MN Twins Trade Struggling Reliever for Exciting Young Infield Prospect

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Jorge Alcala, Minnesota Twins
Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins have practiced a certain level of insanity with regards to their usage of relief pitcher Jorge Alcala in recent seasons. He was extremely effective for through the first half of the 2024 season, while the Twins inexplicably demoted and promoted him multiple times.

But since his downfall started in August of last year, and as it continued into 2025, the Twins decided to stand by the 29-year-old righty. For a pitching staff that needs to step up while both Pablo Lopez and Zebby Matthews are on the injured list, Alcala has taken a step back.

Minnesota Twins trade Jorge Alcala to Red Sox

Then on Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers, Alcala gave up 5 earned runs on 5 hits in 1.2 innings pitched, which was finally the straw that broke Derek Falvey’s back. Wednesday, following the Twins’ first win in four games, Jorge Alcala was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Class A infielder, Andy Lugo.

This season with the MN Twins, Alcala posted a terrible 8.88 ERA (5.42 FIP) across 22 appearances (24.1 IP). The 10.4 K/9 is a career-high but he’s walking a ridiculous 5.5 batters per nine innings and still serving up plenty of dingers.

The writing was on the wall for Jorge Alcala as soon as the Twins claimed lefty reliever Joey Wentz off waivers on Wednesday afternoon, after he was DFA’d by the Pittsburgh Pirates. They put Pablo Lopez on the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man spot.

Related: Minnesota Twins Claim Pirates Pitcher Off Waivers

The Minnesota Twins could not have demoted the seven-year veteran without clearing some serious hurdles. He is out of minor league options, and due to his accrued service time he could have rejected an assignment to Triple-A. He also is playing on a $1.5 million contract this season and would have been unlikely to be claimed on waivers.

Rather than gamble on the intentions of others teams through the waiver process, Derek Falvey acted in his best interest and swung a trade and even got the Red Sox to pick up all of Jorge Alcala’s remaining salary. This deal also closes the door on the Ryan Pressly (for Alcala and Gilberto Celestino) trade from the Houston Astros.

Who is Andy Lugo?

In return for their nearly 30-year-old Dominican relief pitcher, the Minnesota Twins received 21-year-old Dominican corner infield prospect, Andy Lugo, who joined the Boston Red Sox organization in 2022, at 18 years old.

He’ll likely join the Twins high-A affiliate in Cedar Rapids. Should you be excited about Lugo? That depends on how much you like bat flips…

So far this season at single A Greenville, Lugo has hit .265 with a .758 OPS. He has impressive speed and power, racking up 11 doubles already this season, to go with 4 home runs and 20 RBI. In his minor league career, Lugo is slashing a very competent .279/.344/.430.

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