Betts/Price to LA for Verdugo/Jeter Downs/TBA

Status
Not open for further replies.

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,850
So we get a guy with a bad back and the #88 prospect in baseball according to MLB’s rankings. Highly underwhelming.
You're full of sunshine. H'e #33 on other lists and the "bad back" is already a tiresome thing.
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
I don’t really get this from the Twins perspective either. They gave up their best pitching prospect who is almost MLB-ready for just Kenta Maeda?
 

Tokyo Sox

Baka Gaijin
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Feb 16, 2006
6,134
There
Pederson to the Angels? Until I'm told otherwise, I'm assuming Trout is coming back.
Any time you can trade a top 5 player in the league and a good pitcher (albeit on a negative contract) for a mediocre outfielder with a bad back, you have to jump on that.
Maybe we're getting Rocco Baldelli to fill the manager spot
We don’t know if This is true.
It could be 1 player and all of Price.
These are my favorites so far.
 

Hee Sox Choi

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 27, 2006
6,133
Brusdar via ProspectsLive: 60/50

Triple-digit fastball led to major league debut, but advances in secondaries could lead to a rotation future

Since he returned from Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2016 season, Graterol has been the talk of the Twins system. His triple-digit velocity and a wicked slider had many projecting big things on him, especially after he was able to handle 102 innings in 2018.

Shoulder impingement in mid-May sidelined Graterol until the very end of July when he returned as a reliever for the rest of the season. Pitching out of the bullpen the rest of the way, Graterol didn’t have a chance to display the advancement of his curve that he’d flashed at times in the early part of the season.

In his major league time, Graterol was used exclusively in relief, averaging 99 mph on his hard sinker and just under 90 mph on his hard slider in short bursts. The pitches work back a couple ticks as a starter, but one thing to note from the season is that Graterol exhibited much better control in the bullpen, with a walk rate under seven percent while he was just over 10 percent as a starter before his injury.

Graterol’s work in the bullpen had him much taller in his delivery and releasing at more of a high 3/4 arm slot, which allowed him to get better control over his fastball and change with good angle on his slider. I wonder how that would work on the curve as he was more true 3/4 arm slot and got into his legs in his delivery as a starter early in the year. His curve was more of a show me pitch in the bullpen after showing marked improvement in his time starting pre-injury in 2019. A second above-average breaking ball to go with his elite fastball would certainly give Graterol a potential frontline future, but losing that pitch could similarly point his future more toward a dominant bullpen role.
 

Cesar Crespo

79
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2002
21,588
Grarerol also made the majors last year and is only 21. Young cheap ML ready starters are good.

Calling him ML ready is a stretch since it was 10.2 innings, and if he is going to be starting... well he needs to be stretched out.
 

ehaz

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 30, 2007
4,948
FWIW Graterol ranks ahead of Josiah Gray per MLB top 100.

Why would the Twins trade him straight up for Maeda?
 

Average Game James

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 28, 2016
4,346
twins moved him to the pen to bring hm up but i imagine we throw him in AAA and let him be a starter until he proves he cant hack it. with JDM probably gone after next season, we should have some money to spend next offseason. curious to see if we spend it
Either that or he pitches 3-4 inning stunts after an opener if Chaim imports that model from Tampa
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 19, 2015
5,398
If people think they're only going to win 80, then might as well flip JD and maybe some other pieces for prospects too.
 

Devizier

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 3, 2000
19,472
Somewhere
Mostly annoyed that the Dodgers basically got the most with the least. Feels like the Twins considerably overpaid for Maeda, but at least the Red Sox benefit.
.
 

Tyrone Biggums

nfl meets tri-annually at a secret country mansion
SoSH Member
Aug 15, 2006
6,424
Underwhelming return. But I guess 2 building blocks for the future that have had injury issues?
 

moondog80

heart is two sizes two small
SoSH Member
Sep 20, 2005
8,105
I don’t really get this from the Twins perspective either. They gave up their best pitching prospect who is almost MLB-ready for just Kenta Maeda?
Maeda is crazy cheap. 12.5 mil total for the next 4 years.
 

bankshot1

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 12, 2003
24,661
where I was last at
So if i understand this correctly, the take away is we helped improve the Twins chances of beating the Yankees in the ALDS with some more starting pitching, (right) and then the LAD's chances of beating the Ys in the Series.
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,333
The key is not this move, but the next ones. Trading Lester was a mistake, but it was exacerbated by accepting a subpar and not cost-controlled return (only salvaged by the later Porcello trade) and then splurging on an inferior pitcher anyway. We spent years chasing the mistake of letting Beltre walk to bring in A-Gon the more expensive binky and everything that came with it.

Interested to see where the reset takes us. No recent Sox team has really had the chance to do it in earnest.
 

Average Game James

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 28, 2016
4,346
I don’t really get this from the Twins perspective either. They gave up their best pitching prospect who is almost MLB-ready for just Kenta Maeda?
This is the one thing that gives me pause as well... if he’s such a great prospect, why are the Twins trading him for a mediocre return?
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,387
Verdugo should become a very good MLB outfielder and Graterol has #1 potential. Both guys costing nothing. If you’re gonna deal Mookie and Price, this is the kind of return you’re hoping for realistically.

I’m super bummed to see Mookie go, but I’m already excited to see the new guys.
 

johnnywayback

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 8, 2004
1,421
The key is not this move, but the next ones. Trading Lester was a mistake, but it was exacerbated by accepting a subpar and not cost-controlled return (only salvaged by the later Porcello trade) and then splurging on an inferior pitcher anyway. We spent years chasing the mistake of letting Beltre walk to bring in A-Gon the more expensive binky and everything that came with it.

Interested to see where the reset takes us. No recent Sox team has really had the chance to do it in earnest.
Very smart post. They clearly were willing to sacrifice some return to get further under the threshold -- I wonder if there's a prospects-for-pitching trade or something else in the pipeline.
 

sean1562

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 17, 2011
3,620
also twins have to be the favorite in that division. Brusdar probably needs another year in AAA so MAeda gives them a MLB pitcher now
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
This is the one thing that gives me pause as well... if he’s such a great prospect, why are the Twins trading him for a mediocre return?
Maybe the Angels (who are trading for Pederson from LAD) are sending something to the Twins? Agreed this part is confusing still.
 

Pitt the Elder

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 7, 2013
4,419
twins moved him to the pen to bring hm up but i imagine we throw him in AAA and let him be a starter until he proves he cant hack it. with JDM probably gone after next season, we should have some money to spend next offseason. curious to see if we spend it
I hear a really talented right fielder is going to be a free agent.
 

pdaj

Fantasy Maven
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,385
From Springfield to Providence
I was hoping Bloom would find a way to include Stripling, but he’s a valuable arm for a team vying for a World Series. At the least, he’s an above average RP with the ability to go 2+ often. He could have been a sneaky closer option, also. Durability issues seemed to limit his SP upside, but he would have been a fun addition. Oh well.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,387
This is the one thing that gives me pause as well... if he’s such a great prospect, why are the Twins trading him for a mediocre return?
The Twins are trying to win it all NOW. Maeda helps them more than Graterol does with that and he doesn’t even cost much money for them. I totally see the rationale here for them.
 

scottyno

late Bloomer
SoSH Member
Dec 7, 2008
11,308
i will never, ever understand the whole payroll reduction thing for a team valued in the billions owned by a sports group valued at many more billions. i hate this so much. emotions are high, but i'm sorry, despite all the championships in the world, unless there's something we don't know, this ownership group makes no sense.
0 mlb teams are consistently living above the luxury tax anymore, yankees did this same reset a few years ago, dodgers haven't been over the tax in a few years, it's not a red sox ownership thing, it's an all of baseball thing
 

cornwalls@6

Less observant than others
SoSH Member
Apr 23, 2010
6,249
from the wilds of western ma
Yup. If you listen to the fans, you’ll be sitting with them soon enough.

With the farm system bare, they’re going to need to spend shrewdly to compete in the early 2020s. Committing $35 million or more per year to a right fielder isn’t consistent with that. So even in the short to medium term, this was a necessary move. I’m not happy with the moves DD made to make this move necessary, but kudos to CB for being decisive.

Edit: I like the deal a lot less if we’re picking up half the tab for Price.
I don’t disagree about not paying the kind of long term contact that’s been reported, but if they’re not getting a significant prospect haul back, and this was strictly a cost cutting move, then screw them. I’d have much rather kept him and Price for this year, and seen how it played out. If they contended all year, I could have easily lived with just getting the compensatory pick for Mookie when he walks after the season. If not, make the best deadline deal you can and start the reset next year. Full disclosure, I’m coming at this from the perspective of partial season ticket holder, or more accurately, sub-contractor, who drops a fair amount of money on this team every year. With their resources, they should never be punting a season. They’re not the Marlins.
 
Last edited:

grimshaw

Member
SoSH Member
May 16, 2007
4,220
Portland
Calling him ML ready is a stretch since it was 10.2 innings, and if he is going to be starting... well he needs to be stretched out.
Semantics. He has already pitched in the majors is what I am getting at. It's not like he's going to be down in the minors for years.
 

CreedBratton

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 6, 2009
3,753
If you believe this, you should love the trade. Even if Mookie would’ve turned that 80 wins into 87, that’s probably not good enough to make the coin-flip game, and there would be little prospect of improvement in 2021 due to a total lack of financial flexibility.
I just love rooting for awesome homegrown talent & Mookie is a generational talent. Easily my fav player to watch in the last 30 years after Ortiz. I would have just resigned him cause the Red Sox should act like the Red Sox & not the Pittsburgh Pirates, but regardless of the $ & everyone else involved, this is a really really shitty day to be a fan of the Sox when you lose an all time home grown player that is so insanely likeable.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.