Twins notes: Jovani Morán traded for Mickey Gasper, plus hole at first base

Multiple teams were known to be sniffing around left-hander Jovani Moran prior to the Rule 5 draft, weighing the risk of picking the rehabbing reliever after the Minnesota Twins failed to protect him with a 40-man roster spot.

Moran ultimately wasnt picked in the Dec.

11 draft, but two weeks later, the Twins traded him to the Boston Red Sox for Triple-A first baseman/catcher Mickey Gasper .

Its a low-wattage swap of a 27-year-old middle reliever on the comeback trail for a 29-year-old with just 18 at-bats in the majors, but its not as if the Twins have made any bigger offseason moves to analyze.

Advertisement Moran is 13 months removed from Tommy John surgery that sidelined him all of last season, but he displayed a big-league arm before the injury with a 4.15 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 91 innings for the Twins from 2021-23.

He had a good fastball and a great changeup, but extremely poor control (5.1 walks per nine innings) kept Moran from becoming a trusted bullpen option.

There was no need to trade Moran once he made it through the Rule 5 draft.

Hes signed to a minor-league contract, without a 40-man roster spot, so the Twins could have simply kept him rehabbing in the organization all season.

And if he got healthy and looked good again, they could have re-added him to the 40-man roster and retained team control through 2029.

Considering the Twins lack of left-handed bullpen options Brent Headrick and Kody Funderburk are the only lefties on the 40-man roster giving up on Moran suggests they arent optimistic about his comeback.

Its also an indication they see Gasper as more than just a Quad-A grinder and could give the overachieving 27th-round pick a chance to earn a bench role.

Mickey Gasper is on a TEAR.

pic.twitter.com/jNvF1ElvFm Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) August 10, 2024 Its easy to guess why Gasper caught the Twins eye offensively.

Hes been a switch hitting on-base machine in the minors, batting .275/.392/.449.

That includes leading Triple A in OPS last season by slashing .367/.471/.592 in 48 games before his unexpected MLB debut in August.

Triple A dominance is always worth a look, and for now at least to the Twins, a 40-man spot.

But what really makes Gasper intriguing is his defensive track record.

Hes bounced between first base and catcher in the minors and also played a bit of second base.

Thats an unconventional set of positions for a utility player, but theres no such thing as too much catcher depth and the Twins are short on internal first-base options after losing Carlos Santana and Alex Kirilloff.

Advertisement Gaspers power is a little light for first base or designated hitter, but his bat could stand out at catcher if the Twins think hes viable there defensively.

It might be a stretch I asked a few scouts from other teams about Gaspers glove behind the plate and reviews werent good but the Twins may need a backup for Ryan Jeffers if they trade/salary dump Christian Vazquez .

FanGraphs projects Gasper to hit .258/.353/.390 with a 105 OPS+ in the big leagues.

Thats passable but below average at 1B/DH, which had a league-wide 108 OPS+ in 2024.

But as usual, catcher was the worst-hitting position, with a combined 91 OPS+ that included a 60 OPS+ from Vazquez and a 103 OPS+ from Jeffers.

Gasper would be useful if he could catch, even poorly.

Carlos Santana leaves hole at first base How valuable was Santana with the Twins? He went from signing for $5.25 million as a 37-year-old free agent last winter to getting $12 million from the division rival Cleveland Guardians as a 38-year-old free agent this offseason.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic listed eight teams pursuing Santana and the Twins werent one of them, which isnt shocking.

Santana reportedly turned down bigger offers in favor of a third stint with Cleveland, where he played from 2010-17 and 2019-20.

And even if Santana wanted to stay in Minnesota and the Twins wanted him back, $12 million was never going to be doable.

Thats the sad reality of Twins ownership giving the front office an expected payroll limit of $130 million for a roster that costs over $140 million as is.

Its why Santanas market heating up ended any shot of the Twins keeping him.

Its also why Vazquez trade talk persists and why I just wrote 500 words on Gaspers possible fit as a minimum-salaried 1B/DH/C option.

GG, CARLOS!!! pic.twitter.com/KJDZ7kpTfz Minnesota Twins (@Twins) November 4, 2024 Jose Miranda sits atop the Twins first base depth chart, if only by default, with Edouard Julien and Gasper as the other in-house options.

And the free-agent pool got very shallow in a hurry once Christian Walker , Paul Goldschmidt , Josh Bell and Santana signed.

Aside from Pete Alonso, who is nowhere near the Twins price range, the best unsigned options are underwhelming .

Advertisement Justin Turner could make sense if the Twins can at least afford a one-year deal in the same $5 million range they gave Santana last winter.

If not, perhaps Mark Canha, Ty France or old friend Donovan Solano would work as stop-gap options to provide competition for Miranda or Julien, who have the advantage of being young and minimum salaried if nothing else.

There are also plenty of trade possibilities should the Twins decide to avoid handing the job to Miranda.

First basemen rumored to be available include Yandy Diaz , Triston Casas , Spencer Torkelson , Ryan Mountcastle , Andrew Vaughn and Rhys Hoskins , as well as old friends Luis Arraez , LaMonte Wade Jr.

and Spencer Steer .

Its a much deeper pool.

Miranda is a viable option, but his defense would be a massive downgrade from Santana and hes yet to stay healthy and productive for a full season.

And if he gets hurt, then what? FanGraphs depth chart-based projections , which are updated all offseason, rank the Twins first basemen primarily Miranda and some Julien 20th in expected wins above replacement.

(Photo of Mickey Gasper: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images).

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