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Twins To Extend Jorge Polanco

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2:15pm: Polanco will earn $3.583MM in 2019, $3.833MM in 2020, $4.333MM in 2021, $5.5MM in 2022 and $7.5MM in 2023, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).

His 2024 club option is valued at $10.5MM with a $1MM buyout, while the 2025 option is worth $12.5MM with a $750K buyout. The first of those two options is also a vesting option that would automatically trigger if Polanco tallies 550 plate appearances in 2023. His base salaries on the option years can increase based on All-Star nominations, Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers.

9:45am: Polanco’s deal will pay him $25.75MM over the next five years, and it also includes club options for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, per Jim Bowden of The Athletic (Twitter link).

8:34am: ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that the contract will cover a total of seven seasons, at least five of which are guaranteed. The deal will indeed be in the range of Ramirez’s extension with Cleveland, though it’s expected to exceed that $26MM guarantee by a bit.

7:50am: The Twins and shortstop Jorge Polanco are nearing the finalization of a contract extension, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter). La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported earlier this week that Minnesota was optimistic about reaching perhaps multiple contract extensions in the near future. The 25-year-old Polanco is represented by Octagon.

Jorge Polanco | Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The switch-hitting Polanco was already under control for another four seasons and was not yet eligible for arbitration, but the new arrangement in question will presumably keep him in the fold longer than that. To this point in his career, the former top prospect has compiled a .272/.329/.420 slash line with 23 home runs, 64 doubles, 11 triples and 25 steals through 1167 plate appearances.

Polanco, long touted as a potential infield fixture for the Twins, got off to a dreadful start to his 2017 season, hitting just .213/.265/.305 through his first 310 plate appearances. He rebounded with a torrid final two months, hitting .316/.377/.553 to close out the year, though that production was met with some skepticism when Polanco was suspended for 80 games to open the 2018 season after testing positive for a banned substance (Stanozolol). Polanco hit well in his return from that suspension, though, slashing .288/.345/.427 with 27 extra-base hits in 333 plate appearances to close out the season.

While Polanco doesn’t post huge walk rates (7.5 percent in each of the past two seasons as well as in his overall career), he draws enough free passes and is a tough enough strikeout (16.2 percent) that there’s little doubt in his ability to consistently get on base. At the very least, he should be a useful source of batting average and on-base skills with modest pop and a bit of speed, though if he can tap into a bit more power, there’s perhaps room to take his game to another offensive level.

Defensively speaking, there was some question surrounding Polanco’s home on the diamond as he rose through the Twins’ system. While he was consistently given work at shortstop, some scouting reports felt he was best-suited for either second base or third base and would eventually have to move to either position. He hasn’t been a star defender at short thus far, but he’s held his own there over the past two seasons, with Defensive Runs Saved (-2) pegging him as below average but passable. Ultimate Zone Rating has been less kind (-8).

For the time being, with Jonathan Schoop at second base and Miguel Sano at the hot corner, Polanco will reprise his role as the team’s shortstop. It’s not difficult to envision a different alignment in the near future, however, with former No. 1 overall pick Royce Lewis soaring through the system and barreling toward the Majors with top 10 overall prospect fanfare. While Lewis is quite likely more than a year from reaching the game’s top level, he could usurp Polanco at shortstop when that happens, pushing him to either second base (depending on the status of former first-round pick Nick Gordon) or to third base (with Sano potentially slotting in at first base or DH).

Terms of the would-be extension aren’t yet known, but a look in MLBTR’s Extension Tracker could provide some useful context. Taking a look at other middle infielders with two to three years of service, Polanco has nearly the same service time that a pre-breakout Jose Ramirez had with the Indians when he signed a five-year deal worth a guaranteed $26MM (plus two options). Ramirez, to that point in his career, was a .275/.331/.404 hitter — numbers that closely resemble Polanco’s own .272/.329/.420 line.

From a payroll perspective, the Twins have zero issues fitting Polanco — or virtually any player in baseball — onto the long-term ledger. Minnesota is the only organization in MLB that doesn’t have a single guaranteed contract on the books for the 2020 season, with the only dollars they’re technically committed to beyond 2019 coming in the form of a $300K buyout on Nelson Cruz’s one-year contract.

The Polanco extension and any others — Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario and Jose Berrios are among other candidates for multi-year deals — will change that outlook, though chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine will nonetheless have ample payroll space to make any moves they wish in the near future given that largely blank slate. If anything, the cost certainty added from a Polanco deal and any other extensions will only make it easier for the team to look at adding pieces from outside the organization, as they’ll paint a clearer picture of exactly how much money is being spent over the next several years.

AL Notes: Yanks, Machado, Didi, Romo, Cole

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The Yankees still aren’t pushing the market for Manny Machado, and probably never will, but also shouldn’t be counted out. That’s the word from Andy Martino of SNY.tv, who reports that the New York org is still keeping tabs on Machado in hopes that a golden opportunity will emerge. The Yanks aren’t interested in utilizing him at short, but would instead plan to put Machado at third while pushing Miguel Andujar across the diamond in the even of a signing. Of course, Martino cautions that it still seems unlikely that anything will come together.

  • It’s interesting that the Yankees evidently wouldn’t see Machado as a factor at shortstop. That lends greater credence to the idea that the team really is committed not only to allowing Troy Tulowitzki to take the job there to open the season, but also to paying a big arbitration salary to Didi Gregorius in hopes that he’ll return in relatively short order (and in good form) from Tommy John surgery. As Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports, Gregorius has now begun his throwing program. There’s still a long road ahead, but he seems to be on track to make his anticipated summer return.
  • In addition to the Blue Jays, the Twins and Rangers are looking into signing veteran righty Sergio Romo, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Minnesota and Texas organizations, though, only seem to be considering minor-league offers. (Toronto’s offer level isn’t clear.) It’s a bit surprising to hear of such limited interest in the 35-year-old, who still gets plenty of swings and misses and comes with ample late-inning (and opening) experience.
  • The Astros battled Gerrit Cole in front of an arbitration panel today, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Obviously, that indicates that the sides were unable to agree to a last-minute deal. The outcome is expected later this week. As MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker shows, there’s just over $2MM at stake, as Cole is seeking $13.5MM and the club prefers to pay $11.425MM.

Twins Optimistic Of Reaching Extensions

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It seems the Twins are optimistic of reaching terms with one or more of their young core players. According to LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, it’s even possible that some new contracts could be wrapped up and announced “by the end of the week.”

It’s still unclear precisely which players the Twins are pursuing, and which of those are likely to put pen to paper. There is no shortage of conceivable candidates. Jose Berrios and Eddie Rosario both stand out as the most obviously appealing targets, but a variety of others could also make sense under the right circumstances.

For his part, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey acknowledged that the club has real interest in extensions this spring. As in most cases, he suggested, the team’s interest is twofold. “Having those guys under control for longer than what they presently are would be a good thing, in our minds,” said Falvey. Likewise, he added, “it’s helpful to know you are going to be able to plan out a number of years with a lot of young players.”

The first deal to hit the books will, remarkably, represent the Twins’ first post-2019 player commitment. While the organization reportedly put a few multi-year offers on the table over the winter, it has yet to spill ink on its pristine future balance sheets. That has been cause for no little consternation from some fans, as the club seems to have quite a bit of unallocated spending capacity in 2019 and beyond.

Setting aside the question whether the organization is doing enough to boost its present roster, it’ll be interesting to see how aggressive it ends up being in reaching new deals with existing players. Falvey did clearly specify a desire to expand control rights, but that’ll likely cost a pretty penny in some cases — particularly, those of Berrios and Rosario, who turned in strong 2018 seasons after reportedly rebuffing prior extension efforts from the Twins.

Twins Sign Lucas Duda To Minors Deal

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The Twins have signed 1B/DH Lucas Duda to a minor-league pact with an invite to Spring Training, per a team release. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that Duda will earn $1.75MM if he cracks the MLB roster, and can earn up to $1.5MM in further incentives.

Duda, 33, turned in a number of stellar seasons with the Mets in the middle part of the decade, four times posting a 120 wRC+ or better during the most pitcher-friendly era in decades. His output has tapered substantially over the last two seasons, though: a putrid second-half performance with Tampa in 2017 was followed by a below-league-average .241/.313/.418 mark over 367 PAs with the Royals and Braves last season.

Never a defensive stalwart – he was a disaster in an early-career outfield experiment – Duda’s bat, particularly against right-handed pitching, against whom he owns a robust .251/.354/.485 line, has carried him to a long and mostly-productive career. His hard-hit rate, always among the league’s best, has slipped in a bit in recent seasons, but still checked in a respectable 38.4% last season.

For the Twins, he’ll offer an excellent complement at first base to C.J. Cron, who was over 40% better against lefties than righties last season, and should serve as a serviceable strong-side platoon option at DH, were Nelson Cruz to succumb to injury. Even in a bench role, or stashed in the minors as insurance, Duda is the perfect choice to offset a righty-heavy Twins lineup.

Fallout From The J.T. Realmuto Trade

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Following a merciful coda to the offseason’s most protracted soap opera – a fine Philly offer, agreed upon Thursday, that finally plucked former Marlin catcher J.T. Realmuto from the clutches of South Beach – each of the oft-snubbed clubs offered their final say.

We’ll start in Atlanta, in whose court the Realmuto ball seemed to linger longest – indeed, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the team needed only to surrender two from the group of Austin Riley, Cristian Pache, and one top pitching prospect (of which Atlanta has several: each of Mike Soroka, Ian Anderson, Touki Toussaint, Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright, and Joey Wentz are top 100 prospects in at least one major outlet). Ozzie Albies, said to be an essential part of any Realmuto deal with Atlanta, was never a demanded centerpiece, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Though certainly a substantial return, it’s a package that can’t be said, by any reasonable analysis, to be one that would have stripped the farm of the suddenly-conservative Braves to the bone.

The ask of the Dodgers, ever-cautious themselves, was two from a group of Dustin May, Keibert Ruiz, Gavin Lux, and Will Smith, per Heyman, in the same tweet. Ruiz and Smith, both catchers, likely won’t ever be on the field together at Chavez Ravine, and some outlets ranked neither May nor Lux inside the top 100. Both Heyman and Rosenthal concede that Cody Bellinger was the prize on which Miami initially laid its eyes, but it appears the team quickly swiveled to less-established names in the weeks to follow.

Rosenthal confirms earlier reports that the Fish first coveted outfielder Michael Conforto or Amed Rosario from the Mets, and adds that the team also needed a “top shortstop prospect,” presumably Andres Gimenez, to be added to the deal. It doesn’t appear the club pivoted to other names after the Mets balked, likely owing to the thinned-out version of the late-offseason Mets farm.

From the Yankees, the club did seek Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar, per Rosenthal, but only part of a “larger deal” that would obviously have included additional pieces. The Bombers were understandably reluctant to trade either, and the wheat of the Yankee farm – stocked mostly with high-upside, low-level types – wouldn’t have been enough to secure Realmuto’s services. The reported three-team with the Mets that would have sent Noah Syndergaard to New York was bandied about, but a copacetic swap was “never close.”

Cincinnati was both late to the fore and hesitant to move any of its top three prospects, per Rosenthal, and it doesn’t appear a deal was close there, either. Perhaps surprisingly, given the intense scrutiny of the talks, both the Twins and White Sox were “in the mix,” though prospective returns and/or offers are still in the dark.

In the end, Miami seems more than content with its return. The Fish regarded Will Stewart, the trade’s third piece, as Philadelphia’s second-best pitching prospect, per Rosenthal, ahead of near-unanimous top-100 hurler Adonis Medina, righty Spencer Howard, who placed 52nd on Keith Law’s list, and lefty JoJo Romero (66th overall, per Law). Sixto Sanchez, of course, has a decent shot to be an ace, and it’s certainly true that the club could reap more value in Jorge Alfaro alone than it would in the next two seasons with Realmuto behind the dish. The oft-pilloried asks, long said to far outstrip the two-year value of the game’s premier offseason trade target, were, in most respects, perfectly reasonable, and may have quickly been met in eras bygone. This, though, is the time for prospect hoarding, an age in which the control is treasured above all else, and those with even the slightest chance to be stars are stashed deep away, brought out only for the most earnest of window shoppers.

Twins, Adam Rosales Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran infielder Adam Rosales, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The Hilliard Sports Management client has a $1MM base salary on the contract and another $250K worth of incentives available to him. He can also opt out of the deal on March 19 if he hasn’t been added to the MLB roster.

Rosales spent the 2018 season with the division-rival Indians, playing the bulk of the year with their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, where he hit .239/.313/.445. Rosales came up to the Majors for 13 games in September, though he received just 21 plate appearances. An 11-year veteran, Rosales is a career .226/.291/.365 hitter with at least 580 innings of experience at all four infield positions and a brief bit of work in left field as well.

At first glance, it looks like it’ll be a tough task for Rosales to break camp with the Twins, who already have Ehire Adrianza and Ronald Torreyes on the 40-man roster as utility options. Catcher/infielder Willians Astudillo can also fill in around the diamond, while Tyler Austin offers more pop and a backup option at first base. That said, Rosales will seemingly receive an opportunity to earn his way onto the club as a veteran bench piece and, at the very least, the contract offers him the ability to showcase for other clubs leading up to his opt-out date.

Twins Sign Tim Collins, Justin Nicolino To Minor League Deals

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The Twins announced Wednesday that they’ve added left-handers Tim Collins and Justin Nicolino on a pair of minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training. Beyond that, recently designated right-hander Chase De Jong cleared waivers and will remain in the organization. De Jong, like Collins and Nicolino, will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee.

Now 29 years old, Collins was once a key member of the bullpen for the division-rival Royals, but a pair of Tommy John surgeries kept him off the field from 2015-17. The diminutive southpaw returned to the Show this past season with the Nationals, however, totaling 22 2/3 innings with a 4.37 ERA and a 21-to-12 K/BB ratio. Collins’ 92.5 mph average fastball was only narrowly south of his pre-surgery velocity, and he posted a solid 11.6 percent swinging-strike rate to go along with a 31.7 percent chase rate on pitches out of the strike zone. Control has long been an issue for Collins, but he notched a solid 3.54 ERA with 9.4 K/9 in 211 innings prior to his injury troubles.

As for Nicolino, the former second-round pick (Blue Jays, 2010) was once viewed as a Top 100 prospect but has never lived up to that potential. He’s amassed 201 1/3 MLB innings, all with the Marlins, but turned in a pedestrian 4.65 ERA with just 3.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in that time. He spent the 2018 season with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, where he was knocked around for a 4.69 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 134 1/3 innings.

Presently, Taylor Rogers and Adalberto Mejia are the Twins’ top two left-handed relief options. Rogers finished out the year as one of the game’s most effective relievers after adopting a slider partway through the season and didn’t allow a run in his final 28 appearances. Mejia, meanwhile, is out of minor league options. Both seem quite likely to make it to the club’s Opening Day roster, barring injury. Meanwhile, southpaws Gabriel Moya and Andrew Vasquez are likely ticketed for Triple-A to open the season. That presents both Collins with quite a bit of competition in vying for a roster spot, and the rotation picture for Nicolino (if he’s still to be used as a starter), is all the more crowded.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/5/19

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Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Danny Barnes has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Buffalo. He’ll be in Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Barnes, 29, was designated for assignment when the organization signed Freddy Galvis last week. Barnes pitched to a 3.55 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.3 B/9 through 66 innings of relief for the 2017 Jays but saw those numbers plummet to a 5.71 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9 in 41 innings this past season. As an extreme fly-ball pitcher with a relatively modest fastball, home runs have been especially problematic for Barnes over the past couple of seasons (1.43 HR/9).
  • Left-hander Pat Dean announced on Instagram this week that he’s returning to the Twins organization on a minor league contract after spending the 2017-18 seasons pitching for the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization. Originally a third-round pick back in 2010, Dean ascended to the Majors with the Twins as a 26-year-old in 2016 but was hit hard; in 67 1/3 innings, Dean was tagged for a 6.28 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9. That represents his only MLB experience to date, though Dean does have a lifetime 3.50 ERA in 306 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Dean had a solid first season in the hitter-friendly KBO before struggling to a 6.26 ERA there in his second season. He’ll give the Twins some left-handed depth in the upper minors — be it as a starter or reliever.

Twins To Sign Wilin Rosario

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The Twins have reportedly inked catcher/first baseman Wilin Rosario to a minors deal, with Roberto Carlos Feble seemingly first to tweet the news. It comes with a MLB spring invite, per Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link).

After running out of opportunities with the Rockies, Rosario took his slugging talents to Asia for the past three seasons. He thrived as a power-hitting first baseman in the KBO for two years before landing in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball in 2018. He struggled there, however, producing a meager .242/.285/.374 slash in 302 plate appearances.

Rosario remains most notable for his pop, which is significant enough largely to make up for his on-base deficiencies — or, perhaps more accurately, that was the case when he was still considered capable of serving behind the dish. Unfortunately, Rosario never impressed defensively as a backstop, so he’s now mostly limited to playing first base or serving as a DH. He’ll have to do better than his lifetime MLB 98 OPS+ if he hopes to carve out a role at the game’s highest level. Rosario turns thirty later this month.

Twins Rumors: Kimbrel, Grandal, Madson, Norris

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As star closer Craig Kimbrel continues to wait for a new contract, Dan Hayes of The Athletic raised the notion recently (subscription link) that the Twins could position themselves as a landing spot. Kimbrel has reportedly been seeking a five-year deal, though Hayes reports the Twins would only be interested in a shorter-term pact with a high annual value. As Hayes explores, the Twins’ recent but failed bid for Yasmani Grandal suggests that they’re willing to make a run at players they deem to be unique assets in the market. None of that is a declaration that Minnesota is actively pursuing Kimbrel at the moment, but the connection is still of some note.

Were Kimbrel to take a contract of three or fewer years, it’s fair to speculate that he’d look to topple the $17.33MM annual value record for a reliever — currently held by the Rockies’ Wade Davis. Recent comments from Twins baseball ops leaders Derek Falvey and Thad Levine largely downplayed the possibility of any marquee addition to the roster, and Kimbrel would see enhanced interest from more than just Minnesota if his asking price dipped to three or fewer years. With a 2019 payroll that currently checks in more than $20MM south of last season’s Opening Day mark and zero guaranteed contracts in 2020, the Twins arguably have the most financial flexibility of any team in baseball, though that hardly means they should be expected to make a big free-agent splash.

More out of Minnesota…

  • Speaking of the Twins’ interest in Grandal, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN/SKOR North reported in a recent podcast episode (Twins talk starts around 11:50 mark) that Minnesota was willing to go to three years at a total of $13-15MM per season in order to bring Grandal aboard. Grandal’s camp, however, told the Twins quickly and definitively that he wasn’t interested in signing there. Given that Grandal landed one state over in Wisconsin, it’s unlikely that geography played much of a role, so perhaps signing with a clearer contender was a priority. Since signing, Grandal has also spoken about the emphasis he placed on finding an annual value commensurate with the game’s top catchers. It’s rare to see a player turn down three or four years (the latter reportedly offered by the Mets) in order to receive an AAV boost of this size, but every player is wired differently, and Grandal may simply be more open to risk than most. If he has a strong 2019, he could come out ahead next offseason when he won’t have a qualifying offer hanging over his head.
  • While the Kimbrel scenario may not be all that realistic for Twins fans, Minnesota is still looking to add a reliever, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Right-hander Ryan Madson is among the players Minnesota is considering as the team looks to further deepen its ’pen, Heyman notes. Madson logged 52 2/3 innings with 9.2 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.20 HR/9 and a 42.6 percent ground-ball rate in 2018 — solid secondary numbers that generally look more appealing than his 5.47 ERA. Beyond that, Madson’s velocity actually improved over its 2017 levels, as he averaged 95.9 mph on his four-seamer and 95.4 mph on his sinker, per Statcast. Madson also posted a 13.9 percent swinging-strike rate that was his best since returning from a three-year injury absence in 2015. The 38-year-old was used heavily in the postseason by the Dodgers and looked to wear down in the World Series after strong showings in the NLDS and NLCS. However, he posted an intriguing 31-to-5 K/BB ratio from the All-Star break through the completion of the World Series and figures to come at an affordable rate.
  • Meanwhile, Wolfson tweets that the Twins have both Madson and righty Bud Norris on their radar. However, he notes that the Twins have also been hoping to add relievers on minor league contracts, and it doesn’t seem likely that either Madson or Norris would be amenable to such a deal at this juncture. Norris worked to a 3.59 ERA 10.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.25 HR/9 and a 42.6 percent ground-ball rate in 57 2/3 innings with the Cardinals last season.
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