PHOENIX – The Braves traded pitcher Jaime Garcia to the Twins on Monday, sending the left-hander along with catcher Anthony Recker and a small amount of cash to Minnesota in exchange for 19-year-old pitching prospect Huascar Ynoa.
Ranked as a top-25 prospect in the Twins organization, the hard-throwing Ynoa is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound right-hander who went 0-1 with a 5.26 ERA in six rookie-ball starts in the Appalachian League this season, after posting a 3.18 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 51 innings in the Gulf Coast League in 2016 in his first year of pro ball in the United States.
Ynoa, a native of Puerto Rico, was rated the No. 14 international prospect in 2014 by Baseball America when he signed at age 16. He has a 5-11 record and 3.38 ERA in 31 minor league starts, all at the rookie-league level (including the Dominican Summer League) with 121 strikeouts, 56 walks and only three home runs allowed in 133 1/3 innings.
Credit: Cliff Welch
Credit: Cliff Welch
Garcia, 31, was 4-7 with a 4.30 ERA in 18 starts in his only season with the Braves, who got him from the Cardinals in a Dec. 1 trade for three fringe prospects. General manager John Coppolella called him at the team hotel in Phoenix Monday morning and manager Brian Snitker talked with a cordial Garcia when the lefty stopped by Chase Field before heading to the airport to go join his new team.
The Twins will pay all of the approximate $4.55 million remaining on Garcia’s $12 million salary this season. The Braves will cover $100,000 of the $300,000 remaining on Recker’s remaining salary.
The Braves called up Matt Wisler from Triple-A Gwinnett to take Garcia’s roster spot for a couple of days, but Aaron Blair is set to start in place of Garcia on Wednesday at Arizona. Lucas Sims could move into that rotation spot if he continues his recent run of stellar pitching at Gwinnett. Veteran Kris Medlen, also at Gwinnett, is another candidate for the spot.
The Braves are still pursuing of a frontline starter with multiple years of financial control, though the market is nearly dried up for now. Oakland’s Sonny Gray is at or near the top of their wish list after the Braves lost out in the bidding for lefty All-Star Jose Quintana, but several contenders are pursuing Gray and his price has likely risen beyond what the Braves are willing to give up for him.
The non-waiver trade deadline is July 31 and the Braves have some others who could potentially be traded, primarily pending free agents such as second baseman Brandon Phillips.
But they’re also stated they are trying to win now and could keep Phillips and first baseman Matt Adams for the rest of the season if they don’t get suitable offers. Adams might have a bigger market in the offseason and the Braves are particularly reluctant to trade him now because of the contributions he’s made the past nine weeks.
“We have talked about buying and selling in the trade market,” Coppolella said. “We continue to explore opportunities to improve our club in the short and long term.”
The Braves nearly traded him to the Twins last week for another, higher-rated pitching prospect, but there were health concerns with that pitcher when his medical records were reviewed.
After not knowing whether he’d be traded before his start Friday at Los Angeles, Garcia pitched seven strong innings and hit a career-first grand slam that night in a series-opening 12-3 rout at Dodger Stadium.
“I really admire him for how he handled the whole thing, seeing his name out there and then the game he pitched the other day,” Snitker said. “Just the professionalism he had through the whole thing. Talked to him today and he was appreciative of everything here, as we are him. He was a great teammate and did a good job for us. We wish him nothing but the best.”
It had been expected since the Braves initially acquired Garcia that they would trade him before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, since he’ll be a free agent this winter and they didn’t intend to pay free-agent prices to re-sign him.
Tje Braves wanted to get what they could in a trade now, and the opening also gives them a chance to look at Sims or others to gauge whether they’ll be ready to potentially hold a rotation spot next season.
In parts of nine major league seasons, Garcia has battled frequent injuries and posted a 66-52 record and 3.65 ERA in 176 games (164 starts). He was 10-13 with a 4.67 ERA in 171 12/3 innings for the Cardinals in 2016, the first time since 2011 that he made more than 20 starts or pitched as many as 130 innings.
Recker, 27, was brought up from Triple-A on Saturday to fill in for catcher Kurt Suzuki while Suzuki was on bereavement leave to attend his grandfather’s funeral in Hawaii. Suzuki was reinstated Monday and Recker, who didn’t play during this three-day stint with the big-league team, was traded before rejoining Gwinnett.
