Moves You Wouldn't Expect for the Twins — But Might Make Some Sense

I won’t belabor the point, but we’ve said it here multiple times that the Minnesota Twins need pitching, pitching and more pitching.

But the path to success isn’t always by taking the most obvious road.

The Twins do need to add pitching from this point forward to have any sort of success this season, but it would be foolish to avoid making any improvements to an offense that hasn’t been all that great the last two seasons, either.

Since the Bomba Squad of 2019, the Twins have hit a collective .241/.314/.425 with a 101 wRC+ that is more or less average (14th in MLB, furthering that point).

So we won’t answer the question of who is going to pitch here today, but we will pursue other avenues to make this a better ballclub.

If you’re here to find pitching, I’ve written about that as well. I think they should sign Yusei Kikuchi and another flyer-type and trade for Frankie Montas.

But today, we’re going to take a look at avenues to improve what should already be a fairly decent offense.

A First Baseman

Miguel Sano isn’t a particularly good defensive first baseman. Could he be better off as a hitter if that was all he had to focus on? It’s a double-edged sword, as not every player is able to isolate themselves in that respect like Nelson Cruz and David Ortiz have been in recent seasons.

Statcast has Sano down for minus-6 outs above average — or below average, I suppose — to rank 35th among 36 qualifying first basemen. Only Boston’s Bobby Dalbec (minus-7) was worse.

Handing over the reins to either Alex Kirilloff or Jose Miranda could make some sense, especially with Sano entering a pivotal year with a $14 million option for 2023 looming. It’s hard to justify paying a DH $14 million — that’s the most the Twins ever paid Cruz, for instance — but it’s pretty hard to justify that for a no-glove, strikeout-prone first baseman as well.

There’s no shortage of external players who could be helpful at first base, either.

Freddie Freeman is probably more of a big-ticket investment that the Twins wouldn’t be looking at, but Anthony Rizzo could make a lot of sense here. For one, he’s considered a fun player and a pretty good hitter who has won four Gold Gloves.

Who doesn’t want this kind of guy in their clubhouse:

Or there’s my favorite individual instance, in which he shouts “Frederick!” at Freeman while chasing him in a rundown. Absolutely delightful:

Rizzo was the No. 2 defender at first base by outs above average (plus-6, trailing only Max Muncy at plus-7) in 2021, and even in a down offensive season slashed .248/.344/.440 for a 111 OPS+. He also handles left-handed pitching well as a left-handed hitter, slashing .256/.355/.433 for his career and a superb .325/.398/.503 in 2021.

But even if Rizzo isn’t in play for the Twins, there’s no shortage of players who could make sense for the team to take a look at via the trade market.

Matt Olson is almost certainly outside the scope of what the Twins should be looking to do, but he’s at worst an average-to-good defender at first and an absolute masher at the plate. Oakland will do well once it decides to move him.

Luke Voit led the AL with 22 home runs and finished ninth in AL MVP balloting in the shortened 2020 season, but hit a more modest .239/.328/.437 last year and may be falling out of favor after playing just 68 games last season for a Yankees team that would like to have more versatility on the infield. If he can be had for a song, he could provide a boost to the Twins’ offense. He’s not much of a defender, though.

The ultimate dart throw, however, would be Keston Hiura. Hiura will only be 25 for almost all of this season, but since hitting .303/.368/.570 in an 84-game cameo for the Brewers in 2019 has hit just .192/.279/.362 with 162 strikeouts in 443 plate appearances since. He peaked as the No. 6 prospect on Baseball Prospectus’ Top 101 prior to the 2019 season, so the pedigree is definitely there.

But with that said, he doesn’t exactly make Sano reduntant. He’s basically a carbon copy. But, for the right price, it could still make some sense as a reclamation project (Miguel Andujar probably fits into this bucket as well).

An Outfielder (Or DH-ish Type)

Do I think Kris Bryant would be a great fit?

Yes.

Do I think he’s an option?

No.

There’s no denying he’d fill in nicely as a right-handed bat who can play all over, including providing insurance for Josh Donaldson at third base.

The same is probably true for someone like Nick Castellanos or Kyle Schwarber, both of whom should command lucrative multi-year deals, even if the length isn’t as long as they’d hoped at the outset of the offseason.

But I’m thinking more along the lines of a mid-tier type. Someone like Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler or even a reunion with Eddie Rosario, believe it or not.

I can understand why Pederson would be considered a redundancy. He doesn’t hit lefties. He’s not particularly young. He probably shouldn’t play center field.

But he’s a pretty solid player who has played all over the outfield and some first base, and he shouldn’t get a massive payday. He’s just two years removed from hitting 36 home runs with a 126 OPS+ with the Dodgers, and while a rebound to that isn’t likely, it still gives the Twins another option for depth in the mix with Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach, neither of whom can be counted on to play 150-plus games as above-average hitters this season.

And maybe Pederson can’t be counted on that either, but in this case it’s about spreading out the options so that if one guy completely craters — sort of like Larnach down the stretch last season — there are still options in place to not make that position a complete black hole.

I’ve mentioned Soler at length in recent posts, but he’s got massive power and is coming off mashing for the Braves down the stretch (128 OPS+ in 242 plate appearances). He’d probably only require a one-year deal at a modest $5-6 million, and there’s a non-zero chance he can do a decent Cruz impersonation at far less money.

And speaking of guys who sizzled for the Braves down the stretch, how about a one-year reunion with Rosario? Rosario hit a ridiculous .271/.330/.573 in 106 plate appearances with the Braves. And before we get too excited about that small sample, let’s not act like that’s something we haven’t seen before.

Rosario’s final season line with the hot stretch baked in was .259/.305/.435 after a brutal 78-game spell with Cleveland.

He’s still not a particularly good defensive outfielder and he’s not going to take many walks, but who doesn’t love a good reunion? Twins fans clearly loved Rosario when he was here and he’s playing for a potential big payday in free agency a year from now. What better reason than to come back home?

A Shortstop at a Price

My thoughts on Trevor Story are pretty well documented here, and I think Carlos Correa is out of the team’s price range, but those aren’t the only options.

And I get why people would feel like the infield is awfully crowded as is. Jorge Polanco, Luis Arraez and Miranda are all going to be jockeying for playing time, and that’s before assuming one of Austin Martin or Royce Lewis gets close to the big leagues this season.

But with that said, there’s no such thing as having too much depth, and adding more could free the team up to trade for a starter with some of their minor-league reserves at shortstop.

Taylor Walls hit just .211/.314/.296 in a 54-game cup of coffee with the Rays last season, but he’s a stellar defensive shortstop — something the organization deperately lacks — and his line at Triple-A Durham was markedly better (.247/.387/.444). Even if he never hits a ton, he’s shown the ability to take walks and not strike out in the minors, and that paired with his defensive chops give him the potential to be a pretty good player.

The Rays might view him as a super utility player in the future with Vidal Brujan and Wander Franco likely ticketed up the middle for the foreseeable future, but it can never hurt to ask, right?

Similarly, Isiah Kiner-Falefa might be viewed as a utility man for the Rangers with a high-priced up-the-middle duo in Marcus Semien and Corey Seager, but if he became available he’s a solid defensive shorsttop who isn’t a complete zero with the stick (and swiped 20 bags last year).

Paul DeJong was usurped at short by Edmundo Sosa late last year for the Cardinals, as he hit just .197/.284/.390 while playing fairly good defense. DeJong hasn’t been a very good offensive player in the last few seasons, but he’s still just 28 and ias a career .241/.312/.443 hitter (101 OPS+). With solid defense that’s not a bad player, and his contract is unique in that it would allow a team to cut bait if he falters but keep him relatively cheaply if not.

DeJong will make a shade under $7 million in 2022 and just over $9 million in 2023. After that, there are two team options for $12.5 million and $15 million for 2024 and 2025 — his ages-30 and -31 seasons — with a buyout of $2 million in Year 1 and $1 million in Year 2.

So in short, the least DeJong would cost is about $16 million for two years — easily below the going rate for a shorstop of his caliber — and at most something like $45 million over four years if he pans out.

If he pans out, that’s money well spent. Or he’s a trade chip to make room for whoever the Twins decide is the heir apparent. And if he doesn’t pan out, it’s $16ish million — a year after paying Andrelton Simmons $10.5 million in what turned out to be a pretty lousy year.