Twins finally acquire Jaime Garcia from the Braves for Huascar Ynoa

After it seemed like a done deal only a few days ago before being held up due to prospect medical concerns on the Braves’ part, Jaime Garcia is now officially heading to the Twins in exchange for 19-year old right-hander Huascar Ynoa, who was spending time with the Elizabethton Twins in the Appalachian League.

In addition to Garcia, catcher Anthony Recker is also heading to Minnesota and the Braves are sending some cash along as well.

As we previously noted when the trade first crystallized, the Twins hope that Garcia can be a back-of-rotation pitcher to help them win the division. He has injury history, but has been healthy this year while putting up a 4.30 ERA in 113 innings, striking out 85.

Recker, meanwhile, has been in the league since 2011 and has been a bit of a journeyman playing for the Athletics, Cubs, Mets, and Braves in that span. Minnesota’s current backup catcher Chris Gimenez is batting .196/.323/.366 in 44 games. While Recker has only gone 1 for 7 in six games this season, it never hurts to try another piece behind Jason Castro if that’s the baseline you are working with.

As Ken Rosenthal reports, the cash in the deal consists of the Twins taking on Garcia’s remaining salary of $4.55 million, in addition to $200,000 of $300,000 owed to Recker. The Braves are sending $100,000 back to the Twins.

The 19-year old Ynoa has struggled in the minors so far, getting through only 25.2 innings in six starts this year, sporting a 5.26 ERA. He’s young, though, and if he pans out down the road it would confirm this as a smart flip for Atlanta.

There are worse trades than sending a 31-year-old pitcher with multiple injuries in his past for a young arm who might pull things together in another season or so and prove to be a help to the club.

At least Garcia got to stay in Atlanta long enough to hit the first grand slam of his career and put together a great start for his team. Now he’s off to help Minnesota improve its postseason resume.