The Twins have outrighted third baseman Trevor Plouffe, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). He’ll become a free agent today unless he’s claimed by another organization.
MLBTR projected Plouffe to garner $8.2MM in his final pass through arbitration, a rather sizable sum for the solid veteran. Evidently, any efforts to deal him weren’t showing enough promise to keep him around through today’s deadline to add Rule 5-eligible players to the 40-man roster.
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Plouffe, 30, no longer fit on a Twins roster that is overloaded at first base and DH while also featuring promising young third baseman Miguel Sano. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained in breaking down the team’s offseason outlook, there was some reason to believe that Plouffe might draw at least a marginal trade return. But that obviously didn’t pan out.
That doesn’t mean that teams won’t be intrigued in free agency, of course. Plouffe has carried a .253/.314/.427 batting line and hit 48 home runs over his three seasons and 1,558 plate appearances. That’s approximately league-average production, to go with defensive metrics that have ranged from slightly below to slightly above average over the last few campaigns. He struggled badly early last year, and missed a fair bit of time, but was much better with the bat in the second half.
All told, there’s every reason to think that Plouffe will command a major league deal. Indeed, he could even score a multi-year commitment, depending upon how things shake out. But he likely won’t be drawing a $8MM+ annual payday. Justin Turner remains the clear top free agent third baseman, but Plouffe figures to slot in alongside Luis Valbuena near the top of the remainder of the market.
There had been discussion last winter that the Twins could try to move Plouffe to another organization to make room for Sano. But the club instead elected to keep both and give the lumbering Sano a try in the corner outfield. That move didn’t work out well at all, and in the interim Plouffe’s value fell enough that he was more a non-tender than a trade candidate.
First reaction is wow. Next reaction is that it makes a lot of sense.
Yeah I had a “Holy Crap” followed by “Well, yeah”
There’s value in that bat, in the right park.
Maybe a fit at 1B in Colorado?
why not pay him and trade him?
I’m sure they tried but no one wanted him at that salary and to give up prospects for it.
Good pickup for the Red Sox. Sandoval is a question mark. Moncada might need some more seasoning. Shaw is better as a platoon player.
Maybe on a minor league deal
Plouffe is still just 30 years old, and he is roughly average MLB hitter and slightly below average fielder. He will get MLB deal, not minor league deal. I would want him on my team at 1 year, $4-5 million deal.
Yeah, it would take an incredible series of events for Plouffe to be unable to find a major league job. I, too, see him getting about $5M.
I like the way you think
Braves should take him if he is cheap. Doubt it will happen because of other teams in need of a 3B but braves coukd platoon him and give Ruiz a little more seasoning and flip plouffe or Garcia at the deadline.
If he is cheap, I could be down with that.
Should be claimed soon. Not sure what his current contract is but nice piece.
Don’t see anyone paying him 8 M he’ll probably earn in arb. So he’ll pass through and sign a MiLB contract most likely.
I could see someone claiming him. He almost certainly will get an MLB contract if not, though perhaps a puny, David Freeseesque one.
Yeah he’s a MLB player and can play multiple positions. He’ll get a major league contract for sure.
No, he’ll clear waivers. No one is going to pay him 8+ million.
Yanks should make a play, I think he would give Headley a good battle
waste of money. You don’t want $20M tied up in two mediocre players
They should trade headley and sign plouffe they would be saving money and getting prospects for basically just a defensive downgrade
I don’t see Headley as having any trade value at all. The bat isn’t much anymore and the glove has regressed quite a bit.
Might have to eat money if they trade Headley
If the Yankees took back a salary, say like a Matt Garza’s, I don’t think they’d have to eat much of Headley’s.
Oh?
3rd year arb…..8.2 million
What about Mets to compliment Duda and Wright. Then can use Flores as trade bait or further protection and depth.
Oddly enough, Plouffe is not really a lefty masher. I think he might be a shrewd pickup, but extraneous unless Flores (a younger player with more flexibility who fits their platoon needs better) is moved. I think Steve Pearce would be a better fit for what the Mets need off their bench, though he’ll have plenty of interest.
This should be a no-brained for the Angels. Even with Escobar on the roster, Angels have no upper minor depth on the infield side.
Came to say this. Plouffe probably starts 100-125 games for them next year because yeah, they’ve no depth. .
If they can get him for 2 million or less yes. Not for 8 million.
You just gave Jesse Chavez 6M, Maybin 9M, and you think Plouffe will sign for 2M. C’mon now. It’s not like angels have a whole lot of options anyways. If you can sign plouffe for something like 2yrs and 13M then you have to. The angels have neglected the farm for so long that they’re basically stuck signing veterans and hoping that they produce and here’s one that won’t cost you Hamilton money.
Unless the Angels trade Escobar, there would no position for him to play. Maybin will be playing left field. The Angels have Marte, Pennington an Cowart. So why pay a guy 4 to 5 million to sit on the bench?
Why slide Escobar to 2nd, and have Plouffe and Cowart at 3rd. You give up a little on the defensive side
But it’s more respected then last year.
I don’t think he signs for $2 million (unless he’s guaranteed a starting spot), probably signs in the $4-$5 million range.
Not sure I see much of a fit with the Angels. Plouffe has negative value defensively and doesn’t offer enough with his bat to make up for that. Plus the Angels need a left-handed bench bat more than another righty who really has no spot on the team. Plouffe will likely get a big league deal at 3-4 MIL, I don’t see the Angels matching that when there’s no real spot for him on the roster.
Yeah, don’t see a fit in Anaheim.
Out of all the comments on this guy alt2ab said it best
I wish I could become a free agency.
You could be a free agency proof reader.
Technically we all are.
Not sure why he would clear and then get paid as a FA. He’s only going to make $8MMish next year. I doubt he would ask for substantially less than that in free agency. Probably will want more years too. He’s a career league-average OPS guy so I don’t get the straight dump like this by the Twins. You’d think he would have value of some kind to some team. Even just taking a flier on a middling prospect in return.
I think other teams asked the Twins to absorb some salary. In that case it’s the Twins weighing the savings against the prospect they get back in a trade and they elected to go with the savings. 8M is a lot for a small market team.
Teams get a sense he was going to be NT or out righted. So there’s no need to trade anyone. He’s not really a starting 3b. So if a team wants to take a chance he’s probably a MiLB contract guy with a nri invite.
Sounds like he didn’t have value. Twins also tried to trade him last year and got no takers. David Freese struggled to get a contract last year and settled for 1/3M. I’d say Plouffe is better, but I remember Twins fans mentioning Freese’s name all the time as a reason why the Twins can’t get much or anything for Plouffe. Market just wasn’t there to pay him 8-9M and give up something for him.
Freese signed for 3/17 million last year. Not 1/3.
Freese signed a 3 year/17 million dollar contract last season. Not 1/3.
You guys are right. Forgot he was Arb so if he’s outrighted and released he was without a contract anyways. Makes sense I suppose. I thought I remember something about trade talks for him this time last year. He could’ve been expendable last winter, even if it wasn’t for much, so it kind of sucks for the Twins to let him go now for nothing. Always easier in hindsight though, I suppose. At least they aren’t on the hook for anything.
If he can play first the Rockies would be a nice fit imo
Eh, they can do better. Lot of 1B on the market, and that’s not Plouffe’s main position.
Yes the Rocks are a good team or Japan
It’s easy to think he’s much better when he plays in my Tiger’s division and hits bombs off them.
I would like to see the angels get him and move escobar to second. Worse case scenario he isn’t that productive, best case scenario he has a decent year and angels can flip him at the deadline
Well he’s a Crespi alum the Angels might make a lot of sense.
Biggest name removed from 40-man roster thus far today. Trevor Plouffe would also become the second best free agent third baseman this offseason, after Justin Turner, if not claimed by another team and added to their reserve list.
Dodger bench piece/3B insurance? He’s a SoCal boy
Yes! Makes signing Turner less important and would be great to trade for Dozier as well.
The Twins botched this matter entirely, Plouffe should have been dealt two offseasons ago, prior to signing Park, moving Sano to RF – remarkably poor judgement.
Twins missed their chance to trade him last year, they should have seen this coming.
Plouffe is a medium ceiling medium floor player and could find a place on a lot of rosters.
He makes sense for the Brewers. The front office has already said they plan to put Villar at second base, and they seem to like Perez as a super utility guy. Plouffe could get decent playing time before hitting the market again next offseason, and if he’s performing well enough at the deadline the Brewers could move him for a modest return.
Feels like a Pirate.
Freese had a pretty good year though and Plouffe would seem to be redundant in that roster. Especially since Kang and Harrison can each play third also.
Pittsburgh or Cleveland could be a good option
I used to watch him pitch when he was in high school in the San Fernando Valley. He also played shortstop. Many kids with strong arms both pitched and played shortstop. You could tell he was a bit better than all the other kids.