The Twins have signed first baseman Mike Ford to a minor league deal, according to a report from Jon Morosi of MLBNetwork. The deal includes an invitation to big league Spring Training next month.
Ford, 32, made his big league debut back in 2019 with the Yankees. Ford hit the ground running in 50 games for the club, slashing an impressive .259/.350/.559 with 12 home runs in just 163 plate appearance. That dynamic performance was enough to earn Ford additional chances with the Yankees over the next two seasons, but he wasn’t able to capitalize on them as he hit just .134/.250/.276 in 156 trips to the plate split between the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The Yankees eventually opted to trade Ford to the Rays in a cash deal midway through the 2021 season.
Though Ford wouldn’t make it back to the majors in 2021, that trade nonetheless set off a lengthy series of transactions that saw the slugger bounce around the league with a number of different stops. Two months after being acquired by the Rays, he was claimed off waivers by the Nationals. After being non-tendered by Washington following the 2021 season, he was signed by the Mariners and added to their 40-man roster ahead of the 2022 season. Before appearing in a big league game with the club, however, he was traded to the Giants in a cash deal. His stay in San Francisco then lasted just one game before he was traded back to the Mariners, where he then appeared in 16 games before being designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Braves. After five games in Atlanta, he was then shipped to Anaheim and finished the 2022 season with the club, playing 28 games for the Angels down the stretch.
Given that whirlwind of transactions Ford found himself a part of over the course of 14 months, it’s perhaps no surprise that his 2022 season left much to be desired. While he garnered 149 plate appearances across 50 games with the four teams that played him in the majors that year, he hit just .206/.302/.313 during that time. Ford ultimately returned to free agency and signed a second consecutive minor league deal with Seattle. After lingering at Triple-A for the first two months of the year, he was added to the Mariners’ roster at the start of June and proceeded to have the best season of his career. He slashed a solid .228/.323/.475 (128 wRC+) in a career-high 84 games while clobbering 16 home runs in just 251 trips to the plate. Ford still struck out at a hefty 32.3% clip, but his power allowed him to carve out a semi-regular role with the Mariners serving mostly as the club’s DH.
Unfortunately for Ford, he was non-tendered by the Mariners following the 2023 campaign as the club looked to overhaul its lineup to focus more on contact rather than power. Ford signed with the Reds on a minor league deal prior to the 2024 campaign but managed to get into just 17 games with the club this year and hit a paltry .150/.177/.233 in 62 plate appearances. After being cut loose by Cincinnati at the end of May, Ford tried his luck overseas with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars. His time in Japan did not go especially well, and he made it into just six games with the club’s Central League team before returning to the open market this winter.
Now, Ford is poised to join the Twins as a budget first base option for the club. Minnesota has struggled with a significant payroll crunch throughout the offseason and been limited in its ability to add to a roster that entered September in clear playoff position but collapsed down the stretch. After watching Carlos Santana depart for their division rivals in Cleveland last month, Minnesota appeared thin at first base with some combination of José Miranda and Edouard Julien likely to be the club’s internal solution at the position. With Ford now in the mix, those two youngsters will have additional competition this spring for the first base job, though signing a non-roster veteran like Ford is unlikely to stop the Twins from adding a more proven player in free agency should they manage to create enough payroll space to do so.
Pablo López for Brayan Bello & Kutter Crawford. Win win?
Yes. 2 wins for Minnesota.
Lopez has been a slightly above average starter in 2 of the last three seasons (by ERA+). He’s going to cost a little over $65 million for the next three years.
Crawford and Bello are both much younger and still improving. They are cheaper and under more team control. They each have potential to be as good as Lopez has been in those two slightly above average years, as soon as this year.
Boston would pass on that, I would imagine.
Excellent perspective.
Boston is in a must win now mode. I don’t think they’d pass on this trade.
None of the moves they’ve made thus far indicate that they’re in a current must-win mode.
The Red Sox NEED to do more to show their fans they are in a win now mode. Adding López and somehow convincing Cleveland to trade José Ramírez would make them legitimate WS contenders.
Agreed but they aren’t contrary to what their front office says. However, Cleveland is not trading Ramirez who took a hometown discount extension and is the face of their franchise.
@YBC
Have to say that the Red Sox haven’t been in any kind of win now mode since 2018. Probably explains why their fan base is in uproar. I had a great time in Boston & as an A’s fan I can’t throw stones but the Mookie trade as slowly looking like Babe Ruth with only 80 years to go!
@1999 – While Boston will certainly try to compete this year, they still have their eye on 2-4 years from now when their competitive window will be wide open. This is why Boston turned down the option to sign any of the 30 something free agent pitchers (Snell, Burnes, Fried) and traded for a 25 year old potential ace in Crochet. While he cost a lot in prospect talent, they will have the ability to extend him on a long term deal starting at age 27. They held on to their Top 3 prospects as well, headlined by 20 year old Roman Anthony and 22 year olds Marcelo Mayer & Kristian Campbell. Boston expects at least one of these players to break camp with them this spring and call up at least one more in May or June, with all 3 being full time players in 2026.
They also have some interesting young arms who may be ready by 2026 as well in Luis Perales, Payton Tolle, Quinn Priester, Richard Fitts and others. This is why Boston signed Walker Buehler for one year and Giolito (and now Sandoval) to short term deals as well. They expect their youngsters to be ready by late 2025 or opening day 2026. If they’re not, they’ll do something similar next season as well with short term deals on veteran arms. 2026 – 2029 appears to be the “sweet spot” for the Red Sox. This is when they’ll look to add finishing pieces to a playoff contender and AL East favorite. Until then, the Sox will continue to horde young talented pitchers and players and evaluate which ones will be part of their next championship roster.
I hope you’re wrong because I can’t take another 2-3 years of average. I’m starting to accept the idea of becoming a Dodgers fan and even (as a throw up in my mouth) a Yankees fan!
Be both a Dodgers and Yankees fan. Two wrongs make a right!
must win? How?
@ Canuckleball. That’s a shallow look at Lopez’s value. In 2024, he was 23rd in MLB in WAR and 24th in FIP. He was even better in 2023. He throws hard, misses bats, and has pitched very well in the postseason. He’s way better than “slightly above average.” Frankly, though, I don’t think either team should do that deal.
Nope. Sox don’t make that trade. They aren’t going to give up on Bello this quickly and definitely aren’t going to subtract 2 starters to add 1
It will be interesting to see if you’re right over the next 1-2 years
If the Sox were really in a “win now mode” they would have signed a big bat (not necessarily Soto, though that would have at least set the tone to your point) and would have brought in Burnes and/or Snell/Fried, not taken a chance on Crochet/Buehler and add nothing to the offense so far. This team is looking at a Wild Card birth with ’26-’27 as the year they may actually be in a better position for “win now”
Will players like Mike Ford and Daniel Vogelbach have a future in this league?
They have as big of a future as their belt sizes
I mean the opposite
I’ve got Rowdy on line 2, can you take this call Sad?
It’d be fun to comprise an all fat boy team. First pick would have to be the rotund Rafael Devers
Don’t forget vladdy or even prime prince fielder
To be fair, Ford has trimmed down quite a bit into his 30’s. Not nearly the F 150 he used to be.
Yeah he looks more like an F350 these days
lol
Spring training legend.
Regular season, not so much.
Japan, not so much.
Didn’t he have a great spring with the reds and then hit two bombs on like opening day or something only to flail after that
Greatest pinch hitter in history of mlb
Matt Stairs would like a word.
So would Manny Mota
Stairs was stout , pretty much a rock
Bill Spiers
Jsjnfmcmkekskncmdndj
Good point.
I came here to say the same thing.
Versatile player. Plays more positions than Ohtani. Has about half as many innings pitched as first overall draft pick Mark Appel. Great signing.
As a human being I’m happy to see a guy like this continue to get chances. It’s cool that he continues to live his dream. That said, I’m shocked he keeps ending up on team’s rosters. He’s just not a MLB caliber baseball player.
Glad you’re not a bot! Ford has good power. I wouldn’t be surprised if he catches fire in AAA and comes up to hit 15 homeruns for the Twins.
Fun fact from Baseball-Abstract it that Ford’s 4th closest similar batter through age 31 is–Carlos Zambrano. 2nd Fun Fact. Zambrano swung the bat–in 744 PA he managed only 10 walks (not a typo). Both guys had some pop. Zambrano, of course, could do other things.
That is a gem of a fact
Wow, first signing of the year…
Keep living the dream, Mikey. Home Depot is always hiring when you’re ready.
SEE, Non Believers !!
The Twins CAN af-FORD to sign a Free Agent !!
Get it, Big Mike!
Mike Ford had the worst sprint speed in the majors last year, according to baseball savant.
Interesting, I swear I saw him trying to take second a couple of times and be successful. Maybe I was dreaming lol
Lol..might have been.
He was able to do that because the opposing teeam was so taken by surprise that they were unable to react and even attempt to make a throw. Then again, they could have been doubled over laughing.
He’s no Disco Danny Ford, that’s for sure.
Mariners offered him a two year deal and he still chose Minnesota. /sarc
No matter what roster he’s on I’ll be cheering for him. Go big Mike!
Ffs might as well sign Gerald ford.
Wow, how could the Poorhouse Pohlads afford him?
Twins are just laying in the weeds, waiting for the free agent’s asking prices to drop. Meanwhile the team continues to play the “POOR ME” card to open up the trade market for: Vasquez, Paddack, Castro, Lopez, Correa, etc. While secretly putting together offers for: Sasaki, Bregman, Alonzo, Santander and others to create a better, more marketable team to sell to a new owner.
Pass the copium
We love our former Yankees in Minnesota, don’t we? Nobody likes former Yankees as much as the Twins.
Good for Mike sticking around in the show