Have the Twins won more trades than they've lost under Derek Falvey and Thad Levine?
If you're a late-night baseball fan, you probably know what Brent Rooker is doing with the Oakland Athletics.
The former Twins outfielder has been raking this season, hitting .319 while leading the American League with a .428 on-base percentage and leading the majors with a .673 slugging percentage and a 1.100 OPS. His 11 home runs lead the American League and his latest bomb served as the walk-off blast in a 9-7 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
#mntwins could have used Brent Rooker pic.twitter.com/0PA3Fgj3xB
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) May 13, 2023
Meanwhile in Minnesota, the Twins rank 22nd in runs scored and have put up three runs or fewer in eight of their past 11 games. Chris Paddack, who is one of the players acquired for Rooker, isn't expected to pitch in 2023 after tearing his UCL for the second time in April 2022, and the Twins recently announced that trade deadline acquisition Tyler Mahle will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery.
With a lengthy list of players that have broken out somewhere other in Minnesota, it feels like the Twins' front office have been fleeced more than most in Major League Baseball. But have Derek Falvey and Thad Levine won more trades than they lost, or are they the guys other teams go to get a good deal?
Twins Daily user Thiéres Rabelo posted a list of all 37 trades made under the Falvey and Levine dating back to 2016. While the Twins have come up on the short end of several deals, they've also had their share of victories, while others are yet to be decided.
The Good
OF Nelson Cruz to the Tampa Bay Rays for SP Joe Ryan and SP Drew Strotman – July 2021
A lot of attention has been drawn to the trade deadline deals that didn't work out, but one of the current front office's masterpieces was flipping an aging veteran in Cruz for a top-of-the-rotation arm in Ryan.
Cruz was instrumental in the Twins' success in 2019 and 2020, but was starting to age himself out of the team's competitive window. With the Twins desperate for arms, they called the Rays, who seem to be a factory at producing home-grown pitching.
Cruz spent 55 games with the Rays but hit .226/.283/.442 with 13 home runs. The now 42-year-old played last season with the Washington Nationals and is currently with the San Diego Padres, but he didn't have the same impact on the playoff-bound Rays that Ryan is having for the Twins.
In 39 career starts, Ryan has a 20-10 record and 3.39 ERA. At age 27, he is currently in the best season of his career, owning a 5-1 record and 2.45 ERA. While he might not be the Twins' ace, he has been a stabilizing presence on the mound, which qualifies as one of Falvey and Levine's biggest victories.
3B Eduardo Escobar to the Arizona Diamondbacks for OF Ernie De La Trinidad, OF Gabriel Maciel and RHP Jhoan Duran – July 2018
The summer of 2018 was a frustrating one for Twins fans as they couldn't build off a playoff appearance the previous season. With the team falling out of contention, the front office moved a pair of fan favorites. While the deal for Brian Dozier didn't work out, dealing Eduardo Escobar netted the Twins their future closer.
Jhoan Duran was in Class-A ball at the time and had the potential to become a great starter. After going 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched at Low-A Cedar Rapids, Duran struck out 136 batters in 115 innings between High-A Fort Myers and Double-A Pensacola during the 2019 season.
Eventually, elbow issues forced Duran to the bullpen. It turned out to be a great career move as Duran has a 1.86 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 82.1 innings in the majors.
The Diamondbacks didn't get completely shelled in this trade as Escobar hit .269/.320/.511 for Arizona in 2019, but the Twins at least got something out of the deal. While De La Trinidad and Maciel didn't pan out, Duran certainly did, which scores another victory for the Twins.
1B Lewin Diaz to the Miami Marlins for RP Sergio Romo and SP Chris Vallimont – August 2019
Declaring victory in a deal for a relief pitcher is a stretch, but in the summer of 2019, every arm counted for the Twins bullpen.
Unlike the deal that brought Sam Dyson to Minnesota, Romo turned out to be a critical reliever for the Twins. He posted a 3.18 ERA in 22.2 innings over the final two months of the 2019 season and returned to post a 4.05 ERA in 20.0 innings in 2020.
That may seem like a modest return, but the Twins didn't give anything up by sending Diaz to Miami. In parts of three major league seasons, Díaz hit .181/.227/.340 with 13 homers over 112 games. Díaz is currently in the Baltimore Orioles system.
2B Luis Arráez to the Miami Marlins for SP Pablo López, SS Jose Salas and OF Byron Chourio – January 2023
This is one of those "good for both teams" deal, with the Twins getting what looks like a true top-of-the-rotation starter in López, while sending the hit machine Arráez to Florida.
With the Twins having Jorge Polanco to play 2B, Arráez found himself shunted around the infield and with prospects like Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee soon to be called up, the Twins had talent to spare.
Could the Twins have used Arráez's bat this season? Definitely, as there have definitely been some struggles at the plate so far, but through eight starts Lopez owns a 3.47 ERA and 1.07 WHIP across 49.1 innings, with 62 strikeouts.
The Bad
RP Ryan Pressly to the Houston Astros for RP Jorge Alcalá and OF Gilberto Celestino – July 2018
Alcalà and Celestino both made the major leagues but they came at the cost of one of the best relievers in baseball.
The Twins traded Pressly in the summer of 2019 and he shaved over a run off his ERA and collected 82 saves with the Astros. While his improvement may have had more to do with the Astros coaching staff – who increased his spin rate upon his arrival in Houston – it's still brutal for a team that has been desperate for bullpen help.
INF Spencer Steer, LHP Steve Hajjar and INF Christian Encarnacion-Strand to the Cincinnati Reds for SP Tyler Mahle – August 2022
This might not be fair to Mahle, but it's the perfect example of why the Twins' front office has the reputation of getting fleeced.
Mahle was on the injured list two weeks before he was traded to Minnesota, but it didn't stop the Twins from their pursuit of starting pitching at the deadline.
The right-hander wasn't bad when he was on the mound (2-3, 3.64 ERA over nine starts) but durability was a problem as he missed the final six weeks of last season with a shoulder injury and now needs Tommy John surgery.
Steer has been sufficient while playing second base for the Reds (.252/.311/.450 with five homers in 35 games this season) and Hajjar has spent the majority of his time on the injured list, but Encarncion-Strand looks to be a future star, hitting .347/.372/.720 with eight homers in 17 games with Triple-A Louisville this season.
CES = Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Or, Clobbers almost Entirely out of Stadium.
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 12, 2023
A 471-ft. tater from the sixth-ranked @Reds prospect ties the @LouisvilleBats slugger for the second longest Triple-A homer this year: pic.twitter.com/TPH7cboqbA
OF Brent Rooker and RP Taylor Rogers to the San Diego Padres for SP Chris Paddack and RP Emilio Pagan – April 2022
Another recent deal that could be considered a loss, but the Twins had their reasons for making it.
Rogers was entering the final year of his contract and the volatility of relievers played into the Twins' decision to trade him before the start of last season. The left-hander got off to a fast start with the Padres but the hunch ultimately paid off, as Rogers owns a 4.92 ERA over the past two seasons.
Meanwhile, Rooker got caught in the numbers game in the Twins' outfield. With Alex Kirilloff, Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach appearing to be entrenched as starters, Rooker couldn't crack the roster and was out of minor-league options. Of course, injuries bit the Twins hard a year ago but Rooker wouldn't have been a solution, appearing in just two games for the Padres before he was traded to the Kansas City Royals.
On his third team since the deal, Rooker appears to have found a home, but the deal could have been considered a success if the Twins got more in return.
Paddack had a partially torn UCL six months before being traded to Minnesota and the New York Mets even nixed a potential trade because of concerns over the injury. Pagán has also fallen short of expectations, posting a 4.35 ERA in 78.2 innings with the Twins.
The rest
There are several deals that aren't listed here (including the Dyson trade which was a loss) but a lot of them are either to be determined or in the eye of the beholder.
The Twins sent four minor league pitchers to the Baltimore Orioles for Jorge López at last year's trade deadline and Yennier Canó has 14 scoreless appearances to begin the season with a 0.16 WHIP.
The trade that sent Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt to the New York Yankees in exchange for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela doesn't look great but it's better when you consider it unloaded Donaldson's massive contract and laid the framework for the Twins to sign Carlos Correa.
All things considered, the jury is still out on the Twins front office and it could be this summer's trade deadline that tips the scales one way or another.
Related: New York's Michael Kay says Josh Donaldson trade with Twins will 'haunt' Yankees
