3 Speedy Free Agents Who Could Jumpstart the Twins' Sluggish Offense

[Matthew Taylor]

The Minnesota Twins' lack of speed on the basepaths has been a glaring weakness for years, culminating in a dead-last finish in stolen bases and sprint speed in 2024. As the offseason approaches, the Twins have a unique opportunity to shake up their roster by adding much-needed quickness to their aging lineup.

Image courtesy of © Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

As the dust settles on the 2024 season, one glaring statistic stands out for the Minnesota Twins: they were the slowest team in baseball. Finishing dead last in stolen bases with just 65, the Twins capped off their seventh consecutive season in the bottom 10 for swiping bags. On top of that, their sprint speed ranked last in the league at a sluggish 26.8 feet per second. The lack of speed on the basepaths has become a major liability, for a team that once thrived on power and was known for putting the ball over the fence.

Time and again, we saw outs handed away because of poor baserunning or simply not having the speed to take an extra base. Whether it was a missed opportunity to stretch a single into a double or a runner thrown out trying to advance, the absence of a reliable running game hurt the Twins throughout the season, especially in key moments down the stretch.

It’s no secret that the Twins have prioritized power over speed under Derek Falvey, That worked great when they led the league in home runs, but in 2024, they finished a middling 14th. When the power wasn’t enough to carry the offense, the team’s lack of speed left them with no other dimension to exploit. Without the threat of baserunning or the ability to create pressure with speed, they became too predictable.

With the offseason ahead and names like Kyle Farmer, Max Kepler, Manuel Margot, and Carlos Santana potentially departing, the Twins have a chance to infuse some speed into the roster. Some of these players were contributors with decent speed, but others were anchors, slowing down the lineup. Regardless, there's now an opportunity to reshape this team by adding some fleet-footed players who could make a real impact in 2025.

Let’s take a look at a few affordable free agents the Twins could target to add much-needed speed and baserunning acumen to this aging, slow roster.

José Iglesias, Infielder
A veteran well-known to the Twins from his days in Detroit, José Iglesias, still possesses solid speed despite being 35 years old next season. In 2024, he ranked 99th in baseball, landing in the 83rd percentile for sprint speed. Iglesias doesn’t bring much power to the table, but he continues to hit for average, boasting a .337 mark in 85 games for the Mets this past season. His ability to play second base, third base, and shortstop makes him a versatile option to replace someone like Kyle Farmer. Iglesias’ speed and contact-hitting could provide the Twins with a spark that’s been missing.

Kevin Pillar, Outfielder
Kevin Pillar has been on Twins fans’ radars for a while as a potential fourth outfielder who can handle center field when Byron Buxton is sidelined. Now, more than ever, Pillar’s value could extend beyond just being a defensive backup. Ranking 126th in sprint speed (78th percentile), Pillar would immediately provide the Twins with more speed in the outfield. His ability to play all three outfield spots gives flexibility, and he would be an upgrade over Manuel Margot in terms of both speed and defense.

Garrett Hampson, Utility
If the Twins are truly committed to adding speed, Garrett Hampson is their guy. In 2024, Hampson ranked 10th in MLB for sprint speed, sitting in the 99th percentile. His versatility is reminiscent of Willi Castro, as he can play almost anywhere on the field, both in the infield and outfield. The catch? His bat is a significant weakness—he posted a .576 OPS last season, though he flashed potential in 2023 with a .729 OPS. Hampson hasn’t been a prolific base stealer, but his elite speed could give the Twins a weapon they’ve been lacking, and he should be a cost-effective option.

Speed should be a top priority as the Twins contemplate how to reshape their roster for 2025. Adding a few of these names could complement to the team’s power approach and help avoid the baserunning issues plaguing them this season. The post-2017 Twins have been stuck in a one-dimensional offensive identity, but with the right moves, they can once again put pressure on opposing defenses in ways that go beyond hitting the long ball.

What do you think? Are any of these players worth a shot in free agency? Should the Twins focus more on speed in the offseason? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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[bean5302]

Spotrac predicts a MV of
Iglesias - 1yr at $1.7MM
Pillar - 1yr at $1.1MM
Hampson - N/A (probably MiLB contract)

For Iglesias, his wRC+ 90ish bat was serviceable at SS.
Pillar's similar bat profile made him technically playable as a part time 4th outfielder / center fielder.
Hampson, though? A career wRC+ 69 hitter has basically kept him as AAA replacement value, accumulating only 1.2 fWAR across 8 years, peaking at 0.6 in his one outlier (still only wRC+ 99) season with Miami in 2023. He's basically a pinch runner.

I think the Twins have options as good or better in house than Pillar or Hampson, and with Correa entrenched at SS, Iglesias as well.

[tony&rodney]

The main reason the Twins need better team speed/ athleticism is because way too many ground balls leak through the infield and fly balls find the grass in the outfield. All of the stats in the world cannot disguise what is a team with little range defensively that winds up forcing the pitchers to continually get more outs than their opposing pitchers. 

There will need to be some changes, likely through trades. Rolling back the same outfit .... well, you know what is said about trying the same thing over and over.

[sweetmusicviola16]

Lets go in house to fill out the roster instead of spending whatever expendable $$$$ we might have on washed up veterans. If we have any payroll to play with  sign a guy that has the potential to make a difference. I'm tired of signing declining players. DaShawn Kiersey comes first to my mind in giving one of our own a shot who has the potential to steal or run the bases. He's done everything asked of him in the minors. Payton Eeles should also get a long look from what others are saying. 

[Parfigliano]

TC could have Ricky Henderson and Lou Brock in their prime and it wouldn't matter.  For years they have shown they don't care about stealing bases or giving up stolen bases.  Need to change the FO philosophy 1st then get speed players.

[Fred]

From what I've seen Kiersey is a legitimate CF, and yet, I've seen him moved to RF when Helman played in the outfield (CF), he also plays some infield. I think they have some almost direct replacements at St Paul for the four guys they mentioned in the article. Kiersey for Kepler, Helman for Margot (at one point Helman had an above .500 slugging %), Eeles [who bunts for hits, steals bases, takes the extra base, etc. (I call him "Charley Hustle"), and plays a legitimate SS, 2B and corner outfield] for Farmer, and Severino (at a position where hitting is more valued than defense) for Santana. Santana is the inverse of what most clubs look for at 1st. He fields like a ballet dancer, but, at his age, the hitting is starting to slip. Don't sign aging veterans, or some guy who has proven that he doesn't have much of a hit tool. Give your in-house guys a shot. Hey Pohlads, it'll save you payroll!

[sweetmusicviola16]

11 minutes ago, Fred said:

From what I've seen Kiersey is a legitimate CF, and yet, I've seen him moved to RF when Helman played in the outfield (CF), he also plays some infield. I think they have some almost direct replacements at St Paul for the four guys they mentioned in the article. Kiersey for Kepler, Helman for Margot (at one point Helman had an above .500 slugging %), Eeles [who bunts for hits, steals bases, takes the extra base, etc. (I call him "Charley Hustle"), and plays a legitimate SS, 2B and corner outfield] for Farmer, and Severino (at a position where hitting is more valued than defense) for Santana. Santana is the inverse of what most clubs look for at 1st. He fields like a ballet dancer, but, at his age, the hitting is starting to slip. Don't sign aging veterans, or some guy who has proven that he doesn't have much of a hit tool. Give your in-house guys a shot. Hey Pohlads, it'll save you payroll!

Yep, overlooked Helman. Good call. 

Edit: And we don't need the veteran presence in the clubhouse. Correa, Buxton, Vazquez and Castro are all veterans. We have plenty of vets now to carry the load. Need to give the guys in the system a chance, or move them to another org.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, Fred said:

From what I've seen Kiersey is a legitimate CF, and yet, I've seen him moved to RF when Helman played in the outfield (CF)

Helman is about the same as Keirsey in CF IMO.  Those two are similar in a lot of ways other than - Keirsey lh vs Helman rh, Helman injured more, Helman is a legit super utility (at AAA at least).

[Doctor Gast]

I applaud you Matthew for bringing our speed problem to our attention. But FA isn't the answer nor trading for a Margot. Stick with our cheap young in-house players. W/o Margot, Martin & Keirsey will be great & I'd like to see Eeles get a chance. Twins have been too slow moving off the slow, big bat, poor glove model to a more athletic, line drive, good glove model. Has Falvey changed his faulty philosophies? He has offered up a lot of sacrificial lambs but the ones that should be gone are still here.

[CRF]

No interest at all in those three guys.

[stringer bell]

Remember Bubba Thompson? Speed as the only tool isn’t enough. 

[Doctor Wu]

11 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Remember Bubba Thompson? Speed as the only tool isn’t enough. 

Ha! Good reminder, although I can barely remember him being on the team. When I think of speed, I recall the glory days of Otis Nixon!

[Old Crow]

Management opinion seems to be launch angle trumps speed.

[stringer bell]

The Twins also had Billy Hamilton, another example of a one-tool speed player. He actually played in a couple regular season games with about zero impact.

To the OP, the Twins don't have a lot of team speed. I'd like to see a team with 8-9 guys who could steal 20 bags and demonstrate good speed by having plus range, but that really isn't in the system. It would appear that Buxton will forever be limited by health to not be a huge SB threat and nobody else has the wheels to really turn a game with their legs. 

That said, guys with good speed could help their base running woes if they can get on the field--Helman, Keirsey Jr., Martin and Castro are examples. I just don't know if any of those guys (other than Castro) will make the team out of Spring Training, much less get regular playing time. 

Another key would be for guys to be healthy. Comments in post season threads about Lewis and Lee indicate they weren't 100% particularly during the last quarter of the season and both were regarded as much faster than their sprint speed stats demonstrated. 

[IndianaTwin]

Kevin Pillar — a 37-year-old outfielder with a career 87 OPS+. He’d be really popular on TD. 
 

/s

[JD-TWINS]

Chasing “speed” as the central tool isn’t the answer. If Management signed any of these 3 guys there would be absolute insurrection.

Iglesias at 35? ……neither of the other two hit….at all. Not good options!

Twins could really use another bat - cannot ignore (by promoting Helman - Kiersey - Martin) that losing Santana empties the offense of approximately 23HR & 75 RBI……the BAT is much more important than the speed aspect.

Guys that couldn’t crack the ‘24 roster from AAA aren’t necessarily the answer going forward because of some sentimental desire that they succeed as Twins……nor because they are inexpensive. It should be a mix of solutions/options but a new FA bat with Pop needs to be part of the mix! To me, that’s the only near-term need for the Club to succeed.

[Otaknam]

it’s not just lack of speed. Their base running was atrocious. And Rocco seldom tries hit and run when they are struggling offensively. They just sit back and hope for the long ball. I doubt they will add aging players who still have some speed, but instead will look to internal minor league options who are close, like Hellman and Kiersey. 

[tony&rodney]

19 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Twins could really use another bat - cannot ignore (by promoting Helman - Kiersey - Martin) that losing Santana empties the offense of approximately 23HR & 75 RBI……the BAT is much more important than the speed aspect.

Guys that couldn’t crack the ‘24 roster from AAA aren’t necessarily the answer going forward because of some sentimental desire that they succeed as Twins……nor because they are inexpensive. It should be a mix of solutions/options but a new FA bat with Pop needs to be part of the mix! To me, that’s the only near-term need for the Club to succeed.

Agree wholeheartedly that the Twins need to find a way to replace Santana. Yet, one must understand that the budget will be somewhere from $120-140M.

If the team, as is, comes in basically on budget, who is available? How can the Twins add a FA bat? Looking at available free agents, I see Teoscar Hernandez, Anthony Santander, and Juan Soto. That's about it. I guess a gamble on a Yoan Moncada or Randall Grichuk or Tyler O'Neill is possible. However, back to the budget .... how do the Twins fit one of these guys into their number crunch? Half of MLB comes in below $150 million for payroll, How do the Twins add a bat in free agency?

[beckmt]

I am fine with expecting growth from the young players.  I also expect a few trades to consolidate some  of the young talent.  Martin, Keirsey, Hellman may be just fine, but are they suited to bench roles.  Martin will have to be to be useful up here (unless we trade or non-tender Castro).  Lee, Lewis and the rest should benefit from other years experience, but they have to not wear out during the season, Conditioning was horrible.

[LambchoP]

None of these guys would solve our speed problem. First off, Rocco needs to bunt, steal, hit and run, and find a way to move runners over. You need the right guys to do these things of course, but I think we have good options in house. Keirsey, Helman, Eeles, Martin. All these guys have speed and a long with Castro, should be able to swipe some bags. With our payroll crunch, we're going to have to depend on our young guys so might as well roll with some athletic, fast guys who can hit. I think Severino should get a shot at the first base job. He's had two solid years in AAA now so I'd guess he either gets called up this year or we use him in a trade.

[DJL44]

14 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

First off, Rocco needs to bunt, steal, hit and run, and find a way to move runners over.

This is not how major league teams play baseball in 2024. The league leader in sacrifice bunts was the Diamondbacks with 34. That's one bunt every 5 games. League average is 15 sacs, one every 10 games.

[JD-TWINS]

29 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Agree wholeheartedly that the Twins need to find a way to replace Santana. Yet, one must understand that the budget will be somewhere from $120-140M.

If the team, as is, comes in basically on budget, who is available? How can the Twins add a FA bat? Looking at available free agents, I see Teoscar Hernandez, Anthony Santander, and Juan Soto. That's about it. I guess a gamble on a Yoan Moncada or Randall Grichuk or Tyler O'Neill is possible. However, back to the budget .... how do the Twins fit one of these guys into their number crunch? Half of MLB comes in below $150 million for payroll, How do the Twins add a bat in free agency?

Is it plausible that the Organization decides it’s more important, to help get them $1.5B or more for the franchise, to not have complete fan unrest and a lack of competitiveness within their Division? This is my hope once some minds with reason & common sense get in front of the Pohlads…….franchise broker types.

Do they drop an extra $20M in ‘25 to go out with a flurry and some goodwill with the fan base……they could even get it back x 2 ($40M) in the sale - right?

Seems $18M/yr for Tyler O’Neill makes some sense for a couple years (31 HR & 61 RBI in only 411 AB’s). Boston needs to focus on Pitching and may not push to re-sign him? He’ll be an attractive guy in the market. Hernandez had a great year for him, and he was already at $20M…..,,not realistic $$ spend, and he’s a BIG strikeout potential guy. In hindsight, Thomas from Washington - now under control in Cleveland, would have been optimal. Can Twins find a like guy to trade for??

Maybe there’s a trade to be made but those are awfully difficult to foresee/predict. There’s a big sea of players out there.

Probably need to move a AAA pitcher with a Martin level guy to get a reasonable controllable OF guy. Paddack (would like him to stick for Pen depth & quality) could be a chip along with a younger arm from AAA?

Could take the Detroit route and just play a bunch of young guys in our open spots and hope 2 of 4 or 5 guys work out ……. with a bunch of mediocre results in short-term?

BIG move would be to trade Paddack to get rid of salary, along with Castro - after extending for ‘25 - no tender Kirilloff (sum of $15M) …………those are trade pieces for an OF bat or available $$ to sign a $15-$20M bat to play OF & DH some.

There are plenty of young guys to pick for Castro’s defense - all but one of them would already be on the 13 man roster….. Lee - Keaschall - Miranda - Julien - Kiersey - Martin - Hellman …….etc. - Castro did end the year at only .717 OPS.

[KBJ1]

What we have needed for years is a power bat with speed & defense in LF.

If big tall lanky power hitters like Judge & Ohtani can steal 30 - 50 bases there is no excuse for some of our power hitters in the minors not to be able to steal a base.

We also have one of the best base stealing coaches in Paul Molitor available to teach it.

No to any of those FA options.  We have similar cheaper, younger in house. We need better!!

[JD-TWINS]

14 minutes ago, KBJ1 said:

What we have needed for years is a power bat with speed & defense in LF.

If big tall lanky power hitters like Judge & Ohtani can steal 30 - 50 bases there is no excuse for some of our power hitters in the minors not to be able to steal a base.

We also have one of the best base stealing coaches in Paul Molitor available to teach it.

No to any of those FA options.  We have similar cheaper, younger in house. We need better!!

No to FA options?? Other than Emma - maybe late in ‘25……,who in the organization has 30-35 HR potential in the OF? One guy with “potential” in the next 2 years doesn’t get me excited for April ‘25!

Ohtani & Judge are physical freaks - enough said. Hitting the ball is a way bigger deal than stealing bases……,, Btw, Aaron Judge stole 3 bases in ‘23 & 10 bases in ‘24 - not exactly Rickey like!

[AKTwinsFan]

They got some guys with speed, they just need some better base running coaching. It doesn't take a Witt Jr. to steal bases. Just when and where to run. 

[old nurse]

Speed without OBP is useless. That is why these guys are available on a budget contract. Igleseas might could do it. It might have also been an outlier year

[Fire Dan Gladden]

The Twins would have no problem bringing in a vary cheap, multi-positional, defensive speedster with average offensive capabilities.  So would every other team in the league.

No interest in the three guys listed.  Find better.

[joefish]

Speed won't put us over the top. 

[Jacksson]

It's a Catch 22.  Can't run without players that can do it.

Pohlads are selling the team for a big profit.  The buyer will need to generate a profit to begin to recoup their investment which means a cheap payroll.  Cheap payroll means ZERO big bucks free agents, replacing departing free agents with minimal cost players AND exploring trade opportunities for: Buxton, Correa, Paddack, Vasquez, Lopez, Castro, etc.

Remember the Pohlad family business motto =

In business, your only friend is a BUCK and the more BUCKS you've got, the more friends you've got.   This philosophy based on the past dealings of the family, and as expressed by the immortal Fred Flintstone.

 

[TopGunn#22]

Either Iglesias or Pillar would add some speed and defense.  I'm not interested in Hampson at all.  He couldn't even hit in Colorado.  But I appreciate Matthew Taylor suggesting the other two.  One other possible gamble to take would be to trade Kirilloff to the Angels for Jo Adell.  They probably don't need Kirilloff at 1B since they have Nolan Schanuel at 1B.  But corner OF and DH could be something the Angels would be interested in.

Jo Adell could be a Shane Mack type of gamble that could pay off for the Twins.  Mack was a much better hitter when the Twins initially picked him up than Adell is now.  But the defense and baserunning Adell would provide is an acceptable comp to Mack.