Mets/Twins Trade

[Lindner]

It was really a pleasure doing business with you Daniel!  Maybe we can work out something in the future to bring Santana back home to Minnesota.   All of us Twins fan can break his jersey back out!

NY Gives:
P - Matt Harvey (Minor Leaguer)
OF - Jason Bay ($16M 2012; $16M 2013)
P - D.J. Carrasco (1.2M 2012)
P - Matthew Purke (2011 Amateur Draftee)

MN gives:
OF - Oswaldo Arcia (Minor Leaguer)
P - Kevin Slowey ($2.7M 2012; ARB 2013)
MI/OF - Trevor Plouffe ($.440M 2012; $.440M 2013; ARB 2014; ARB 2015; ARB 2016)

We are in rebuilding mode here in Minnesota and we think this deal really helps us achieve our current goals.  We weren't very excited about giving up Arcia, as he is a very talented OFer, you need to give some to get some.  Luckily, we have a lot of depth in the OF.

What we are excited about is the opportunity bring in a great young arm like Matt Harvey.  Harvey has had a lot of success at double-A and could very well end up being a #2 type pitcher.  We are also happy to bring in Matt Purke who we also think has a huge amount of potential.

Aside from Arcia, we are giving up Slowey and Plouffe.  I'm not confident Slowey has much value while pitching in that hitters park in Colorado.  We weren't very confident in the future of Trevor Plouffe either.  Plouffe really can hit the ball, but his defense is lacking..  In my opinion, he will struggle to find everyday playing time while he remains in Minnesota.

We are also taking on Jason Bay and his contract to get this deal done.  We have space and we aren't concerned about signing free agents in the near future.

Overall, we think this deal strengthens our farm system in exchange for a contract.

[Daniel]

Mets accept. We are extremely happy to welcome my countryman Arcia to the organization. Hoping to be able to build success similarly to what I did with Toronto in FGM - by signing Venezuelans! lol. Also glad to see Bay's awful contract gone. Harvey is arguably the best prospect in my organization and Purke is one promising southpaw, but the price to pay is worth the cap room cleared on Bay and Carrasco. Love this FA class, and while my Mets probably won't be competing any time soon, I would love to set the foundations with some of the FA available. Slowey and Plouffe are probably worthless, but they should at least be around the majors which should allow me to ensure I have enough major leaguers to avoid being penalized while we rebuild a once *if anyone remembers that far back* proud franchise.

[chicubs33]

Wait what? I completely understand getting rid of Bay's awful contract but aside from that this deal makes NO sense. This deal is made solely on the fact that the guy is Venezuelan it looks like to me...a still very capable MLB outfielder, top prospect who projects as a 2-3 starter, solid bullpen arm, and a young lefty who projects as a middle of the rotation or better guy for 2 average to below average OF's and a guy that will get rocked in Denver? Twins themselves basically admitted this trade is garbage in their explanation.

[Daniel]

Quite frankly, the cap room alone is worth the trade. But in case you did not know, Arcia is not only Venezuelan, he is one of the best OF prospects in the league. He is a 5-tool guy and at least a top 3 prospect in the Twins organization, and Slowey in Denver is as useful as Bay will ever be... I am getting rid of 14m this year in cap room and 16m next year, plus there is always a chance that Plouffe gets some useful at bats in.

[BrewCrew]

Maybe not the best trade, but I don't think it's awful, per se.

Slowey is no where as bad as he performed last year, and his year wasn't even THAT awful despite his 0-8 record and 6+ ERA.
Bay is HIGHLY overpaid, no argument there at all, and you need to look at all the money he is saving there. for $15M he can EASILY get someone that scores twice as much (if not more) as Bay.

[SpiritWind]

I wonder WHY someone who is in "rebuilding mode" would be
trading FOR Jason Bay and his 16M  contract  !?

[chicubs33]

.291 avg 46runs 23dbls 13hrs 51rbis 18walks 70ks 3sbs and projects as a corner OF=5 tools? Like i said i understand the Bay part of it but sending 2 top pitching prospects back plus a good bullpen guy for an average OF who strikes out a ton. It would make more sense if the prospects the mets were giving up were lower level guys and he kicked in money on Bay. This trade is just backwards...the guy rebuilding is getting the big contract PLUS the much better prospects?

[chicubs33]

lol just reading your guys explanations again and you're both saying the Mets are getting back Crap players...how can this possibly go thru?

[PlayerX3D]

My understanding of the matter is that Minnesota is not attempting to may a big push in free agency.  They want to build this team through the farm system in the hopes of competing in about 2 seasons.  Therefore, they are willing to take bad contracts and max out their payroll in exchange for prospects that can pay dividends down the road.  The strategy makes sense because when they are willing to shoulder the additional salaries, the other teams are willing to give up more premium prospects.  Then, all of the contracts go away in a season or two and Minnesota is left with a minimum payroll and a stockpile of young talent bordering on Major League ready.

[chicubs33]

My arguement is you need to give up SOMETHING even if you are taking on a big contract. Go look at the Cubs/Marlins trade...that was a salary dump for me but i still got back Nolasco and Gaby Sanchez plus others.