The Twins announced that they’ve claimed first baseman C.J. Cron off waivers from the Rays. Cron was designated for assignment by Tampa Bay last week despite a 30-homer campaign in 2018, and he’s now among the top candidates to see action for the Twins at first base and designated hitter in 2019. Minnesota’s 40-man roster is now at 39 players.
It’s not yet clear whether Cron will represent the Twins’ lone addition at first base/designated hitter this season following the retirement of Joe Mauer, but the fact that he was claimed at all makes it seem likely that they’ll tender him a contract this offseason. (The non-tender deadline looms on Friday.) Cron has ample experience at first base and has received slightly above-average marks there from both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating across the past three seasons combined.
Of course, Cron’s real calling card is right-handed power. The 28-year-old (29 in January) hit .253/.323/.493 with 30 homers, 28 doubles and a triple in 560 plate appearances for Tampa Bay this past season. The Rays, though, as they did with Corey Dickerson an offseason prior, elected to designate a fairly productive hitter for assignment in part due to salary concerns and in part because they undoubtedly believe the market will ultimately yield comparable production at a lesser price. Corner bats with limited defensive value haven’t been rewarded in free agency in recent years, and the Rays could either find a more affordable alternative or could simply go with in-house options like Jake Bauers, Ji-Man Choi or Nathaniel Lowe.
Cron is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $5.2MM in 2019, making him a reasonably affordable add for Minnesota. Cron is controlled not only through 2019 but also through the 2020 season, so he could potentially be a multi-year piece for Minnesota if the organization is pleased with his 2019 output. Cron should have a fairly easy transition from Tampa Bay to Minnesota, weather not withstanding, as he’s plenty familiar with rookie manager Rocco Baldelli, who was on the Rays’ coaching staff last season as the team’s Major League field coordinator.
While the claim doesn’t technically mean that the Twins are committing a 2019 roster spot to Cron — he could still be non-tendered — it does seem likely that he’s now firmly in the team’s plans. That furthers the likelihood that outfielder/designated hitter Robbie Grossman, who projects to earn $4MM next season, will be non-tendered before Friday’s deadline. Minnesota could yet make some additions to the first base/DH mix next season and could potentially still add a third baseman as well, depending on the organization’s plans for Miguel Sano. A move across the diamond to first has been rumored for Sano, or the organization could simply choose to rotate the slugger between both corner infield slots and designated hitter next season.
Smart move
I agree..be careful what you wish for Cleveland
Sucks for both player and team
Hopefully this works out better than the last TB 1B Minnesota jumped on.
My thought as well. LoMo2
best of luck to both the player and the team!
Wow, great move!
Wow, Cron will actually have a chance at two full years in a row of getting at bats!
I knew it, yay me 🙂
Congrats…?
Sometimes a change of scene….er, um…Sometimes a change of scenery can help a player develop.
Good luck CJ.
Hey, Rays fans …
Why did the Rays DFA him?
His OPS in 2018 was .816, just below All-Star level.
He strikes out a lot, but not at an alarming rate.
Is his difference that horrible?
Sometimes typos just make me happy.
Defense isn’t good. They have Bauers. Ji man Choi actually outproduced him albeit in a much smaller sample size. I’m thinking they liked either one of those guys just as much and they didn’t cost 5Mil.
I disagree about his defense. He isn’t anywhere near Bauts but at least right now he is a better hitter than Bauers is . I watch every Ray game and I thought he wasn’t bad defensively. The article itself say his Drs and his uzr rating are slightly above average
Go read Jeff Sullivan’s article and you’ll have your answer
It was more about freeing up a 40 man roster spot to protect prospects against the Rule 5 draft. All power and strike out 1B are a dime a dozen.
59 extra base hits and he was given away for nothing because he was due to make a little more than the average salary in MLB. I don’t care how many games the Rays manage to win, they shouldn’t be an MLB franchise if they can’t afford to be an MLB franchise.
It’s pretty clear TB is shooting for a roster comprised entirely of players at or near league minimum. More power to them if they can do that and still field a winning team, but I just don’t get the strategy of getting nothing in return for a player who has value (beyond simply salary relief).
If you read any article or watch any baseball analyst show you’d know the rays want a better more feared hitter in the middle of the lineup and Cron is extremely 1 dimensional. We are actually planning on paying someone more than Cron. Please keep your ignorant comments to yourself
I understand the argument for Rays wanting to have someone other than Cron, but are you telling me they couldn’t trade him to someone. Even for some low level minors prospects. How can’t you manage to get something back for Cron, and Dickenson last year?!?
The Rays DID get something for Dickerson last year after they dfaed
him.
So you think the rays just got to have the number 5 best farm by making terrible trades I guess lol? No. Nobody was gonna pay Cron 6 million anddddd give players to get him. Why would you trade for him when players like him are all over the place and aren’t gonna cost prospects? No. They couldn’t find anyone to take him. The gm even said it in an interview he didn’t understand and yes same witj dickerson. His defense was terrible he his second half was horrible. Dfa a player puts pressure on teams if they want that player they better make it happen and again. One dimensional players are going away nowadays
Dickerson’s defense WASN’T terrible. I used to watch the games and during them I would turn to my wife and say” his defense is pretty good I just don’t see why they don’t just make him the full-time left fielder”. Oh, by the way, Dickerson was a gold glove winner this year for his DEFENSE!
I’d argue that there aren’t “players like him all over the place”. He quietly put a very good 2018 where he was the most productive (offensively) of any AL 1B. The problem I have with the whole “replacement level” argument is that it assumes everyone is available. Yet they are not.
Even with Cron’s defensive issues, he was still worth 2.1 WAR, which translates to roughly $15M on open market. $5M for his production, for almost every real MLB club is considered cheap.
Which players are available that could provide that production and cost less? I’ve read that Rays want a more dynamic hitter, like Cruz. Yet his production was only marginally better. I guarantee he will cost a whole lot more than Cron.
Thank you. Getting sick of fans constantly criticizing anything that the Rays do. They do more with less than any team in MLB. They have options for 1b who may have less power but overall will contribute more. They do it all the time.
After he switched teams and that has to do with placement and all kinds of things. He was not a good fielder in Tampa at all. Look at his ratings and stats. They were terrible.
Bottom of the 9th winning run at the plate do you want Cron or Cruz? That’s the rays point. That’s it. They don’t care if it cost more. Look at the hr to rbi total. Cron hit a lot of solo Homer’s and was never clutch. He’s not a terrible player. But don’t act like the rays aren’t gonna improve after winning 90 games. They know what they are doing. There’s a reason multiple fo personnel interviewed with many teams year after year. Not because we are “dumb” for letting C.J. Cron go lol
Coulda had CJ Cron at 1B and have Nelson Cruz at DH. Perfect combo.
They Rays undoubtedly tried to trade him, but nobody wanted him.
Cron has minimal value and likely had a career year last year. Just like Logan Morrison coming off last year. Cron is a 1 win player easily replaceable for most organizations from their AA or AAA roster without paying him $5M.
Unfortunately, the Twins’ system is bare when it comes to ready 1B players considering how rough Rooker was down the stretch and into the AFL.
I honestly can’t believe people feel the Rays didn’t attempt to trade him. No. Nobody was gonna give up players for someone when they knew they could wait it out and just claim him later and just pay money instead. Nobody wanted to trade for Cron. The rays made it very clear they tried and had no bites.
How much you wanna bet they sign a player for double what Cron is gonna make? And you’ll feel stupid
It seems like you have some kind of inside knowledge on this whole situation… but you are here. So I doubt you have inside knowledge. Which makes me wonder why you are pretending to have inside knowledge.
No I just happen to be friends with the rays beat writer. Who does inside knowledge. So no I’m not acting like I work for the rays. But I do know more than any random baseball fan on here
Best of luck to Cron and the Twins.
The Angels will pay Pujols $30 million to produce far less at the plate.
Hopefully he’s better than the last 1b they picked up coming off a career year in Tampa.
I don’t know about a power move but certainly a No risk move compared to a larger contract to another guy on the open market
Is waiver priority in the offseason league specific or is it just bottom to top overall?
Bottom to top overall.
Thanks. Surprised he made it that far then.
This what the Pohlad’s consider a power move. I love it tho. Just the Twins doing Twins things.
Minnesota got a great team player who is young and can get better. As a Rays fan we will miss him and wish him success.
I promise you he’s not gonna get much better. He’s a mike Napoli. Same player year and year
The Twins will like Cron. When he was with the Angels, Scioscia didn’t give him enough consistent playing time to get into a groove. He’s got some great power.
Guy will continue as he was with his .293 BABIP and the fact that the Ray’s park was a pitchers park last year, but boy does he strike out a lot and not draw walks. If he was more disciplined he could really be a more valuable 1B/DH.
Saw this one coming. Next is Cory Spangenberg.
I called this one nice pickup for the Twins
Maybe Cron goes to Minnesota and turns into David Ortiz (the David Ortiz that Minnesota didn’t know that they had before letting him go to Boston).
Maybe Joe Mauer comes out of retirement to play catcher again and slugs 40 home runs to boot.
Did Terry Ryan leave his “GM bible” behind when he departed?
C.J. Cron’s 30 HR in ’18 beat out all of the Twins, which Topped off at 24 from Eddie Rosario. Cron’s 74 RBI in ’18 would have been second to Rosario’s 77 in ’18. Fantastic pickup for the Twins!