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February 8, 2020

Sources: The Twins Have (Or Have Not) Walked Away From The Deal

News updates in comments, but nothing earth-shattering.
The Twins may be close to walking away from The Trade, thus hanging onto pitcher Brusdar Graterol, according to LaVelle Neal of the Star Tribune. The Red Sox reportedly asked for an additional Top 10 prospect to be added to the deal, but the Twins are not inclined to do so.

Sources differ on what is actually going on. The Star Tribune's headline says "Brusdar Graterol Could Stay With Twins As Their Portion Of Baseball Megadeal Falling Through", yet Chris Miller, Neal's editor, is saying the Twins are definitely pulling out.

Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic) implies that Boston's front office had no clue that trading Mookie Betts would make a lot of Red Sox fans mad. And that's why they are "waffling". ... That is more than a little hard to believe.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯












From JJ Cooper, Baseball America's Executive Editor:



This makes the most obvious sense. Occam's razor and all that. Bloom agreed to the deal, was sent medical reports (all media on trades and free agent signings caution that the transaction is pending review of medical reports), saw something he was not expecting and did not like, and said we can't do this deal. It's on the Twins and/or Dodgers to proposal an alternative deal. End of story.

(Talk about burying the lede!)

(Note: Neal is one of the two assholes who refused to put Pedro Martinez on his AL MVP ballot in 1999, a ballot the BBWAA never should have allowed him to fill out.)
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4 comments:

  1. allanFebruary 8, 2020 at 1:22 PM

    Text of Tweets:

    Chris Miller @Cmillstrib
    The #mntwins are pulling out of the megadeal and will keep Brusdar Graterol, reports @LaVelleNeal http://strib.mn/2H7fo9Q

    Alex Speier @alexspeier
    Major League source confirms that Twins have pulled out of the Betts/Price/Maeda/Verdugo/Graterol blockbuster. Sox/Dodgers working out a two-team deal was characterized as a possibility by another major league source.
    Alex Speier @alexspeier
    Betts/Price to LA deal still could happen, but obviously there’s at least some uptick in uncertainty of that outcome.

    Alden Gonzalez @Alden_Gonzalez
    Twins have not backed out of initial 3-team trade that would send Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, I'm told. They are willing to renegotiate and attempt to work through it, though whether it ultimately gets figured out is uncertain. All sides want a resolution by reporting date.

    LaVelle E. Neal III @LaVelleNeal
    Hey the headine was a little strong. Twins don’t expect a deal to be made. That is clear. But There’s no “pull out” yet.

    Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal
    Real question is what #RedSox want. #MNTwins could send Graterol and lesser prospect to #Dodgers, then LAD could flip Graterol and a better prospect to BOS. But some in talks sense that negative media reaction to Verdugo-Graterol return for Betts-Price gave BOS ownership pause.

    Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal
    Bottom line: #RedSox and #Dodgers should be motivated to complete deal. BOS could be left with Betts, Price and all their previous financial concerns, valid or not. LAD would be left with Maeda and Pederson unsettled - and once again they would be shut out on a star.

    Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal
    More on #RedSox: They should not have been surprised Graterol might project as a reliever; that is how #MNTwins saw him. They also should not have been surprised that fans and media would react negatively to a trade of one of the game’s biggest stars, Mookie Betts.

    Alex Speier @alexspeier
    Sources clarify that it’s ‘very likely’ if not yet certain that Twins will back out. Update soon at http://bostonglobe.com.

    Mark Feinsand @Feinsand
    Multiple sources say the Twins have not pulled out of the three-way trade, and are hoping for a resolution one way or another very soon. Talks still ongoing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. allanFebruary 8, 2020 at 1:37 PM

    From JJ Cooper, Baseball America's Executive Editor:

    JJ Cooper @Rjjcoop36
    1. Worth noting that the hiccup in the Red Sox-Twins-Dodgers trade revolving around Brusdar Graterol's medicals is a reminder of the aspects of public prospect evaluation that are nearly impossible to report and gather when ranking players.
    2. Yes, we all know that Graterol has missed time with shoulder and elbow injuries. He had TJ. He missed time in 2019 with shoulder soreness. That's available publicly. The Red Sox knew all that and then knew his delivery. They appeared to believe he might be able to start.
    3. From current reporting, it appears that once they saw Graterol's medicals (only available to them after trade was agreed to) they changed their assessment of Graterol's ability to start. Now medicals are never cut-and-dried.
    4. A shoulder MRI may look fine to one team and flunk a player in a trade or free agent signing for another (Orioles for example). But the fact that the Red Sox evaluation of Graterol changed once they saw his medicals is a piece of info that we rarely get publicly.
    5. When we do our next Top 100 Prospect update, it will be something we will talk about @baseballamerica. We evaluated Graterol as likely to be a reliever (a very good one) with a slight chance to start. But the durability concerns appear to be worse than we knew.

    ReplyDelete
  3. allanFebruary 8, 2020 at 8:18 PM

    Update from SoSHer RedOctober3829, from an MLB.com article:
    --The three-team megadeal that would land Mookie Betts and David Price in Los Angeles took a hit Saturday, as it became increasingly unlikely that the Twins would be a participant in the final trade between the Red Sox and Dodgers.
    --The Red Sox, Dodgers and Twins were trying to work out a solution as late as Saturday afternoon, sources said, even holding a three-team conference call at one point. As of Saturday night, it appeared that Minnesota would not be part of a Betts deal, a source said, though the Twins could very well make a separate trade with the Dodgers to add right-hander Kenta Maeda to their rotation.
    --With the Twins seemingly out of the mix, the Red Sox appear focused on getting a deal done with the Dodgers, a source said. Los Angeles would need to add at least one player to substitute for Graterol, though it’s possible the Dodgers could try taking on a larger portion of Price’s salary in lieu of adding another highly-rated prospect. It’s also possible (though less likely) that the Red Sox and Dodgers could add another team into the trade, creating a new three-team deal.
    Should the Red Sox and Dodgers fail to work out a trade, Boston could begin shopping Betts around the league again. Multiple teams have already reached out to the Red Sox since the three-way trade hit its first speed bump, sources said, so while Boston remains committed to working something out with Los Angeles, there are options if a deal is unable to be completed. The Padres would be the front-runner to land Betts if that scenario were to present itself, though a source said other teams have suggested they would be also interested in Betts and possibly Price.

    Alex Speier, Twitter:
    Padres deal Manuel Margot and prospect Logan Driscoll to the Rays for RHP Emilio Pagan. Margot had been part of discussions with the Red Sox about Betts. Trading Margot suggests that Padres don’t expect Sox to re-engage on Betts, so SD opted to move on to another deal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. allanFebruary 8, 2020 at 10:30 PM

    Sean McAdam, Boston Sports Journal:
    Talks between the Sox and Twins failed to yield anything, and late Saturday afternoon, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that the Twins pulled out of their end of the deal, canceling the trade with the Dodgers involving Graterol and Maeda.
    That left the Sox, for the time being at least, with only Verdugo to show for Betts, Price and tens of million dollars — obviously an insufficient return.
    Where that leaves the rest of the trade is uncertain. As of Saturday night, the Sox and Dodgers were still negotiating, hoping to salvage the rest of the deal while working toward a way to deliver a top prospect to the Sox to make the deal more equitable.
    ***

    ReplyDelete