Twins acquire Milone from A's, call up Vargas

The Twins are indeed sellers at Thursday's non-waiver trade deadline, but they have acquired a pitcher with major-league experience, not a minor-league prospect, in the deal.

Tommy Milone, who has a 3.55 ERA in 16 major-league starts this season, has been acquired from the Oakland A's, the Twins announced Thursday morning, about five hours before the 3 p.m. deadline. In exchange, the Twins will return outfielder Sam Fuld to Oakland, where he started this season before being waived in April.

To fill Fuld's spot on the roster, the Twins have summoned Class AA first baseman Kennys Vargas from New Britain. Vargas, a switch-hitter who played on the international team in the Futures Game at Target Field earlier this month, has 17 home runs and 63 RBIs for the Rock Cats. He'll wear uniform No. 19.

Milone, a 27-year-old lefthander who was optioned to Class AAA Sacramento on July 5, will be assigned to Class AAA Rochester for the time being. Milone was likely available, and Fuld coveted by Oakland, after the A's acquired left-hander Jon Lester from Boston on Thursday in a deal that sent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox.

The Twins are happy to accept the fallout from that deal, because Milone, drafted in the 10th round by the Nationals in 2010, has already had major-league success. He has a 3.84 ERA in 78 starts over four big-league seasons, winning 13 games in 2012 and 12 more last season.

He lost his starting job not because of poor pitching this season -- Milone's 3.55 ERA this year is better than any current Twins starter -- but because the A's, loading their pitching staff with veteran stars for a postseason run, acquired All-Star righthander Jeff Samardzija from the Cubs earlier this month. After starting the season 0-3, Milone won six consecutive decisions, and in his final start for Oakland, he shut out Toronto on four hits over six innings on July 4.

Milone hasn't been as good since being demoted to Sacramento, posting a 6.43 ERA in 21 innings over four starts, which is likely why he is being assigned to Rochester rather than joining the Twins right away.

Fuld spent a little more than three months with the Twins, including a stint on the concussion disabled list after a collision with the center field wall, and was the team's hottest hitter over the past three weeks. He reached base in 18 of his last 22 games with the Twins, batting .358 with a .476 on-base percentage over that span. In 56 total games with Minnesota, the 33-year-old Fuld, who was claimed by the Twins on April 20 after being waived by Oakland, batted .274 with one homer and 17 RBIs.