TAMPA -- Isiah Kiner-Falefa thought she had found a new home with the Minnesota twins. Less than 24 hours later, he was traded to the New York Yankees in exchange for former American League MVP Josh Donaldson and catcher Ben Rorthwaite along with catcher Gary Sanchez and infielder Gio Ursella.
Earlier in the day, Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced Ursella as the Yankees' starting shortstop. Ursella, whose natural position is third base, had started only 41 games at shortstop in six major league seasons with Cleveland (2015, 2017), Toronto (2018) and the Yankees (2019-21).
Nonetheless, Boone indicated that he still expected the Yankees to make some extra moves.
"I'm sure there are still things to be done in the game, and certainly with us, that's going to potentially change that scenario," Boone said on Sunday morning. “I know that Cash [GM Brian Cashman] and the front office are overdrive and evaluating and evaluating those conversations right now, whether it's free agents, through trade markets. I know they're going to find a place like that. Working where it potentially improves our club."
Receiving Kenner-Falefa answers one of the Yankees' biggest off-season needs after Gleber Torres failed to make a successful transfer from second base. The Yankees weren't ready to be players when it came to two big-money free-agent shortstops in the market, Carlos Correa and Trevor Story.
Kinner-Falefa also plays third base and won a Gold Glove in this position during the pandemic-less 2020 season. Kinner-Falefa batted .271/.312/.357 with eight home runs and 53 RBI in his first full season as Rangers' shortstop last year. He posted a .972 fielding percentage on the position, including big league shortstops (669), assists (436) and double play turns (98) in total opportunities.
However, Rangers signed free-agent shortstop Corey Seeger to 10 years, a $325 million deal this off-season — an acquisition that eventually led them to trade Kinnear-Falefa for the Twins on Saturday.
On a conference call with Minnesota journalists after the trade, Kinner-Falefa addressed his disappointment at being settled, saying that the acquisition of Seeger "definitely hurt."
"The fact that they couldn't make it to me was really tough," Kiner-Falefa told reporters. "It ended up working with them to accommodate me and let me do business here, and I couldn't be happier to live [in Minnesota]."
Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey praised Kenner-Falvey's defensive skills after the trade, describing him as a "gold glove-level defender". Kinner-Falefa also played 73 career major league games on the catcher, recording a fielding percentage of .996.
Following the announcement of the business for New York, Kiner-Falefa took to Twitter to express her enthusiasm in donating the pinstripe.
"Always #2!!!" he wrote, referencing Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter. wanted to be like "Come on @Yankees"
Always wanted to be like #2!!! Let’s go @Yankees https://t.co/ut6G61zG6l
— Isiah Kiner-Falefa (@Isiahkf11) March 14, 2022
Donaldson, at 36, is a three-time Yankees All-Star, 2015 AL MVP, and two-time AL Silver Slugger Award winner. Donaldson was also named the 2019 National League Comeback Player of the Year during his one-year stint with the Atlanta Braves.
The third baseman, who played with Oakland (2010, '12-14), Toronto (2015-18), Cleveland (2018), has a career slash line of .269/.367/.505 in 11 seasons in the big leagues. Atlanta (2019) and Minnesota (2020-21). Last year, Donaldson hit .247 in 135 games with the Twins with 26 doubles, 26 home runs and 72 RBIs.
Donaldson joined the Yankees after being one of Gerrit Cole's most vocal critics. Donaldson called out Cole's decreased spin rate after MLB cracked down on the pitcher's use of foreign substances.
New York will receive the remaining two years of Donaldson's contract, valued at approximately $42 million, from the twins.
The Yankees also exchanged catchers with the Twins, flipping Sanchez for Rortvedt. Sanchez had become a liability behind the plate and lost to backup Kyle Higashioka, who developed into Cole's personal catcher. After a terrible 2020 season in which he hit .147/.253/.365, Sanchez was also a shadow of his former self at the plate.
Rortvedt, 24, made his league debut in 2021 batting .169/229/.281, scoring three home runs and seven RBIs in 39 matches. Rortvedt was a second-round (56th overall) selection in the 2016 draft and was named the best defensive catcher in the Twins minor league system by Baseball America after the 2019 season. Rortvedt also worked with current Yankees catching coach Tanner Swanson while Swanson was with Minnesota.