How does the Mitch Garver trade affect the Minnesota Twins long-term?
ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the news Saturday afternoon that the Minnesota Twins were trading Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez.
Garver has been at the front of trade rumors for quite some time now, but when the news broke, I was still shocked. He was a fan favorite and a player that was easy to root for.
Before his breakout season in 2019, Garver showed flashes of potential. That season he hit .273, with 31 home runs and 67 runs batted in. He also won Silver Slugger and was crowned one of the best offensive catchers in baseball.
Expectations continued to stay high for Garver. However, he struggled to stay on the field due to injuries, missing 200 games since 2019.
It was becoming harder and harder to rely on him, especially knowing that he was only getting older (31 in August). Plus, Minnesota may have something there with Ryan Jeffers and Ben Rortvedt.
Both are good defensively, but they’ve struggled at the plate. Jeffers has shown more potential offensively with the raw power he possesses. Last season the 24-year-old hit .199, with 14 home runs in 267 at-bats.
This trade shows the Twins have faith in Jeffers’ potential and that they were unwilling to extend Garver in 2024.
Here are some quick thoughts I had on the trade:
There are some potential catching options in free agency next offseason, but nothing that would get you excited. I like the decision to give Jeffers the keys early in his career. The Twins are not going to be contending this season, and this allows them to find out whether or not they have something in Jeffers and Rortvedt.
It’s better to find that out now, instead of in a couple of years when they are hoping to contend.
So who exactly are the two players the Twins received in the trade?
Kiner-Falefa is not a home run hitting player, but he is good defensively and can play shortstop (main position), third and catcher.
At 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Kiner-Falefa is on the smaller side, relying on weak contact to get on base. Last season he hit .271, with eight home runs and 53 runs batted in.
Think of it as an upgrade over Andrelton Simons.
Kiner-Falefa doesn’t take many walks. In 677 plate appearances, the former Gold Glove winner in 2020 registered 28 base on balls. It’s good to point out that he doesn’t strike out a lot either (13.2 percent). Even if he’s not getting a base hit every at-bat, hitting it in play is important.
Kiner-Falefa didn’t have as good of a season defensively as he did in 2020, but he was still good. He had a fielding percentage of .972, with 19 errors in 669 chances.
The Twins are anticipating Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda and Austin Martin to make their MLB debut in the coming years. Kiner-Falefa is a short-term answer at shortstop and wouldn’t block the other three prospects from getting the callup.
Because Josh Donaldson was at third, Miranda was blocked from getting called up. We won’t see that kind of scenario with Kiner-Falefa at short.
He’s also under team control for the next two years, which is around the time we can expect the other three prospects to make their debut.
Henriquez was the Rangers’ No. 15 prospect, and while he may never make an impact for the Twins, adding a young arm could be valuable. At 21 years old, there’s still plenty of time for him to develop.
Henriquez is a starting pitcher, but he struggled to pitch longer than five innings. We’ll likely see him moved to the bullpen if he makes it to the big leagues. Last season he posted a 5-7 record and an ERA of 4.71 between High-A and Double-A. That’s not great, but his WHIP was only 1.10, so that’s encouraging.
His best pitch is his fastball, which sits around 92-96 mph, but he’s thrown as hard as 98 mph. If he were to come out of the pen, it’s realistic to believe he could be throwing 98 consistently, with a slider and changeup.
Even though he’s on the smaller side (5-foot-10, 155 pounds), Henriquez has good velocity. As he continues to grow and adds more muscle, you could see an uptick in his velocity.
Henriquez is now listed as the Twins’ No. 20 prospect.
While losing Garver sucks, gaining Kiner-Falefa and Henriquez is not a bad return. Kiner-Falefa can provide good defense until Lewis or Martin arrive, and Henriquez has a lot of potential out of the bullpen.
