Twins sign Jake Cave to 2022 contract for $800k

[Rosterman]

In the end, we can agree that he might not have been worth the high-end arbitration salary, so the Twins got him for slightly more than a major league salary. He offers protection in centerfield at the moment, as we might want Celestino to share time with Kerrigan and Contreras at St. paul with Wallner in the wings, there. Unless we feel Martin will start in St. Paul, along with Lewis, and those guys fighting for centerfield time with Celestino.

Of course, if the Twins lose anyone of significance in the Rule 5 (Ryan Mason), do we complain that it is all about Cave, or can we also complain about Garza, Minaya, Coulombe, Jax, Thorpe, Stashak, Rooker, Gordon, Cotton or whomever else is on the very fringe.

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

I'll take "indicators this was a bad signing for $1000, Alex."

"What is "can be released before ST ends and you won't owe him the entire $800k is the best justification for the signing anyone can come up with."

Pretty much, yeah. I really don't like it, though I kinda understand why they didn't do it... but seriously, it's not ****ing hard to go find a glove-first backup outfielder that can play center for half a season, at which point one hopes Celestino is ready to return to Minnesota.

[Greglw3]

On 11/20/2021 at 7:59 PM, yeahyabetcha said:

I see opening the season with Kepler, Buxton and Kirilloff as starters and Cave and Rooker as bench players.  Not horrible, and it doesn’t mean it has to be that way all season.

I cringe on Cave and Kepler. Kepler has stubbornly continued to pull pull pull right into the shift. Cave is one of the worst OF in all of baseball IMO. They could do so much better. Castellanos is out there, Canha is out there. Sounds like the same old same old.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

2 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

He's a career .230 hitter.  Not sure what world that is average in.  And, no I have no evidence that $800k is a bad contract for a 4th OF  I DO, however, have a firm belief that having a .230 hitter as a 4th OF (or anywhere else you choose to put him.) is a recipe for another disappointing season in 2022.

In 2021 league average batting average was .244, however there’s more to hitting than batting average. There’ slugging %, on base %, OPS. I prefer wRC+ as a measure of how good a hitter is, as it scores contribution to run creation on a 100 is average scale. So Jake Cave has a career 94 wRC+ relative to other hitters, the sum of his doubles, singles, slugging, walks, etc is approximately 6% below league average. 10% is usually the threshold for me to say someone is slightly above or below average.

[stringer bell]

2 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

I cringe on Cave and Kepler. Kepler has stubbornly continued to pull pull pull right into the shift. Cave is one of the worst OF in all of baseball IMO. They could do so much better. Castellanos is out there, Canha is out there. Sounds like the same old same old.

I don’t think the Twins will or should sign an outfield free agent like Castellanos and/or Canha. 
They aren’t on the same tier with Jake Cave or more accurately Jake Cave isn’t on the same plane with them. 800K is spare change out of the sofa for MLB owners. The contracts that Canha and Castellanos will be (most likely) long term and expensive. 
I don’t think signing Cave is a good move on a full 40-man roster. I still don’t think a left handed hitter is a fit on the Twins roster. OTOH, Cave had over 500 PAs of good performance followed by 300 well below average PAs. I think he has a good chance to rebound, but I don’t like him staying with the Twins. 

[dxpavelka]

2 hours ago, Sconnie said:

In 2021 league average batting average was .244, however there’s more to hitting than batting average. There’ slugging %, on base %, OPS. I prefer wRC+ as a measure of how good a hitter is, as it scores contribution to run creation on a 100 is average scale. So Jake Cave has a career 94 wRC+ relative to other hitters, the sum of his doubles, singles, slugging, walks, etc is approximately 6% below league average. 10% is usually the threshold for me to say someone is slightly above or below average.

The EYE test is all I need to say HE SUCKS

[C_frommn]

Really think about it. every year the team has a lot of injuries in the outfield. they need a Cheap player to take up some of the missed games. as for last years struggles who do you see out there that won't have some of the same struggles.

[Tim]

It’s this front offices darling. they couldn’t swallow their pride on the Gil trade and just admit defeat on it, pretty wild he’s still around. But after the wade fiasco, not really.

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Tim said:

It’s this front offices darling. they couldn’t swallow their pride on the Gil trade and just admit defeat on it, pretty wild he’s still around. But after the wade fiasco, not really.

If that is the reason they signed Cave to a contract they should be fired, but I can’t imagine that is the case. 
The FO thinks Jake Cave has some value (so do I), how he was acquired and who he displaced shouldn’t have anything to do with his standing and I don’t think it does. 
I will say one more time that I don’t think a 29 year old LH corner outfielder coming off two bad seasons is a fit for the Twins.