The Minnesota Twins acquired Jaime Garcia from the Atlanta Braves less than a week ago. Even then, Garcia will reportedly be placed on the trade block should Minnesota’s recent struggles continue. The same can be said for fellow veteran starter Ervin Santana.
Sources: #Twins will consider moving Ervin Santana – and even the recently acquired Jaime Garcia – if team's recent struggles continue. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 26, 2017
Minnesota entered Wednesday’s action with a 49-50 record and having lost nine of its past 13 games. It currently sits three games out of the final wild card spot in the American League and is 4.5 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.
Santana potentially being placed on the block isn’t a huge surprise. He owed $14.5 million for the 2018 season and might have an all-time high trade value. The veteran is putting up a career performance, posting an 11-7 record with a 3.26 ERA and 1.15 WHIP on the season.
Though, it is surprising to hear Garcia’s name come up in potential trade talks. Like we mentioned before, he was just recently acquired from Atlanta. Sure he’s likely a rental, but Minnesota did yield starting pitcher Huascar Ynoa in the deal.
The 19-year-old was considered a top-25 prospect within the Twins’ system heading into the 2017 season. Unless they can get a better return for Garcia, an impending free agent, it made little sense to trade for him in the first place. It makes even less sense to trade him now.