Report: Royals Trade Michael A. Taylor to Twins
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In mid-January, it was reported that the Minnesota Twins inquired about potentially trading for Kansas City Royals center fielder Michael A. Taylor. At the time, it appeared that Kansas City's asking price turned their American League Central rivals away. Less than a week later, however, both sides have reportedly worked out a deal. Per Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, the Royals are trading Taylor to Minnesota.
According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and MLB Network, left-handed pitcher Evan Sisk and right-handed pitcher Steven Cruz are heading back to Kansas City in exchange for Taylor. On the Twins' end, they will be receiving an outfielder who slashed .254/.313/.357 with a 90 wRC+ in 2022 and someone who remains one of the better defensive center fielders in the sport. Taylor is set to make $4.5 million in 2023 before hitting the free agent market at the end of the season. The veteran will turn 32 in March and has been a positive contributor for Kansas City since arriving ahead of the 2021 campaign.
In return, the Royals will be getting a pair of pitching prospects that have turned in mixed results as of late. Sisk, a 25-year-old who was a 16th round pick back in 2018, posted a minuscule 0.95 ERA across 28.1 innings at the Double-A level to start 2022 before getting promoted to Triple-A and still maintaining an impressive resume. In 34.2 innings, he posted an 11.16 K/9 with a 2.08 ERA and a 2.93 FIP while not surrendering a single home run. His BB/9 did spike from 3.49 to 4.67 with the promotion and as a reliever, that will need to be improved before he contributes valuable big-league innings.
Cruz, the No. 28 prospect in the Twins' system per MLB Pipeline, won't turn 24 until June and pitched 56 Double-A innings for Minnesota last year. Across those frames, he had a 5.14 ERA with a 4.15 FIP that was tied to an abnormally high .350 BABIP. Cruz struck out 11.57 hitters per nine innings but also walked 5.63. The lanky right-hander predicates his game upon a lethal fastball and a slider-curveball combination that is still developing. Standing 6-foot-7, Cruz still has some potential as a bullpen arm if he can harness his control over the next year or two.
