The Minnesota Twins officially said goodbye to Simeon Woods Richardson when they traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night. The deal, in which the Twins received cash considerations in return, was a disappointing ending for Woods Richardson’s time in Minnesota but it also gave fans flashbacks to one of the biggest moves of the Derek Falvey era.
The former president of baseball and business operations, Falvey traded Jose Berríos to the Toronto Blue Jays in the summer of 2021 in exchange for Woods Richardson and outfielder Austin Martin. While the move looked great at the time with two top 100 prospects coming back to Minnesota, Woods Richardson’s departure paints the deal in a different light and adds another stain on Falvey’s time with the Twins.
Derek Falvey’s tenure looks even worse after Twins dump Simeon Woods Richardson
Looking at the original concept of the deal, the Twins got a haul. Woods Richardson was a 20-year-old who was originally drafted by the New York Mets and sent to Toronto as part of a 2019 deal that included Marcus Stroman. Meanwhile Martin was the fifth overall pick and labeled as the “best pure hitter” in the 2020 MLB Entry Draft according to MLB Pipeline’s scouting report.
While Martin struggled to find his power, Woods Richardson appeared to be capable of replacing Berríos after going 5-3 with a 2.93 ERA and making his major league debut at the end of the 2022 season. A setback during the 2023 campaign saw him in the minor leagues but he became a full-time major leaguer in 2024, going 5-5 with a 4.17 ERA, 48 walks and 117 strikeouts in 133.2 innings.
After going 7-4 with a 4.04 ERA with 46 walks and 107 strikeouts in 111.1 innings in 2025, there were big expectations entering 2026 but that went south in a hurry. In addition to an MLB-high seven losses, Woods Richardson posted a 7.74 ERA in 47.2 innings. His control was also a key issue with 25 walks compared to 26 strikeouts and the Twins threw in the towel by designating him for assignment last weekend.
Woods Richardson wasn’t going to command much since the Twins were willing to get rid of him anyway. But for a former top 100 prospect who is still just 25 years old, it isn’t what Falvey had in mind when he traded Berríos.
Martin has been able to become a serviceable MLB player this season but has been an average hitter with a career .263/.347/.354 line with four homers, 40 RBI and 26 stolen bases in 199 career games. Meanwhile, Berríos had nearly identical stats with the Blue Jays (53-39, 4.09 ERA) that he with the Twins (55-43, 4.08 ERA) before undergoing Tommy John surgery last month.
The situation was complicated as Berríos and the front office led by Falvey disagreed on his market value and the Twins would have likely lost him for nothing considering he agreed to a seven-year, $131 million contract extension shortly after arriving in Toronto. But you could argue that happened anyway as Martin hasn’t lived up to the Michael Jordan (basketball) comparison Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin gave him coming out of college and Woods Richardson was sold to Toronto like a rotting table at a garage sale.
In the end, the Berríos trade looks a lot like Falvey’s other mistakes including Josh Donaldson’s big free agent contract in 2020 and Carlos Correa’s second contract with the Twins after failing two physicals over the winter. It’s something that continues to look worse and continues to make Falvey’s time with the Twins an overall failure.
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