The Twins signed veteran outfielder Harrison Bader to a one-year deal worth $6.25 million on Wednesday.

Amid an offseason that hadn’t seen any major league additions until reliever Danny Coulombe was signed on Tuesday, this qualifies as pretty significant news.

Bader is far better with the glove than the bat, but he fills a notable need and should fit pretty nicely in Minnesota.

Let’s go over three takeaways from the Twins’ biggest move of the offseason so far (it’s a low bar).

He fills a clear hole on the roster

The Twins very much needed a backup center fielder and a right-handed outfield bat.

Byron Buxton famously struggles to stay healthy, averaging just 86 games played across the eight full seasons of his career (2020 excluded).

In the corners, the Twins are projected to start lefties Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach, with switch-hitting super utility man Willi Castro also in the mix and lefty prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez a candidate to hit his way to the big leagues at some point this year.

Bader addresses both needs. He’s a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder who can give Buxton off days or DH appearances while healthy and step into an everyday role if and when he gets banged up.

Bader has exclusively played CF since 2019, but he saw some time in left and right early in his career. Considering Rocco Baldelli’s track record of favoring platoon advantages, it wouldn’t be surprising if he uses Bader in the corner spots at times against a lefty starter.

That would allow Baldelli to get his righty bat in the lineup alongside Buxton in CF and a different right-handed DH.

Bader had a couple good offensive seasons back when he was with the Cardinals, but he hasn’t produced much at the plate in recent years and has a career 91 OPS+.

However, he does have a .776 career OPS against lefties, compared to .669 mark against righties. His power increases quite a bit when he has the platoon advantage.

He should be more like Taylor than Margot

The backup CF role is an important one for the Twins, given Buxton’s persistent injury woes. After getting very little from players like Jake Cave, Nick Gordon, and Gilberto Celestino in the early 2020s, they traded for former Gold Glove-winner Michael A.

Taylor to do that job in 2023. That move worked out nicely. Taylor hit 21 home runs, stole 13 bases, and lived up to his reputation defensively, generating 1.9 WAR despite a 93 OPS+.

He made real contributions to a team that won the AL Central and snapped a 20-year playoff losing streak.

Last offseason, the Twins traded for Manuel Margot to replace Taylor. That move couldn’t have gone much worse. Margot had a dreadful 76 OPS+, went a shocking 0 for 30 as a pinch hitter, and was worth -0.9 WAR.

The Twins believe Bader will be much more like Taylor than Margot, and perhaps even better. Based on his track record, you’d expect that to be the case.

Bader is a former Gold Glove winner in CF who has had stretches of solid production at the plate in his career.

Bader had a 106 OPS+ as a rookie in 2018, then had a career-best 114 mark in 2021. He was a 3-4 WAR player in each of those seasons.

He almost certainly won’t replicate that level of production, but assuming he gets 300-400 plate appearances this season, Bader has the tools to hit 10-15 home runs, steal 15-20 bases, and have a 90-95 OPS+ while playing elite-level outfield defense.

That would make him a valuable player, much like Taylor was in 2023.

Is a trade coming? Or will payroll be a bit higher than expected?

Bader’s deal is worth $6.25 million, with up to $2 million in available bonuses. For a team like the Twins, operating under payroll restrictions imposed by the outgoing ownership group, that’s significant.

Between Bader’s contract and $3 million for Coulombe, they’ve now handed out $9.25 million in deals over the last two days.

Previous reporting from Dan Hayes of The Athletic indicated that the Twins had maybe $5-6 million to add to their payroll, so this move means one of two things.

Either they actually had a bit more room to spend than anticipated — or a trade that sheds salary is in the works. Christian Vazquez ($10M), Chris Paddack ($7.5M), and Castro ($6.4M) are the three most likely candidates to be dealt if Minnesota wants to get some money off the books for further additions.

The Twins’ most notable remaining hole is at first base.