The Minnesota Twins haven’t had a quiet offseason—they’ve had a silent one. They didn’t add a likely major leaguer in a trade or signing all winter until this week when they signed two free agents.
Lefty reliever Danny Coulombe joined them yesterday on a one-year, $3 million deal and center fielder Harrison Bader agreed to a one-year, $6.25 million contract earlier today.
The Twins will be Bader’s fifth team in four years. In 143 games for the New York Mets last year, he hit .236/.284/.373 with 12 home runs and 17 stolen bases in 437 plate appearances. He’s regarded as an excellent defender who has played center field exclusively since 2019, and he won a Gold Glove in 2021.
In addition to his base salary, he can earn up to $2 million in bonuses. If those bonuses are playing-time related, he has a good chance to trigger them.
Minnesota’s starting center fielder is Byron Buxton, who has surpassed 400 plate appearances in a season only once in his 10-year career.
Even when healthy, he needs more rest than starting outfielders typically receive and may serve as the designated hitter on occasion. Having a strong backup is critical given his inconsistent availability.
This will be Coulombe’s second stint in Minnesota, where he pitched from 2020-2022 before spending the last two years with the Baltimore Orioles.
The 35-year-old isn’t a hard thrower, averaging just 90.9 mph on his fastball, but he features five different pitches at least 12% of the time. He rarely allows walks or home runs and posted a 2.12 ERA last season, but only threw 29 2/3 innings. Durability has been a concern throughout his career, as he has thrown just 130 1/3 frames since 2019.
The Twins will need him to stay healthy because he will most likely be their sole lefty. The only other left-handers on their 40-man roster are Kody Funderburk, who had a 7.52 ERA in 34 2/3 innings last season, and Brent Headrick, who only pitched one game in the Majors.
Besides Bader and Coulombe, the only other player Minnesota added to their major-league roster this offseason was Rule V pick Eiberson Castellano, a right-handed pitcher from the Philadelphia Phillies organization who hasn’t played above Double-A. After a frustrating 82-80 finish, it’s hard to see how they’ve put themselves back into serious playoff contention.
Perhaps their plan is simply to bank on better health. Buxton, shortstop Carlos Correa, third baseman Royce Lewis, and reliever Brock Stewart all missed significant time with injuries.
Second baseman Edouard Julien and right fielder Matt Wallner both had struggles that forced them back to the minors, though Wallner rebounded with a great second half.
The only two hitters with more than 500 plate appearances last year were utility man Willi Castro and first baseman Carlos Santana, who signed with the Cleveland Guardians as a free agent.
In addition to Santana, three other players departed the Twins and signed major-league contracts elsewhere, including outfielder Max Kepler, infielder Kyle Farmer, and reliever Caleb Thielbar. Outfielder Manuel Margot, who served in the role Bader will now occupy, remains a free agent.
While Bader and Coulombe will be important pieces for the Twins this season, they don’t move the needle very much, nor do they counterbalance the players who departed.
Even though the club was over .500 last year, they still finished fourth in a division that sent three teams to the playoffs, and it’s hard to argue that they improved the roster this offseason.
