The Twins have officially acquired lefty Tommy Milone from the A’s in exchange for outfielder Sam Fuld, the teams have announced.
Milone (pictured) lost his rotation spot with the Athletics earlier this month when the team acquired Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, and any hope of him regaining that spot likely faded with Oakland’s morning acquisition of Jon Lester. The 27-year-old Milone had asked to be traded somewhere that he had a chance to start, and Minnesota certainly fits that bill. Specifically, the spacious Target Field seems a good fit for Milone’s fly-ball arsenal.
Milone had pitched to a solid 3.55 ERA with 5.7 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 38.4 percent fly-ball rate in 96 1/3 innings this season. He owns a 3.84 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and 36.8 percent ground-ball rate in 468 2/3 innings for the Nationals and Athletics. He is eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason and can be controlled through the 2017 campaign. For the time being, Milone will report to Triple-A Rochester, per the Twins. However, 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson tweets that it may be a procedural move more than anything. Milone just pitched Tuesday and is expected to be with the Twins soon, Wolfson hears.
Milone will add to a growing crop of Major League ready arms for the Twins, who have Alex Meyer and Trevor May knocking on the door at Rochester. Though several current members of the Major League staff have underperformed, including Kevin Correia, Ricky Nolasco and Mike Pelfrey (the latter two are currently on the DL), Minnesota could have a wildly different rotation in 2015.
Interestingly, the Twins claimed Fuld off waivers from Oakland earlier this year when he was designated for assignment. Presumably, he can form some form of platoon with the newly acquired Jonny Gomes in order to fill in for the now-departed Yoenis Cespedes.
The 32-year-old Fuld has been excellent for the Twins in 2014, slashing .274/.370/.354 with a homer, a dozen steals (in 15 attempts) and standout defense in both left and center field. In addition to platooning with Gomes, he can serve as a center field option for the A’s with Craig Gentry on the disabled list and Coco Crisp currently ailing. Fuld is a career .240/.323/.337 hitter and can be controlled via arbitration through the 2016 campaign.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that Milone was headed to Minnesota (Twitter link), and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported that Fuld was going back to Oakland (on Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Great pick up from Twins
Especially if it’s only for Fuld. Milone deserved a little more than that I would hope.
Agreed. Was hoping Cubbies could of pulled up a trade for Milone. Maybe Schierholtz
Milone was probably threatening to take hostages down in Sacramento, they had to free him
for Byron Buxton
and Nick Gordon
You forgot Miguel Sano
Willingham?
Should have been but sounds like the Twins were not going to moving him.
Fuld’s better than Willingham these days.
Maybe, maybe not.
which is strange, b/c he’s definitely not getting QO’d. he could be an August trade guy
Fuld
Fuld+
Didn’t Fuld play on the A’s at some point this season already?
Yep and he’s goin back again
I feel like Millone was worth so much more than Sam Fuld. He still has lots of controllable service time.
Ik same feeling I can’t agree more I feel like sam fuld is a player u can get whenever not for tommy milone
Makes literally no sense. Terrible trade. I know Tommy wanted out, but I wouldn’t have appeased him for Sam freaking Fuld. Couldn’t they have gotten Byrd for Milone? I would think they could.
Byrd’s a righty. Once they got Gomes, he was out of the equation. They needed a lefty platoon partner.
Fair point, but Byrd is head and shoulders a better player than Gomes. If they pursued Fuld over Byrd for that reason, I don’t like the line of thinking. Plain and simple, Fuld is not enough.
Billy Beane’s finger is stuck on the trade button. Watch out!
What a terrible trade for Oakland if its Milone for Fuld. Didn’t they release Fuld earlier?
DFA and was claimed by Minnesota
Solid pick up.
By who? Both teams?
Twins. Milone has been solid.
And trade them Johnny Gomes too?!
Can’t believe he didn’t at least go to the Sox too =
You HATE that trade!
Still would’ve been a win for you guys, and I’d be somewhat less upset.
It’s hard not to hate that trade. You have arguably one of the best and most realistic trade chips of the season and you get a comp pick and a guy under contract for 1 additional season on a team that looks to be a 75 win team at best in 2015. We’ll see, but its definitely not a solid deal for the Sox, especially now that a high upside arm just got traded for a 4th outfielder.
High upside and Milone should not be used together in a sentence. He’s a #4-5 starter at best.
And he got traded for a fourth outfielder. Ouch.
Very weird. Indeed.
Nice addition for the Twins.
Fuld same War as cespedes this year with less flash
That is not correct.
Fuld’s WAR this year is 0.7.
Cespedes’ WAR is 3.0.
(http://www.baseball-reference.com)
If all the Twins had to give up was Fuld that is a clear win for Minnesota.
I hope Billy Beane is causing a new trend for GMs. Most GMs seem too scared to get ripped off so much they don’t do anything. I love the balls.
Totally agree with your post. There use to be more colorful GM’s in the past.
Agreed. Churn is (usually) good. The high turnover GM”s tend to have good teams, but many GM’s are too insecure in their jobs to risk making a lot of moves.
There goes Beane exploiting the market trends. Teams overvaluing prospects, so I’ll trade my prospects to get a better team now. I like it.
My Royals would never, ever make a bold move like Beane’s. Too scared of making mistakes. The Royals don’t have the killer instinct from the owner on down. This message is transmitted to the players who are all nice guys but don’t have the killer instinct. Of course, the owner is not that committed to winning as long as the profits continue to roll in.
It’s like we’re long-lost baseball twins! (I’m an M’s fan grinding my teeth. 13 years and counting; my teeth are practically gone. But the hesitance this year is killing me.)
I agree. He’s fun.
BTW, Oakland ranks 23rd in home attendance. Nothing changes on that front, until they build a sparkling new stadium on the edge of the Bay … ha ha.
It’s for Sam Fuld
Boy the A’s surely like going after their former OFers. First Gomes, now Fuld.
Next headline: A’s trade minor leaguers to Mets for Chris Young, convince Eric Byrnes to come out of retirement.
Sam Fuld coming back to Oakland.
What a steal for the Twins. Tommy deserves to be an ML starter
ok, now i really don’t understand what beane is doing.
All in man…all in and he is doing a good job maximizing their chances.
by giving away Tommy Millone? How much does Sam Fuld really change this team? The team that already let him walk away.
Yeah, pitching depth is still kind of important. Beane making a HUGE gamble that his top four will stay healthy. Sure would be nice to have Milone around as insurance.
It’s horrible for the future, but you never know how valuable he will be. It makes them better. One big hit and he could go down in A’s history as a hero…Never know.
With most of the bats on the market outfielders I am surprised they didn’t go for someone a little better or better thought of.
Ugh, I don’t like this one.
Not a good trade for Oakland here. A middle of the rotation starter for a 4th OFer?
And a 4th OF who was just waived by the A’s, what, a couple months ago? Or am I making that up?
He played 7 games for Oakland and was DFA I believe.
Yeah, at the time Gentry was on the DL. Once he came off, Fuld was put on waivers and claimed. The A’s were hoping he would make it through waivers.
Sam Fuld is the best they can get for Milone?
He gave up 12 earned runs in his last 2 AAA starts. He eats up innings but can get hit hard. The run he was on before he got sent down was him playing above his talent level. He’s not going to go 6-0 with a sub 3 ERA for the rest of his career.
If you want to talk about “playing above his talent level,” see Sam Fuld, last couple months.
He was upset about being optioned to AAA, so he wasn’t trying. Same with Doubront before Boston traded him to the Cubs… he just wasn’t going to give 100% in a relief role.
How is Millone not worth holding onto? He would have been just fine, if not great as the #5, moving Chavez back into relief. I know he’s not a future #1-#2, but I could see him peaking around a solid #3 starter, which is valuable. I just don’t get it.
Lol, Great pickup, Twins.
Especially for their park. Milone’s an extreme fly ball pitcher, should play well in Minny. Great job by the Twins.
Well, Twins are buyers! Kinda.
Milone is going to start to get expensive. Still a nice swap for the Twins.
Is Fuld even worth MIllone? I figured it would take a lot more than that to get him
All it took to get Millone was Sam Fuld? Why did the Giants not look at Milone instead of the Peavy-rental? Better pitcher, younger, and under team control…
Millone wasn’t getter traded until the A’s got Lester.
Sam Fuld is totally underrated.
Fuld and Gomes (L/R) platoon + Jon Lester = WAR!
Byrd would of been a better option for the A’s and they probably still could of given up only Milone.
Sounds like RAJ’s asking price would be higher than that.
It’s RAJ, I think Milone and another prospect would get it done.
Well this is a bit of a head-scratcher. A quality starting pitcher for a platoon OF. In what world is this okay?
In a world where you just got Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes, apparently.
Not sure I see the connection. Gomes is gonna DH against lefties. No way he plays OF in that park. That would be disaster.
He already did before.
In Beane’s defense, Milone is a good pitcher only in certain locations. He’s an extreme fly ball guy, needs that big ballpark. And he’s about to get expensive.
Both of their CF are hurt.
Twins essentially getting Milone for free. You got to love that deal
Fuld? Thats it? I would have loved to see the Rays trade Joyce, a much better platoon part than Fuld for Milone.
uhmmm. Who’s supposed to be hitting right handers in this supposed platoon?
Gomes hits lefties, Fuld righties
Except Fuld doesn’t hit righties (despite his lefty swings). In fact, he doesn’t hit anyone — his recent hot streak notwithstanding. Career OPS under 700, which for an outfielder is miserable.
A’s DFA Fuld and Twins pick him up…
Now A’s trade Milone for Fuld?!!!
Wow…in essence the A”s DFA Milone!!!
Milone in his last 2 AAA starts gave up 6 runs in each start.
The White Sox couldn’t beat that offer? Fuld is awful. Beckham for Milone would have been a better deal for Oakland, in my opinion.
Player A: $800,000 .263 BA .356 OBP and 2.9 WAR
Player B: $4,175,000 .223 BA .268 OBP and -0.1 WAR
Who is who?
Player A is Fuld, Player B is Milone in inter-league games?
or Viciedo. And as a sox fan, and a guy thats high on viciedos potential, i would have been Ok with that deal. Milone is better than whatever seattle was offering for vidiedo im sure
Oh I agree, Viciedo, Beckham, De Aza, Dunn (and eat money) whatever. Any of those guys would have been better for Oakland than a career .240 hitter that’s 32 years old THAT THEY ALREADY HAD THIS SEASON and chucked. For the Sox, I’d rather see Milone than Noesi, Carroll, Rienzo or whatever other drek they’ve been trotting out there haha
Wow. Just wow.
I’m a little confused as to how Fuld and Gomes could be a platoon. I get that one is a righty and the other a lefty, but both players have much better numbers against LHP than they do versus RHP.
Way to miss out on a good opportunity Marlins… Get it together!!!
Incredible. The Red Sox couldn’t get Milone for Lester, but the Twins get him for Sam Fuld? I’m very VERY confused at the moment.
ridiculous, tommy milone should have been essential in that trade…
I would have thought they could get more for Milone. Fuld is nothing special and really doesn’t help an offense that loses Cespedes. I would have offered Milone to Phillie to get Byrd. Or anywhere else where you could get an outfielder or 2b who would provide some offense.
Fuld actually has a reverse platoon split, both in 2014 and for his career, so if the idea is for him to share time with Gomes this seems like a suboptimal pickup
Wow, this trade is a smoker for the Twins! Rarely can I say that anymore.
Well done, Terry Ryan and Co.!
Yeah, I’m shocked by this move even if Millone has had two bad starts in AAA lately. This is a dynamite trade considering Fuld was a DFA pickup.
A DFA pickup from the A’s no less.
If all they wanted was Sam Fuld again in return, St louis couldnt have sent Shane Robinson to Oakland for him?
I don’t get it….Sam Fuld is a fine real life bench piece, but Milone should be far more valuable.
Twin definitely got the better end of this one. How many time has Fuld been on waivers already this year?
Really thought Tommy had more vaue then this
Yeah me too he is a good pitcher
If this is what it took to get millone then why didnt the cardinals go after him instead of masterson? Wow
This deal wasn’t available until after the Lester trade. A’s are all in this year. This will be a horrible trade in the long run
Twins win this one. I’ve enjoyed Fuld this year but to get a left handed sp with 3 more yrs of control who’s fairly decent for him is big. Should fit in nicely at back end. Nice trade all around.
Milone has been doing very well this is a great trade for the Twins
I know the Twins are nothing to brag about these days, but Milone has to be thrilled about this. He’s instantly one of the Twins best starters, and he’s almost guaranteed a start every fifth game after a little tune-up in AAA that consist or one or two starts at most.
Racking up a boatload of starts in spacious Target Field and in the soft-hitting AL Central will put him on the fast track for significant pay raises. It’s a good day to be Tommy Milone. This is what he wanted: to be a Big League pitcher and millionaire. I mean, who doesn’t want that?
I think Beane may have finally cracked.
Billy must owe Terry Ryan something.
Hate this trade for Oakland
great acquisiting for Twins – he instantly becomes our #1 starter
Steal for the Twins.
“Don’t get Fuld again!”
The Who? The A’s.
I hope MLBTR does a full breakdown of this trade and gathers reactions from around the league. Everybody in the comment area here is confused by either the logic of the trade or the fact no other team offered the A’s a better return.
Wow, the Twins got a starting pitcher for sending Oakland back one of their cuts, incredible turn of events. And an upgrade to boot
I like it. This is good for both the Twins and Tommy Milone.
Wow all it took was Sam Fuld to get Milone. Sabean could’ve traded Gregor Blanco for Milone.
Surprised they got this much for Fuld. Fuld was basically the Twins #1 OF, but it was by default and not talent. He has been playing pretty well almost his entire time with the Twins.
I expect Milone’s numbers to get worse switching into a smaller park, but I still think it’s a very good return especially when you trade a guy back to where you got him from and when you got him initially you gave up nothing.