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Why the Minnesota Twins should trade Eddie Rosario

By Chris Schad

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - JUNE 02: Eddie Rosario #20 of the Minnesota Twins reacts after striking out to Ryan Yarbrough #48 of the Tampa Bay Rays during the second inning at Tropicana Field on June 02, 2019 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - JUNE 02: Eddie Rosario #20 of the Minnesota Twins reacts after striking out to Ryan Yarbrough #48 of the Tampa Bay Rays during the second inning at Tropicana Field on June 02, 2019 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – SEPTEMBER 11: Eddie Rosario #20 of the Minnesota Twins reacts to flying out against the Washington Nationals during the eighth inning of the interleague game at Target Field on September 11, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Nationals defeated the Twins 6-2. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – SEPTEMBER 11: Eddie Rosario #20 of the Minnesota Twins reacts to flying out against the Washington Nationals during the eighth inning of the interleague game at Target Field on September 11, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Nationals defeated the Twins 6-2. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

The reasoning to trade Rosario

On the surface, trading Eddie Rosario would be one of the most unpopular moves the Twins could do this offseason. The 28-year old is coming off a career season with the Twins and after smashing 32 home runs and recording his first 100+ RBI campaign, the thought of having Rosario in the middle of the Twins’ lineup for years to come is certainly enticing.

But if you dig deeper than the traditional stats, Rosario’s 2019 season was a strong one, but not one that may be sustainable for years to come.

While Rosario posted a respectable .276 average for the Twins this season, his on-base percentage was a meager .300, which ranked 49th among MLB outfielders and 21 points below the league-average mark of .321.

While he was able to make up for it by hitting the balls over the fence, his penchant for swinging at anything near the strike zone was a huge factor as Rosario chased pitches out of the zone at a whopping 46.3%, the fourth-highest rate among MLB hitters last season according to FanGraphs.

Those flaws showed up during the Twins’ latest postseason defeat to the Yankees and while he was able to hit several dramatic home runs since throwing on a Minnesota uniform, it throws a wrench in the Twins’ ability to string together multi-run innings.

Outside of the performance at the plate, Rosario is also due a hefty raise thanks to becoming arbitration-eligible. While this will get the “Pohlads are cheap” truthers going, it makes sense as Zone Coverage’s Brandon Warne estimated back in August that Rosario could make around $18-$20 million over his next two seasons of arbitration.

While it seems like Pohlad family would be just cutting pennies here, a trade should allow the team to use those funds elsewhere to sign the free-agent pitcher we all want to see the Twins sign or even some depth that would help lessen the blow of major injuries down the line.

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