Reaction: Yankees Acquire Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Ben Rortvedt from Twins

 

Yankee fans have been asking for a big move and boy did they get one today. In an out-of-nowhere swap, the Yankees acquired 3B Josh Donaldson, INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and C Ben Rortvedt in exchange for 3B Gio Urshela and C Gary Sanchez. There seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding this trade, so let’s break it down.

 

For starters, many Yankee fans will be happy to rid themselves of Gary Sanchez. Sanchez needed a change of scenery, and the Yankees needed a change at catcher. You can pencil Gary in for a low batting average, high strikeouts, and 20 home runs. But, that just isn’t a good fit for this Yankee offense that already carries a lot of strikeouts, and it’s made even worse when one considers Gary’s defense.

 

Joining Gary on the plane ride to Minnesota is 3B Gio Urshela. Urshela was an afterthought when the Yankees acquired him for cash from the division rival Blue Jays, but he burst onto the scene in 2019. He had a 132 wRC+ in 2019 that he backed up with a 133 wRC+ in 2020. However, that number dropped to a below league-average 96 wRC+ in 2021. His hard hit rate has plummeted from 44% in 2019 to 28.2% in 2021. Gio’s defense has also regressed in this timeframe. He was credit with 5 defensive runs saved at third base in the shortened 2020 season, but had -4 DRS at the hot corner in 2021. All told, Gio was a 1.0 WAR player last season. It is possible that the Yankees sold him at the highest point his value will ever be.

 

Now for the fun part: the return. Let’s start with former MVP third baseman Josh Donaldson. Donaldson is a direct replacement for Gio Urshela, and on paper he is an upgrade. Donaldson was worth 2.2 WAR last year. His wRC+ was 124, buoyed by a triple slash line of .247/.352/.475, 26 homers, and 72 RBIs. He was also better defensively where he accounted for 1 DRS. The only potential downside to adding Donaldson? Taking on the $50 million guaranteed to him over the next two seasons. However, this is the type of move we’ve wanted the Yankees to make for a long time. They passed on trading for guys like Justin Verlander in the interest of “playing it safe”, and had they traded for him, it is possible they hoist the World Series trophy in 2017 instead of the Houston Astros. The Yankees definitely are taking a big swing here, but if it pays off, they’ll be better for it. Donaldson projects to hit in the middle of the lineup rather than the bottom of it like Urshela, thus lengthening a lineup that desperately needs it (see: Wild Card Game lineup). For what it is worth, Donaldson spent a year with the Atlanta Braves, meaning he is a former teammate of Freddie Freeman….

 

The other known Major League commodity in this deal is INF Isiah Kinera-Falefa. Falefa currently profiles as the Yankees starting shortstop which is admittedly disappointing given the presence of Trevor Story and Carlos Correa on the free agent market. If IKF is in fact the SS, let’s look at the positives. Offensively, he actually has a very similar profile to Gio Urshela:

 

	BB%	K%	Soft Hit %	Med. Hit %	Hard Hit %
IKF	4.1%	13.3%	15.7%	57.1%	27.2%
Urshela	4.5%	24.7%	15.4%	56.4%	28.2%

 

Based on this, perhaps it is possible that the Yankees can get roughly league average offensive production from IKF. If they do that, they will benefit from having his glove at SS. He was credited with 10 DRS last year, a huge improvement over Gleyber’s -10 DRS at short. IKF was a 2.3 WAR player last year despite a wRC+ of 85. He also chipped in 20 stolen bases last year for the Rangers. If the Yankees can do what they’ve done with so many guys and get more out of his bat, the Yankees could have themselves a very solid player on their hands. Even if his bat doesn’t improve, a 2 WAR player is nothing to scoff at.

 

The most intriguing part of this trade for me is C Ben Rortvedt. The 24-year old is a lefty hitter who made his Major League debut last season. It was an unimpressive debut to say the least as Rortvedt posted a 40 wRC+ in 98 PAs. Despite limited time behind the plate, he was credit with 5 DRS. Tanner Swanson, the Yankees catching coach, is a former Twins employee who worked with Rortvedt in the past. Clearly, he gave a good report. Our very own Pete Simonetti has received reports that the Yankees view Rortvedt as having an improving bat with 20-homer potential who is an excellent pitch framer and defense catcher in general. Jack Curry reported that the Yankees currently plan to platoon Rortvedt and Kyle Higashioka. I personally don’t buy this, but if it is true, the youngster has just found himself on the more active side of a platoon as catcher for the New York Yankees.

 

Now, I’ve said a lot of good about this deal in this piece. However, it is certainly not without its question marks.

 

Question 1: Will the Yankees really send out such an underwhelming and inexperienced group of catchers? 

 

I’m skeptical, Willson Contreras and Sean Murphy could both be had via trade and give Rortvedt more time to develop in Scranton.

 

Question 2: How will the infield logjam be resolved? Especially if the Yankees resign Rizzo or acquire Freeman/Olson?

 

Currently, the Yankees have five infielders for four spots, and there is no shortage of rumors connecting them to a lefty hitting first baseman. If the Yankees sign one, I think it is safe to say Luke Voit will be traded. The Milwaukee Brewers have shown interest in the past. Could the Yankees send Voit and a prospect to pry lefty SP Eric Lauer away? Would he be sent for a bullpen arm instead? Regardless, his days in pinstripes seem to be numbered. Personally, I think the other trade option (assuming they acquire a lefty 1B) is Gleyber Torres. Torres best position is clearly second base, and frankly he’s not that good there. His bat showed signs of life after moving there late last season, but it was a small sample size. If the Yankees don’t move him now and he struggles, they may find themselves right where they were with Gary Sanchez before this trade. Torres still has plenty of value and could speculatively headline a package for a starter, a catcher, or Matt Olson.

 

I may be in the minority here, but I truly believe the Yankees are a much better team on paper after this trade than they were before it. This is not to say that they don’t have work to do, but they have upgraded their roster without trading a single prospect. More moves should be and likely are coming. Be patient Yankee fans, it’s a start, and a pretty good one if you ask me.

 

*All stats courtesy of FanGraphs*

*Photo of Josh Donaldson credited to Corey Sipkin*