and 89 starts in pinstripes from 2014-17. Not bad at all, but Pineda underwent yet another surgery – Tommy John – in the last of those seasons and never took the hill for the Yankees again. His career’s still going, though, as he performed well enough for the Twins in 2019 to convince them to re-sign him to a two-year, $20MM guarantee last offeason.

Almost a decade after the fact, Pineda’s the lone quality big leaguer left from this trade. Noesi hasn’t amounted to much in the majors so far – he even spent time in Korea – and settled for a minors deal with the Pirates last December. But at least Noesi has actually pitched in MLB on a fairly consistent basis. The same can’t be said for Campos, a once-impressive prospect whom injuries have helped ruin. Now 27, Campos is a free agent who most recently pitched in the Mexican League last season. He totaled 5 2/3 frames as a Diamondback in 2016, but that’s the extent of his big league work.

On one hand, credit goes to the Yankees for getting more out of this trade than the Mariners. On the other, it’s fair to call it a disappointment for the two clubs, both of which thought they were getting at least one long-term cornerstone apiece. The Montero and Noesi tenures in Seattle didn’t work out at all. Pineda had his moments as a Yankee, but they were too few in number, and Campos didn’t come close to realizing his potential. In light of Pineda’s decent contributions as a Yankee, you can’t call this trade a complete disaster, but it certainly didn’t live up to the hype.

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