Article: Twins Claim 1B CJ Cron

[Seth Stohs]

The Minnesota Twins announced on Monday afternoon that the team claimed first baseman CJ Cron off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays.

 

The slugger hit .253 in 2018 with 28 doubles, 30 home runs and 74 RBI.Coming off of a season in which he provided the surprising Rays with power and a 123 OPS+, it was surprising that the Rays would DFA him while he is still relatively inexpensive. Cron is arbitration-eligible and projected to receive a 2019 contract of approximately $5 million.

 

Cron had spent the 2014 through 2017 seasons with the Angels before joining the Rays in 2018 and having a season worth 2.0 bWAR. Over his five-year career, Cron has hit .260/.311/.461 (.772) with 96 doubles and 89 home runs.

 

One of the Twins needs in the offseason was a 1B/DH type to replace the recently-retired Joe Mauer as well as the injured Logan Morrison. If the Twins are set on Miguel Sano remaining at third base, and they have remained forthright that they are, they needed another hitter to team with Tyler Austin in those first base and DH positions.

 

The Twins 40-man roster is currently at 39.

 

Twins Daily's own Parker Hageman offered up some additional analysis on Twitter:

 

 

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[darin617]

SO what does this mean for Tyler Austin? Both being righthanded so there is no platoon to be had there. Granted you can use one as DH and other at 1st of course.

 

I would have preferred maybe signing Matt Adams so you could have a lefty option to split time with Austin.

[Vanimal46]

Let's hope this works out better than the last Tampa 1B coming off a career year.

[SF Twins Fan]

Seems like a low risk waiver claim but not sure I fully see the fit since he hits from the right side. I would have liked a lefty to platoon with Austin. It also doesn't give the Twins much flexibility.

[darin617]

I just feel they need more lefty bats besides Kepler, Cave, & Rosario.

[rdehring]

It looks like he has been around for five years.  Does that mean he has only one more year before being a free agent?  Or was there some minor league time in the first couple years and he isn't a free agent for two or three years?

 

Biggest question I have is why he was waived and how he will fit with the current pair of big RH bats.  As a power guy, does he also strike out a lot?

 

 

[SomeGuy]

Seems to reiterate the conservative approach to this offseason. 

[blindeke]

Well, it can't hurt I guess.

[Moosa105]

So this theoretically ends the hope that Nelson Cruz will join the Twins which is a major disappointment. 0.9 war difference between Cruz and Cron which is considerable. I do not believe that Cron is the answer at DH because of what happened to LoMo last year. Also, the Angels gave Cron up for crumbs and the Rays gave him up for nothing which makes you wonder if there’s something going on in the clubhouse. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t like if a player was slowing us down. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we flip him for a relief pitcher then sign Nelson Cruz but that’s highly unlikely since any team coulda picked him up this past week.

[Seth Stohs]

 

It looks like he has been around for five years.  Does that mean he has only one more year before being a free agent?  Or was there some minor league time in the first couple years and he isn't a free agent for two or three years?

 

Biggest question I have is why he was waived and how he will fit with the current pair of big RH bats.  As a power guy, does he also strike out a lot?

 

 

Per Baseball-Reference, he's at 4.097 service years, so he would have one more year of arbitration remaining after 2019. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

I think this is the DH.

[USAFChief]

I'm underwhelmed to an extreme level.

[puckstopper1]

 

Well, it can't hurt I guess.

 

I agree blindeke - UNLESS it prevents some additional, long-term signings.

[Winston Smith]

I would think this is the end of Grossman. 

[Squirrel]

I'm underwhelmed to an extreme level.

Me, too. I don’t think this is an upgrade move and doesn’t really fill holes.

[bird]

Not exactly on point, but I thought it was interesting when I delved into this:

 

Cron was the 17th selection in that notoriously shallow 2011 draft class. You know, the one where the Twins stupidly chose Levi Michael with the 30th pick, something an astute, analytics-savvy, forward-thinking organization like the Rays would never do, right?

 

So then, I see that the Rays had 10 out of the first 60 picks in that draft. Nine out of the ten were complete flops. The exception was Blake Snell at #24. In the Ray's defense, all of those were later selections like Levi was, so...

 

Sonny Gray was the next selection after Cron.

Edited November 26, 2018 by birdwatcher

[Doomtints]

I'm glad people are not liking this move. Experience tells me this means he will be great and the same people will be his biggest fans come 12 months from now. 

 

</snark>

[Puckett34]

 

Let's hope this works out better than the last Tampa 1B coming off a career year.

Can't be much worse and this one will come cheaper.

[Vanimal46]

I'm underwhelmed to an extreme level.

This is how you build a sustainable contender I guess... By continuing to swim in the shallow pool hoping you find a power hitter for $5 million.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I'm underwhelmed to an extreme level.

 

I don't know. We needed a DH. He had an .816 OPS this season and hit 30 home runs. The BA is a bit lower than one would like, but for the price and his age, he may be a bargain. There are a lot of worse pickups out there. 

[yarnivek1972]

Let's hope this works out better than the last Tampa 1B coming off a career year.

This

[yarnivek1972]

I'm underwhelmed to an extreme level.

And that

[PseudoSABR]

 

Me, too. I don’t think this is an upgrade move and doesn’t really fill holes.

We arguably have holes at 1b and DH; I don't think his contract is guaranteed, like Austin, he could be waived at any point before the season at no cost, so should the Twins find a better option, they can release Cron/Austin.  As others have pointed out, I think this probably spells the end for Grossman. 

[Major League Ready]

I would rather have him than any of the FAs available so it's hard to be too disappointed. He is in his prime and last year was his 1st season with 500ABs. It's reasonable to hope for another uptick but I would be satisfied with what he did last year.

[Mike Sixel]

I'm ok with this move, assuming they, you know, add more players.......he put up 2 WAR last year. That's probably a good number to expect again, and this team isn't swimming in players. Is it sexy and needle moving? Meh. Are they probably better? ya, a bit. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

I would rather have him than any of the FAs available so it's hard to be too disappointed. He is in his prime and last year was his 1st season with 500ABs. It's reasonable to hope for another uptick but I would be satisfied with what he did last year.

 

Also this.....

[yarnivek1972]

So this theoretically ends the hope that Nelson Cruz will join the Twins which is a major disappointment. 0.9 war difference between Cruz and Cron which is considerable. I do not believe that Cron is the answer at DH because of what happened to LoMo last year. Also, the Angels gave Cron up for crumbs and the Rays gave him up for nothing which makes you wonder if there’s something going on in the clubhouse. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t like if a player was slowing us down. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we flip him for a relief pitcher then sign Nelson Cruz but that’s highly unlikely since any team coulda picked him up this past week.

 

Is not a WAR difference of .9 literally less than one win? Of course, 2.9 bWAR is Cruz’s worst in 6 years. Cron has only reached 2.0 twice and never higher than that. So, Cruz at his worst > Cron at his best.

[yarnivek1972]

We arguably have holes at 1b and DH; I don't think his contract is guaranteed, like Austin, he could be waived at any point before the season at no cost, so should the Twins find a better option, they can release Cron/Austin. As others have pointed out, I think this probably spells the end for Grossman.

The tender date has already passed. So, by adding him now doesn’t this put the Twins on the hook for whatever his arb award is?

[PseudoSABR]

 

The tender date has already passed. So, by adding him now doesn’t this put the Twins on the hook for whatever his arb award is?

I recall it being discussed here before that players on arbitration don't have their salary guaranteed prior to the season.  Someone more knowledgeable/smarter than me may know for sure.

[Jacks02]

 

Is not a WAR difference of .9 literally less than one win? Of course, 2.9 bWAR is Cruz’s worst in 6 years. Cron has only reached 2.0 twice and never higher than that. So, Cruz at his worst > Cron at his best.

 

But that was 38 year old Cruz's worst year while it was 28 year old Cron's best year.

 

Which has the better chance of improvement/health going forward?