The New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins swapped players on Sunday in a big trade.
The Yankees are acquiring Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt from the Twins for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez were just acquired by the Twins from Texas on Saturday for Mitch Garver. Just a day later, Minnesota flipped Kiner-Falefa to the Yankees.
Donaldson is the big get for the Yankees. The 36-year-old third baseman hit 26 home runs with an .827 OPS. He clubbed 37 home runs for the Braves in 2019. He is making $44 million over the next two seasons.
Kiner-Falefa, 26, is a career .265 hitter with a career .670 OPS. He played shortstop primarily last season but he can also play third base and catcher.
Sanchez has good power as a catcher. He hit 23 homers last season and has clubbed over 30 in a season twice during his career. But Sanchez batted just over .204 last season and is a lifetime .230 hitter. He will likely share time at catcher with Ryan Jeffers.
Urshela, 30, figures to slot in as Minnesota’s third baseman. He had a breakout 2019 season when he batted .314 with 21 home runs. Last season he hit .267 with 14 homers. Urshela still is under team control through 2023, making him very affordable.
