Minnesota Twins Start and End Sunday With Massive Trades
The Minnesota Twins made two massive trades on Sunday, and Twins fans should expect even more moves to be made in the near future.
With Spring Training games getting underway on Thursday, the Twins have wasted no time shaking things up.
Minnesota Twins Make Three Trades in Two Days
First, the Twins made their first move post-lockout trading catcher Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers for shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and a prospect, according to Ken Rosenthal.
The Twins kept the deals moving Sunday by trading for starting pitcher Sonny Gray and shipped out their 2021 1st-round pick Chase Petty.
The 32-year-old Gray will most likely be the Twins Opening Day starter. He went 7-9 last year with 155 strikeouts and a 4.19 ERA in 139 innings for the Cincinnati Reds.
Then, the Twins made their biggest move of the day late Sunday night as they traded third baseman Josh Donaldson, Kiner-Falea (who they just acquired for Garver), and catcher Ben Rortvedt to the New York Yankees for third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Gary Sanchez.
Sanchez, 29, hit .204 a year ago with 23 home runs and 52 RBIs. He struck out 121 times. Urshela, 30, hit .267 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs last season.
What Could Be Next For The Minnesota Twins?
It was a very busy weekend in Twins Territory, but what can fans expect next?
The Twins still have holes to fill in their roster, mostly in the starting rotation, and they are in the market for a position player.
It is tough to say who those possible targets could be, but by trading away Donaldson and the $50 million left on his contract the Twins could be looking to spend big. Trevor Story is a possibility at shortstop (although, that is a bit of a dream for fans).
The Twins could be interested in starting pitcher Johnny Cueto and they could have an interest in bringing back Michael Pineda to help fill out the rotation.
The Twins front office spoke about how they had every intention to compete this year and did not want to call it a "rebuilding" season. These trades are setting up for the Twins to make more moves before the regular season gets underway.
The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman may have put it best what Twins fans felt during the second trade of the day, Sunday.
The types of moves the Twins have been making, make it even harder to predict what could be next. Expectations are they add a starting pitcher and another infielder through free agency, but anything is possible.
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