3 MLB teams that made the best moves on Sunday
While Sunday may not have had the flurry of MLB free agency and trade activity that Saturday did, there will still some moves made by three teams that, on the surface, look like ones that will pay off in 2022 and beyond.
These are the three MLB teams that made the best free agent signings and trades on Sunday
Let’s start with the New York Mets, who also got kudos from us on their Saturday trade with the Oakland A’s to acquire starting pitcher Chris Bassitt. On Sunday, the Mets turned their attention to the bullpen, inking Adam Ottavino to a one-year, $4 million deal.
The 36-year-old right-hander has a career 3.60 ERA/3.60 FIP/1.328 WHIP. When he is on, his slider is among the best in the game. He will join a Mets bullpen that is very righty-heavy, and will likely serve as a setup man after registering 11 saves last season for the Boston Red Sox.
One thing to watch: Ottavino’s strikeout rate has dipped for three consecutive seasons, registering last year at 25.7 percent (10.3 strikeouts per nine innings compared to 13.0 in 2018).
In the biggest trade of the day, the New York Yankees solidified the left side of their infield and answered all of the questions about shortstop with one swap.
Dealing with the Minnesota Twins, the Yankees acquired third baseman Josh Donaldson, shortstop Isaiah Kiner-Falefa (who had just been traded to the Twins by the Texas Rangers), and minor league catcher Ben Rortvedt in exchange for catcher Gary Sanchez and infielder Gio Urshela. The move was lauded a win for the Yankees.
Not sure I’ve ever seen both teams so pleased by a trade: Yankees upgraded at 3B and SS (well, they didn’t have a SS) and finally cut the cord on Gary Sanchez, who needed a change of scenery, while the Twins saved about $50M off the Donaldson deal to improve in multiple areas.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 14, 2022
New York’s move to pick up Kiner-Falefa also means that top prospects Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza aren’t blocked in the future for the long term at shortstop by a long contract like might have been tendered to Carlos Correa or Trevor Story should the Yankees have signed either of them (Kiner-Falefa is scheduled to become a free agent in 2024, while both Yankees prospects are predicted to reach MLB in 2023).
While there’s plenty of talk about the shortstop solution coming over for the Yankees, there is also this nugget as well.
The #Yankees believe they got incredible catching upgrade with Ben Rortvedt over Gary Sanchez.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 14, 2022
All in all, it was a good day for the Yankees and answered a lot of questions. There was also good news for Minnesota in the trade as it was reported that the Yankees agreed to pay the remaining $50 million on Josh Donaldson’s contract, which gives the Twins breathing room to pursue other players this offseason. Could that be a shortstop like Story?
While the Twins were swapping out position players with the Yankees, earlier in the day they made a move to boost the rotation, acquiring starting pitcher Sonny Gray (a former Yankee, by the way) from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Chase Petty, an 18-year-old right-hander who was the 26th overall pick in last year’s draft. Additionally, the Twins received 24-year-old Class A pitcher Francis Peguero.
The move gives Minnesota a replacement for Jose Berrios, who was traded to Toronto in July, with Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey calling Gray “an anchor in our rotation” in comments after the trade.
“We’re excited about his future, but the ability to access someone like Sonny Gray, who we think pitches at the top of the rotation for anybody, it’s very unique,” Falvey said. “We think this is a guy who really establishes an anchor in our rotation, a guy that young players can look up to and someone we think is really going to lead us.”
Expect Gray to lead Minnesota’s rotation, a unit that has plenty of question marks still. Can Randy Dobnak and Dylan Bundy right their respective ships and provide quality starts? Can young pitchers Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan continue to grow into their roles?
Next. Washington makes a splash by signing Nelson Cruz. dark
If everything falls into place, the Twins will have Gray as the face of the rotation. If everything falls apart, the Twins have Gray and his $10.7 million contract (with $13 million club option for 2023) available as a potential trade chip at the MLB trade deadline. That’s a winning scenario in either case.