Breaking: Minnesota Twins' Three Offseason Additions Have Already Outplayed Their Contracts

Despite significant spending restrictions, Twins decision-makers were able to add three veterans to improve the club on the margins.

Interestingly, all three veterans have already outplayed their contracts less than two months into the season.

Late last offseason, Minnesota Twins Executive Vice President Joe Pohlad greenlit extra spending room for President of Baseball and Business Operations Derek Falvey, allowing the long-time Twins decision-maker to sign veterans Danny Coulombe, Harrison Bader, and Ty France to one-year contracts worth a combined $10.5 million.

Adding Coulombe, Bader, and France served a last-minute effort to improve the club at depth-deficient areas, and less than two months into the season, all three investments are providing excess value.

Over 39 games, the trio of Coulombe, Bader, and France have generated the following Wins Above Replacement at FanGraphs (fWAR):

Coulombe: 0.7 fWAR
Bader: 1.3 fWAR
France: 0.4 fWAR

Highlighted by Coulombe’s lockdown efforts in the bullpen, Bader’s platinum glove-deserving outfield defense, and France’s steady effort at first base and the plate, the Twins trio of offseason additions have become positive contributors who look to be part of the core that attempts to return the organization to the postseason this October.

Now, significant debate exists over how much money one win-above-replacement is worth.

The Athletic’s Eno Sarris has speculated that it is worth roughly $12 million. FanGraphs’s Dan Szymborski has professed it’s worth roughly $5 million.

Twins Daily’s John Bonnes thinks it’s worth about $8 million, and Brock Beauchamp swears it’s now worth over $8 million (if you couldn’t tell, Twins Daily’s finest discussed this very topic in their Slack channel).

Nevertheless, the trio of Coulombe, Bader, and France have already outplayed their contracts from a dollars-to-fWAR perspective.

According to FanGraphs’s Value resource, the trio of veterans’ early-season performances have been worth the following monetary figures:

Coulombe: $5.5 million
Bader: $10.1 million
France: $3.1 million

That being the case, Coulombe has outplayed his one-year, $3 million contract by $2.5 million; Bader has outplayed his one-year, $6.5 million contract by $3.6 million, and France has outplayed his one-year, $1 million contract by $2.1 million.

Considering France has posted a 115 wRC+ over 157 plate appearances while demonstrating improved defense at first base, it is unsurprising that he already nearly tripled the value of his one-year, $1 million deal.

However, the fact that the club has squeezed out this much value from a mid-to-high leverage left-handed reliever and assumed fourth outfielder illustrates the commensal nature of the three contracts the Twins front office allocated late last offseason.

The first WAR earned is not what teams pay big dollars for.

The real “profit” manifests when players become worth 2.0-or-3.0 WAR. It is nearly impossible for relievers to become worth 2.0-or-3.0 WAR unless they are last season’s version of Emmanuel Clase or 2016 Zack Britton.

That said, Coulombe could reasonably earn over 1.0 WAR this season, which would be significant value for Minnesota. Given Bader and France’s hot start to the season, there is reason to believe both position players will accumulate a 2.0-to-3.0 WAR season.

The club has already received plus value from the two position player veterans.

That said, if they keep performing at the rate they have to begin their 2025 campaigns, the Twins could be the recipient of three of MLB’s most profitable one-year deals from last offseason’s free agency cycle.