Tommy Milone Traded to the Twins

Ken Rosenthal was the first to report it, but it looks like Tommy Milone has been traded to the Minnesota Twins for Sam Fuld. This came immediately after the bigger deal of Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes being traded to the Athletics for Yoenis Cespedes and a competitive balance pick. Now that the Athletics made the move to grab yet another ace SP (after Jason Hammel seemingly has been a bust) they felt like it was in their best interest to trade for more offense.

The reason I want to discuss this trade, and not the Lester/Cespedes one, is because of how perfect this is for every party involved. Who knows what will happen with the A’s this year, which is all they are guaranteed to have Lester for, but this could be a long-term fit for Milone and the Twins.

Before the Athletics traded for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel it seemed like Tommy Milone was set to have another great year, perhaps even a career best, but then was sent down to AAA to make room in the rotation for the new arms. Milone has started in 16 games so far this season, with a 3.55 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, both of which would be career bests for Tommy. His peripherals weren’t showing major signs of improvement, but it seemed like even if he declined a bit over the second half that he’d be about where he was in 2012. His strikeouts were a touch down, but nothing crazy, and GB/F rate had gone to 2012 levels, though he’s still a flyball pitcher.

So clearly Milone is a solid pitcher, and deserving of being in a rotation for someone, but why does it fit so well for him to go to the Twins? The first part is the easiest, it’s because the Twins pitching rotation is awful. They have the fourth worst ERA in MLB, the 2nd fewest quality starts, and the fifth worst WHIP. Their pitching rotation before the trade consisted of Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson, Kevin Correia, Yohan Pino, and Anthony Swarzak. Gibson and Hughes have been alright if inconsistent, Swarzak was in the bullpen before they had to slot him in, Pino strikes out a decent number but can’t last long in a game, and Correia has been dreadful.

Minnesota clearly needs Milone, but does Milone fit in Target Field? Absolutely. Despite their terrible rotation, something that seems to change by the week as they throw darts blindfolded, the Twins have allowed the 8th fewest HRs (84) in the majors where as Oakland has allowed the 13th most (96) despite their excellent pitching. Target Field is a pitcher’s park so Milone’s flyball tendencies won’t hurt him as much. He clearly won’t win as many games (unless he just gets lucky) but it’s a good fit.

Tommy Milone is only 27, and the Twins if they’re smart should see this as a long-term possibility. They have been trying to find an ace ever since Liriano left, and though Milone might not be SP 1 level of skill right now, he’d be the best the Twins have had in some time. For both parties I hope this works out. Thanks as always for reading.