*Photo from The Athletic*
Now this is a trade that I was not expecting to hear about when it broke. It's one of those trades that come out of nowhere. The Minnesota Twins have acquired SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa and RHP Ronny Henriquez from the Texas Rangers in exchange for C Mitch Garver, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. Both teams have confirmed the move.
Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said of getting Kiner-Falefa that "Kiner-Falefa was someone we really liked. We think he’s a Gold Glove-level defender. He won a Gold Glove a couple years ago, I know over at third base, but he's a guy who comes really highly regarded on the defensive side, plays every single day and can really fit at shortstop and can help us out."
Kiner-Falefa was in an awkward spot with the Rangers, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars on two star shortstops, Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, before the lockout took effect, leaving Kiner-Falefa as a likely opening day 3rd baseman or first baseman. But with Josh Jung on the horizon, the Rangers dealt him to build up catcher, which Garver does.
Last season, Kiner-Falefa had a decent year at the plate, finishing with a .271 batting average and .670 OPS, slugging .357 and hitting 8 home runs, to go along with 53 RBI's, stealing 20 bases in 158 games played for the last place Rangers.
Kiner-Falefa joins the Twins as their undisputed starting shortstop, with Jorge Polanco as a backup shortstop and starting second baseman. Kiner-Falefa had great analytics in 2021, with his defensive runs saved had him as the 3rd best defensive shortstop in the game, behind only Carlos Correa and Andrelton Simmons.
More importantly, he can finally become an everyday shortstop again. While he was in the minor leagues, the Rangers tried converting Kiner-Falefa to catcher, before sticking him at 3rd base, and then moving him back to shortstop in 2021, before he was set to change positions again after Seager and Semien came to town.
Rangers GM Chris Young said of losing Kiner-Falefa that "We recognized the value of having Kiner-Falefa to play third base. That said, I think assessing the catching situation, the catching market and how we view Mitch Garver in terms of the fit of our team, both this year and next year and with Kiner-Falefa also wanting to play shortstop, the trade made sense in a lot of ways."
The loss of Garver particularly affects the Twins at the plate, where he helped the famous Bomba Squad in 2019 with a 31 home run breakout season. Last season, Garver was limited to just 68 games, hitting .256 with an .875 OPS, slugging .517 and hitting 13 home runs to go along with 34 RBI's.
Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels said of getting Garver that "We’re talking about a Silver Slugger-winning catcher that can bring us a real competitive advantage behind the plate. We’re looking forward to welcoming him and seeing him grow here on the team and help us grow as we work toward building a championship club."
The other piece to the trade is Henriquez, who was the Rangers 15th ranked prospect at the time of the trade. Between High A and Double A in 2021, Henriquez posted a 4.71 ERA with 105 strikeouts, while only walking 25 hitters in 93 2/3 innings pitched.
In Minnesota, Kiner-Falefa becomes the starting shortstop, under team control through 2023, while Henriquez likely starts at Double A Wichita. Garver will become the starting catcher in Texas, with catching prospect Sam Huff now starting at Triple A Round Rock, and Jonah Heim and Jose Trevino battling it out for the backup job.
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