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News broke early Thursday evening that there was a strong possibility that the Twins, desperate for starting pitching help to bolster their unexpected playoff hopes, would acquire Atlanta’s Jaime Garcia.
It’s Friday morning, and nothing about this appears to have changed, but for the moment, Garcia is still a Brave and the Twins’ fourth starter is still Kyle Gibson.
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says that, “There is still a chance the teams could complete a trade, but it appears ongoing talks will be necessary to reach an agreement on the players and money that would be exchanged.”
In other words: They’re haggling.
The hang-up, per all pieces written on the potential deal, is the type of prospect the Twins will send, and how much of the $5 million Garcia is still owed they’ll cover. The better the prospect, the less money, and vice versa. Ideally, it will be a lot of money and a less-prized minor-leaguer, and since this is supposed to be a new era of Twins baseball, that might actually happen. LEN3 even mentioned last night that a second Braves player might be in the mix.
Since they’re haggling, it appears a source also told Bowman the following:
If the Braves don't reach an agreement with the Twins, they'll continue trying to trade Garcia elsewhere.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 21, 2017
He even mentions the Kansas City Royals as a potential trade partner. The AL Central’s Kansas City Royals. What I’m saying is, if Bowman’s source isn’t someone in the Braves’ front office, I will eat an object that isn’t normally consumed as food. Anyone who has shopped for a car before may recognize this sales technique.
Even though the 31-year-old Garcia is likely a rental rather than a long-term fix for the Twins rotation, it still makes a good deal of the sense for the Twins to pursue this trade. Unless they’re moving Byron Buxton and Nick Gordon, getting someone more reliable than Kyle Gibson to follow Santana/Berrios/Mejia is a priority. They find themselves a 1⁄2 game out of first in the Central. They’re a game out of the 2nd wild card slot. It’s practically time for the State Fair.
At the same time, it’s extremely difficult to imagine anyone, much less the Twins, getting past the Astros in the AL this year. Emptying the farm system to try seems foolhardy. Sneaking into the postseason by moving a middling prospect south, though? Do it. The 1987 Twins had no business being in the playoffs, either. It worked out OK.