A Minor Trade?

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The Pioneer Press’s Phil Miller reported on Saturday that the Twins will be keeping Rule 5 draft pick Jason Jones. To do so, the Twins and Yankees worked out a trade in which the Twins sent minor league reliever Charles Nolte to the Yankees.

 

When the Twins drafted Jones in the Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings in December, it really didn’t surprise me. I read a lot of minor league box scores throughout the season and it seemed like whenever the New Britain Rockcats played Trenton, Jason Jones pitched. And after Jones was promoted to AAA, he made a couple of starts against the Rochester Red Wings. On several occasions, I wrote about how Jones is a prototypical Twins pitcher. He doesn’t walk many. He doesn’t throw terribly hard or strike many out. And he just has kept working his way up the system. It was obvious when the Twins selected him that he would not make the Twins roster, so all along the big questions were, “How do the Twins keep him? Who will they have to trade to the Yankees to be able to keep Jones and put him into the Rochester rotation?”

 

And now we know the answer to that question. The Twins had to send reliever Charles Nolte to the Yankees.

 

So, taking a high-level look at this trade, the Twins acquired a 26 year old who will likely be the fourth or fifth starter at AAA, and if there are three or four injuries in the Twins starting rotation this season, he could get a shot. And they got him for a 23 year old reliever who hasn’t pitched above Low A ball. But that reliever had a pretty impressive 2008 season, and earned accolades. In the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009, here is what I wrote:

Sleeper Watch! Nolte was the Twins 24^th round pick out of San Diego State in 2007. In his two seasons at SDSU, he pitched in 16 games and threw 24.2 innings. He walked 27 and struck out 24. So, it is shocking in some ways that he has become such a dominant reliever, even in the Twins lower levels. After signing, he went 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA in 14 games for the GCL Twins. He was Beloit’s best reliever in 2008. In 44 games, he went 4-3 with a 2.05 ERA. In 70.1 innings, he gave up 63 hits and walked 35. He struck out 75. He gave up just one home run.

So, I don’t think that we should pretend that this is an insignificant trade. The Twins obviously really like Jason Jones and his potential. To acquire him, they had to give up something of value, and Charles Nolte could be very good (obviously depending up on his ability to throw strikes with his sinker). My initial reaction is not to be real happy about this transaction. But then I realize that as good as Nolte was in that Beloit bullpen, he is still behind the likes of Jose Mijares, Rob Delaney, Anthony Slama, Brian Duensing, Zach Ward, Blair Erickson and likely several current minor league starters who could eventually be vying for a spot in the Twins bullpen. So this is a fair trade.

 

OTHER NOTES

I stayed away from the computer much of the weekend, so today is about catching up, but not too much!! We are one week away today from the Twins opener at home against Seattle. Over the week, there will certainly be plenty to discuss here, so be sure to stop back. Here are a couple of topics from the weekend:

·         Over at Baseball Digest, our Twins writers will spend the week predicting award winners, playoff teams and then several Twins predictions. The series started today with our predictions for the MVP Awards.

·         NOT SO FAST – Tyler Hissey writes about how the Rays “Fleeced” the Twins in the Garza/Young trade, but I think when the 2009 season comes to an end, people may feel a little differently about it!

·         Another New Twins Blog – Take a few minutes to read the Twins Band Director. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw the link, but it really provides a lot of interesting Twins content.

·         Fanatic Jack posted his All Metrodome team which is actually very interesting to think through. I’m sure he’d appreciate your comments on his list. My first thought? That’s the best we can do in LF???

·         According to a report from FanHouse.com, the Twins are quietly looking for an 8^th inning guy who throws strikes. The Twins sure like their strike throwers, don’t they? Actually, I like the theory and agree completely. But in the 8^th inning, isn’t some level of dominance fairly important too? Is the combination of dominance and control the ideal?

·         Chris Coste was named the Phillies backup catcher over the weekend when the team traded Ronny Paulino. Also, The 33 Year Old Rookie is now available in paperback.

 

Any other Twins thoughts as the season approaches? Feel free to Comment here.