The Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres agreed to a trade on Sunday. Right-hander Phil Hughes, cash considerations, and the 74th pick in this year's MLB Draft are headed to San Diego, while minor-league catching prospect Janigson Villalobos is en route to the Minnesota organization, per the teams.
#MNTwins Roster Moves: Twins acquire catcher Janigson Villalobos from San Diego in exchange for Phil Hughes. pic.twitter.com/mNC1sgIOLI
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 27, 2018
Hughes was designated for assignment earlier in the week. He hasn't been a productive big-league pitcher since before he underwent thoracic outlet surgery in 2016. In the time since, he's thrown 124 innings of 5.99 ERA ball. Hughes has allowed roughly two home runs per nine in that time. Nonetheless, the Padres will see if Hughes can find some of his old magic now that he's back in his home state of California.
The Padres have traded for righty reliever Phil Hughes, who was designated for assignment by the Twins. Sounds like Minnesota will eat the rest of his '18 salary and a little over half his '19 salary, which is $13.2 million. Padres also acquire the No. 74 Draft pick.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) May 27, 2018
In all likelihood, the Padres made this deal despite Hughes's inclusion rather than because of it. In exchange for taking on less than $7 million in 2019 money, the Padres will net the 74th pick in the draft. (Remember, the competitive balance picks are tradeable.) This will again give the Padres four picks in the top-84, beginning with pick No. 7 -- they'd previously surrendered their second-round pick to sign Eric Hosmer. In addition, the Padres will pick 38th and 84th
Villalobos is a 21-year-old who hit .275/.367/.388 in rookie ball last season. He was not ranked on MLB.com's top-30 list for the Padres.
