MLB Trade Deadline Rumors: 5 trades Twins should make
Still in the mix in both the AL Central and Wild Card standings, the Minnesota Twins have an opportunity to improve at the MLB trade deadline.
We all love Bartolo Colon. The 44-year-old, 285-pound right-hander is one of the most universally fan favorite players in the major leagues. We love it when he pitches. We love it when he swings a bat. We completely lost it when he hit a home run. Not even a 50-game PED suspension in 2012 – a death sentence to most – could bring down the lovable Colon in our eyes.
However, as much as we love him, if Bartolo Colon has a place in your team’s starting rotation, it doesn’t exactly bode well for your pitching staff.
Colon was a fan favorite with the New York Mets from 2014-16, and he even made the NL All-Star team in 2016 after a strong start to the season. Nevertheless, after Colon posted a 15-8 record and 3.43 ERA over 191.2 innings, the Mets let Colon walk, and he signed a free agent deal with the Atlanta Braves.
Just 13 starts into his Braves career – Colon’s ninth MLB franchise in 20 years – he was released. Colon posted an 8.19 ERA and 5.07 FIP in 63 innings with Atlanta, and though Braves fans, like all baseball fans, loved him, it appeared Colon had finally pitched his last game as a big leaguer.
Enter the Minnesota Twins. Somehow, despite allowing 489 runs through their first 94 games this season, which is the third most all of baseball, the Twins have a 48-46 record and entered Thursday just a half-game out of first place in the AL Central and second Wild Card spot. The Twins rank 27th in the majors with a 4.80 team ERA, and Minnesota starters rank 24th with a 4.91 ERA.
In other words, the Twins need pitching if they hope to make it to the postseason. And as much as we love Colon, who signed with team No. 10 in July, he isn’t the answer. With that in mind, we explore five pitchers the Twins should acquire at the upcoming MLB trade deadline.
5. Trade for Jaime Garcia
The Twins have several pitching prospects at the top levels of their farm system. In MLB.com’s Top 30 Twins prospects list, five of the top eight minor league players in the organization are pitchers and all five are pitching at Double-A Chattanooga. Therefore, it’s conceivable that one or two of the talented young pitchers is ready for his major league debut this season, and a couple more will be ready for the big leagues in 2018.
Long-term help is on the way, but isn’t ready yet. Therefore, one route the Twins should take this summer is to add a rental starting pitcher. The Braves are in a similar situation (hence the Colon signing), but entering play Thursday 8.5 games out of a postseason spot, the Braves are likely to be sellers. Atlanta lefty Jaime Garcia, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, should therefore be available.
Garcia has been solid if not spectacular since joining the Braves after a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals over the offseason. In 17 starts, the 30-year old has a 4.33 ERA and 4.24 FIP with 81 strikeouts and 40 walks in 106 innings. He’s been knocked around at times, including a string of four consecutive starts from June 17-July 5 in which he allowed at least five earned runs. But Garcia is also capable of shutting down a lineup on any given night.
In his last start, Garcia held the Diamondbacks to just one run on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings. It was the sixth time this season Garcia had help an opponent to two or fewer runs, and the fifth time he completed at least seven innings.