Video: What if the Twins Followed Atlanta's Model and Extended Royce Lewis?

[Nash Walker]

The Minnesota Twins enjoyed a heroic Postseason from their former No. 1 overall pick, Royce Lewis. What if the Twins followed Atlanta's lead and signed their young star to a very early extension? What might it look like?

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[twinstalker]

I can't see the video, but I don't understand why people think the Twins can extend Royce Lewis.  Part of signing with Scott Boras is agreeing to take yourself to free agency, and then signing the biggest contract possible.  There is no team loyalty.  Maybe it's worth a mil a year vs the highest bidder, but first the player puts himself in a position to have many bidders as possible then selects the most outlandish or gives the team he's on a slightly better deal.  The goal, so stated by Boras long ago, was to drive up the salaries of all players by going through the free agency process with all his stars or potential stars.  You can agree or disagree with whether that's a good thing, but it simply means Lewis is going to free agency.

The only way the Twins could avoid that happening is by giving a guy who doesn't come close to deserving it one of the best contracts in the game, and that defeats the purpose of extending him.  That's why I've basically said the Twins have Lewis for three more years if they want optimal return, four more for meh return, or five more for a draft pick if that still is a thing by then.

[David Maro]

Let's see if he can stay on the field first.Or maybe they should extend AK and Miranda also.That way they all can join Buxton on the IL for 100 games or so.The Twins are a small market team and have to have money players play.Almost all the Braves extended players play.I think Lewis will be happy if the Twins go to playoffs again and again,if not will look elsewhere.

[Minny505]

On 10/19/2023 at 8:39 AM, twinstalker said:

I can't see the video, but I don't understand why people think the Twins can extend Royce Lewis.  Part of signing with Scott Boras is agreeing to take yourself to free agency, and then signing the biggest contract possible.  There is no team loyalty.  Maybe it's worth a mil a year vs the highest bidder, but first the player puts himself in a position to have many bidders as possible then selects the most outlandish or gives the team he's on a slightly better deal.  The goal, so stated by Boras long ago, was to drive up the salaries of all players by going through the free agency process with all his stars or potential stars.  You can agree or disagree with whether that's a good thing, but it simply means Lewis is going to free agency.

The only way the Twins could avoid that happening is by giving a guy who doesn't come close to deserving it one of the best contracts in the game, and that defeats the purpose of extending him.  That's why I've basically said the Twins have Lewis for three more years if they want optimal return, four more for meh return, or five more for a draft pick if that still is a thing by then.

Like you, the video about a Lewis extension did not play when I hit the play button. It played some playoff roster video.

That said, he'll be a FA at 29 years old. That's his best shot at a huge payday. I would expect the Twins would need to offer something like a 15/400 contract to get it done. Boras would likely go for that because it sets a precedent for future players to get big guaranteed money early in their careers. I don't think the Twins would do this.

Boras is going to dissuade Lewis from signing any pre-FA extension that goes past age 29 (like Correa and any of his clients with big future potential earnings), unless he gets 90% of the potential bag that awaits him locked in now.

[chpettit19]

On 10/19/2023 at 10:39 AM, twinstalker said:

I can't see the video, but I don't understand why people think the Twins can extend Royce Lewis.  Part of signing with Scott Boras is agreeing to take yourself to free agency, and then signing the biggest contract possible.  There is no team loyalty.  Maybe it's worth a mil a year vs the highest bidder, but first the player puts himself in a position to have many bidders as possible then selects the most outlandish or gives the team he's on a slightly better deal.  The goal, so stated by Boras long ago, was to drive up the salaries of all players by going through the free agency process with all his stars or potential stars.  You can agree or disagree with whether that's a good thing, but it simply means Lewis is going to free agency.

The only way the Twins could avoid that happening is by giving a guy who doesn't come close to deserving it one of the best contracts in the game, and that defeats the purpose of extending him.  That's why I've basically said the Twins have Lewis for three more years if they want optimal return, four more for meh return, or five more for a draft pick if that still is a thing by then.

Jose Altuve, Xander Bogaerts, Stephen Strasburg, Carlos Gonzalez would all like a word with you on Boras forcing them to go to FA and not sign extensions that give away FA years. Those deals vary in terms of size, but those are just the names I could think of off the top of my head. 

[Nine of twelve]

No matter who the agent is, ultimately for the player it comes down to the security of a long term extension vs the potential risk/reward of taking free agency at the earliest opportunity. Based on what we've seen so far, if I were Lewis I'd bet on myself to be set up for a huge payday in free agency.

[MGM4706]

No No No. We don't need another Buxton. Wait and see if Royce can play a full season!!