NOVEMBER 28, 4:24pm: The Twins expect Park’s deal to be completed “soon,” a source tells Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. Park and the Twins have until December 8 to complete their deal, but Miller’s source believes it will be complete well in advance of that deadline.
9:23am: Park will head to Minneapolis on Sunday, with a brief stop in Chicago, Naver Sports reports (link in Korean; via Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press). In Minnesota, Park will meet with the Twins and take a physical. The Twins could potentially then announce Park’s signing next week. As Berardino notes, that suggests that, if Park and the Twins haven’t reached an agreement already, they appear to at least be fairly close.
NOVEMBER 9: In what has to be considered a surprise, the Twins were the team to submit the $12.85MM winning bid on Korean first baseman Byung-ho Park, reports Daniel Kim of KBS Sports in Korea (Twitter link). Minnesota will now have 30 days to negotiate a contract with Park and his agent, Octagon’s Alan Nero. If a contract cannot be reached, the Twins would be refunded the $12.85MM fee, and Park would return to Korea’s Nexen Heroes for the 2016 season.
Park, 29, is one of the top hitters in all of KBO, having slugged 105 homers over the past two seasons. He hit 53 homers in 2015 to go along with a batting line of .343/.436/.714, though it should be noted that the Korea Baseball Organization is a notoriously hitter-friendly environment. That didn’t stop Park’s former Heroes teammate, Jung Ho Kang, from posting strong numbers in his jump from KBO to MLB, however. Kang is the lone point of reference in terms of position players jumping from Korea to the Majors, and he went from a .356/.459/.739 triple-slash in Korea to an impressive .287/.355/.461 in his Major League debut (while playing in Pittsburgh, where PNC Park is a disadvantageous environment for right-handed power).
Park isn’t a perfect fit on the Twins’ roster, as Minnesota currently has Joe Mauer at first base and Trevor Plouffe at third base, which has relegated the highly impressive Miguel Sano (a third baseman in his own right) to designated hitter for much of his young career. However, Sano has recently worked out in left field, and there’s always the possibility that the Twins could trade Plouffe, whose salary is rising through arbitration and who has just two years of club control remaining before he hits free agency. That would leave third base open for Sano, freeing the Twins to rotate Park and Mauer (who has a full no-trade clause) between DH and first base.
Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote over the weekend that Park was unimpressive when facing Cuban pitching in the Premier 12 tournament this weekend despite the fact that he wasn’t facing plus stuff. That was a sample of just nine plate appearances, though the 1-for-7 result (plus a walk and a HBP) wasn’t as concerning for Badler as the fact that Park swung and missed eight times. Badler does praise Park’s defense at first base, suggesting that he looks capable of providing good defense there. Strikeouts figure to be a part of Park’s game if and when he jumps to the Majors, as he punched out in about a quarter of his plate appearances over the past two seasons in Korea.
Nonetheless, there are plenty of scouts who expect Park’s power to carry over to the Major Leagues. Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald tweets that he spoke to an evaluator who rated Park’s power an 80 (on the 20-80 scouting scale), though he did note that the right-handed hitter might struggle with inside fastballs (Twitter link). I recently spoke to a non-Twins scout that said there’s “no doubt” the power will play and called Park surprisingly athletic, suggesting that Park could deliver something along the lines of Mitch Moreland’s 2015 production in the Majors. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports also tweets that he spoke to one team that pursued Park due to encouraging marks in his exit velocity and home run distances, which led the club to believe he could succeed in the Majors. MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince spoke to a scout that saw Park in Korea and graded his power a 70 and his defense at first base a 55 (Twitter link).
If Park ultimately lands with the Twins, he’ll add to a growing core of controllable position players. Sano burst onto the scene in 2015, hitting .269/.385/.530 with 18 homers in just 335 plate appearances. Minnesota no doubt would like to pencil Park and Sano into the middle of its lineup as a pair of formidable right-handed sluggers to anchor the lineup for years to come. That pairing would be complemented by Brian Dozier, who looks to be an annual source of 20+ homers at second base as well as the emergent Aaron Hicks and Eddie Rosario in the outfield. None of that includes top prospect Byron Buxton, who is of course widely believed to be the center fielder of the future in Minneapolis.
The larger question for the Twins this offseason will be whether or not they can sufficiently upgrade their starting rotation and bullpen in the same manner they’ve upgraded the lineup in recent years. While catching and shortstop are potential areas for upgrade this winter, the Twins will also certainly keep their eyes out for pitching upgrades. Their surprise win for Park’s negotiation rights figure to be just the first step in a heavily active offseason.
Interesting
Question now becomes: Where do they put him if they get him signed?
Split time w/ Mauer at 1B/DH?
Awfully expensive 1B/DH combo there. My goodness.
Mauer is a sunk cost at this point.
Would they dare trade him? Maybe for another bad contract? Would Twins fans revolt?
He has a full no trade clause
it will be hard, but not impossible
Have you not learned anything, in all your years of watching sports, my friend? ANY player is tradable. Though for the right price, of course.
To begin with, he may be a bad contract but he is still a much more useful player than other bad contracts i.e. Pablo Sandavol, Matt Kemp
and the twins love Mauer and he adds more to the clubhouse than any other bad contract. So no way would this ever happen
trade Mauer?
That’s what it sounds like, they also may move Plouffe or Sano
Perhaps the Twins try and trade Mauer and his immense contract to another team. The Rockies seem like a good fit since they are looking for a 1B.
Lets say the Twins eat 1/2 the contract……So Joe Mauer at $11.5M per season for 3 years in exchange for SS Trevor Story. Heaven knows Eduardo Escobar is not the answer at SS for the Twinkies.
EE is just fine at SS.
Also Mauer has a NTC (and I believe 10/5 rights). He isn’t being traded because he doesn’t want to leave (which he has said a lot, if I recall correctly).
I also don’t think the Rockies would trade Story for Mauer if Mauer was free.
Might be something along the lines of Mauer for Reyes with the Twins sending some money back due to their being an extra $25 million guaranteed on Mauer’s deal. Of course, this is just fantasy speculation and unlikely to happen… but I’d say ‘bad contract for bad contract’ has a better shot of happening when you’re talking about two mid-level market teams.
I would think the Rockies would rather have Shields than Mauer, if you are talking about getting rid of Reyes. Mauer isn’t the only bad contract out there, and his is probably the least trade-able too.
But then again maybe Park might not agree to terms with the Twins, lets not get ahead of ourselves here.
I’m sure that’s right, but Shields is worth more than Mauer at this point, just because of the positions they play.
Mauer is also on the record stating he would consider refusing a DH role, and this development may just end up pushing him into just that. So, he could wind up requesting a trade. Not that I think it’s likely for him to be traded unless the Twins take on another terrible contract.
If he were being traded to a winner I bet he would reconsider. He’s a good hitter. His mom’s his baby sitter. He just signed up for Twitter. Okay, that’s enough…
Escobar is a great part-timer but that’s all. Not a real MLB starting shortstop.
Escobar isn’t a terrible option at SS, but he’s probably not the team’s future there with a very impressive Jorge Polanco getting a September callup this year and probably MLB ready around the middle of next season. Not to mention Nick Gordon could work his way through AA next season.
I also don’t see the Twins trading Story, considering he’s the entire reason they finally decided to move Tulo… and he would cost a heck of a lot more than a half-priced Mauer if they were inclined to trade him.
“Very impressive” in four games? Or did you mean his minor league career, exemplified by his 661 OPS in AAA? I don’t think Jorge Polanco is the answer …
Don’t scout the statsheet on Polanco.
HAHAHA! You bring up one small sample size, then base your logic on another small sample size? .661 OPS through 22 games and 94 PA in AAA at the age of 21 (the youngest player in AAA at the time).
Let’s entirely ignore the fact that he carried a .739 OPS in AA. This after posting a .665 OPS in a small sample size at AA in 2014. Seems to me he’s adjusting to higher leagues every year pretty well…. and is still one of the youngest players heading to the International League next year.
I think you need to purchase a MiLB.TV account and actually watch some of these prospects play before you try to use small statistic sample sizes to assess them.
Story was not the reason Tulo was traded, Brendan Rodgers was. Story is just the stopgap until Rodgers is ready.
Rodgers is a loooong way from being ready and there are legit questions of him even staying at SS.
Weird
If nobody is dealt, I could see Plouffe moving to Left Field and Sano taking over Third Base. Defensively awful, but it’s worth the bat that Minnesota has needed for some time now
Why move the vastly superior defender from 3B? As it is years, there has been scouting speculation around for years stating that Sano would eventually have to move to the OF. He’s terrible at 3B.
Oddity I thought the Rockies might get him
They apparently bid hard, but didn’t get it. Looks like well over 10 teams put in a bid, but I bet most were considerably lower than the Twins. They apparently evaluate him quite more favorably than anyone else.
Boy for the Twins not having an exact fir for Park, they certainly did want him!!!
Not only that the Orioles and Twins had roughly the same attendance for the past couple of seasons. Yet the Orioles are crying high pockets or poor and the Twins just plunked down almost 13 million just talk to Park!!
SMH, now why is that???
Just Guessing I’d imagine Twins charge more per ticket with a newer stadium and the MN economy has been growing at a pretty rapid pace.
I would assume MidAtlantic/Northeast has higher tickets prices than Northern Midwest based on cost of living
According to Statista Twins rank in top 10 with average price of 32.59 Orioles are below league average at 24.97
That is interesting. The new stadium must be nice up there.
Think about the area though. Next closest team for the Twins is the Brewers? They can pull fans from ND, MN, SD, IA, and Western WI.
O’s have to fight with the Nats, Mets, Phillies, and Pirates in that area. It’s crowded.
Orioles are going to spend their money elsewhere presumably. Not sure that isn’t the smart decision too. Twins didn’t really need right-handed power, and now Mauer is DH’ing?
Thought the Brewers would add him, and trade Lind.
I think this is awesome for the Twins. Backing up a good season with some additions to roster. The ability to trade Plouffe could pay off well for a team that needs some creativity.
I thought the Brewers would sign him, and then trade Lind.
I am curious too did the Brewers have a serious bid or were they just unreachable at the office?
They did an interview with Brewers GM Stearns yesterday and he said they were not going to be players for anyone in free agency. Though he wasn’t asked directly that sounds like they didn’t make a play.
I had Milwaukee as the most likely team to get him as well. They made the most sense since Lind is tradeable and is a FA after next season. They also do not have any serious prospects for 1B that will reach the majors in the next 3 years.
The Twins not only have a bit of a logjam with Mauer, Plouffe, and Sano…. but they also have pretty decent prospect in Max Kepler who appears to be a year away from the majors.
Very surprised the Pirates didn’t get him. I understand penny pinching as a small market club. But, if Park becomes anywhere near as good as Jung-Ho Kang in the small sample size we saw, they truly missed a great market opportunity in Korea.
$12.85 million pales in comparison to how much money could’ve been made in a market that has barely been touched my the MLB. Plus having Park would’ve been a significant upgrade and an insurance policy should Bell not work out.
Oh well, it’ll be interesting how the Twins manage the duties of 1B/DH.
The Pirates would not have cornered the revenue market in Korea by signing Park. The MLB offices own all rights to merchandising and overseas broadcasting. Every team receives an equal share of the merchandising and league-wide broadcasting deals.
Oh, and “barely been touched”? The Cubs have been involved with KBO and Korea in general since 2001. The Giants, Mariners, and Dodgers all have a large presence there as well.
“Joe Mauer? Healthy? AS IF!” – Twins front office.
Some points:
1. Park has NOT signed with the Twins yet. Iwakuma didn’t sign with Oakland after his first time through the bidding process. We are 30 days away from knowing if he will even be in MLB yet.
2. Having Sano, Plouffe, Mauer and Park can work at 3B, LF, 1B & DH respectively.
3. Park could bomb, he’s untested in MLB. Trading depth on an untested player seems unwise.
4. Using Park off the bench for the first year is a very viable option, like the Pirates did for Kang until injuries forced them to play him everyday. Injuries are going to happen, there’s room for everyone.
5. Maybe they bid the most so they could afford to use him (or Plouffe or even Sano), as trade bait for a very quality SP.
Don’t think they can trade Park yet, but Plouffe may be an option. Good player. Not sure he gets them an ace, but a solid mid-rotation piece maybe. Good fit with Padres.
Couple points in response. Twins will not play Plouffe in the outfield. Unless they need to get him in the line up. But that seems unlikely since, #2, there is no chance they trade Sano. Plouffe is the odd man out regardless of possibly adding Park.
Plouffe is a vastly superior defender at 3B over Sano. For years, Sano has been projected to move to the OF… and now we hear he’s been working out in LF recently. That’s a pretty sure sign the Twins are looking to put him there and move Rosario to RF. Mauer should move to DH, with Park at 1B.
For someone who likes to tell people they don’t know what they are talking about, you certainly seem to fit that bill.
Point 1, you are correct that Park is not signed yet. However, listing a failed NPB posting to compare to a KBO posting is pretty weak. Why? Iwakuma was already making more in the NPB than what the A’s offered him. Park is barely making the equivallent of the MLB league minimum in the KBO. The average pay in the KBO is the equivallent of $87K, whereas the average pay in the NPB is around $4M. KBO’s highest paid player last year, Kim Tae-kyun, made $1.4M last year. This is why guys like Kang and Ryu signed so low… and why the odds of Park signing a deal is extremely likely. Keep in mind as well, Park has been asking to be posted to the MLB for 2 years now.
Point 2, why are you suggesting to move a reasonably solid 3B (Plouffe) to LF in order to put a horrible 3B (Sano) in his place? Especially since the word on Sano has been an expected move to a corner OF spot since 2012? Why keep a below-average 1B (Mauer) there while putting a better defensive 1B (Park) in the DH role? Especially when a move to DH just might help with Mauer’s health and could bring back some of his former offensive prowess. None of this makes sense whatsoever.
Point 3, yes, Park could very well bomb…. which makes such a deal from one of the smallest revenue teams in the game a bit puzzling. Especially given the fact that they have another strong 1B/LF/DH prospect in Max Kepler a year or so away from the majors. They have more of a need for pitching, and all of their top pitching prospects are a minimum of a year and a half away. Not to mention Kenys Vargas, whom the Twins have held in high regard for some time.
Point 4, they’ve already spent $12M+ for him. If they give him a 4 or 5 year deal of $8M AAV (which seems to be the low ball estimate), we’re adding another $36-40M on top of it. Paying that much for him will almost automatically put him in the starting lineup unless he bombs.
Point 5, FAs cannot be traded until May 1 of the following season. To sign an unproven FA with the intent to trade him is extremely risky, a bit foolish, and should probably cost any GM who does so his job.
In regards to your point #2: Mauer will be the regular 1st baseman. And he is healthy. In 2015 he played in 157 games. 137 of those were at 1B. They aren’t adding Park to replace Mauer at 1st.
Point 3: Vargas will most likely be stuck in AAA if he cannot be dealt.
Point 5: June 15th is the sign and trade date with out players consent. Which is moot since they won’t trade him any way.
Congrats to the Twins. Now who do they trade to make room for him?
Seems like an odd fit with their options at the corners and DH. They could use some extra power in the lineup just not sure how he fits on the roster.
Anyone want to put odds on Kennys Vargas going somewhere and outproducing Park over the next 5 years?
40/60?
Vargas could very well turn out to be the second case of the Twins throwing David Ortiz away. Though with not quite as much power potential.
That’s about where I was thinking it falls. Park’s the better bet, but I’m not sure it’s a vast differential.
is this confirmed ?
Like everyone else, I thought the Twins were out considering their logjam.
I’m guessing the solution will be transitioning Plouffe to the outfield or trading him.
Plouffe really has nothing to do with Park.
But he does.
The Twins have Plouffe and Sano both at 3B/1B/DH types. They end up in the mix with Mauer, Park, and Vargas. Why? Because all of them are 1B/DH types. It’s even been suggested that Park might be able to play 3B.
The Twins appeared set in this area, and were already working Sano out in LF to relieve the logjam that already existed. Now they add another log.
Plouffe could eventualy be the odd man out, as both Gordon and Polanco could be on the Twins’ active roster by mid 2017.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Plouffe in a Brewers uniform, depending on how much it would take to get him.
K-rod?
Am i the only one on this discussion forum that thinks plouffe isnt that great? i mean hes alright… but not that good lol. negative OPS+ last year with limited on base skills with a bit of pop
He isn’t great in terms of overall offense, but 20 HR nd 80+ RBI potential batting near the back of the lineup… and solid defense at 3B is something that several teams do not have.
Great, no. But he has some interesting numbers with men on base and he’s at least middle of the pack in WAR among third basemen. He wouldn’t be my first choice to be on third but he isn’t someone I’d completely dismiss either.
Very, very strange result here. There doesn’t appear to be a great fit here. However, it has been suggested for a couple of years that Sano’s defense at 3B would eventually force him into a corner OF spot, and now we hear that he’s been working out in LF. He seems to be athletic enough to make the transition and possibly play well there once he learns the position. This can allow the Twins to move Mauer into a DH role and maybe get a bit of his offense back, put Park at 1B, move Rosario to RF, move Sano to LF, and hope for a healthy season from Buxton in CF.
They are going to be spending an awful lot of their cash reserves on a position of lesser need than their overall lack of pitching.
Twins and Ho Park is a winning combination.
Park can become a franchise star after Mauer, not to mention $$ from broadcast companies in Korea plus attire sales
You do know that overseas broadcast deals belong solely to the MLB offices, right? Also, merchandising rights belong solely to the MLB offices. The teams and union get a bit of a kickback, but it’s en equal and even kickback.
If Hector Olivera is really moving to LF, I see Plouffe being moved to the Braves.
-C
settle down, friends. the twins “signing” of Park does not signal the beginning of the apocalypse. His “signing” should not come as a complete surprise, and this supposed “logjam” is being dramatically overstated. This is a sensible move. Here’s my personal breakdown:
Joe mauer is Mr. Twin and should be a Twin for life. He is their 1B and is not moving anywhere. So stop it. Just stop. No. Stop. Have you stopped yet? No? Well stop. Ok. Him and park can coexist on the same team, in the same lineup, without issues. I highly doubt the Twins want to put Park on the field full time until he’s been properly acclimated to the MLB. Especially defensively, which makes him a prime candidate to be their DH to begin the season.
Now somewhere out there one of you has already begun to utter logjam. Oh the dreaded logjam that isn’t. Sano was primarily a DH last year and is a 3B by trade. Being the young stud that he is, the twins won’t want him to develop solely as a DH. He’s much less valuable in that scenario. Which leaves 3B, his original position, or corner OF as his two most likely options. Yes I hear your grumbling that he’s not a superb defender, but he’s young. There are coaches to assist him, and the offseason/spring training for him to learn. No he’ll never be Brooks Robinson, but they don’t need him to be. For the time being sufficient defense to compliment his excellent bat is all they need, and as he gets older they can move him around if need be (think miggy).
BUT WHAT ABOUT PLOUFFE??!? Oh him? Yeah, he’s solid. Solid is the right word. Not good or great, but solid. He’s a career .245 hitter with 15-20 HR potential, but Park could certainly surpass those numbers(and based on the initial bid numbers, I’m assuming the twins believe he will.) If the front office likes plouffe and his awesome last name, then they keep him and move him to the OF if they want Sano at 3B, or keep him at 3B and put Sano in the OF. More likely than not, though(in my opinion), they trade him for pitching. Let’s not kid ourselves and pretend like plouffe is a major part of their long term future. Cause he’s not, at least unless he drastically improves his value. Traded to the right team, and he may bring back a solid starter or a good reliever. I’ll emphasize this one last time, plouffe is a much better player than I ever was, but by MLB standards, he’s solid(and certainly replaceable).
Some of you may now be saying, “but how about Kepler and Vargas?” First off Kepler is an OF, and that’s most likely where he’ll stay if he stays with the twins. If the twins believed his future is at 1B or DH, they wouldn’t have signed Park OR if they do believe he’s a future 1B, the front office clearly doesn’t believe he’s as valuable as outside pundits do. So Kepler will be in the OF if he remains with the Twins. If. He could very well be traded(maybe packaged with plouffe?) for some pitching. It depends on how valuable the twins deem him to be and how they project his potential to develop. If they know of some flaw to his game that other teams may have not picked up on, trade him now before his flaw becomes public knowledge and he loses value.
As for Vargas, oh Vargas. You big teddy bear, you. He’s big, which usually means the potential for a plus power tool is there. Unfortunately for this bear, he simply hasn’t produced consistently. At some point you have to accept the fact that any player may never reach his potential, at which point you move forward. Which is what the twins have done. Some may argue that he’s the second coming of big papi, and he may be, but more likely than not, he won’t. Call a spade a spade, already. He may have a couple solid seasons down the road for the twins or some other team, but the twins clearly believe Park will provide more of an impact as their respective careers progress. As much as you may want to refute this fact, the twins think tank of scouts and front office get paid the big bucks to make these kind of decisions.
The future shall determine whether or not they made the correct decision by signing Park(yet to be signed, I know, but c’mon). They obviously believe he’ll be a significant contributor towards their long term success. Rant and rave all you want, but it would be in your best interest to wait and see the guy play before you get your pitchforks and torches out. Keep calm and watch baseball.
This is good. You should start a blog or something.
Thanks friend, I appreciate your support. I’ve been considering joining or starting a platform to discuss my views on the current events in baseball. It’s always nice to hear that other people are receptive of your opinions.
Take it easy, and thanks again.
Was well put!
I really think Plouffe is going to end up a Brave, I’ll just keep pointing out the good fit.
Park should push Mauer to DH, where he has historically hit better than 1B. It seems he’s never really gotten comfortable there and it may affect his offensive game.
Mauer needs to be traded or dumped on the street.
Hicks was traded to the Yankees for John Ryan Murphy
they know, this is an update of the original post from november 9th, right after the park posting came through & before the hicks/murphy trade
LF Rosario/Arcia CF Buxton RF (Acquistion acquired for Plouffe)
3B Sano SS Escobar 2B Dozier 1B Mauer C Murphy DH Park
Both Arcia and Rosario are lefties, so they wouldn’t be good platoon partners. It’s more likely Arcia and Rosario will man the corners until Kepler is ready. Sano will be in the mix in the outfield if Plouffe isn’t traded.
Good for the Twins. I think the aggregate of his bat paired with Mauer’s bat could produce the results they need to offset any difficiencies they’ve experienced by shifting Mauer to first base. A little more thunder in the lineup is a good thing for a team on the rise.
I think the twins should trade plouffe and play sano at third with park as the dh and mauer as the first basemen. I know sano needs work at third but he can handle it