The Twins on Thursday traded their lone 2016 All-Star, infielder Eduardo Nunez, to the San Francisco Giants for left-hander Adalberto Mejia.
Nunez stepped into the lineup because of injuries and took advantage of the opportunity, batting .296 with 12 home runs, 47 RBIs and 27 stolen bases.
Mejia, 23, is 4-1 with a 4.20 ERA for Class AAA Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League. Baseball America has him ranked as the 91st-best prospect in baseball.
Mejia is 41-27 with a 3.27 ERA in his minor league career.
Mejia was ranked as the Giants' 10th-best prospect.
"(Mejia will) go to Rochester, but he's a pitcher we think will surface here pretty quickly," Twins interim general manager Rob Antony said.
"He has a high spin rate that allows him to pitch up in the zone and get a lot of strikeouts."
Mejia began the season at Class AA Richmond, where he was 3-2 with a 1.94 ERA. In 65 innings, he walked 16 batters and struck out 58. He was promoted to Sacramento in June.
