The Bronx Bombers’ quiet offseason came to an end as the Yankees and Twins landed a five-player blockbuster deal. Third baseman Josh Donaldsoninfielder Isaiah Keener-Phalefaand catcher Ben Rortvedt everybody head for the yanks and the twins pick up the catcher Gary Sanchez and infielder Gio Urshela. The $50 million still owed on Donaldson’s contract is being completely absorbed by the Yankees, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
Donaldson has a five-team no-trade clause, although it is not known if the Yankees were one of the five clubs on his list, or if he gave up his clause to go to New York. The Yankees will pay a $2 million reassignment bonus in connection with the trade, and with the rollover of the $16 million club option on Donaldson for 2024, it now becomes a $6 million reciprocal option instead of $8 million.
This gigantic deal sends a shake-up to both clubs’ rosters and ends Keener Falefa’s tenure in Minnesota in just one day. The twins acquired Keener-Falef from the Rangers only for Mitch Garver on Saturday, but now the former Golden Glover has been flipped in a much larger deal that sees the Twins take a big paycheck off their books. Another shot doesn’t seem to be in sight as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal says the Twins plan to use Sanchez at the plate.
After a winter of speculation about how the Yankees would handle their infield problems, the Bronx Bombers have now named Donaldson as their new everyday third baseman and Keener-Falef as their new shortstop. (New York was linked to the IKF earlier this winter, so the team finally found him, even after his brief stop in Minnesota.) DJ LeMahieu can swim between first and second base, sharing time with Gleyber Torres at the cornerstone and Luke Voight at first base. Spot DH also provides the ability to give at-bats, depending on how much time is on the field Giancarlo Stanton can handle.
All that to say, we certainly can’t rule out the Yankees making another big splash since the team has been linked with both. Freddy Freeman as well as Matt Olson to tackle first base. If any of these players are acquired, Voight will certainly look like an immediate trade candidate, and even a deal with LeMaye or Torres is possible depending on which direction the Yankees want to go.
Donaldson is no stranger to the AL East, having spent some of his best years (including the 2015 MVP season) playing for the Blue Jays from 2015 to 2018. The 36-year-old’s performance hasn’t waned much since those years in Toronto, as although injury problems arose as Donaldson got closer to 30, Donaldson is still a dangerous bat. The third baseman hit .247/.352/.475 with 26 homers for 543 P.A. with the Twins last season and continued to put in his usual elite-level hard contact and walking numbers.
Defensive performance at Donaldson’s third base has been mixed, but New York is hoping Keener-Falefah can make up for any defensive weakness on the left side of the infield. Keener-Falefa, an AL Gold Glove Award winner as a third baseman for Texas in 2020, also posted an impressive 1,498 career short pitching record in terms of defensive runs saved (+14) and UZR/150 (+ 1.7). , although the Outs Above Average (-7) was very low due to his gloved shortstops in 2021. Fielding’s Bible ranked Keener-Falef third among all shortstops in their voting for the 2021 season.
Keener Falefa is under control for two more arbitrage seasons, essentially making it a bridge to what the Yankees hope will be their shortstop going forward. New York reportedly resisted the hunt for the top tier in the free agent shortstop market all winter because of the team’s belief in stellar prospects. Anthony Wolpe as well as Oswald Peraza. With Peraza possibly heading towards his MLB debut this season and Volpe possibly arriving by 2023, the Yankees wanted to maintain shortstop flexibility rather than a ten-year commitment. Carlos Correa or Corey Seeger.
Rortvedt is the least known of the five names in the trade and hit just .169/.229/.281 in his first 98 PAs in the majors, all for Minnesota last season. While Rortvedt has had more success in junior high, he is not expected to be another Sanchez on the plate as the Yankees appear to be intent on getting Rortvedt into the platoon with Kyle Higashioka in something like a defensive tandem. Given all the other popularity on the New York roster, focusing on gloves behind the plate seems like a fair compromise, especially since Sanchez’s defense has been a point of contention for years among Yankees fans. Again, it’s possible that the aggressive Yankees might take another step to add a more proven veteran to the trap.
In terms of wages, the Yankees take Donaldson’s $50 million, a projected $4.9 million for Keener-Falef’s 2022 salary, and Rortvedt’s minimum wage. Urshela’s $6.55 million salary for 2022 and Sanchez’s $7.9 million projected salary are left out, resulting in a bomber luxury tax of approximately $242.7 million (according to Roster Resource). This is well above the new $230 million tax cap, but below the $250 million “tier two”, which would result in stricter financial penalties for the Yankees. In 2021, the club made a commitment to evade the luxury tax line and thus reset their clocks, so the Yankees will only have to pay an initial 20 percent overspending penalty for every dollar spent in the $230 million to $250 million range. .
The savings are far more substantial for the Gemini, who have removed Donaldson from their books and have now made room for long-term wages. According to Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (link to twitter), the Twins did not take Keener-Falef with the intention of immediately re-transferring him, but the club was ultimately tempted to offer the Yankees to take Donaldson’s entire contract.
That doesn’t mean Minnesota is necessarily looking to cut the roster, as most of Donaldson’s 2022 paycheck is now filled by Sanchez, Urshela, and even Sonny Gray, acquired earlier today from the Reds. Having spent just under $100 million on payroll in 2021, Geminis currently have around $94.2 million in books for 2022, giving them more room to do other things if they even get close to their $125-131 million. dollars wages for a full season since 2018. 19 seasons.
Owner Jim Polad said last summer that the Twins would not be rebuilding, and while it appears the Twins still have a firm plan to fight in 2022, they have created more agility for themselves in landing Sanchez (the remaining year before free agency). ) and Urshela (two years of control). If things don’t go as well for the Twins in 2022 as they did in 2021, the team will be able to turn more clearly towards moving players around the trade deadline and perhaps consider a larger realignment at that point.
Not so long ago, Sanchez was seen as the key to the Yankees’ future, breaking through with huge strength numbers that seemed to place him next in a long line of strong Bronx catchers. However, Sanchez has shown average to mediocre results for three of the last four years, leading to speculation last fall that Sanchez might not even be in the tender. Clearly, clinging to the catcher proved to be beneficial for the Yankees, as they were able to make a big trading chip out of him in this big trade.
Given his defensive issues and his evolution into a three-way true player, it remains to be seen if Sanchez can find a fresh start in Minneapolis. He won’t be the first player to blossom outside of the New York pressure cooker (his new teammate Gray is a prime example), and Sanchez still provides strong power and stats on base. Sanchez still has a lot of contact with the opposition, but that contact itself has been a constant problem as Sanchez has been one of the most vulnerable hitters in the game for five consecutive seasons.
Assuming the Twins are indeed planning to leave Sanchez, he will team up with Ryan Jeffers (more defensive catcher) as a replacement for Garver. Elsewhere on the infield, a situation that seemed resolved with the addition of Kiner Falefa is now up in the air again.
Although Urshela has some experience as a shortstop, he is much more likely to take Donaldson’s place at third base as Urshela’s usual position is the hot corner and he has proven to be a very reliable quarterback. Basically, Urshela came out of nowhere to post huge numbers for the Yankees in 2019 and 2020, quickly establishing himself as a regular on the field amid several injuries on New York’s roster during the 2019 campaign.
However, Urshela faced some health issues himself last season, missing time with the COVID-19 outbreak at the New York club and then with a left hamstring strain. That could explain Urshela’s drop to a modest slash of .267/.301/.419 and 14 home runs for 442 PA while his walk and strikeout numbers plummeted from 2020 levels.
The Twins are clearly counting on rebounds from both of their new players, and there’s an obvious upside to the club’s plan. If Sanchez and Urshela return to 2019 form, it will more than make up for the loss of Donaldson’s bat. The scale of this deal would seem to hint that there will be at least one notable follow-up, as the Gemini now again needs to fill the gap that Keener-Phalefa seemed to fill. Jorge Polanco can go back to shortstop in a pinch, but the Twins prefer him as a forward-moving second baseman.
Since Urshela can at least handle a part-time shortstop, the Twins can also pick another third baseman, allowing Ursela/Polanco’s timeshare to be split between shortstop and Polanco/Luis Arraes split at second base. Daniel Robertson as well as Tim Beckham also in camp for minor league deals for additional infield options and infield prospects Jose MirandaA big 2021 season has put him on the cusp of his MLB debut.
Jeff Passan of ESPNlink to twitter) was the first to report that Donaldson and Keener-Phalefa were sold to the Yankees, while John Heyman of MLB Network reported that Sanchez and Urshela were going to Minnesota. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via twitter) announced the inclusion of Rortvedt in the deal.
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