Minnesota Twins: 2017 MLB Winter Meetings recap
The big move… Michael Pineda
As mentioned already, the Twins made a move for one player and that happens to be starting pitcher Michael Pineda. The former New York Yankees pitcher signed a two-year deal with the club.
The #MNTwins signed Michael Pineda to a two-year contract worth $10M. He had Tommy John surgery in July so he’s out most of 2018. He’ll get $2M in ‘18 and $8M in ‘19.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) December 13, 2017
As Rhett Bollinger reports, Pineda has a long road ahead of him to return for the 2018 season and in all likelihood, it doesn’t happen. Considering the surgery happened late in the season, the timetable for recovery is likely going to cut into a majority of the 2018 regular season. Even if he were to return, he’s going to need to do an assignment in the minors. In other words, the odds don’t look good for Pineda to make an impact next season.
On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a great deal at all. The Twins desperately need pitching help in the starting rotation right now and the 28-year-old certainly doesn’t give them that help in the near future. On the other hand, Pineda is a low risk, high reward candidate. When healthy, he’s been brilliant and is the definition of a strikeout pitcher. For his career, he has 687 strikeouts in 680 innings. He’s also 40-41 with a 4.05 ERA in 117 career starts.
#MNTwins Michael Pineda 2017 Pitch Quality
— MLB Quality of Pitch (@qopbaseball) December 13, 2017
5.14 QOPA (Top 8% MLB)
Vertical Break (Top 3% MLB)
Low Rise (Top 4% MLB)
Velocity (Top 34% MLB)
Changeup
5.94 QOPA (1st in MLB)
Vertical Break (Top 5% MLB)
Horizontal Break (Top 5% MLB)
Velocity (Top 6% MLB)#WinterMeetings2017 pic.twitter.com/7yOqVeofFT
Yet, he’s just not been healthy often in his career. In fact, he’s missed two full seasons and two half seasons with injuries since coming into the league in 2011. So, there’s reason to believe this has a good chance of not turning out for the Twins either.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to have more options for 2019 and if he pans out, it’s going to look like a steal of a deal for the price. Additionally, the Twins are definitely in the market for starting pitchers and relief pitchers for next season.