Minnesota Veterans Making Front Office Look Great

[Ted Schwerzler]

This off-season the Minnesota Twins front office was told they were cash-strapped and had no money. That forced them into shrewd veteran moves, and through the first half, they’re batting 1.000.

 

After the most successful season in roughly three decades, Rocco Baldelli should have been expecting reinforcements. Carlos Correa was here, Royce Lewis had emerged, and Pablo Lopez looked like an ace. Instead ownership hamstrung the front office and forced some more needle-threading decisions.

Looking at multiple lineup additions on the open market, there was plenty of exciting names to look at. Who was going to be the 2024 version of Michael A. Taylor? What about a big bat that could play first base? Those were the two most obvious positional holes to fill, and it’s hard to argue that Derek Falvey got them wrong.

Manuel Margot over Kevin Kiermaier, Harrison Bader, or Michael A. Taylor
What the Twins needed to establish was insurance for Buxton, and that player needed to bat right-handed while playing respectable defense. All four of the names listed above realistically fit the bill, but Margot has been the right choice for a myriad of reasons.

Both Kiermaier and Bader were paid $10 million by their respective clubs. That would have been too rich for Minnesota, who offered Taylor something like a $4 million deal over two years. Kiermaier was recently DFA’d by Toronto after posting just a 53 OPS+. He was great defensively, but the Blue Jays have failed expectations and cut bait. Bader has produced a strong 110 OPS+, and has been worth 6 OAA, but his -2 DRS isn’t good. He too was never truly a consideration given the price tag.

Taylor was a fan-favorite last year, but was primed for offensive regression. With a 53 OPS+, identical to Kiermaier, he has been as bad as expected. Similarly to Kiermaier, his defense has been great, but the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t exactly a team capable of winning on the fringes.

Then you get to Margot. He hasn’t produced the 94 OPS+ of last season, but his 78 OPS+ is respectable. The hope would be that his defense was going to carry him, but that hasn’t been the case. Rarely playing center field, and negative defensively everywhere, he’s been only part of what Minnesota needed. His .788 OPS against lefties plays, and that’s despite carrying a .468 OPS from both sides into May. He has slashed .282/.2339/.409 over his last 45 games, and that makes him an asset.

If the Twins had unlimited funds, then Bader would have been the ideal candidate. They didn’t though, and avoiding a re-up with Taylor was sensible. Of course, the biggest benefit to the roster as a whole for Minnesota has been the relative health displayed by Buxton himself.

Carlos Santana over Rhys Hoskins
Among big ticket free agents, few looked like a better fit for Minnesota than Hoskins. Getting a $16 million deal from the Brewers (with options) he was paid well despite missing the entire 2023 season with an injury. In return he has posted a 100 OPS+, exactly league average, while being the same negative defender he has been his whole career.

Instead, paying Santana roughly one-third of the freight, Minnesota got a borderline All-Star candidate. Despite starting slow, Santana has a 112 OPS+ while being Gold Glove worthy. His 1.7 fWAR is even with Guardians Josh Naylor atop the American League, and bests American League All-Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

With health being a boost for centerfield and Margot, the opposite is true with regards to Santana. Alex Kirilloff has been both bad and hurt, and he was seen as the primary candidate to get the leftover reps. Jose Miranda has been incredible, but is shaky defensively, and while Edouard Julien may move positions eventually, he’s at Triple-A. For the money and fit, Santana has been the perfect addition for Minnesota.

Sure, no arm was brought in to replace Sonny Gray, but Anthony DeSclafani was a byproduct not a choice. Minnesota still needs rotation help, but the financial limitations remain in place. Taking on a contract for a rental seems unlikely, and it doesn’t appear another big swing deadline is looming.

If there was a misstep, it was tendering Kyle Farmer a $6.3M deal. The market clearly wouldn’t have bore that for him, but that’s hindsight at best right now. The minimal bullpen moves weren’t egregious, and didn't move the needle much either way.

The offseason was anything but acceptable from the Twins, but while stifled by their bosses, the front office made multiple right calls. They’re certainly in a better spot right now because of that.

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[Brandon]

Was Kiermaier designated for assignment or placed on waivers so a team could claim him and his salary for nothing and take his salary?  I think he is still with the Blue Jays.

[Karbo]

I still think they can do better than Margot, but during the last off season, they had no idea how some in the minors would adapt to this season. IMO Martin should take his place next year. I am really surprised at how well Santana has played and hit. When they signed him I thought it was a huge mistake. Shows what I know. But the amount of money they threw at Farmer is still a big surprise to me.

[chpettit19]

Margot: Has he been better and/or cheaper than the other options listed? Sure. Has he been a hit for what they were expecting? Halfway. They thought he was going to be their backup CFer. He isn't. He's been forced there because of some injuries, but they don't want him in CF. He's hit lefties while being terrible against righties so that part has been a hit. I wouldn't call Margot a hit, though, when the stated goal is Buxton insurance/complementary piece. He hasn't been that.

Santana: I was wrong on Santana for sure. He still isn't very good against righties, but he's held up far better than I expected. Definitely a hit here as I don't think there's anyway they could ask for more out of him at this point.

Farmer and DeSclafani very clearly big misses, and I'd say they hit .500 on their FA additions of Margot and Santana.

[chpettit19]

15 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Was Kiermaier designated for assignment or placed on waivers so a team could claim him and his salary for nothing and take his salary?  I think he is still with the Blue Jays.

You're correct. He was placed on waivers, but continues to play for the Blue Jays. Hit a grand slam on Sunday, in fact.

[Brandon]

Even Farmer was surprised he was kept. So he will pocket that money and try to keep going.  I am surprised he hasn't hit a homerun yet.  I think the biggest negative while he hasn't hit was to also be the backup SS which he is not anymore.  He has hit ok since his season opening slump.  That slump was so bad though that his overall numbers have not rebounded and may not.  

Taylor was the OF they wanted.  but Taylor overplayed his hand.  I am sure he would have hit a little better here and been a better defender.  Margot is an ok backup.  but the main goal of a backup OF is defense and Margot being unable to play solid Defense in CF would have been a huge problem had it not been for Castro and Buxton being more available.  But the Twins could have done worse with this pick for sure.

Santana was the ideal signing.  He is a Twins type of hitter.  One that is good for 80 RBI's as those hitters are much cheaper than the 100 RBI guys.  The Twins go with 8 out of 9 hitters who could knock in 60-80 runs a year any given night.  That is the key to their success.  You will not see any Twin in the top 10 or probably top 20 in RBI but they are the 3rd highest scoring team in the league.  

as far as the bullpen goes.  Staumont hit.  Keeping Alcala is a hit, Trading for Okert is a hit,  even minor league signings Bowman, Castillo and Duarte were psuedo hits in that they were good when up.  

Topa is an incomplete at this point.  and DeSclafani was a miss due to injury.  

That is a pretty good record based on the budget they had.  

[tony&rodney]

Santana really has exceeded expectations and credit should be given to him for his play and to Falvey for believing in Santana as a player.

Margot has been fine, although it is possible that the Twins may have received similar work from Martin. Either way, the Twins did well in the trade with LAD because they received a useful layer for a small MLB contract and a decent prospect in Doncon. The Dodgers did well to reduce their payroll in order to sign the guy they wanted and received a brilliant shortstop to play in their minor leagues simple as a benefit to their young pitching prospects but not with any expectation of the player ever reaching their team.

The heading is questionable. I'm not thinking that Falvey operated under tough circumstances in any way last offseason.

[FlyingFinn]

Margot was supposed to be the backup CF. His defense out there loses games.

Farmer was supposed to be the backup SS. Like Margot, he is about 4th in line if everyone is healthy.

The real question is, if we pooled all this money and chose the right guy, would we be better off with that one guy plus our rookies - Martin, Lee, Keirsey? I will say that depth would have then been an issue.

[JD-TWINS]

44 minutes ago, Karbo said:

I still think they can do better than Margot, but during the last off season, they had no idea how some in the minors would adapt to this season. IMO Martin should take his place next year. I am really surprised at how well Santana has played and hit. When they signed him I thought it was a huge mistake. Shows what I know. But the amount of money they threw at Farmer is still a big surprise to me.

Martin next year makes sense! The reason they signed Margot or would have signed another guy is precisely because “…..they had no idea how some in the minors would adapt to this season.” …….could have done better - always, but with whom and at what cost - no crystal ball in the FO.

Santana has worked out after a really rough start…….Margot has progressed as well, while still being very unstable in the OF.

Farmer got hit in the face last year and came back and matched his career output on the nose. Played solid defense and hit .256. Great Clubhouse presence in his first season with the team. No reason to expect regression …….the $$ total in ‘24 being $6.3M v. maybe $4.1M, to me, is just noise in Professional Sports Payrolls……essentially meaningless.

Overall, 2 free agent guys are doing what they asked for and one is not……..the one isn’t a key piece, only depth & currently on IL, so they just move forward w/o him.

[JD-TWINS]

56 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Margot: Has he been better and/or cheaper than the other options listed? Sure. Has he been a hit for what they were expecting? Halfway. They thought he was going to be their backup CFer. He isn't. He's been forced there because of some injuries, but they don't want him in CF. He's hit lefties while being terrible against righties so that part has been a hit. I wouldn't call Margot a hit, though, when the stated goal is Buxton insurance/complementary piece. He hasn't been that.

Santana: I was wrong on Santana for sure. He still isn't very good against righties, but he's held up far better than I expected. Definitely a hit here as I don't think there's anyway they could ask for more out of him at this point.

Farmer and DeSclafani very clearly big misses, and I'd say they hit .500 on their FA additions of Margot and Santana.

Staumont is a FO …..WIN …..probably a bit under the radar.

[JD-TWINS]

I get the bit of angst with Margot! His defense has not been at nearly a high enough level. Really poor offensive start to the year over most of 6 weeks.

I do think that going into the season, CASTRO was the anticipated back up for Buxton …..maybe even at level of being the guy to see equal or slightly more innings than Buxton, dependent on health. Margot was the RH bat to spell Wallner first & Kepler second v. LH pitching. Lefty starter, Castro - Buxton - Margot in the OF makes most offensive sense & did in March.

Nobody saw Lewis going down for 58 games after 2 AB’s - this forced Castro into the IF along with Farmer’s continued ineptitude at the plate. Wallner was terrible, enter more & more Margot. Buxton’s knee hurt and Castro was an infielder now, more & more Margot.

Team was forced to play him against RH pitching and the results were seldom good. I still think the FO had the right idea with what they knew at the time of Margot’s signing.

[madtowntwin]

Here in Wisconsin I was surprised by the Brewers choice of Hoskins over Santana. When the Brewer's added Carlos to the roster last season he was true catalyst. The move to add Rhys has not been totally without merit as he's hit 14 HR / 46 RBI, He is essentially tied with Carlos in terms of those statistics with Carlos having a higher BS at .245 compared to .215...Santana got off to a slow start whereas Rhys was hot at the beginning of the season. I think the second half of the season will be revealing and the two will go head to head on their opposing teams right out of the gate in said second half. The other nuanced story of the Twins first half is Health....Miranda and Correa have been different players simply given the foundation of good health allowing demonstration of their full abilities. I know they are both battling injury presently - But hopefully this is exception and not rule. Win Twins!

[bean5302]

I'm not in agreement with this article.

Carlos Santana's competition was not really Rhys Hoskins, it was Jose Miranda. The Twins picked Santana and $5MM less to work with. Meanwhile, Jose Miranda has far outpaced Santana's production. It's a net loss even though Santana's been good after a horrible start to the season. Hoskins started the season hot and has been cold since if I remember right. I'm skeptical Santana's hot production will continue, btw. Santana's xwOBA is right in line with his actual production, but by virtually every advanced contact metric, he's average, and he's lost his excellent walk rates. Expecting the above average production to continue seems optimistic.

Margot can't play center field and is barely serviceable in the corners at this point. Plus his bat's been awful. He wasn't the right target as -0.2 WAR isn't a good choice, even at only $4MM net. The good news here is the trade doesn't have to be viewed in a vacuum as Doncon has caught (and probably passed) Noah Miller and his exceptional defense. Michael A. Taylor +0.3 WAR and and Kevin Kiermaier +0.1 WAR are still excellent CF defenders, and that's what the Twins needed. The Twins needed a multi-year, team controlled center fielder to back up Buxton. Their internal option was Austin Martin, and he's been better than Margot. The external free agent option was Cody Bellinger, but that seemed awfully far-fetched. I proposed trading for Jarren Duran (preferably) or Wilyer Abreu (consolation prize) in last year's offseason simulator.

[Whitey333]

Margot is just ok.  His defense is awful at the worst possible times.  Plus they keep insisting on using him as a right handed pinch hitter even though he's like 0 for 24 pinch hitting.  I'm not impressed with him.  He's been hitting better lately in the regular lineup but causes too many outs with his pinch hitting and bad defense.

[Road trip]

I'll grant that Santana has been better than expected thus far with his bat, and his defense is better than other options the Twins have (despite a maddening inability to dig out some throws... multiple errors this year, even though some weren't scored that way).

Margot has not been good, and the alternatives to Margot mentioned in the article weren't the only ones (example: Tommy Pham didn't sign until April, and he has hit much better for Chicago, and can't be much worse with a glove).

Farmer signing didn't work out, obviously.  I didn't expect Farmer to fall of the statistical cliff either, but the FO seriously misjudged the utility infielder market if they thought they could be able to trade him at some future point.

[Fatbat]

I’m still down on Margottago but the trade did bring in Doncon (future asset) Farmers signing was a safety net that so far hasn’t paid off because younger guys are outplaying him.   If these two guys don’t pick up their game in July/Aug, they have no business being on the field in Sept/Oct. 

Maybe Margot resets over the allstar break and Farmer comes back from the IL and finishes the season with an above average ops+ 

We got 45 more wins to get before October. The higher paid vets gotta step up or get out of the way. 

[RpR]

3 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

I’m still down on Margottago but the trade did bring in Doncon (future asset) Farmers signing was a safety net that so far hasn’t paid off because younger guys are outplaying him.   If these two guys don’t pick up their game in July/Aug, they have no business being on the field in Sept/Oct. 

Maybe Margot resets over the allstar break and Farmer comes back from the IL and finishes the season with an above average ops+ 

We got 45 more wins to get before October. The higher paid vets gotta step up or get out of the way. 

For who?

[Fatbat]

6 minutes ago, RpR said:

For who?

What? Margot/Doncon for Noah Miller and whatever else?

[RpR]

1 minute ago, Fatbat said:

What? Margot/Doncon for Noah Miller and whatever else?

What year?

[Mike Sixel]

Not listing Miranda as an option seems like a huge miss in this treatise. You completely ignored internal options. 

Margot plays a lot against RHP, and he's not good on defense at all. Saying his batting line, which is well below league average, and even more below corner OF average is acceptable? Ugh. 

Santana has been good, no doubt. Miranda could have been that good, and they'd have had money. That money could be useful at the break....

[Fatbat]

14 minutes ago, RpR said:

What year?

It was an offseason move this past winter. My point was that Doncon was the best part of that trade and will might possibly payoff some day in MLB. 

[RpR]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Santana has been good, no doubt. Miranda could have been that good, and they'd have had money. That money could be useful at the break....

Miranda top the only time he played extensively a 1st Base; Santana bottom this year.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

Staumont is a FO …..WIN …..probably a bit under the radar.

For sure. I was just going off the people named in the article. But he's been very good.

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I'm not in agreement with this article.

Carlos Santana's competition was not really Rhys Hoskins, it was Jose Miranda. The Twins picked Santana and $5MM less to work with. Meanwhile, Jose Miranda has far outpaced Santana's production. It's a net loss even though Santana's been good after a horrible start to the season. Hoskins started the season hot and has been cold since if I remember right. I'm skeptical Santana's hot production will continue, btw. Santana's xwOBA is right in line with his actual production, but by virtually every advanced contact metric, he's average, and he's lost his excellent walk rates. Expecting the above average production to continue seems optimistic.

Margot can't play center field and is barely serviceable in the corners at this point. Plus his bat's been awful. He wasn't the right target as -0.2 WAR isn't a good choice, even at only $4MM net. The good news here is the trade doesn't have to be viewed in a vacuum as Doncon has caught (and probably passed) Noah Miller and his exceptional defense. Michael A. Taylor +0.3 WAR and and Kevin Kiermaier +0.1 WAR are still excellent CF defenders, and that's what the Twins needed. The Twins needed a multi-year, team controlled center fielder to back up Buxton. Their internal option was Austin Martin, and he's been better than Margot. The external free agent option was Cody Bellinger, but that seemed awfully far-fetched. I proposed trading for Jarren Duran (preferably) or Wilyer Abreu (consolation prize) in last year's offseason simulator.

I think this is a little harsh regarding Santana. The Twins would have been justly criticized for going into this season with a Miranda/Kirilloff set as the only 1B options. Neither was good in 2023 and both were coming off of injuries. I think Santana has been much better than expected and his bat has really helped lengthen the lineup in those critical 5-7 spots. Also, his presence has allowed the Twins to bring Mirnada along at a pace that has really worked. I could actually see him back next year if he doesn't fall off of the proverbial age cliff in the second half of the season. 

You're dead on regarding Margot. He simply isn't valuable enough as a short side platoon hitter who can't hit righties at all and whose defense is cromulent at best (tip of the cap to Cody) in the corners and brutal in CF. What saves that deal is that Doncon has been better than expected. I would love to see them phase Margot out in the second half for Martin but I think that will be seen as too risky when we're in contention. Still, we need to know if that trade off will be workable next season since Margot is unlikely to be back.  

[Mike Sixel]

12 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I think this is a little harsh regarding Santana. The Twins would have been justly criticized for going into this season with a Miranda/Kirilloff set as the only 1B options. Neither was good in 2023 and both were coming off of injuries. I think Santana has been much better than expected and his bat has really helped lengthen the lineup in those critical 5-7 spots. Also, his presence has allowed the Twins to bring Mirnada along at a pace that has really worked. I could actually see him back next year if he doesn't fall off of the proverbial age cliff in the second half of the season. 

You're dead on regarding Margot. He simply isn't valuable enough as a short side platoon hitter who can't hit righties at all and whose defense is cromulent at best (tip of the cap to Cody) in the corners and brutal in CF. What saves that deal is that Doncon has been better than expected. I would love to see them phase Margot out in the second half for Martin but I think that will be seen as too risky when we're in contention. Still, we need to know if that trade off will be workable next season since Margot is unlikely to be back.  

strong disagree. Many of us were for Miranda/Kiriloff as the option. Many of us. A team that is cutting payroll left and right isn't bringing back Santana if Miranda ends the year healthy (big IF apparently).

[Doctor Gast]

14 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Not listing Miranda as an option seems like a huge miss in this treatise. You completely ignored internal options. 

Margot plays a lot against RHP, and he's not good on defense at all. Saying his batting line, which is well below league average, and even more below corner OF average is acceptable? Ugh. 

Santana has been good, no doubt. Miranda could have been that good, and they'd have had money. That money could be useful at the break....

Bingo! This year, what have we gained?  Margot? We had plenty of depth before we signed him & Keirsey is still sitting in AAA long overdue for his call-up. Margot isn't quality depth. CF backup, we have Castro, Martin & Keirsey all much better than Margo. Santana? 1B is a production primary/ defense optional position; up the middle defense is primary/ production is the cherry on top. Santana, overall production falls short of what a 1Bman should be & is expected to regress. Miranda has much better production with Julien, Kiriloff & MLB-ready Severino as back up. With all the acquisitions mentioned we gained nothing as far as needed depth or added production over their in-house options.

What have we lost? 1st the money that was spent for not going with in-house young players. Money could be spent on a player we really need. 2nd playing time for Miranda, Martin, Kiriloff, Keirsey & Severino to get their feel for playing in the MLB & master their positions. 3rd Lost production from Kiriloff. During the offseason, it was said that they were going to limit his duties to only 1B/ DH to keep him healthy. Due to Santana playing 1B, leaving Kiriloff to play a more physically demanding position, resulting him to hurt his back & put a halt to his prosperous start.

Future, we lost the experience to build upon for the future success of our young players. Margot & Santana took from these guys & we lost our best future Correa replacement in GG Noah Miller, Again at a premium position SS, glove is primary, production is the cherry on top.

So again grading these FO's offseason moves is failure. Because it did nothing to meet our real needs & made us weaker in other areas.

[Jocko87]

22 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

strong disagree. Many of us were for Miranda/Kiriloff as the option. Many of us. A team that is cutting payroll left and right isn't bringing back Santana if Miranda ends the year healthy (big IF apparently).

But that's what they did.  Including the money factors that have been beaten to death, it was the most important factor in the offseason.   Nothing they did prevented any young player from an opportunity for playing time.

Santana, Margot, Farmer were all selected as free agents that the kids could steal playing time from without much concern for money wasted or playing time lost.  They were floor moves, always with the intention that one of 20 youngsters plays them off the stage.

In the AK/Miranda example, many of us would have been half right.  Santana was insurance for both halves.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Doctor Gast said:

Bingo! This year, what have we gained?  Margot? We had plenty of depth before we signed him & Keirsey is still sitting in AAA long overdue for his call-up. Margot isn't quality depth. CF backup, we have Castro, Martin & Keirsey all much better than Margo. Santana? 1B is a production primary/ defense optional position; up the middle defense is primary/ production is the cherry on top. Santana, overall production falls short of what a 1Bman should be & is expected to regress. Miranda has much better production with Julien, Kiriloff & MLB-ready Severino as back up. With all the acquisitions mentioned we gained nothing as far as needed depth or added production over their in-house options.

What have we lost? 1st the money that was spent for not going with in-house young players. Money could be spent on a player we really need. 2nd playing time for Miranda, Martin, Kiriloff, Keirsey & Severino to get their feel for playing in the MLB & master their positions. 3rd Lost production from Kiriloff. During the offseason, it was said that they were going to limit his duties to only 1B/ DH to keep him healthy. Due to Santana playing 1B, leaving Kiriloff to play a more physically demanding position, resulting him to hurt his back & put a halt to his prosperous start.

Future, we lost the experience to build upon for the future success of our young players. Margot & Santana took from these guys & we lost our best future Correa replacement in GG Noah Miller, Again at a premium position SS, glove is primary, production is the cherry on top.

So again grading these FO's offseason moves is failure. Because it did nothing to meet our real needs & made us weaker in other areas.

Santana has been quite good this year. First base production is down across the league, and he's been good compared to most other first baseman. Otherwise I agree. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Jocko87 said:

But that's what they did.  Including the money factors that have been beaten to death, it was the most important factor in the offseason.   Nothing they did prevented any young player from an opportunity for playing time.

Santana, Margot, Farmer were all selected as free agents that the kids could steal playing time from without much concern for money wasted or playing time lost.  They were floor moves, always with the intention that one of 20 youngsters plays them off the stage.

In the AK/Miranda example, many of us would have been half right.  Santana was insurance for both halves.

You can't play young players if the roster is full..... This team does not promote his without injuries. It just doesn't. They can't play a guy off the roster. I mean, Farmer and Margot are still on it....

[Jocko87]

2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

You can't play young players if the roster is full..... This team does not promote his without injuries. It just doesn't. They can't play a guy off the roster. I mean, Farmer and Margot are still on it....

Plenty of action here, regardless.

https://www.mlb.com/twins/roster/transactions