MLB Deals: Twins acquire Isiah Kiner-Falefa from Rangers for Mitch Garver in a three-player deal

The Minnesota Twins Need a shortstop and Texas Rangers Need a mask. On Saturday, the two sides met in a three-player deal send short orders Isaiah Keener Valiva Signed to Minnesota for the catcher Mitch Garver. Both teams announced the trade.

There has been some belief that Kiner-Falefa, 27, later this month, will remain with Rangers after the prospective player. Josh Jong Recent shoulder surgery. Kiner-Falefa won the Gold Glove in third place in 2020 before moving to the Shortstop team in 2021. Cory Seeger And the Marcus Simin Signatures before closing.

Kiner-Falefa is an outstanding defender with a light bat (career .265/.316/.354) and speed that replaces Andrelton Simmons For twins, it will be a temporary fix even the highest expectations Royce Lewis And the Austin Martin are ready. He’s under team control as a player eligible to referee until 2023, so it’s not a one-year lease to Minnesota. Kiner-Falefa is a 2-year add-on.

The twins own two young fishermen ready for MLB in Ryan Jeffers And the Ben Rortvedt, making the 31-year-old Garver consumable. He’s dealt with several injuries in the past two seasons, although he’s also hit .254/.348/.546 with 46 times in 184 games since 2019. That makes him one of baseball’s best players. Like Kiner-Falefa, Garver is under team control until 2023.

With Garver joining Seager and Semien (and Cole Calhoun), the reconstructed Texas lineup would look like this:

1. DH Willie Calhoun
2. 2B Marcus Simin
3. SS Korean Seger
4. C. Mitch Garver
5. 1 b Nathaniel Lowe
6. CF Adulis Garcia
7. RF Cole Calhoun
8. LF Nick Solak
9. 3 b Andy Ibanez

Rangers still have a lot of work to do on their playing staff, although the lineup was more formidable than it was a year ago, when Texans finished last in the MLS in rounds. Young’s injury will keep him out until at least August, so the Texans can still bring in a third baseman for a while, like Jonathan Villar or travis show.

The 21-year-old prospect Ronnie Henriquezwhich ranked No. 15 in the Rangers system before the trade, According to MLB.com. He earned a 5.04 ERA in 69 2/3 innings at Double-A in 2021, and an MLB.com Exploratory Report says it “shows flashes from three-plus pitches.”

The Twins went 73-89 in a “whatever can go wrong will go wrong” season in 2021, even though they have talent and AL Central is not a strong division. Rangers went 60-102 a year ago and are making big moves this winter and trying to compete sooner rather than later.