Minnesota Twins acquire Hector Santiago from Los Angeles Angels
By Ryan Schultz
In one of the weirdest trades at the deadline this year, the Los Angeles Angels traded starting pitcher Hector Santiago to the Minnesota Twins for starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco and minor league pitcher Alex Meyer.
The Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins were both perceived sellers at this deadline, although neither team had many players that were worthy of selling. Because of their place in the standings and the structure of their rosters, it seemed like both of these teams would be pretty quiet throughout the trade season. For the most part, both teams were quiet; the one noise they each made was in a trade with each other.
The trade deadline is always a fun time to see which players go where, especially when there are only hours remaining before the deadline. The frenzy often leads to at least one trade that leaves fans scratching their heads. This year’s version of the head-scratching trade was one between the Angels and Twins, so let’s dive into it.
Twins starter Ricky Nolasco hasn’t been sharp this season, and hasn’t looked good in any of his recent seasons with the team. He is signed through the 2018 season to a contract that doesn’t look that great considering the production he has provided ($13 million per season). The Twins were naturally trying to remove his salary in place of somebody younger, if possible.
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Hector Santiago is younger than Nolasco and probably a better pitcher, but his contract expires at the end of 2016 as he will enter arbitration. This essentially means that Santiago is only under team control through 2017, which goes against the Twins’ plan for “rebuilding.” The Twins also gave up a young pitcher in Alex Meyer, who has looked pretty good but hasn’t pitched a whole lot of innings this season.
While this trade doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the Twins, it almost makes less sense for the Angels. Even if the Angels see Alex Meyer as a potential addition to their bullpen, they are still taking on a not-great contract for a pitcher with an ERA over 5.00 this season. Hector Santiago has been the Angels’ best pitcher this season, but they rightfully recognized that he had some sort of trade value; however, they used that trade value to get a veteran pitcher on a bad contract along with a 26-year-old that may or may not be a good addition to the bullpen.
The Angels appear to have no semblance of a plan for their future, with a lack of talent at the big league level aside from the best player in the American League and nothing in the farm system. This move is pretty insignificant on the grand scale for the Angels, but it goes to show just how confusing their organization has been in the last few years.
The trade deadline can be fun and entertaining, oftentimes because of trades like this one. In the midst of sellers trying to add to their farm system and buyers trying to supplement their teams on their journey to the playoffs, there was a small trade between two teams well below .500. This trade has no major impact on either team’s present or future, but maybe that’s what makes it fun to look at.