Twins at the Winter Meetings: Day three recap

Day three of the Winter Meetings has basically come and gone, and the Twins still haven’t made any big moves. There were, however, big moves today that affected the Twins, and some other tidbits of note.

Here’s the deets.

All of Nats pitching prospects are belong to White Sox

If trading Chris Sale didn’t convince you the White Sox are in full rebuilding mode, then maybe this trade will. The Sox traded Adam Eaton, their 28-year-old outfielder, to the Nationals for not one, not two, but three minor league pitchers. If you’re like a lot of people reading this news, you’re probably thinking “What? For Adam Eaton?”

Yep—for Adam Eaton.

Eaton, who played mostly right field last season, hit .284/.364/.428 with 29 doubles, 14 home runs, nine triples and 14 stolen bases. He’s averaged 5.1 WAR per season over the last three seasons, which is pretty good.

What makes Eaton most valuable, however, is his team-friendly contract: He’s under team control through 2021 for a total salary of $38.4 million. That’s even more team-friendly than Brian Dozier’s contract. So if you’re thinking this means the Twins should be able to get something even better for Dozier, you’re probably off-base.

As for the White Sox’s return, they got minor league pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning. Giolito was the Nationals’ number one prospect and number four prospect on baseball overall, according to Baseball America. Baseball America also ranked Lopez as the 48th best prospect in baseball, and Dunning was drafted in the supplemental first round by the Nats in the draft earlier this year.

Combined with the haul they got yesterday for Chris Sale, the White Sox farm system is suddenly looking pretty stocked.

This is fine.

Brian Dozier is still here

You may have gathered that since news of a Dozier trade isn’t plastered everywhere, the Twins haven’t yet traded Dozier—and you’d be correct. Although the Twins are still talking to several teams about a possible trade (and not just with the Dodgers), nothing seems to have happened yet.

LEN3 made the important point on Twitter that a deal for Dozier doesn’t necessarily have to get done at the Winter Meetings. The Twins have time to negotiate, and I think they would be wise to use it in order to get the best deal.

If the Twins don’t end up hammering out a deal for Dozier, then the Twins are just stuck with Brian Dozier for a bit longer. Not really that bad of a scenario.

What about the other Twins?

Dozier might be the Twins’ best trading chip at the moment, but he’s not the only one. "We've had a lot of interest in players outside of Brian," Twins GM Thad Levine told reporters today. "I think he's drawing the most national interest so far."

So what other players would the Twins trade? Not much has been leaked, but at least one source said the Twins probably aren’t looking to move starting pitcher Ervin Santana.

Considering the thin free agent market for starting pitching, and the Twins’ dire need for starting pitching, keeping Santana seems wise.

Other notes from around the land

• In other AL Central news, the Royals traded closer Wade Davis to the Cubs for Jorge Soler.
• The Rockies signed Ian Desmond in a move that is leaving people confused.
• Old friend Carlos Gomez signed a deal to rejoin the Astros join that other team from Texas.
• Old friend Wilson Ramos signed a two-year deal with the Rays, which is sort of surprising because he was reportedly looking for a three-year deal. Maybe the smaller deal had to do with his lack of a currently functioning ACL? Just a thought...
• Really old friend Joe Nathan still wants to pitch next year. "He's like the Energizer Bunny,'' according to his agent. Uh, well, good luck with that, bud!