From the Twins’ official Twitter feed comes word that the club has traded catcher Jose Morales to the Rockies for young left-hander Paul Bargas.
Morales, 27, hit .194/.295/.250 with zero home runs, two doubles and seven RBI over 36 at-bats in 2010 for the Twins. He will serve as a rarely-used backup in Colorado behind Chris Iannetta, who is finally getting a chance at real playing time.
Iannetta had 16 homers in 289 at-bats for the Rockies in 2009 and 18 homers with an 895 OPS back in 2008. When given everyday looks, he has produced. Now it’s time for him to produce over the course of an entire season.
Bargas was selected by Colorado in the 13th round of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft. He hasn’t climbed out of Single-A, but the 22-year-old posted a solid 3.59 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over 67.2 innings this past year in the South Atlantic League and may have a future as a big league setup man if he continues to flash good numbers down on the farm.
The Twins appear comfortable with Drew Butera serving as Joe Mauer’s primary backup in 2011.