Twins To Decline Option On Manuel Margot

The Twins have informed outfielder Manuel Margot that they will decline their end of his contract’s $12MM mutual option, reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and SKOR North Radio. He’ll receive a $2MM buyout — paid by the Rays, not the Twins — and become a free agent.

Margot, 30, was traded twice last winter, first going from Tampa Bay to Los Angeles and then from the Dodgers to the Twins. The Rays agreed to pay the buyout on his option as part of that first trade, and the Dodgers picked up all but $4MM of his salary in that second deal sending him to Minnesota. The Twins used Margot as an affordable fourth outfielder, replacing departed free agent Michael A. Taylor, but didn’t get the results for which they’d hoped.

The 2024 season was Margot’s worst as a big leaguer. He hit just .238/.299/.337 (79 wRC+), and his once-elite defensive grades in the outfield continued their decline in the wake of his notable 2022 knee injury. The Twins were down enough on Margot’s glove to only give him 136 innings in center field. Utilitymen Willi Castro and Austin Martin wound up logging more time in center than Margot, despite neither having anywhere near the same level of experience there. But Margot’s range and sprint speed have declined precipitously since he suffered that knee injury; Statcast credited him in the 88th percentile of big leaguers in sprint speed back in 2021 but just the 53rd percentile in 2024.

To Margot’s credit, he held his own against left-handed pitching, batting .269/.322/.391. That’s still a drop from his career marks, however, and his right-handed bat was completely overmatched by fellow righties on the mound — evidenced by a woeful .208/.257/.283 slash in right-on-right matchups.

As it stands, the Twins enter the offseason with Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton and Matt Wallner as their projected starting outfield. A right-handed hitter who can play center field if (or when) Buxton misses time and spell lefties Larnach and Wallner at other times could be on the front office’s to-do list. Had Margot performed better, re-signing him at a more affordable rate might’ve been more palatable. As it stands, it seems likely the Twins will instead look for an alternative option.

Both Castro and Martin will return in 2025 — barring a trade of Castro as he enters his final season of club control — but neither is considered an especially adept defender in center. Options on the free agent market could include Randal Grichuk, Austin Slater and the aforementioned Taylor, and the trade and waiver markets will feature myriad alternatives as well. As for Margot, he’ll head to the open market for the first time in his career but could very well be limited to minor league offers on heels of a down season.