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The New York Yankees are acquiring 3B Josh Donaldson and SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Minnesota Twins in a deal including C Gary Sanchez and INF Gio Urshela, per reports.
Source confirms: Yankees acquiring 3B Josh Donaldson, SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela. First: @JeffPassan.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 14, 2022
The Twins have been busy as the lockout lifted as this is the second move they have made that has featured Kiner-Falefa. He was acquired from the Texas Rangers on Saturday and spent a little over 24 hours as a member of the Twins. Now he and Donaldson were packaged together to bring in Sanchez and Urshela. The benefit of Urshela is that he has the versatility to play multiple infield positions so they can get creative with his usage. The Twins sent the Rangers Mitch Garver in the trade on Saturday so Sanchez will slot in as their starting catcher.
The Yankees are either lacking a franchise catcher with the moving of Sanchez. If the season started tomorrow, they would be either throwing Kyle Higashioka behind the plate or having Kiner-Falefa use his limited catching experience. They get the big bat in Donaldson who will likely DH or play first, but it remains to be seen what they end up doing with Kiner-Falefa or if they are now in the hunt for an established catcher.
There’s enough chatter on Twitter after this perplexing move by the Yanks. Donaldson is owed $50 million and the Yankees will pay all of the remaining salary. It could mean another deal is on the horizon or the Yankees are just ready to open up the check book this offseason. The Twins clear a ton of salary by letting Donaldson get off the books.