The Twins acquired Rays right-hander Jake Odorizzi on Saturday night, sending Tampa Bay shortstop prospect Jermaine Palacios.
Ordorizzi gives the Twins a starter who can fill out their rotation, a serious position of need going into the offseason, which was made more critical after Ervin Santana was lost for the first several weeks of the season following surgery on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
Odorizzi, 27, was 10-8 with a 4.14 ERA last season for the Rays. He's 40-38 with a 3.83 ERA for his career with Tampa Bay.
Palacios was considered part of the Twins depth at the shortstop position. He wasn't considered an elite prospect along the likes of Royce Lewis, the first overall pick in last year's draft, or Nick Gordon, who played well at Class AA Chattanooga last season, or even Wander Javier, who signed for $4 million in 2016. But he's hit .290 in the minors after being signed in 2014 and hit .296 between Class A Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers last season.
Twins officials considered Palacios a legitimate shortstop prospect.
The Twins attempted to sign Yu Darvish as a free agent, offering him a five year deal at more than $100 million, only to lose out to the Cubs, who got him for six years and $126 million. The Twins also offered a deal for Rays ace Chris Archer, with Max Kepler part of the package.
But they have kept in touch with Tampa Bay throughout the offseason about Archer and Odorizzi, and end up with Odorizzi.
He joins a rotation with Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson, and Santana whenever he is healthy.
They have an agreement with right-hander Anibal Sanchez for $2.5 million, provided he makes the team. Sanchez now goes in the mix for a spot in the back end of the rotation, with Phil Hughes, Adalberto Mejia and others for that role.
