The Twins have signed first baseman/outfielder Ben Paulsen to a minor league deal, 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link). The contract contains an invitation to Minnesota’s big league Spring Training camp.
Paulsen was outrighted off of Colorado’s 40-man roster in September and granted free agency after the season. The 29-year-old saw regular action for the Rockies at first base and in left field in 2015, when he hit .277/.326/.462 with 11 homers over 354 plate appearances, but he appeared in just 39 games last season and spent the bulk of 2016 at Triple-A. Of Paulsen’s 517 career PA in the bigs, 458 of them have come against right-handed pitching (he has a .758 career OPS against southpaws) and he has significant home-away splits — an .810 OPS at the batter-friendly Coors Field and a .705 OPS on the road.
With Joe Mauer locked into the Twins’ first base job, Paulsen can provide some left-handed hitting depth, or an alternative to Byung Ho Park (a righty bat) or the switch-hitting Kennys Vargas at DH.
I wonder if they will start him
Where?
The kid can hit and plays s strong first base. He has been an all star at every level. If they give him a fair shake, they will have a nice addition⚾️
They already have so many 1B/DH in Mauer, Vargas, Park, and Sano. I wonder if a trade is coming of one of those guys and they signed Paulsen for depth.
Why on earth do they sign another 1B?
Depth. Or maybe he has an opt-out clause if he doesn’t make the team out of spring training.
I wonder if the new regime will quit babying Mauer and only play him sparingly. A first baseman who hits .260 with little power isn’t worth starting (not even going to mention the 23 million dollar price tag).
Molitor mentioned that he thinks he played Mauer too much the first half. If Vargas is up with the team, he’s the perfect platoon partner.