Minnesota Twins Trade Jorge Polanco to Seattle Mariners for Haul of Players and Prospects

By    |  
Updated:
MLB: ALDS-Minnesota Twins at Houston Astros
Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Well, the Minnesota Twins just traded away one of the four mainstay veterans that they put on their trade block at the beginning of the offseason. 30-year-old 2nd baseman, who has spent half of his life in the Twins organization, is heading to the Seattle Mariners in return for two major league pitchers and two prospects, including an outfielder ranked in the MiLB top-100.

  • Justin Topa (RHP)
  • Anthony DeSclafani (SP)
  • Gabriel Gonzalez (MiLB – OF) – #79 prospect in baseball according to MLB.com
  • Darren Bowen (MiLB – SP)

Minnesota Twins trading Jorge Polanco to Seattle Mariners

Polanco was signed by the Twins as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic and he blossomed into one of the sturdiest baseball players in their organization, over the next decade plus. As a big leaguer, Polanco has a .269 batting average, .780 OPS and 111 OPS+.

The move opens up 2nd base for (24 y/o) Edouard Julien in the short-term, and #18 MLB prospect, (22 y/o) Brooks Lee, in the long-term. The organizational depth the Twins have in the infield, with youngsters Lee, Julien and (24 y/o) Royce Lewis, along with the long-term contract of (29 y/o) Carlos Correa, allowed them to make this trade.

Related: Twins GM Says Brooks Lee Can Call Himself Up to Big Leagues Whenever He Feels Ready

The Mariners have been a popular projected trade destination for Polanco all offseason, since Seattle showed interest immediately when it became known that he’d hit the market. In return, the Twins are receiving two major league pitchers, one a back-end bullpen arm (Justin Topa), the other a fringe MLB starter (Anthony DeSclafani).

Twins receive immediate pitching help + top-100 prospect

32-year-old reliever, Justin Topa, was really good last season, tossing 75 innings out of the Mariners bullpen, posting a 2.61 ERA, 1.145 WHIP, 3.15 FIP and 155 ERA+. Unless DeSclafani has a comeback player of the year type season, Topa will be expected to make the biggest immediate impact on this roster, out of the four pieces that Minnesota received in this deal.

Anthony DeSclafani is a 33-year-old right-handed starter whose last successful season was in 2021 with the Giants, when he pitched 167 innings, posting a 3.17 ERA with TWO complete game shutouts. Even two years ago, that’s impressive. Unfortunately, he’s pitched just 118.2 innings in two seasons since.

Related: 4 Big Name Scott Boras Free Agents That Fit Exactly What Minnesota Twins Still Need

But the piece of this trade that the Minnesota Twins front office is most excited about surely is top-100 outfield prospect (#79 – MLB.com), Gabriel Gonzalez, a 20-year-old right-handed hitter who spent last season with Seattle’s high-A affiliate.

In 477 minor league at-bats last season, Gonzalez finished with a pretty ridiculous statline: .298 BA | .361 OBP | .837 OPS | 18 HR | 83 RBI | 78 R. Starting pitcher prospect Darren Bowen is 22 years old and had a 3.88 ERA in 55.2 innings pitched last season.

Mentioned in this article:

More About: