Twins acquire outfielder Pearson from Angels

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.