8/16/16

5 Days, 5 Twins waiver deadline trades: Day 2: Homeward bound (sort of)

The waiver trade activity is about to pick up.  I am starting a new series dealing with potential Twins' trades during this period, but with a bit of outside the box thinking.   The rules around waiver trades are a bit complicated, so if you have not read the Waiver Trade Primer yet, feel free to do it. 

Today and the next 4 days (working days), will be writing about 5 trades the Twins should do and they should seek out, because they make sense and it is fun to think a bit outside the box.

Day 2: Homeward bound (sort of)

Robbie Grossman has been with the Houston Astros organization for 3 seasons before he was released after last season.  The Astros have lost Colby Rasmus to vertigo spells, have cut Carlos Gomez and have a catcher (Evan Gattis) who can maybe hit his weight, spiting time with a non-prospect (Jake Marisnick) who cannot hit his, between LF and DH.  They have a 23-year old Rookie (Teoscar Hernandez) manning center.

They do not only need Robbie Grossman, they need him desperately. And the fact that they have the worst record from any AL post-season contender means that they have a good opportunity to land him, since they have priority in waiver trade claims.

What would it take for the Twins to pull the trigger?  First of all they do not really have to trade Grossman, but with the emergency of Daniel Palka, they really do not need him.  Nice waiver wire pickup for the Twins and it is great that they turn him into a very young Catcher who really does not figure in Houston's plans:  The diminutive 21 year old Venezuelan Gabriel Bracamonte.   Bracamote is playing in short season A ball right now, moving up from Rookie ball (Greenville, in the Appalachian league, so the Twins had a chance to see him play) where he started this season and finished the last.  He is still a project, but has a couple things going on for him:  Very strong arm and great judgement of the strike zone as a hitter.  Has shown periodic flashes with the bat, which makes him a pretty intriguing prospect.  Small, but another small catcher (nicknamed Pudge) is hitting on the Hall of Fame's door...

So Robbie Grossman to the Astros for Gabriel Bracamonte, straight up, is the second Twins' trade that should happen, after Suzuki traded to the Orioles 

2 comments:

Marv said...

I truly believe that a shorter catcher has a good chance to get the low pitches called strikes. Tall catchers are tougher for an umpire to see over.

I really like his OBP. It will be interesting to see if he can keep that up as he climbs through the leagues.

Enough people in MLB believe you have to be large or tall to be a success. Houston may be happy to let him go. I like Grossman, but I suspect he has seen his career half-year. We need to make room for Buxton and another, hopefully someone who shows up next year and says with their OF play and their bat, "I'm here and I'm ready!"

I like it.

thrylos98 said...

Totally agree on the short catcher situation. That's why I think that someone like Garver has potential