Michael Pineda has been a really good pitcher for the Minnesota Twins and should have decent value ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline.

In case you missed it, Nelson Cruz was the latest player we talked about in this series.

Pineda’s in the final year of his contract after signing with the Twins as a free agent in 2017. Minnesota knew before offering a two-year contract, that he’d miss at least one year due to injury. They rolled the dice, hoping he’d come back healthy and better than ever. For the most part that’s been true, albeit with some injuries and a 60-game suspension.

He’s arguably been the team’s most consistent pitcher over the last few years and stats back that up:

Pineda was suspended in the middle of the 2019 season and one could argue that’s why he had so much success. However, even after his suspension, he’s been consistently good. His 3-5 record and ERA of 4.11 is not an indicator of how well he’s pitched this season.

Before getting injured, Pineda had an ERA of 3.70. It wasn’t the best month of June for him either, losing two games and giving up 10 runs in three starts. At the end of May, his ERA was 2.62 and didn’t show signs of slowing down.

Even though he will be a free agent at the end of the season, he does have decent trade value. Pineda is only 32 and won’t be turning 33 until January. He’s a good pitcher and teams that are contending for the playoffs are desperate for starting pitching.

Minnesota could even work something with him in the future. They could trade him now for assets and allow him to play for a World Series. Then come the offseason, they could attempt to re-sign him. The Twins have good pitching prospects who are close to being called up and they could see what they have in them after dealing Pineda.

The Twins should look to trade him because they will get a decent trade in return. Pineda has been great for Minnesota the last three years and if they do move him, I hope they work to bring him back in 2022.