One Free Agent Outfielder Might Be the Perfect Fit for the Twins Roster

Grichuk had a late career resurgences after years of so so performance. Expect regression. He is probably wanting to be paid like a 2 war player in their prime. I don’t think anyone will give him that contract. A 4 million contract would be a reasonable expectation. 

Unless two of Paddack, Vazquez and Castro are traded there is no money to sign even a Grichuk. It might take moving all three. So trading Castro for Grichuk sounds really exciting. Right? Vazquez for Camargo. Such is the state of the Twins. 

Grichuk would certainly be a better option than signing a LH hitting Gallo or Margot, Refsynder et al.  He checks a lot of boxes...murders LH pitching.  Capable of not only playing a corner OF at an average to above average ability but also capable of logging some innings in CF (just as long as it's not for an extended period of time).  

With E-Rod probably making his debut around the All Star Game, Grichuk is that RH outfield platoon bat the Twins need to balance out there roster.  He's not as good an option as Profar, but that's why Profar will be paid significantly more than Grichuk.  And with money the primary focus of this ownership group I, as a fan, need to temper my expectations of a Profar vs Grichuk move and understand that Grichuk is not a bad option.

If Grichuk didn't have a couple warts, he would still be an everyday player.  He's not.  But he DOES clobber LH pitching, he has power (his HR totals since 2019...31, 12-Covid, 22, 19, 16, and last year 12.  Those HR totals have gone down as he's settled into more of a platoon role, but that's the role we would want him in anyway.

Last year he hit .291 and in 254 AB's hit 12 HR's and 20 2B's with an .875 OPS.  He's 33 years old so his production shouldn't fall off a cliff.  Signed to a 2-year contract, he would be a nice platoon/bench bat as E-Rod eventually cracks the starting lineup and the Twins determine who they keep and who they deal between Wallner and Larnach.  He could be signed for $1.75 to $2.00 million per season.  For a team pinching pennies this kind of signing is a Godsend.  The sooner the Twins move to make this a reality, the better.  

They can't afford him. Your statement here is wrong:

Quote

He turned down a $2 million mutual option at the offseason’s start.

He actually turned down a guaranteed $6M to trigger a $1.75M buyout

Outfielder Randal Grichuk turns down option with Diamondbacks, becomes free agent | FOX Sports

He's going to expect at least $6M in free agency. For that money I'd rather keep Willi Castro.

Why not just call up Carson McCusker? He has been tearing up all levels of the minors and has more power than anyone in the organization. He has been up to the challenge every time he has faced better pitching since he got to Oklahoma State. He is also a very serviceable corner outfielder with surprising range and speed with his 6'8" frame. We don't need another multi-million dollar .220 hitter!

Would be nice but we're not signing anyone. Our OF will be

Larnach, Buxton, Wallner

Castro, Keirsey, Martin, and hopefully Rodriguez by all star break.

If --  they can put up money for Grichuk, they would have no problem resigning Santana, although would be a better left or right side fielder than what they have.

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

They can't afford him. Your statement here is wrong:

He actually turned down a guaranteed $6M to trigger a $1.75M buyout

Outfielder Randal Grichuk turns down option with Diamondbacks, becomes free agent | FOX Sports

He's going to expect at least $6M in free agency. For that money I'd rather keep Willi Castro.

He may be expecting at least 6M but that does not mean a team will offer that.  Yes, he will go to any team as a 6 mil 1 year as a starting point on his side, but that does not mean teams will agree. Personally, he is coming off a recent career year, after years of ehh replacement level play he finally put up a 2.2 bWAR.  His offense career wise has been average, until last season.  I would never pay a 33 year old guy who had the best year of his career in a ball park that is hitter friendly.  Yes, his road numbers were still very good, but I would not expect him to repeat what he did last year. I think he may be hard pressed to find too many teams, based on payrolls getting cut to pay him 6 mil next year. 

I think there is a better chance we call and resign Michael A Taylor.  He is probably more in our price range.

13 minutes ago, Trov said:

I think he may be hard pressed to find too many teams, based on payrolls getting cut to pay him 6 mil next year. 

Possibly, but that means he won't sign until very late, possibly into February.

2 hours ago, JohnComan3 said:

Why not just call up Carson McCusker? He has been tearing up all levels of the minors

He had an 841 OPS across AA/AAA last year. That's not that great.

13 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

He had an 841 OPS across AA/AAA last year. That's not that great.

He had a 959 OPs against left-handed pitching though, which is what the article is about.  Trying to find a player who can platoon for Wallner or Larnach.

5 minutes ago, SF Twins Fan said:

He had a 959 OPs against left-handed pitching though, which is what the article is about.  Trying to find a player who can platoon for Wallner or Larnach.

We saw last year with Margot (and earlier with other platoon bats) that it is impossible to hide a player so they never see RHP. McCusker might be fine to give an opportunity as plan D or E but he can't be Plan A.

10 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

He had an 841 OPS across AA/AAA last year. That's not that great.

Um, .846 OPS was #1 and .489 SLG was #2 in the Texas League amongst qualified players last year. His exit velocity is ELITE! He was also #5 in BA and top 10 in 2B, 3B and RBI and had 15 HRs in only 98 games. Just because he wasn't drafted doesn't mean he is not worthy of a promotion.

8 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

We saw last year with Margot (and earlier with other platoon bats) that it is impossible to hide a player so they never see RHP. McCusker might be fine to give an opportunity as plan D or E but he can't be Plan A.

He hits RHP just fine, no need to "hide" him. And the article was also about saving money. Right now, the Twins are "hiding" a potential Aaron Judge type player in their own system that would be a league min add.

5 minutes ago, JohnComan3 said:

Um, .846 OPS was #1 and .489 SLG was #2 in the Texas League amongst qualified players last year. His exit velocity is ELITE! He was also #5 in BA and top 10 in 2B, 3B and RBI and had 15 HRs in only 98 games. Just because he wasn't drafted doesn't mean he is not worthy of a promotion.

He got a promotion to AAA. That's the promotion people get when they do well in AA. He was playing against kids on average 2 years younger than him. If he had only been average offensively at that level, he probably gets released. We'll see how he does at AAA this season. If he can improve a little more he will have a chance to make his debut.

13 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

He got a promotion to AAA. That's the promotion people get when they do well in AA. He was playing against kids on average 2 years younger than him. If he had only been average offensively at that level, he probably gets released. We'll see how he does at AAA this season. If he can improve a little more he will have a chance to make his debut.

Let's play spin the bottle and pretend we should sign whoever it lands on. 

9 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

Grichuk would certainly be a better option than signing a LH hitting Gallo or Margot, Refsynder et al.  He checks a lot of boxes...murders LH pitching.  Capable of not only playing a corner OF at an average to above average ability but also capable of logging some innings in CF (just as long as it's not for an extended period of time).  

With E-Rod probably making his debut around the All Star Game, Grichuk is that RH outfield platoon bat the Twins need to balance out there roster.  He's not as good an option as Profar, but that's why Profar will be paid significantly more than Grichuk.  And with money the primary focus of this ownership group I, as a fan, need to temper my expectations of a Profar vs Grichuk move and understand that Grichuk is not a bad option.

If Grichuk didn't have a couple warts, he would still be an everyday player.  He's not.  But he DOES clobber LH pitching, he has power (his HR totals since 2019...31, 12-Covid, 22, 19, 16, and last year 12.  Those HR totals have gone down as he's settled into more of a platoon role, but that's the role we would want him in anyway.

Last year he hit .291 and in 254 AB's hit 12 HR's and 20 2B's with an .875 OPS.  He's 33 years old so his production shouldn't fall off a cliff.  Signed to a 2-year contract, he would be a nice platoon/bench bat as E-Rod eventually cracks the starting lineup and the Twins determine who they keep and who they deal between Wallner and Larnach.  He could be signed for $1.75 to $2.00 million per season.  For a team pinching pennies this kind of signing is a Godsend.  The sooner the Twins move to make this a reality, the better.  

Grichuk would be a good fit & for $2M you can't go wrong. He played some CF for some bad teams in a pinch but I wouldn't want him there with us, IMO he wouldn't need to.

Akil Baddoo is available if we want another ex-Twin minor leaguer. I don't want him, by the way.

16 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Akil Baddoo is available if we want another ex-Twin minor leaguer. I don't want him, by the way.

But he will become the next Rooker!