On July 26, 2018 the Minnesota Twins, then led by Paul Molitor, were 48-53 while checking in seven games out of first place in the AL Central. Having been named the American League Manager of the Year following the 2017 season, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine were unable to pick their choice to lead the team. Regression had set in and roster turnover needed to take place.
Despite Eduardo Escobar ‘s fan-favorite status, he was a 29-year-old with a .852 OPS who would soon be a free agent. There was never going to be a better opportunity to deal him. It was going to be met with backlash, similar to how Luis Arraez was viewed when he was shipped to Miami just last season, but the baseball side of things made sense.
The return for Escobar was uncertain. Dealing with the Diamondbacks, Minnesota made a play for quality on top of quantity. Gabriel Maciel was seen as the highlight of the return. The 11th best prospect in Arizona’s system by MLB Pipeline at the time, the Brazilian was a Pioneer League All-Star in 2017 and the name to know. Ernie De La Trinidad was a former 19th-round pick and little more than a flier. The other name in the deal was Jhoan Duran, who was Arizona’s 19th-best prospect per MLB Pipeline, a starting pitcher working at Low-A Kane County.
It wasn’t as though Maciel was tied to a significant signing bonus; he got just $90,000 in 2015 as an international free agent. His skill set was exciting, though, and the projectability seemed to be something that Minnesota could dream on. Ultimately, he never advanced beyond High-A, and his career .705 OPS across 445 minor league games was never going to get it done. That 52-game sample size for rookie ball Missoula was the only thing to hang his hat on, and he has been out of affiliated baseball since 2022 despite being just 25 years old.
On the flip side, Duran has become one of the most dominant relievers in baseball and has since established himself as more valuable to the Twins franchise than anything Escobar could have provided in the years since. Duran worked his way through the system as a starting pitcher, but his ability to pump triple-digit fastballs paired with a devastating sprinkler earned him a bullpen spot to start the 2022 season.
Not eligible for arbitration until 2025, and not a free agent until 2028, the Twins should have plenty of successful seasons with Duran at the back end of their bullpen. Just a day after the Escobar deal, Minnesota sent closer Ryan Pressly to the Houston Astros in exchange for Jorge Alcala and Gilberto Celestino. In that deal it was Celestino who was seen as the get, despite Alcala winding up as the more productive arm. Little did the front office know that they were replacing their current closer for the one of the future in such a short turnaround.