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The Twins traded for three MLB players, signed four MLB deals, and brought on an additional three players on minor league deals that have contributed to this year’s team. When evaluating this team, it’s worth taking stock of how the offseason moves are looking. I’ve listed the ten acquisitions below, from most expensive (total salary committed) to least expensive. Relevant statistics include plate appearances or innings pitched, OPS+ or ERA+ (less than 100 is worse than league average; above is better), and wins above replacement as calculated for both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs.
Carlos Correa – Signed for $200M over six years
303 PA, 90 OPS+, 0.8 bWAR, 0.6 fWAR
The $200 million man has yet to impress. He’s on pace to have the worst offensive year of his career. His defense at shortstop has been good, but it hasn’t been Gold Glove-worthy, so getting too excited about what the rest of this contract holds is hard. There’s still a lot of time to turn it around, but the first eight percent has not been promising.
Christian Vazquez – Signed for $30M over three years
180 PA, 68 OPS+, 0.2 bWAR, 0.7 fWAR
Speaking of multi-year deals that could be more promising, Vazquez has not impressed as the primary catcher. He’s also in the midst of his worst offensive year since 2018. However, the pitchers seem to like him, and his defense is still above average. Still, it’s getting more difficult by the day to justify his black hold in this putrid lineup starting over a superior hitter in Ryan Jeffers.
Joey Gallo – Signed for $11M over one year
207 PA, 113 OPS+, 0.4 bWAR, 0.5 fWAR
Gallo got a torrid start but has regressed heavily in the last two months. It’s difficult to be too upset over a one-year flyer signing, and Gallo has filled in at multiple positions when needed. Still, the signing has also restricted Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner’s path to big league playing time. Maybe Gallo will get hot again soon and make the signing worth it, but it’s not looking good right now.
Kyle Farmer – Traded for Casey Legumina, making $5.59M, final year of arbitration in 2024
167 PA, 87 OPS+, 0.8 bWAR, 0.7 fWAR
Farmer has performed as expected. He’s competently played all four infield positions and stood in left field several times. The salary and prospect traded for him make this acquisition an even value. Of note, he’s been a plus hitter against lefties, as was expected.
Pablo Lopez – Traded for Luis Arraez, making $5.45M, extended for $74M over four years
96 IP, 96 ERA+, 0.8 bWAR, 2.2 fWAR
The Twins traded from a perceived position of strength—left-handed corner bats—for pitching, and it’s difficult to separate how Lopez is performing from Arraez’s chase for .400 in Miami. To his credit, Lopez has been a solid-to-great pitcher, depending on your belief in his underlying metrics. The acquisition hasn’t been a win, but Lopez is certainly doing his part.
Michael A. Taylor – Traded for Evan Sisk, Steven Cruz. Making $4.5M
221 PA, 83 OPS+, 0.6 bWAR, 0.6 fWAR
Taylor has been thrust into an everyday job, and unless someone else comes along—Byron Buxton included—he’ll be the first option in center field each day. He’s hit around his career average, which isn’t good, and his defense has been slipping a bit, which is unsurprising for the 32-year-old. If the expectation was that he was merely a backup, the trade looks much better than if he was expected to start 120 games in center field.
Donovan Solano – Signed for $2M over one year
220 PA, 115 ERA+, 0.8 bWAR, 0.6 fWAR
Where would this team be without Donnie Barrels? Solano was signed during spring training as an additional platoon bat against lefties as a first baseman or DH. He’s been one of the team’s most consistent hitters thus far and has held his own against both righties and lefties, playing second and third base when needed. It’s a great use of $2M as a bench player, which is what he should currently be—but isn’t.
Willi Castro – Signed for $1.8M (MiLB deal)
191 PA, 92 OPS+, 1.7 bWAR, 1.1 fWAR
Where would this team be without Willi Rafael Castro? Signed to a minor league deal, Castro broke camp with the team as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency with the ability to play every position. He’s been a slightly below-average hitter but is 12-for-12 stealing bases, almost carried the team offensively for a few weeks, and provides excellent roster utility. He’s a great asset as a 13th man but, like Solano, is playing more than he should.
Brock Stewart – Signed MiLB deal
25.2 IP, 610 ERA+, 1.5 bWAR, 0.7 fWAR
Where would this team be without Beef Stew? The minor league signee has been the best reliever on the team statistically, and he’s been number two in the bullpen hierarchy behind Jhoan Duran. His emergence has been terrific and has rewarded the team for taking an albeit low-risk chance on him.
Oliver Ortega – Claimed off waivers, MiLB deal
4 IP, 102 ERA+, 0.0 bWAR, 0.0 fWAR
Where would this—never mind. I included Ortega because he is the only other player who has played for the Twins this year added in the offseason. He was claimed off waivers and now has a chance to get work in an injury-riddled bullpen. Will he stick as a low-mid leverage arm? Who knows.
EDIT: Jose De Leon – MiLB deal
17.1 IP, 93 ERA+, 0.0 bWAR, 0.2 fWAR
De Leon, like Stewart and Ortega, signed a minor league deal in the offseason, but he had emerged as a potential competent middle or long relief option. He fit the team as the seventh or eighth guy out of the pen with some flexibility in use, but he will be undergoing Tommy John Surgery and will miss the remainder of 2023. He was an adequate find that will need to be replaced, likely by high minors pitching prospects.
In review, there’s a bit of a pattern here—if you can call ten players’ results a pattern. The three most expensive free agent veterans (Correa, Vazquez, Gallo) have not carried their weight thus far. The three lowest-paid free agents (Solano, Castro, Stewart) have been outperforming expectations and have emerged as vital parts of this team—which may be damning with faint praise. The three players traded for (Farmer, Lopez, Taylor) have performed about as expected, though, in Lopez’s case, the cost of Luis Arraez clouds that, and Taylor has been playing more than expected.
Do you disagree with any of these assessments? How do you feel about the job that the front office did?
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