The Twins are looking into a number of available free agents, perhaps most notably slugger Nelson Cruz. Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman was the first to report Minnesota’s interest in Cruz, with MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park noting that there is indeed “mutual interest” between the two parties (both links to Twitter). Beyond Cruz, the Twins are also “kicking the tires” on Wilson Ramos, Trevor Cahill, and Joakim Soria, according to 1500ESPN.com’s Darren Wolfson (Twitter link).
It’s an intriguing mix of players to pursue for a team that underachieved in 2018, though with the AL Central still a thin division (and even the first-place Indians exploring selling talent), there’s certainly room for Minnesota to make a move to return to contention next season. Signing Cruz or Ramos would be the biggest steps in that direction, as either player would require a significant commitment, though Cruz’s deal would be somewhat limited in length by his age.
In the wake of Joe Mauer’s retirement and Logan Morrison’s declined option, there is room for a DH to take some at-bats in Minnesota’s lineup. The Twins have already added C.J. Cron to their first base mix, and as Park notes, GM Thad Levine recently pointed to the DH spot as an area that could use an addition, beyond just the Twins’ internal options.
While many teams prefer to rotate players through the designated hitter spot as a way to keep everyone fresh, an exception could certainly be made for a hitter of Cruz’s caliber. The 38-year-old hit .256/.342/.509 with 37 homers for the Mariners last season, showing little sign of slowing down as he approaches his 40’s. Despite this production, it might be a stretch for Cruz to land a three-year deal, though a two-year deal on a high average annual salary is very feasible. MLBTR predicted Cruz for a two-year, $30MM and actually had him landing with the Twins. Several of the other teams mentioned as potential landing spots (the White Sox, Astros, Rays) have also been linked to Cruz’s market this offseason, as there aren’t a ton of potential contenders with an open DH spot.
Ramos would be the second notable catcher signing in as many years for the Twins, who inked Jason Castro to a three-year, $24.5MM contract last winter. Unfortunately, the 2018 season ended up as a disastrous one for Castro, who played just 19 games before succumbing to knee surgery. Since Ramos is no stranger to knee injuries himself, the Twins could also use their DH spot to use Ramos as an everyday player at either designated hitter or catcher, with Castro behind the plate whenever Ramos was elsewhere in the lineup.
Both Cahill and Soria have each drawn their fair share of interest in the offseason, and each would fit well on a Minnesota team that is looking to reinforce both its rotation and bullpen. Cahill revived his stock with a quality season for the A’s in 2018, while Soria pitched well both as a closer for the White Sox and then in a setup role for the Brewers. Soria could also factor into the Twins’ ninth-inning mix. It’s worth noting that Levine is quite familiar with ex-Rangers Soria and Cruz, as both played for Texas when Levine was the team’s assistant general manager.
This just in; if you’re a veteran MLB free agent whose played on at least four other teams, the Twins are interested in you.
Nationals, Rays, Phillies. What’s the fourth team Ramos has played for?
He played for the twins
Twins
Yeah but he said “four other teams” that doesn’t include the twins sign he’d be signing with them for the second time.
Could say the same about Cruz. Rangers, Orioles, Mariners. Whats the fourth team?
It would be the Twins, same with Ramos which is his point, reading comprehension usually helps.
“four other”
He literally said “four other” there’s no reading comprehension needed. If they’d been with four other teams then the twins wouldn’t count.
brewers
Cruz had an eight game cup of coffee with Milwaukee to begin his career.
Cruz actually wants to come to MN… LET’S GOOOO!!!!!
Where did you read that wants to come to Minnesota?
Presumably he is referring to where it says “mutual interest.”
Read the article. Says mutual interest.
Sox were previously linked with Cruz.
I am happy with Dan Palka and his contract.
I think the rays should jump on Cruz after letting Cron go
FU
Jason Castro didn’t sign last winter. He played 2017 for the twins as well. So he would be in the final year of the 3 year deal in 2019
If the Twins go this route, then they’re making the exact same mistakes they made last offseason.
They are not going to overtake the Indians. They need to give youngsters playing time so they can develop and provide a foundation for the next 5-7 years.
Maybe they know their prospects stink. ?
Continue to be unimpressed with Falvey / Levine. They need to be given a few years. But other then dumping large contracts and bringing their prospects into the farm system, don’t see much.
P.S. Every team in MLB is signing guys to trade off in mid-2019. Who’s going to trade for all these players?
I usually take the “let the kids play” route. Only problem w that plan in MN is that the top prospects have been mediocre at best. Buxton, Sano, Kepler have been hot/cold. Berrios is the real deal, but I think they’re a couple pieces away.
Harrison would be a good get. High energy, flexible guy.
@Samuel. I’m really confused by everything you are saying. What do expect them to do and what do the prospects have to do with? If they were unimpressed with their prospects then they would go after higher end players instead of signing stop gap options until the the likes of Kiriloff, Badoo, Lewis, Gordon (if he can hit) Rooker, are ready for the pros. In fact now that I think your completely contradict yourself.
The part I don’t understand is the “let the youngsters play” part. They are…
No position players in the minors are ready except maybe Granite or Wade. And don’t say Gordon because he was awful in 2018 and has a history of only playing well for half a season. There’s no room in the OF unless Buxton is in the minors, then one could sit on the bench.
Fifth starter is probably a 3-4 man battle, at least, of young guys.
Cruz would probably remove Austin. I’m fine going either route. If Cruz is the way he has been it’s a huge upgrade. I like Austin but I’d probably get over it. Ramos could mean Castro or Garver, both have health concerns.
And Cahill would likely be an upgrade over whatever a different fifth starter would provide. With him I could go either way as well. The only younger player deserving of the spot right off the bat is Mejia. I’d honestly prefer going for a trade of someone younger than Gibson and equal in talent to him and Berrios…at minimum.
So it’s possible you boot two to three guys off the roster but most of the young guys are playing already and most of the young starters aren’t going to be up regardless if they sign one guy or not (unless there’s injuries or trades).
Looking at the positional roster, the Twins just don’t know what they’ve got. They aren’t willing to cut bait on Sano and Buxton and are still waiting for Kepler to take that major next step.
In addition, the Twins have been forced to re-evaluate Rooker and Gordon being ready for 2019 as they really dropped off last year.
Too many questions to start building.
Breaking News: Twins interested in making their team better at Winter Meetings.
None of the players mentioned would take time from younger players, unless you count Tyler Austin as a future regular.
Garver’s concussion history eliminates him as a long term catching option. This makes a Ramos and Castro/Garver platoon reasonable.
Cruz only takes time away from Austin and the recently signed Cron. The only gripe one could make is making Sano a full time DH. Clearly Thad/Levine aren’t sold on Sano or Austin.
Soria and Cahill fill roles where we don’t have any immediate youngsters ready to take on opening day.
All stop gap options signed to 1 or 2 year deals.
Concussions hit catchers across MLB with regularity and Garver’s catching experience is very limited. At the start of last year, Garver had fewer pro innings behind the plate than most 21-22 year old catching prospects.
The concern over Garver’s mild concussion, in mid September, seems really overstated to me. Garver passed concussion protocol in initial tests and was questionable in follow up tests. The Twins got conservative and decided to label it as a concussion. It was the end of a year where they weren’t competing with Astudillo being a feel good story they wanted to promote so there was no reason to try and get Garver back.
The only way Cruz could possibly block our young talent from playing is if we sign him to a 2 year deal, which wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing as long as he’s performing.
I would love to insert a Nelson Cruz into the Twins lineup, but my issue is that he is yet another right handed bat. As it stands, Rosario and Kepler are the only LH hitters in the lineup (Polanco is a switch hitter). With two RH 1B/DH types already signed in Austin/Cron, it doesn’t make sense to add another RH hitting DH, particularly at the $15MM+ AAV rate that Cruz will likely command.
I can get on board with Falvey/Levine putting stopgaps in place on 1-2 year deals and putting a competitive team on the field (at least fundamentally competitive, as they were under Gardy’s management). The additions need to make sense not only to put an AL Central contender on the field, but to allow development of the current young core and not block young players who could jump through the minor leagues in a similar manner as Miguel Sano did.
This team needs two or three pieces and everything to go right in the development of its young core in order to be a true World Series competitor this season. Additions made already reflect that without question; signing Cahill or Soria would reflect that outlook as well, but signing Cruz absolutely would not while also representing unnecessary risk on a player approaching 40 years old.
How about the Twins bring in Wil Myers? I’d like his bat in the lineup.
I like Myers. But what about belt? left handed, have 2 right handed 1st basemen. Have money room for his contract. I think belt is a little better fit then Myers.
Is Belt available? Good bar there; would look good as a Twin, though if Belt were available, I’d expect Boston might be pushing to get him.
I thought I saw a report saying they were listening on belt.
Myers hits just above average (typically that wRC+ 105 territory) while playing an low value defensive position and he costs $64M over the next 4 years (with a $1M buyout). I’m sure the Padres would love to move the contract if they could, but where would you play him?
He doesn’t hit well enough for DH or really even 1B but he costs nearly as much as Mauer’s contract at $20M/yr from 2020-2022.
The Twins don’t need him in RF where Kepler’s defensive value more than makes up for the Myers’ bat and Kepler comes with more potential.
These moves make more sense than the Cron and maybe the Schoop deals. Cron duplicates Austin. They need help pitching and need to go after a quality starter. I’d like to see May given a shot at closing but could use some help in the bullpen. They should challenge the Indians this year if the youngsters have better years than in 2018. I don’t see them coming close to World Series contenders unless Sano and Buxton turn into All-Stars.
The Twins signed Castro two winters ago, not last winter.
I like the idea of signing Ramos. In fact, lots of fans were miffed by the trade that sent him to Washington when it happened.
I do wonder, however, about the intelligence of that with Mitch Garver there already. I am opposed to carrying 3 catchers on the 25 man roster, as a rule, as I think it is protecting against a negligible risk. Maybe if they did not sign somebody else to DH, and either full-time DH’d one of the three or rotated them into and out of the DH spot. Garver provided solid offense last year, but had some issues defensively, so perhaps that is a good solution.