Rapid Transaction Reaction: Twins Make Curious, yet Logical Move in Signing Solano

Despite having a seemingly full stable of position players, the Twins made a prudent addition in infielder Donovan Solano

Late Tuesday afternoon, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Minnesota Twins had signed infielder Donovan Solano to a one-year deal. The terms of the deal were not listed, but it’s a major-league deal — meaning it will require some sort of corresponding 40-man move before it can be finalized.

Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal

Twins in agreement with free-agent infielder Donovan Solano on a one-year, major-league contract, pending physical, a source tells @TheAthletic.

Making such a move shouldn’t be terribly difficult, as the Twins can simply move Royce Lewis or Chris Paddack to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster.

Solano, the younger brother of former big league catcher Jhonatan Solano, is by no means a household name and is also not particularly young. Solano turned 35 in December, and is the owner of a career slash line of .278/.327/.374. That’s respectable enough for a player capable of playing multiple infield positions (92 OPS+), but it’s really the tale of two careers for the Colombian utility man.

Solano debuted in 2012 with the Marlins, and kicked around with them for four years before a brief cameo with the Yankees in 2016. Solano was fairly solid as a 24-year-old rookie with the Marlins (.295/.342/.375 for a 94 OPS+ while playing left, short, second and third) but highlights were few and far between after that.

By 2016, Solano had played 370 big league games and was approaching 1,200 career plate appearances with a .257/.306/.331 slash line (76 OPS+).

Solano didn’t resurface in the big leagues again until 2019 as a 31-year-old with the Giants.

So where was he in the meantime?

This has the hallmarks of a player who went overseas to Japan, mashed for a bit and came back a changed hitter, sort of like the recently retired Eric Thames or someone like that.

That’s not the case with Solano, however; he simply ground it out at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for two seasons (Yankees organization) and then a season at Oklahoma City (Dodgers) before the Giants gave him a look heading into 2019. Solano started the 2019 season at Triple-A, but found his way to San Francisco in early May and never returned. Over his 81 games with the Giants, Solano slashed .330/.360/.456 for a 116 OPS+.

It’d be easy to write that off as a one-year wonder, but Solano’s post-30 breakout had some staying power as he hit .308/354/.435 over his three seasons with the Giants (113 OPS+) before taking a step back last season with the Reds. And still, a .284/.339/.385 season as a step back (97 OPS+) is fairly productive.

Solano did this while playing 80 games for the Reds last season, and played first (215.0 innings), second (50.0 innings) and third base (140.0 innings). He’s played some shortstop (272.1 innings) and outfield (63.0 innings) in the past, but neither should be a factor here. He hasn’t played shortstop with any regularity since 2019, for what it’s worth.

Despite the Twins being seemingly well-stocked on offense, Solano does have a specific fit on this roster.

First, though perhaps not foremost, is that his infield versatility gives the Twins added protection against an Alex Kirilloff injury. While Solano has played third in the past, he’s more capable of playing first or second in this instance — all but assuring that Jose Miranda will be the main guy at third base.

Secondly, Solano gives the Twins more depth against left-handed pitching. Since returning to the big leagues in 2019, Solano has hit .321/.363/.461 against southpaws.

The defensive metrics are sort of hard to read on Solano based on number of innings he’s played all over the place. For instance, Outs Above Average loved Solano at first base last season (plus-4 OAA in just 215.0 innings), but he was considered average at second base (0 OAA) and a negative at third (minus-2). Over multiple seasons, Solano is a minus-7 at third base, but again that’s in such small sample sizes. For instance, most of that is a minus-5 from 2020 — in just 42.0 innings. That’s a catastrophic number in a small sample, but it’s just that — a small sample.

He also doesn’t have a particularly strong arm according to Statcast, which again affirms that he’s more likely to settle in on the right side of the diamond whenever he plays.

So what’s the goal here?

It seems as though the Twins have picked up a poor man’s Luis Arraez. There isn’t a standout tool here other than bat-to-ball skills. But he can play all over, and is better insurance against players getting hurt than, for instance, Tim Beckham or Jermaine Palacios.

Ultimately, without knowing the financials — though I would suspect it’s something in the $2 million range if Elvis Andrus only got $3 million from the White Sox — it’s an inoffensive move. If he can pick up a few pinch hits late or play good defense at first base while hitting .280 as a fill-in, he shouldn’t hurt the team any.

Good teams have players like this at the end of their bench. Now, I’d expect the Twins to make another move to sign a reliever like Brad Hand — perhaps to a minor-league deal — to finalize their camp rosters as Grapefruit League games begin this Saturday.