As acting Minnesota Twins GM in a fake and for fun simulation here at FanSided here is a trade made to try and bolster the Twins starting rotation.
The Minnesota Twins are beginning to lay the groundwork on what should be another active offseason for the club. As the real teams are doing that the MLB division here at FanSided has been running our own offseason simulation with site experts like myself acting as each teams General Manager.
We can do just about anything you would in a normal offseason. There are simply some adjusted methods in which we accomplish those tasks to help keep everyone sane in the three day window we have to conduct this simulation. In the coming days I will explain some more of that process, but for now I wanted to write about the trade I made to kick off the festivities of the simulation.
I know, I know how could I trade away Eddie Rosario! Before you throw virtual tomatoes my way or close your browser window, hear me out. It seems like a trade involving Rosario or Max Kepler are very real possibilities this winter if the right deal presents itself. If you have been reading along at all you also know I value Kepler higher than Rosario and I thought this would be much more of a one-for-one deal. It was actually a deal I suggested if you read our Trade Partner Profile on the Atlanta Braves.
That said, Julio Teheran is the big get in this trade. Teheran is a durable right-handed starting pitcher who Braves fans are a bit tired of because of his tendency to give up the long ball. With all the young arms kicking down the door to the majors the team may be looking to capitalize on his value and the Twins would benefit from an upgrade to the top end of their rotation.
While Braves fans are frustrated in him, Teheran still looks like a Top 20-30 starting pitcher in the majors. Benjamin Chase at Tomahawk Take (formerly here at Puckett’s Pond) laid out some stats in a recent post on Teheran that are very telling of his value. Over the past four seasons Teheran is 4th in games started (189), 11th in Innings (1,159.1) and Quality Starts (116), 16th in strikeouts (1,007), and 22nd in bWAR (16.8).
Teheran would provide the Twins with another arm to go next to Jose Berrios at the top of the starting rotation. Along with him the Twins also get Kolby Allard who has been a top-100 prospect in the past. The reason the Braves would be willing to part ways with the Braves is partly because of the amount of pitching talent they have, but also because Allard has shown a drop in velocity over the last couple seasons.
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The thing is even with the drop in velocity Allard continues to produce results. At 20-years-old Allard logged 112.1 innings at Triple-A with a 2.72 ERA, a 89/34 K/BB rate, and a 1.211 WHIP. Allard is just about ready to pitch in the majors after getting his first taste in 2018. His first three game appearances didn’t go well this season as he gave up 11 earned runs in 8.0 innings, but in his first try at 20-years-old it is nothing to be alarmed of.
Shane Carle provides a bullpen depth arm that is intriguing at 27-years-old. This past season he appeared in 53 games pitched 63.0 innings and turned in a 2.86 ERA. Carle hasn’t doesn’t seem to have an ability to strike a lot of batters out but clearly got results with his mix of a mid-90s fastball and off-speed stuff in 2018. The Twins need to continue to upgrade their bullpen. Carle may be someone who can help in that or else he has options if the Twins (or me) were to acquire some other arms for the bullpen along the simulation.
Trade away Rosario, Really?
Finally, why give up Rosario? Top reason he has value and I see him as expendable considering the presence of outfielders on the roster such as Jake Cave, LaMonte Wade, and Brent Rooker. Those three will become first in line to take over left field in my mind. Also, while Rosario had great final numbers he really only had 2 really good months in 2018. The rest were acceptable or bad.
August and July are the two months which become Rosario’s third and fourth best months of the 2018 season. In those months combined he slashed .259/.293/.352 with a .644 OPS and 4 home runs in 52 games. You know who that sounds like? Jake Cave, whose season numbers came out to .265/.313/.473, a .786 OPS, and 13 home runs over 91 games. I really like Rosario as a fan as he is really fun to watch, but considering he seems replaceable with the Twins system he becomes expendable for the right deal.
Twins 2018 draft pick Andrew Cabezas is included to help fill out the Twins offer. The 18th round pick went 1-3 in his debut with the Elizabethton Twins and had a 2.73 ERA and a 44/14 K/BB rate. Cabezas very well might develop into something, but being as far off as he is he isn’t helping the Twins in 2019 and Teheran, Allard, and Carle all could.
There it is! The start to the GM simulations and what I would do if I were calling the shots for the Twins. What are your thoughts? Let me know if you like this move or if you are ready to fire me! Most importantly stick around to see what free agents I am able to acquire throughout the simulation.