Red Sox acquire Jovani Moran from Twins for Mickey Gasper

The Red Sox and Twins have agreed to a Christmas Eve trade involving left-handed pitchers Jovani Moran Go to Boston in exchange for the catcher/first baseman Mickey Gasper. Beyond The Monster’s Hunter Noll was the first to report the deal, and both teams have officially announced the trade.

Moran underwent Tommy John surgery last offseason, which led to the Twins de-tapping him before re-signing the southpaw to another minor league contract. Of course, Moran didn’t pitch at all in 2024 during the rehab period, and he will now look to return to the mound in Boston as the 27-year-old switches organizations for the first time in his career.

Moran, who was selected by the Twins in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, also missed the entire minor league season in 2016 (due to injury) and 2020 (the season canceled due to the pandemic). Moran eventually made his MLB debut in eight innings for the Twins in 2021, and then he seemingly broke out with a 2.21 ERA over 40 2/3 relief innings for Minnesota in 2022. Moran backed that one up strong ERA with a 32.9% strikeout rate and 48.9% grounder rate, but both his peripherals and his bottom lines went down in the next year back.

Moran had a 5.31 ERA, 41.9% grounder rate and 26.1% strikeout rate in 42 1/3 frames in 2023, and after being optioned to Triple-A in early August had his season ended early by a forearm strain in September, which ultimately led to his TJ surgery.

Despite lacking a big fastball, Moran’s ability to miss bats and his talent for inducing grounders have helped him achieve success in the minors and (in a limited capacity) in the big leagues. Control is his biggest question mark, as Moran has a 13.5% walk rate in his 91 career MLB innings and a 12.36 BB% walk rate in 257 2/3 innings of minor league ball.

Moran joins in Aroldis Chapman And Justin Wilson as a left-handed addition to the Red Sox bullpen mix this offseason, although Moran is more of a depth option at this point depending on his health and form after the long layoff. While he likely won’t be ready for the Opening Day roster, some time in the minors could help Moran fully recover and get a few innings under his belt before the Red Sox draft him for a potential role in their bullpen major league consideration.

The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman writes that Moran received some attention from teams participating in the Rule 5 Draft, and in fact it was Gasper who came to the Red Sox from the Yankees organization in the 2023 minor league version of Rule R5 . The selection resulted in Gasper’s first taste of big league action, although he failed to record a hit in his 23 plate appearances in 13 games for the Sox that season.

Gasper played first and second base during his brief time on the show, but spent the majority of his career behind the plate. Gasper’s ability to catch and play other positions (primarily first and second, with some games as a third baseman and left fielder) adds to his versatility, not to mention his switch-hitting bat. This creates a potential opportunity for Gasper to win a bench job in Minnesota, as the third catcher and general utilityman behind the Twins’ catching tandem Ryan Jeffers And Christian Vazquez. It remains to be seen whether the Twins will be able to trade Vazquez and get any part of his contract off the books, but if so, Gasper could be a candidate to replace Jeffers.

Gasper was selected by the Yankees in the 27th round of the 2018 draft, but he worked his way through New York’s farm system with some strong numbers at every level of the minor league standings. In just 1,600 minor league PA, Gasper has hit .275/.392/.449 with 48 home runs, and those numbers include nine home runs and a .317/.422/.498 slash line in 282 PA on triples. A level.