3 MLB teams that made the best moves on Sunday
By Kevin Henry
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?