The Twins are reportedly planning to scale back payroll into the $125-140MM range — below the approximate $154MM mark at which they opened the 2023 season. That has naturally led to trade speculation involving a handful of veteran players on the roster.
Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco are perhaps Minnesota’s most desirable realistic trade candidates. Set for respective $10MM and $10.5MM salaries, they’re each above-average regulars who would clearly be of interest to other teams. While they’re both viable possibilities, it’d perhaps be an easier sell for the front office to part with Kyle Farmer. He’s not as impactful offensively and has only spent one year in the Twin Cities — in contrast to Polanco and Kepler, career-long members of the organization who have been with the team for more than a decade.
It is somewhat surprising that Farmer is still on the roster. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects the utility infielder for a $6.6MM salary in his final season of arbitration. That made him a non-tender candidate. Dan Hayes of the Athletic wrote two weeks ago that Minnesota was exploring trade options on Farmer, which seemed to suggest they could simply move on if they didn’t line up a swap before last Friday’s non-tender deadline.
That didn’t end up being the case. Now that Minnesota has tendered Farmer a contract, he’s set for a payday that could land in the $6-7MM range. That doesn’t preclude the front office from continuing to explore trade options. Minnesota’s infield depth still leads to questions about how they should proceed.
Royce Lewis and Edouard Julien had excellent showings in the final few months. Lewis has clearly claimed the everyday third base job so long as he’s healthy. Julien is stretched defensively at second base but hit .263/.381/.459 through his first 408 MLB plate appearances. Polanco is one of the better bat-first middle infielders in the league. Even if the Twins wanted to get Julien more at-bats as the designated hitter, a starting infield of Alex Kirilloff, Polanco, Carlos Correa and Lewis has significant upside.
Everyone in that group aside from Julien has a notable injury history as well. The front office surely feels better about it if it’s backed up by a utility player of Farmer’s caliber. At the same time, there’s an argument the Twins have bigger needs. They could look for a right-handed hitting first base/DH to complement the lefty-swinging Kirilloff and Julien. Sonny Gray’s expected free agent departure thins the rotation. They may need to re-sign or replace Michael A. Taylor given the likelihood they’ll need to manage Byron Buxton’s reps in center field.
Farmer, acquired from the Reds last offseason, had a solid year. His .256/.317/.408 batting line over 369 plate appearances was league average. The righty-swinging Farmer produced a .289/.352/.430 showing when holding the platoon advantage, a nice boost for a Minnesota team that was far better against right-handed pitching overall. Farmer started 20+ games at each of second base, third base and shortstop.
Switch-hitting Willi Castro offers similar defensive versatility. He has neutral platoon splits for his career but was quite a bit more productive against right-handers this past season. While Castro could play a utility role, he’s likely an offensive downgrade from Farmer — particularly against southpaws.
That the Twins didn’t non-tender Farmer indicates they’re not going to simply give him away. The front office feels there’s some amount of surplus value. The trade offers for one season of a 33-year-old utilityman projected for a near-$7MM salary aren’t going to be overwhelming. A dreadful free agent middle infield class works in Minnesota’s favor somewhat by limiting the alternatives for teams in need, but it’s not going to result in a dramatically better prospect return. The primary motivation of a trade from the Twins’ perspective would still be about reallocating salary.
Is that worthwhile for Minnesota? Should they deal Farmer to open some spending room while recouping a mid-tier prospect?
(poll link for app users)
Should have been a non tender.
Kyle Farmer was worth more to the Twins than Carlos Correa in 2023.
Probably. But that doesn’t actually change the calculus here. Correa isn’t going anywhere.
Yeah I looked them up and noticed that, haha. A Non-Tender Candidate was more valuable than Correa was this year. Says a lot about how manufactured his market was.
I always felt like Correa was a $14M player parading as a $40M player and that embarrassing saga through free agency along with his 2023 performance proved it.
So it’s ridiculous to call Farmer a DFA candidate.
Yeah, because one down year due to plantar fasciitis is proof of what exactly? Why essentilaze someone down to one season? He’ll be an all-star and MVP candidate this coming year. I guarantee it.
Comrade- are you a Twins fan who wants to believe Correa won’t be an albatross, are you an Astros fan who is loyal to your homegrown hero, or are you a baseball nerd who objectively belies this about Correa?
TTO, you and I had some hilarious convos about Correa and his suitors last offseason haha We were laughing our @$$es off over SD and their vetoed deals as well haha Good times.
I dislike Correa for nearly every conceivable reason – his personality, his attitude, his ego and his over rated performance as a player.
So the idea that people are still talking about him like he’s secretly this insanely valuable player is bizarre to me and speaks to the phenomenon in baseball of perceived value vs actual value.
It is bizarre that there are players who can consistently produce a decent number WAR, a decent amount of power, a decent average, decent defense, etc. and yet they are constantly trying to cobble together 1-2 year deals at a moderate salary, while other guys have pretty mediocre to bad performances or are extremely up and down and somehow get these mega deals for more than half a decade or more despite not having a track record to justify it.
Perception is more valuable in the game than cold hard evidence and data driven valuation.
Yep hahaha That was 90% of our discussion. So valuable that nobody could even muster an offer hahaha
Correa had 8 seasons prior to 2023 where he ranged from pretty good to great. Won ROY, a Platinum Glove, and 3 times received MVP votes. Once being in the top 5.
In those 8 seasons he totaled 39.5 WAR an avg of roughly 4.4 WAR per season. Statistically it shows cold hard evidence of a very valuable player.
I don’t like the cut of Correa’s jib!!!!!!
And when Correa was a free agent I said he was absolutely worth $28M a year for a few years. If he had signed a 5 year/$145M deal or a 6 year/$165M deal or something, I would have been fine with that- at the time. But that’d be his max value in my mind.
The idea that he thought he was worth $40M a year for 10+ years or any other number like that is nuts and the idea that teams entertained this self-valuation from Correa was mind boggling.
Look, he essentially got a 7 year/$235.1M deal with the Twins, so he got very close to his goal AAV and the Twins managed to avoid those extra 4-7 years of him being an expensive albatross- so in the end he won and the team that signed him at the very least won by not losing too badly in the long run, years down the road.
But yeah that contract will go down as a terrible investment. I think he’ll wind up like a Carl Crawford, or a Jacoby Ellsbury, etc- a highly touted prospect who basically lives up to the hype through arbitration and gets a record breaking deal only to fall apart and into relative obscurity while making bank as their team is forced to move on from them while paying them tens of millions a year to go away or just kinda ride the bench, etc.
It happens more often than not. Correa becoming the most recent/next guy to add to that list. It is what it is. No judgement. It’s a flaw that’s baked into the core structure of the game.
With his injury history and getting older, an MVP season from Correa would be impressive. And a stretch.
Barry and the dirty boys from the early 2000s are the only players in the last 25 years that consistently produced past age 35.
Correa will be slightly above average fielder and average hitter for the rest of his deal.
His nickname on bbref is “farm dawg”. That just sounds like the nickname you give someone to end an awkward conversation in the break room, with double finger guns.
Yeah there’s a guy I work with who calls me ‘boss’ a bunch and I know in life if a guy calls another guy ‘boss’ without them actually being their boss- they don’t respect them and they think they’re dumb or a non-threat or something, etc. lol.
@TTO
Hope you are joking. That isn’t true at all…wonder where you are from to have that take. “Boss” is a term of endearment or respect where I’m from.
@caseorgreener
“Boss” is used by many people as a cheap psychological tactic to make someone feel trusted and respected when you don’t actually trust or respect them.
It’s often used by authority figures like police officers with suspects or public they’re interacting with to get them to cooperate because they think being called ‘boss’ means they’re seen with respect but really they’re not- or it’s used by over confident people, usually men, who want to manipulate someone they perceive to be mentally weaker and a non-threat into doing something convenient for them.
This guy at work has never called our actual bosses, ‘boss’, by the way lol.
It’s used in much the same way people used to call someone ‘chief’ or they’ll call a little kid ‘big guy’ or ‘big fella’ to manipulate them and slyly insult them.
There’s a great article about the word ‘boss’ and its use in this context on Men’s Health.com, but I don’t think we’re allowed to post links in the comments.
Anyway- it is what it is. Bosses are rarely actually called ‘boss’ and it’s pretty much entirely used to subtly talk down to people.
That was what Barry Larkin called him.
Larkin is really good at bad nicknames.
You know you have arrived when you get your own poll on MLBTR!
I don’t mean this the wrong way but Kyle Farmer…. really. Can he have one season with an OPS+ above league average before getting an article
He had a 98 OPS+ last year. That is pretty much league average. Not everyone is going to be Ronald Acuna. League average is nothing to be ashamed of either. Especially when you factor in his versatility.
Agreed. He’s like the 400th greatest baseball player in North America currently and making millions of dollars a year.
Hiflew
That’s the thing about “league average” offense you either meet it or you’re below average. He’s a fine utility man and the Twins should trade him and reallocate the salary to a bigger need.
I think the Twins were smart for keeping him. The shortstop market is very weak. Farmer may not be a star, but he has proven that he can be a capable starter at short. The Twins may not get a major haul for him in a deal, but throwing him away for nothing made absolutely no sense at all.
They could have non-tendered Farmer, brought in Paul DeJong on a league min contract, and got the same production.
No they couldn’t have. At least not the production I am talking about. I am not suggesting they keep Farmer. I am suggesting he has more value in a trade than simply just cutting him loose. Might not work, but it is not the biggest gamble either
The Twins have openly stated that they intend to reduce payroll next season. This would have been a pretty painless way to shave a few million. I doubt any team views a 33 year old Farmer as a starting SS. His trade value is pretty minimal. The chance to get out of the contract was a bigger opportunity.
You have your opinion, I have mine. Good luck to you.
I think they’ll get out of it pretty easily. Was it worth shopping him for a lotto ticket? Debatable.
They’re possibly keeping their options open though. If they decide to deal Polanco—Farmer might have a place to stay for awhile. Brooks Lee should factor in at some point though.
DeJong is not as versatile…and very yo yo in his production.
I’m surprised he is considered a non-tender. I think it speaks to how over priced the whole game is becoming.
He’s not worthless and $6M-$7M might be his absolute ceiling of value, but arbitration calculations and rules dictate this stuff, so it’s not his fault that a raise to $6M-$7M is nominal and would be otherwise appropriate.
If he hit the open market today as a free agent, I think he’d get 2 years/$20M to 4 years/$60M, depending on other available options- which says how bloated salaries have become or how long salaries have been deflated and are over compensating for league wide financial course correction.
But let’s be real, it’s largely about perception: There are guys who only produce 1.7 WAR and fans are totally fine with them being paid $25M a season and there are guys producing 1.7 WAR who people think should be DFA’d.
The truth is somewhere in between those and $6M-$7M is on the low side of in between on that issue.
I don’t think he’s that bad and deserves a roster spot, so therefore he deserve the commensurate salary through the arbitration process and payment ranges.
he’s prob not and wasn’t ever a non tender candidate. Just speculation and click bait. Mighty mighty click bait lol
His value is about right. Issue is the Twins have a full depth chart, especially in the infield, and those funds could be used to pay a CF or pitcher
If they can find one.
Seems like finding a way out of the Christian Vasquez contract might be a better path to take. Jeffers is your #1 catcher, Camargo may be ready to be your #2, or give him more seasoning at AAA, and sign a third guy to keep as a rarely used #2 or stash at AAA. Someone like Ali Sanchez or Francisco Mejia, or a Jorge Alfaro if you prefer a bat-first guy.
Trading Vasquez could be tough, but package him with some prospect or pay down his contract a bit ($2M or $3M per
Yr to $7M or $8M per yr for the acquiring club) and you may find a taker. And I think you may not be hurting the bench as much as paying Farmer $6M as infield insurance.
i grudgingly said they should trade him, hoping Brooks or Martin can backfill the position. With that, he was great in the clubhouse, mentoring. younger players and showing up everyday like he was going to play. Not a surprise they tendered him a contract with the dearth of utility players avaiable so he sits in the Polanco, Kepler, Vazquez purgatory until they aren’t
Who?
This is a no roobs page. Excuse me, no roob page.
Versatile league average bat that is a bit pricy for most teams bench. Twins might just keep him to cover for Correa missing some time. If they really want to shred payroll move Kepler and Polanco for whatever they can get.
Yes please trade him to Milwaukee if only because “A Sky Full of Stars” is a top one walkup song of all time. I love the dude. Gritty and slept on. He’s a solid utility piece.
Real question is: will anyone give up anything of value for him? (I’m assuming they were close on something before non-tender deadline though).
Granted, Farmer’s production last year was reasonable enough for $6-$7 million, but the market seems limited. Playing second base full time would make him a nice upgrade for Toronto or Boston. Otherwise, the only shortstop starved team would be San Francisco. He would be a welcome upgrade over the likes of Brandon Crawford and Paul DeJong.
There’s too much injury potential in their infield. They’re probably better off holding him, although they’d certainly find a market for him if they decide to move on.
I smell an orange injury in the twins IF
Orange?
It’s the Central division, the Twins will probably win it again no matter what they do. Sure Detroit played a good second half, but Minnesota out scored them and gave up less runs. The division is fun to watch, and I’m hoping Detroit can get over .500. Still it’s competitive as all the teams in the division agonize over which utility players to keep or let go. Every one is trying to catch the Twins, the rulers of roost in the Central.
If Detroit has a few young guys step up they can compete. Pitching is solid enough, just need some offense
The Twins hardly have a firm grip on the division. A number of their core contributors this season are now free agents. The offense was league average and the rotation is unlikely to produce the same results in 2024 with the pending departures.
The offenses in Detroit and Cleveland are closer to turning a corner than you think and have lots of rising, affordable young talent. Minnesota is in cutting mode and has to balance their payroll around Correa’s contract, even if he bounces back.
From a BB perspective, I voted no. I think he fits Minny really well, especially with Correa always being an injury risk.
From a RS perspective, I’d like to see Farmer on the market. It’ll create another supplier for a 2B, driving down Cincy’s leverage for India. And if India isn’t traded, Farmer is a decent alternative.
He’s a solid versatile utility player. Over a long season, that’s a valuable player to have. I’d say it depends on what they do with Polanco. Assuming they keep Polanco, then it would make sense to trade Farmer.
Exactly, his versatility is valuable, and he’s still hitting at a decent clip. I don’t see his age as a problem being in the utility role.
I never know what to feel about the Twins. They always seem to have enough to win the division but not enough to go all the way.
Give everyday at bats to Julien.
I just don’t think he moves the needle much. Keep him for injury protection. Move polanco.
The Mariners will trade a really good relief pitcher for Farmer. They’re cornering the market on mediocre utility guys. I think they’re looking to create a 26 man roster comprised entirely of them. Give Jerry and Justin a call.