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Last night the Twins traded infield prospect Jermaine Palacios to the Tampa Bay Rays for starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi. It may not have been the deal Twins fans were hoping form but it was the deal they got. Quite frankly, it was actually a pretty damn good deal too.
Here’s what others around the web are saying about it.
It’s a good deal. Odorizzi is not a #1, but he’s a big league pitcher-Twins didn’t have to give up too much for another serviceable starting arm. Would still love to see them with Cobb/Lynn https://t.co/praMNwVLV4
— Roy Smalley (@roysmalley5) February 18, 2018
...oh, and another thing: after rereading my tweet from last night, I’m sorry I used the word “serviceable” for Odorizzi. Meant to distinguish from being a #1, but not to denigrate in any way. He’s a welcome addition with true big league stuff
— Roy Smalley (@roysmalley5) February 18, 2018
Odorizzi is a good risk for the price. It’s the anibal Sanchez thing that should make #Twins fans scream in discomfort.
— Shawn Hunter (@huntsaa7) February 18, 2018
Jake Odorizzi will wear No. 12 for Twins, follows in footsteps of Cesar Tovar, Brian Harper, Jason Tyler, Alexi Casilla, Chris Herrmann, John Ryan Murphy.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) February 18, 2018
Odorizzi cheaper than Cobb
— 216Diehard (@dege1966) February 18, 2018
The #Padres blew away their record for most money spent on a player by $60m. But there’s collusion? Meanwhile, Odorizzi given away for nothing by #rays. Issue is a few teams have zero interest in competing.
— Mike Stackhouse (@stack1975) February 18, 2018
With so much middle IF depth in minors, makes a lot of sense for #Twins to deal from that strength. Solves a big question to add Jake Odorizzi to rotation.
— Dan Hayes (@DanHayesMLB) February 18, 2018
Odorizzi's a solidly average starter and the Twins got him for essentially nothing. You have to work pretty hard to be disappointed in this move.
— Mike Bates (@MikeBatesSBN) February 18, 2018
Jake Odorizzi threw more high fastballs than anybody in 2017: 73.2% of his 4-seams were upper 3rd or higher, per #Statcast. It's a Jim Hickey thing. But the Twins did it too. 49% of their 4-seams were elevated, 5th-highest of any team -- right behind the Rays. He'll fit right in. pic.twitter.com/8rLdTilBf8
— David Adler (@_dadler) February 18, 2018
Another factor in the Jake Odorizzi trade to consider is that Jermaine Palacios is Rule 5 eligible at the end of this season.
— Tom Froemming (@BaseballByTom) February 18, 2018
Solid get for the @Twins I’ve always thought Odorizzi could flourish outside of Tampa. https://t.co/TIS4kbH6DQ
— Joe Randazzo (@JRandazzo402) February 18, 2018
No issues with #MNTwins taking low risk fliers on Sanchez/Odorizzi. It's the type of upside moves all teams should make. However, such moves do become an issue if you intend to rely on each to positively produce and not just icing on the cake if they pan out.
— J. Euerle (@j_euerle) February 18, 2018
Daniel Russell, the manager of SB Nation’s DRay’s Bay, had this to say:
The Rays make their living on flipping pitchers when they get expensive for prospects, and they specialize in acquiring “pre-hype” prospects. It was surprising when that meant David Price returned Willy Adames, or when Wil Myers returned Trea Turner and Jake Bauers and they only kept Bauers, but what are we to say when it’s a prospect ain’t nobody heard of?
The easiest explanation here is that the Rays were forced to make this move now because of salary, or because they have pitching prospects ready for the majors in spades, but what feels right is that the Rays went and made the trade they thought was best.
You have to wonder if the Rays had to make this move now, instead of at the trade deadline, after all the Rays will be waiting until May to promote any real prospect to keep that extra year of rookie contract control, but that speaks even further to how much the Rays must like this dude.
Will he be good? Are prospects ever good? Not really!
Trust the process, I guess.
Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press gives a very solid overview:
Odorizzi, who features a 92-93 mph fastball along with a cutter, curve and split-change, has fanned exactly eight batters per nine innings over each of the past three seasons. His nine-inning walk rate, however, jumped from 2.6 to 3.8 last season, and his fielding-independent ERA was a career-worst 5.43.
I still think it was a pretty darn good move.
Seth Stohs from Twins Daily gave his review here, and I think he’s pretty spot on.
What are all you feeling?