Minnesota Twins Trade No. 2: Twins grab a Rental before the Deadline ends.
Minnesota Twins Get: RHP Michael Fulmer
The Twins’ final move of the deadline was to get Michael Fulmer from their division rival Detroit Tigers. Fulmer, the 2016 American League Rookie of the Year, has excelled ever since turning into a reliever, posting a stellar 3.06 ERA (3.37 FIP) and 112-40 K-BB ratio in 93 games over the last two years.
Sure, he’s walked more batters in 2022 than he had in 2021, and his fastball velocity has dropped slightly, but the only real downside here is that Fulmer hits free agency at the end of the year. He’s been an exceptionally valuable reliever for the Tigers, and he was my No. 9 Relief Pitching Trade Candidate this year.
Detroit Tigers Get: RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long
In order to get Fulmer, the Twins parted ways with Sawyer Gipson-Long, our No. 25 prospect on the Midseason Top 50 Prospects list. He started out hot at High-A this year, but has struggled mightily at Double-A this year. Just take a look at his two stat lines at the different levels.
- High-A: 10 GS, 5-2 W-L, 1.99 ERA, 0.926 WHIP, 52-13 K-BB ratio
- Double-AA: 8 G, 7 GS, 3-4 W-L, 7.17 ERA, 1.381 WHIP, 35-6 K-BB ratio
Gipson-Long is almost 25, and he’s getting hit hard in AA, dishing out 11.0 H/9 while his strikeout rate has dipped to 8.4 K/9. He’s a got the stuff to be a solid starter, but he has a long way to go before he gets there.
Final Grade:
I like Gipson-Long a lot, and he’s a great guy who I wish the best for, but the Twins absolutely fleeced the Tigers here. He doesn’t seem likely to reach his ceiling, and he looks at least two years away from the majors. In return, the Twins got a playoff-caliber reliever who slots in behind Jhoan Duran and Jorge Lopez on the massively improved bullpen hierarchy. Grade: A.