This Day in Twins History – January 16, 1986

The Twins trade 2B Tim Teufel and outfielder Pat Crosby to the New York Mets for outfielder Billy Beane and pitchers Bill Latham and Joe Klink.

Billy Beane, yes the same Billy Beane who went on to become the Oakland A's GM and main character in the movie Moneyball.

They also trade catcher Dave Engle to the Tigers for infielder Chris Pittaro and outfielder Alex Sanchez.  Engle, a .305 hitter as a 26-year-old catcher for the Twins in 1983 and an AL All-Star the following season. Engle came up as an outfielder but was converted to a catcher.

Engle started having throwing issues and his troubles appeared to have begun during batting practice one day when one of his throws glanced off the top of the protective screen and broke his pitcher’s nose. Engle then began lobbing his throws with a pronounced arc. Engle had the misfortune of having a base runner (Alfredo Griffin) stealing a base on one of his tosses back to the mound. He remained in the majors from 1985-89 but caught just 38 more games.