The Minnesota Twins may have missed out on Yu Darvish in free agency, but they have managed to upgrade their starting rotation this offseason.
The Twins acquired pitcher Jake Odorizzi in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night, as first reported by the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan says Jermaine Palacios is going back to the Rays as part of the deal.
Odorizzi has long been on the trade market, with several teams showing interest in him. The 27-year-old is set to earn $6.3 million in 2018 after winning his arbitration case. He will be eligible for arbitration next year before becoming a free agent in 2020.
The right-hander has been a reliable starter for the Rays the past four seasons. He is 40-38 with a career 3.84 ERA.
The Twins were in need of a rotation upgrade after Ervin Santana underwent surgery on his finger, which is expected to put him on the DL to start the season. Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson are two of the team’s other top starters.
Earlier in the evening, the Rays acquired CJ Cron from the Angels for a player to be named and designated Corey Dickerson for assignment to make room on the roster.
