Minnesota/Tampa Bay Trade

[Lindner]

Minnesota Gives:
3B - Danny Valencia
MI - Alexi Casilla

Tampa Bay Gives:
RHP - Parker Markell (Rays' #8 prospect)
OF - Granden Goetzman (Rays' #17 prospect)

For us, this is a pure movement to stockpile young, promising, minor league talent in exchange for players that will make a difference for some club right now.

Both Merkell and Goetzman are both very young, but they both have quite a bit of upside.  Merkell is sinkerball pitcher who will likely throw his first full season of games next year.  He doesn't strike out a bunch of guys, but he gets a lot of ground ball outs and projects as a middle-rotation kind of guy.

Goetzman has all the tools to be a very good outfielder.  Many believe he could have been a late first rounder in many, many recent drafts.  Unfortunately for him, he came out in 2011 when the draft class was outstanding.  We believe he be a starter for us down the road and could be a big difference-maker.  He has received Jayson Werth comps.

We really love Valencia and wish we didn't have to give him up.  He is a very solid player and will likely end up being a .270/18ish kind of guy very soon and for years to come.  I won't even mention the fact that he's under team control for 5 more years. *shiver*

Casilla will be a good utility guy for Tampa and will certainly fill a hole for them for the next few years.

[PlayerX3D]

Tampa agrees to this trade.

Markel and Goetzman are good prospects that will provide upside for Minnesota in this deal.  However, with the high prices being paid for utility type players thusfar in free agency, we decided that it would make sound strategic sense to lock up two effective but not exciting role players at a reasonable rate.

[ldsjayhawk]

 

[BrewCrew]

I'm kinda on the fence on this one, not really a fan.

Those guys aren't great, but neither are the prospects.

I don't wanna veto this, but idk if I can approve it.

[Lindner]

Valencia is a stud

[PlayerX3D]

I understand the trepidation.  One team owning TWO light hitting utility players?  That could upset the balance of the league.  Haha.  I thought two Top 20 prospects was overpaying for those slugs.

[BrewCrew]

I understand the trepidation.  One team owning TWO light hitting utility players?  That could upset the balance of the league.  Haha.  I thought two Top 20 prospects was overpaying for those slugs.

two top 20 prospects from a team is like saying two top 400 prospects though.

[PlayerX3D]

two top 20 prospects from a team is like saying two top 400 prospects though.

Right.  But in the Rays system, a #8 prospect is tantamount to a #5 in most systems.  Both players have ceilings much higher than Valencia or Casilla.  My reasoning was simply filling roster slots with low end talent.

[Lindner]

I really like the talent I got in return.  Both have quite a lot of upside.

[Lindner]

The Trade Committee's ruling:
1 Approves
0 Vetoes

It has been over 72 hours since this trade has been under the review process.
This trade has been officially approved by the committee.