February 7: The Twins officially announced the Bader signing today. Per Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune, Bader gets a $750K signing bonus and $4MM salary this year, followed by a $1.5MM buyout on the mutual option, though that buyout can climb to $3MM based on plate appearances. Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the buyout increases by $200K at 400, 425 and 450 plate appearances, then by $450K at 475 and 500. The option is valued at $10MM. There’s also a $500K assignment bonus if traded.
February 5: The Twins are going to sign outfielder Harrison Bader, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s a one-year deal for the VaynerSports client, with a mutual option for 2026. Bader is guaranteed $6.25MM and can earn another $2MM via bonuses, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, relayed by his colleague Dan Hayes. The Twins have a full 40-man roster and will need to open spots for both Hader and Danny Coulombe, who agreed to a deal earlier this week.
Bader, 31 in June, is a glove-first guy. From 2018 to 2024, he has been credited with 75 Outs Above Average, the top mark among all outfielders for that span. His tally of 48 Defensive Runs Saved in that stretch is only marginally less impressive, putting him sixth in the majors overall.
His offensive contributions have been less consistent, and more muted of late. From 2018 to 2021, he hit .244/.325/.420 for the Cardinals. That production translated to a 101 wRC+, meaning he was just 1% above average. Since he also stole 38 bases in that time and provided his aforementioned strong defense, he was a very valuable player in that stretch.
But in recent years, his batting has been a notch or two below that. Over the past three seasons, he has bounced from the Cardinals to the Yankees, Reds and Mets, hitting .239/.284/.360 for a wRC+ of 79. The glovework has still be strongly rated in that time and he swiped another 38 bags over those three years, but the diminished offense has naturally tamped his overall contributions.
On the whole, he has still been a useful player, even though the bat has been subpar. FanGraphs credited him with 3.7 wins above replacement over the past three campaigns, with at least 1.0 fWAR in each. Last year, he got into 143 games for the Mets. He hit 12 home runs and stole 17 bases. His batting line of .236/.284/.373 led to a wRC+ of just 85, but he was still worth 1.3 fWAR thanks to his speed and defense.
Bader seems likely to fill the role that Manuel Margot had in 2024. Margot appeared in 129 games for the Twins last year, though he was only in the starting lineup for 70. He spent a bit of time in all three outfield positions, doing some pinch hitting and pinch running. He stepped to the plate 343 times and hit .238/.289/.337 for a wRC+ of 79. He was once a strong glove-first outfielder like Bader, though the defensive metrics have soured on him over the past three years.
The Twins have a strong everyday center fielder in Byron Buxton, though he has struggled to stay on the field in his career. He has never played more than 140 games in a season and only once gone past 102. Last year, he got to that 102 number, which was just the second time in his career playing more than 92 games in a season.
As such, the Twins have seemingly made it a mission to have a strong center-field-capable fourth outfielder on the roster. They acquired Michael A. Taylor for the 2023 season, Margot last winter and are now going with Bader for 2025.
By having Bader on the roster, the club has some cover for if Buxton requires time on the injured list again. They also don’t have a surefire designated hitter, so it’s possible that Buxton serves as the DH with some regularity. Buxton is an excellent defensive center fielder himself, so that would rob him of some of his value, but having Bader take his spot in the field would at least mean there’s no downgrade out there. Going that route on occasion could perhaps allow Buxton stay a bit healthier than in some other years, thus staying with the club for a larger chunk of the season.
With Max Kepler hitting free agency, the Twins project to have Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach in the corners. Bader can spell those two on defense occasionally and also perhaps platoon with them, as he hits from the right side while Wallner and Larnach are lefties with notable career splits. Bader had reverse splits in 2024 but has hit .249/.314/.461 against lefties in his career for a 109 wRC+. That’s compared to a .239/.303/.367 line and 84 wRC+ against righties.
The Twins also have Willi Castro and Austin Martin as guys who could figure into the outfield mix, but they are also capable of playing the infield. Like with Buxton in the outfield, there are some health concerns on the dirt, as Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis and José Miranda have had notable injury concerns over the years.
It’s been a pretty quiet offseason for the Twins overall, with the front office apparently working under some notable constraints. The 2024 payroll dropped by about $30MM compared to the previous year, which was apparently due to the ongoing uncertainty with their broadcast deal with Diamond Sports Group. This year, the Twins are having MLB handle their broadcasts, which is likely to bring in less revenue than their previous arrangement. On top of that, the club is currently for sale. It’s possible that the current owners prefer to keep the long-term books fairly clean, leaving the future spending decisions to the new ownership group.
Going into this week, the Twins hadn’t made a significant trade nor agreed to sign a free agent to a major league deal. They have ramped up their activity, relatively speaking, by giving one-year deals to Coulombe and Bader this week. Bader’s deal does have a mutual option, but those are almost never picked up by both sides. They are essentially just an accounting measure to kick some of the spending to the end of the season.
For much of the offseason, it seemed as though the club might have to clear some payroll to make moves, perhaps by trading someone like Christian Vázquez or Chris Paddack. It remains to be seen whether that is still the case or if they found enough coins in the couch cushions to simply make these additions without subtractions.
There are still some viable infielders and starting pitchers in free agency, but the outfield market has been more picked over. As of a couple of weeks ago, Jurickson Profar was last outfielder still unsigned who profiled as a clear everyday player. He signed a three-year pact with Atlanta, leaving mostly part-time, role-playing types on the market.
Since then, a number of those players have signed fairly similar one-year deals. Austin Hays got $5MM from the Reds, Ramón Laureano got $4MM from the Orioles and Randal Grichuk got $5MM from the Diamondbacks. Those guys can all play center in a pinch but Bader is clearly above them defensively, which has perhaps allowed him to come out ahead. For clubs still looking for outfield help, Mark Canha, Alex Verdugo, Jason Heyward and David Peralta are some of the guys still out there.
Will this guy ever reach his true potential? Or is he another Colby Rasmus?
I think he has. I think you just overestimated what you expected of him. Great outfielder with a bat that occasionally gets hit.
“reach his true potential”..He’s a Gold Glove, “platinum” level centerfield defender. That’s his true “potential” and he reached it at least a few years ago.
Not every outfielder will grow up to be Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout or Ken Griffey Jr. Now is the time for Harrison Bader to maintain his level of play, capitalize on it and put a few million bucks in the bank. I wish him well.
I was thinking Bader’s true potential is more like Mike Cameron or Lorenzon Cain.
Bader doesn’t have their power nor baserunning prowness. His speed is there though.
Mike Cameron or Lorenzo Cain? Maybe a better Daz Cameron.
He already has done that!!
Agreed mlb fan. He’s not a great hitter but I’ve always loved the way he’s all in on every single play. He will give 100% every single time.
No
He’s 30. This is it. He’s past his peak already.
are you asking about Buxton ?
Buxton should have been a full time dh 4 years ago
Buxton is more of a myth.
True potential? I’d say he’s done pretty well for a late 3rd rounder that signed for under slot.
At the age of 30 and slightly more than 2,500 plate appearances, I think we can be confident that we know what he is; A useful glove off the bench.
The life of a multi millionaire, Major League vagabond.
Twins signing.
“Twins signing”..Adding a great defender in CF(or anywhere else, really)makes your current pitchers better. It’s not the sexiest move, but one you’ll be glad you made later(imho).
A precursor to a deal with the Padres perhaps…
More like their new Michael Taylor; a player signed to backup Byron Buxton that will probably end up playing more games than Buxton
As a twins fan, yes.
Hired Gun – How would a deal for a 4th OF be a precursor to a trade with the Padres? Please elaborate as I cannot make the connection.
Well Dorothy, I could…but I’d rather let AJP show you when he works his magic.
The Twin Cities Of Minneapolis…. Don’t forget what about all those beautiful women of MN!?
Let me say hi to Phil Protoplasm.
Naw; I hear it’s Texas and Utah with all the beautiful women. (I know for a fact it ain’t my state, WA).
No, but you may be tied with Oregon for the hairiest…
Well when you’re as blasted as Harry Carry apparently always was.. they’re all ”beautiful”
That signing feels right for the Twins. I like it.
It’s solid. Bader’s bat has deteriorated but his defense is still top notch.
Not bad insurance should health issues emerge again for Buxton. But would like to see them make an impact move otherwise their roster is not likely enough to compete against Indians, Royals, and Tigers.
Except they were the favorite in the division even BEFORE this “non-impact” move, sheesh.
favorite for what?
Every projection system, every sports book, every thoughtful appraisal of the AL Central has the Minnesota Twins the favorite to win the division. Listen, this isn’t easy for a Cleveland fan to acknowledge, but the Twins are clearly the most talented team in the division, top to bottom. There’s a reason the most recent projection of Pecota (today!) has the Twins with an 87-75 record and a 55% chance of winning the division with KC, CLE, and DET being 17%, 17% and 11% respectively. Now, you can be emotional about this, and think you know better than the collective judgment of objective systems, but it doesn’t alter the facts of the situation.
Detroit wins the division and adds Flaherty to go along with Tarik. What have the Twins done? Just looked at Twins roster. Someone give me a rational explanation for how this team as currently constructed is the favorite.
Better rotation depth, better bullpen, Fangraphs puts the starting 9 projected WAR at 20.1 DET vs 21.8 MN, with MN having a better bench.
MN lost the division last year when they completely collapsed in the final 5-6 weeks. But they were a very good team before that and most of those players are back, with few being old enough to be expecting a lot of decline and many young enough to hope for improvement.
Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan vs. Tarik and Flaherty? Carlos Carerra, Royce Lewis, and Buxton are injured much of the time. I guess I’m missing something.
You’re missing pretty much everything if you ignore the depth of the Twins lineup and the depth of their pitching staff compared to the Tigers. I’ll still take the Twins rotation over the Tigers (but by any measure they’re close). I’d rather have Joe Ryan OR Bailey Ober than Flaherty, good grief.
That’s ok. I’m just glad we live in a country where are we are free to respectfully disagree. Oh wait. Nevermind.
Psych, favorite for 3rd place.
I was at Caesars on Sunday and futures had Tigers and Guardians at +240. Twins +250. 3rd place Twins.
Put my money on the Guardians.
Pecota gives a range of possibilities and what you are quoting is the median in that range.
How often was that Pecota median correct last year within a margin of error of +/- 2 wins? If you said 3 times, you would be correct.
How often was Caesars Sportsbook O/U correct within +/- 2 runs? If you said 17 times you would be correct.
Go with the biggest volume sportsbooks on predictions.
Based on one year? How about taking ALL projections systems, not just Pecota? The fact is, the Twins are the favorites in the division, not just from Pecota, but ZIPS, and Fangraphs, among other OBJECTIVE systems. Heck, the Sportsbooks start with such systems, then the emotionalism of fans moves the lines.
Caesars. 17 O/U correct within 2 wins last season. 64% correct since 2000. Pecota median 3 correct within 2 wins last season. 12% correct since 2002 when it started.
Speaking of fans emotions, why are you so emotional about the 3rd place Twins?
Detroit hasn’t won the division since 2014.
And while Detroit’s future is surely promising, anybody willing to wager on them on the basis of last year’s run–after the Tiger brain trust was running away from them as fast as they could at the deadline–well, that’s the very definition of seeing what you want to see.
The truly disconcerting thing about the prevailing projections (and I suspect they’re right) is that if you don’t win the AL Central this year, there’s not going to be a postseason for anyone else in the division.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t the AL Central put 3 teams in the playoffs last season? The AL Central is much stronger than the AL West and I think they’ll have at least 2 teams make the post season in 2025 if not 3 again.
Twinning!
I’d rather have right handed Bader at half the cost then Kepler and his injury prone 10m dollar left handed bat
Desperate times for most players coming before spring training. who’s next
Kinda weird having 2 elite centerfielders when most teams don’t have one.
Maybe 1-1/2 if you consider that Buxton is usually hurt half the time.
Finding CF who can defend isn’t difficult…finding one who can play league average defense AND hit at a league average level, that’s the hard part. That’s why Buxton is such a key to the Twins’ success…he’s a separator.
The Red Sox might have 3 CF’s this year if Roman Anthony makes the team. Both Duran & Rafaela play a mean CF already and they say Roman could be better than them both!
Does he still do that obnoxious stuff with the mouthpiece?
Of course I had him to the Twins last year in the FA predictions contest
Congrats
Is he a backup or does this bump Buxton to a corner spot?
Maybe a cease trade is imminent
Sign an OF to replace one you’re trading in a cease deal.
Forever a Red
Bader in center & Buxton at DH might give them about the equivalent value of what a fully healthy Buxton alone could’ve. Wish we could’ve seen it.
“They signed Michael A. Taylor for the 2023 season”
Taylor came over in a swap with the Royals.
Next article:
Grichuk signs with AZ
Don’t mind this, but I’d rather have seen the Twins ink a first baseman.
Hope Bader can be something of a 2023 Michael A. Taylor this coming season for MIN.
Ideally he mostly faces lefties where his platoon has worked in the past and Buxton plays 110 games split between CF and DH.
If you are relying on this guy for more than bench/defense you don’t have a really competitive team. Fine for bench/late inning replacement. Three straight years with OBP under .300, Maybe he finds himself….but…a little Jason Hayward here
Not a fan of this move for the Twins. I understand Buxton and Bader both get hurt a lot but what happens when both are healthy?
“When both are healthy”…I’m guessing that with the extensive injury histories of both Bader & Buxton, that that will not be a problem.
On the rare occasions that both are healthy and playable, I’d suggest buying a lottery ticket and maybe avoiding all airplanes.
You don’t plan on a guy being hurt, especially someone you are paying a lot of money to. I just don’t like the signing. Twins only have so much money not how i think they should spend it.
Buxton plays as much as his health and rest schedule allows him. He is always Plan A and everyone else fills in around him. Especially a glove guy like Bader.
Yeah thats my point. When plan A is going right where does Bader play?
He’s on the bench, pure and simple.
And why spend 6 million on a bench guy when you have money problems?
Because depth matters. Michael A Taylor should have proven that. Donovan Solano and Kyle Farmer proved that in 2023 as well. Castro proves it every day. Heck, where would the Twins have been last year without Santana? Reliable bench guys cost real money. If the Twins have done one thing right over the last few years, it has been in their depth signings. They take it seriously, and they are far more right than wrong on that front.
Santana wasn’t signed to be a bench guy.
Taylor was playing center when the plan was for Buxton to DH right?
If you have Castro then why do you need Bader?
Because one thing Castro is not, is a centerfielder.
And yes, Santana was signed as one of many pieces and parts. He ended up playing more because so many of the Twins fell apart.
The main virtue Santana has is durability and consistency.
You play talent like Buxton as much as you can and you sign a guy to play the other half of the time.
Taylor was signed to play CF when Buxton could not.
You need Bader because Castro played too much last year and was completely used up down the stretch when the team collapsed.
He’s played 593 innings at center. So…..
He could certainly back up Buxton. Which is all Bader is going to be doing.
If you get to July and Castro has played too much you can go get help. The Twins had a joke of a trade deadline last year thats as much of the problem than anything Castro can or can’t do.
That’s a smart move for the low-budget Twins…great to see teams securing valuable depth to improve. I am still waiting for the Pirates to add some positional player depth. It wouldn’t take much for the Pirates to have a chance in the NL Central.
Seems like the Twins and Mariners are having similar offseasons……
This is like the Guardians signing Sewald. It’s not that I think he won’t earn his money or that it isn’t a good gamble. But the team has other needs and only so much money. Why spend it like this?
As a Cardinals fan I thought Bader made sense for them. Siani isn’t much of a starter but he could play if Bader got hurt. And Scott would probably be ready mid season so Bader could be traded then. I don’t think he’s a good fit for the Twins. Doesn’t Castro play center?
Castro is likely to be traded (unfortunately) and is most valuable as a utility guy that can bounce around.between infield and outfield.
Buxton is a premium defender in center, but played 100 games for the first time since 2017. The team is significantly worse when his glove is not out there. Having someone that can replicate that production is key.
The only other glaring need I see is a first baseman with a good glove.
Castro made sense for the Twins because if Buxton is healthy Castro can play elsewhere. Bader makes no sense because if Buxton is healthy where is Bader playing?
Why trade Castro and sign Bader?
They’ll try to keep both because the other guy on the roster who needs a caddy is Castro, a SS.
The Twins are choosing to sign very talented but injury-prone players to steeply discounted contracts and using some of the savings to afford decent backups. Pay attention.
Bader is a very talented injury prone player himself. He’s really not a backup he’s similar to Buxton nice player if healthy. But if both are healthy then what? You just wasted what little resources you have for a guy riding the bench.
Castro can play center but it’s probably his worst position (in my opinion).
Castro played in the infield two times more than the OF last year. I don’t really see this signing impacting Castro all that much (as it stands now at least). He’s a better infielder than outfielder.
@BITA
The Guardians signing Sewald after dealing Eli Morgan and Nick Sandlin made all the sense in the world. The bullpen was driven hard last year and acting like Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Emmanuel Clase were going to have career years again is folly. When you don’t have a solid rotation, and can’t afford acquiring a starter at today’s ridiculous prices (Cobb $15m? Flaherty $25m?) the next best thing you can do is double down on the team’s strength, the bullpen, in the hope that it can continue to salvage the team’s staff. When you don’t have the money, you have to be creative, and that’s what Cleveland is doing.
That’s nonsense you are full of it.
The Guardians need starting pitching. If they can afford Sewald they can afford a starter. And why the heck did trading Morgan and Sandlin make any sense? Because you say so??? They could have kept those guys.
Riiiiiight. Nothing like a Cardinals fan telling Cleveland what they need or don’t need. Meanwhile, your vaunted organization is falling apart (at more than twice the price).
And by the way, Nick Sandlin was part of a deal that led to Cleveland getting Luis Ortiz from Pittsburgh. That’s right, a guy who will be plugged into Cleveland’s rotation.
Lol. When was last time the Guardians or Indians won a championship? Heck even in the freaking movie Major League they didn’t win the championship lol.
The Cardinals have a wonderful heritage.
{That means past.}
What do the Guardians have?
Beautiful city?
Great history?
You tell me
It’s pretty pathetic when a fan of a team with all the advantages the Cardinals have invokes the past in order to salvage the present. The fact is, the Cleveland baseball team is miles ahead of the Cardinals in current and recent performance, as well as prospects for the future. And CLE does it on a fraction of the revenues and largess that the Cardinals possess. But go ahead, do tell us more about the Bowling Hall of Fame (and I do love the PBA by the way).
All the advantages? Dude the Cardinals are cutting payroll because their TV deal went away and fans aren’t showing up.
Call me when Cleveland wins a championship. LeBron can’t save you this time.
What free agent starting pitcher is getting $7 mil? Alex Cobb got $15 mil and he was hurt for a majority of 2025
The Cobb deal was one of the worst deals all offseason. There are still a lot of pitchers left. Gibson or Lynn probably get about 7 million. Wait and see.
Cry me a river. The Cardinals TV and radio deals are far flung, they are THE franchise in their vast territory of fans. If Redbird Nation has shrunk, it’s only because of the incompetence of your ownership and organization. There was ALWAYS enough revenue for the Cardinals to compete at a high level, as their historical outlays have shown. Contrast that with Cleveland, which is geographically bound, with Detroit to the West, Pittsburgh to the East, the Reds to the South, and Lake Erie (and Canada) to the north. The Cardinals have operated with insane advantages over the decades and for you to minimize that only demonstrates your bias.
Oh heck, I thought we were talking difference makers.
And that’s the point, we’ll use what little cash we have to create advantages, not trot out mediocrities.when we’d be better off just using our promising young starters to churn out the same numbers we’d get for “just $7 miilion.” That’s how organizations become the Cardinals, throwing money at substandard veterans.
Is Paul Sewald a difference maker?
You sound angry.
Detroit would be north and the Chicago would be west probably
Guys like Bader are increasingly rare- no long term contracts, never a BIG salary, but consistent mid-7-figure deals, bouncing around from team to team for a year here, 2 or 3 years there, etc, will likely play another 4-8 years, wind up with around $75M in total salaries for around 14 seasons and that’s their career. Will probably continue collecting 1 year salaries in the $4M to $10M range for another 5-7 seasons, etc.
Guys like Harrison Bader exemplify the aspect of the game that reminds us that no team is just an All-Star line up, that there are under the radar, middling role players that are still necessary and valuable.
Good comment, but the chance Bader is around another 8 years is zero. He’s hugely unlikely to be around for even the low end of your range.
He’s down to a 28.2 fps top speed. Another step down and he’s an average defensive CFer with a gruesome OBP getting minor league offers. Or if his bat drops another step, he’s Billy Hamilton, a replacement level CFer getting minor league deals and a few PA here and there on 2 to 4 different teams a season.
Bader’s already worse than break even on steals despite the Little League bags and rules. 17/8 last year. The clock’s ticking louder for Harrison…Guys with his profile at 31 never make it to 39, and only rarely to 35. He’s nowhere near the tier of a guy like Kiermaier who put up 7, 5, and 4 win seasons at his peak.
I can’t imagine he goes from a free agency deal of $6.25M w/ $2M in incentives to no MLB offers.
You’re right that he likely won’t age that well, but let’s not kid ourselves and say he’s on par with Billy Hamilton, who had *no* bat.
Bader is Hamilton plus a very baseline offensive capability. He’s as unremarkable and wanting as it gets without being virtually worthless at the plate, but he does have the minimum offensive value to stick around as a platoon player for a few more years in a way that Billy Hamilton lacked.
Bader had 12 home runs last year and in a more typical season still produces 6-7 HR’s, he averages over 1 WAR more than Hamilton did in a typical season, his batting average is about a hundred points higher or so.
Billy Hamilton was the epitome of a quadruple A base running specialist, whereas Bader is the epitome of the just-above-replacement-level well rounded major league player who does just enough of everything- hitting for an average, producing a few home runs per year, etc.
It’s like comparing an actor who does tons of 1 episode one scene appearances as a glorified extra (like a barista who says “here’s your drink”) to an actor who is a recurring cast member on a long running series where they’re only in like 4 or 5 episodes per 13 episode season as a fully fleshed out character with multiple scenes, a small character arc and they stick around and actually impact the plot.
Billy Hamilton is that security guard in the office who was on one or two episodes and gave his opinion about the copier and the chairs.
Harrison Bader is Todd Packer or maybe even the Boom Mic Guy.
It’s apples to oranges.
His 15 minutes are over
I mean we’re talking about the do -nothing in the offseason Twins here. And this is at least………something. So relatively speaking I like the move, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this guy can do. Pretty sure he’ll be an upgrade from Margot.
love mister bader
He’s not married yet, which means he’s not Mister Bader, he’s Master Bader.
It’s now just sunk in. With what little research I’ve done, and what I already knew, I feel like it’s a good move. Not Great, but solid. Coulombe is aight too!
Bader is what he is. A good glove (occasional great), and the weak side of an OF platoon. There’s worse things to be in the world. As Cardinals fan I always wished he’d take more and swing at sliders away less, but alas he’s not a good hitter. Especially against RH.
He’s likely a 1 year contract guy going forward. And eventually he’ll be rostered off.
“The Twins have a strong everyday center fielder in Byron Buxton”
Everyday?
You guys constantly use wRC+ to illustrate a player’s value, yet you don’t include it in the metrics on your player pages. Why is that?
Appreciated Bader’s contributions to the 2025 Mets especially for the first few months. As the season wound down his bat became a liability. Best used close and lste in the field. Seemed like a fun guy who fit in well with teammates.
Glad to see Harrison has landed. I hope he has a good year for the Twins.
Bader should be one side of a platoon and hit only against RHP. Give him 300 PA against RHP and he will give you a 90 wRC+ and good defense at all 3 OF positions. $6.25 million with a possibility of $8.25 may be a bit steep for the 0.8 WAR he has averaged over the last 3 seasons.
With Buxton guaranteed to spend time on the IL, Bader may get more time on the field than the 108 starts he made with the Mets last year.
He’s been touted for a long time so perhaps this is his year to shine. Nice price for the Twins.
Heck just sign Sano back to play first and get 100 juiced baseball’s for him they will be fine then lmao!
Was hoping the Phillies would at least sign Dylan Carlson or Harrison Bader to play CF vs. LHP. Because Marsh and Rojas both hit under the Mendoza line against them last year. Can’t the FO look at this roster and see that CF is a problem? The Guardians probably wouldn’t trade Lane Thomas, doubtful the Astros would trade Jake Meyers – two guys who would fit the Phillies roster like a puzzle piece. Last hope, trade for Trout after the Eagles win the Super Bowl
Actually, Cleveland would trade Thomas. The problem is that they’d ask too much for him. Chicago would want alot, but if Robert has a nice ST, he’d fit nice there
Crop tops across the Twin Cities!
What is it with people thinking Willi Castro is a suitable outfielder in any capacity? I’d rather have Miguel Sanó out there over Castro, and that’s saying a lot.
Solid pickup; prior to their Straw reach, I thought Badger lined up well with the Jays. Twins lineup is a Blue Cross nightmare…
So the net effect of not manipulating Pete Alonso’s service time when he first came up is they have to pay him ~&12m more in 2025 than they would have if they had manipulated service time and also burn the QO on this offseaon. They can’t extend another QO next fall.
I don’t know if this matters to the Mets, but it sure matters to teams with smaller revenue streams. I’d be upset if my team didn’t use the rules available to them to have a better chance to keep a guy longer. I’d also studiously try and avoid winning Rookie of the Year as well. What a stupid “incentive” that is for smaller markets.
This is not a bad pick up for the Twins for no other reason than they got a ball hawk outfielder that can go get it with the best of them. Hitting a baseball is the single hardest thing to do in all of sports. Trying to hit a round ball with a round bat that is thrown in the mid to upper 90’s and you have a split second to go or no go and then add in the off speed breaking pitches that are either in, out or down and it’s no wonder that failing to hit 75-78% of the time can still get you a MLB contract. Bader brings defensive capabilities that should play well in Minnesota and he can still steal a bag provided he gets on base and can also square one up and give a souvenir to the fans. 6.25 million plus incentives doesn’t break the bank, Will he reach those incentives?…who knows but if he does then it’s a better deal for both parties and actually makes him a viable trade piece at the deadline if the Twins are out of it.