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Twins acquire outfielder Pearson from Angels

Catcher Banuelos obtained from M's for international slot money
Jacob Pearson was selected 85th overall in the 2017 Draft out of a Louisiana high school. (I.B. Lee/MiLB.com)
December 6, 2017

Even though they are no longer in the running to sign two-way prospect Shohei Ohtani, the Minnesota Twins are not content with sitting on the sidelines.The Twins made a pair of trades on Wednesday, acquiring outfielder Jacob Pearson from the Angels and catcher David Banuelos from the Mariners, sending each

Even though they are no longer in the running to sign two-way prospect Shohei Ohtani, the Minnesota Twins are not content with sitting on the sidelines.
The Twins made a pair of trades on Wednesday, acquiring outfielder Jacob Pearson from the Angels and catcher David Banuelos from the Mariners, sending each team $1 million of international bonus pool money as the American League West franchises jockey for position to land the 23-year-old from Japan.

The Angels selected Pearson, who was ranked as the organization's No. 5 prospect at the time of the trade, in the third round of this year's Draft. The 19-year-old posted a .226/.302/.284 slash line with eight extra-base hits and 13 RBIs in 40 games in the Rookie-level Arizona League.

Banuelos batted .236/.331/.394 with four homers, 26 RBIs and 24 runs scored in 36 games with Class A Short Season Everett after he was taken in the fifth round of the Draft out of Long Beach State. The 21-year-old was listed as Seattle's 10th-ranked prospect by MLBPipeline.com.
Ohtani is MLBPipeline.com's top international prospect with a 70 overall grade as a pitcher on the 20-to-80 scouting scale and a 60 as a hitter. The Mariners and Angels are among the finalists to sign him along with the Padres, Giants, Dodgers, Rangers and Cubs. 

Michael Leboff is a contributor to MiLB.com.