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Looking Ahead To Club Options: NL West

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Over the coming days, MLBTR will look at next offseason’s option class. Steve Adams will highlight the players who can opt out of their current deals, while we’ll take a division-by-division look at those whose contracts contain either team or mutual options. Virtually all of the mutual options will be bought out by one side. Generally, if the team is willing to retain the player at the option price, the player will decline his end in search of a better free agent deal.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona signed the veteran righty, who missed all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery in January 2024. Graveman was hobbled by back discomfort this spring and began the year on the 15-day injured list. He has thrown a few bullpen sessions but has yet to begin a rehab assignment. During his most recent healthy season, Graveman worked to a 3.12 ERA across 66 1/3 innings between the White Sox and Astros.

Grichuk posted big numbers in a short-side platoon role for the Snakes in 2024. Arizona brought him back on a $5MM free agent deal. He’s making only a $2MM salary and will collect a $3MM buyout on his option at the end of the season. Grichuk hasn’t gotten much playing time, starting six of Arizona’s 19 games (all but one as the designated hitter). He’s out to a decent start, batting .240 with five doubles over 28 plate appearances.

Colorado Rockies

Farmer has been a rare bright spot in what has been a terrible Colorado lineup. The veteran utilityman has started 15 of their 18 games. He’s playing mostly second base and is hitting .345 with nine doubles, the second-most in MLB. Farmer isn’t going to keep hitting at this pace, but it’s an excellent start for a player who signed for $3.25MM after a down year (.214/.293/.353) with Minnesota.

Kinley signed a three-year extension during the 2022-23 offseason. The slider specialist had a brilliant first half to the ’22 campaign, but that was cut short in July by elbow surgery. Kinley hasn’t been the same pitcher since returning. He allowed more than six earned runs per nine in both 2022 and ’23. He has given up five runs (four earned) with seven strikeouts and six walks across 7 2/3 innings this season. Kinley owns a 6.03 ERA while walking more than 11% of opposing hitters over 88 frames since signing the extension.

The option comes with a $5MM base value. It would escalate by $500K apiece if Kinley finishes 20, 25, and 30 games — potentially up to $6.5MM. He has finished two contests in the early going. While the option isn’t especially costly, this is trending towards a buyout.

Stallings produced the best offensive numbers of his career for the Rox in 2024. He returned on a $2.5MM deal early in the offseason. Stallings has been more of the 1-b catcher behind Hunter Goodman. He has started seven games and caught 59 innings. It’s been a slow start, as he’s batting .125 with 12 strikeouts in 27 trips to the plate.

Note: Thairo Estrada’s one-year deal contains a ’26 mutual option, but he’s excluded from this exercise because he would remain eligible for arbitration if the option is declined.

Los Angeles Dodgers

  • Max Muncy, 3B ($10MM club option, no buyout)

This could end up being a borderline call. The Dodgers can keep Muncy around for what’d be his ninth season in L.A. on a $10MM price tag. That’s not an exorbitant sum for baseball’s highest-spending team. Muncy has generally been an excellent hitter in the middle of Dave Roberts’ lineup. He’s a career .230/.355/.482 hitter in Dodger blue. He remained as productive when he was healthy last season, posting a .232/.358/.494 slash over 73 games. An oblique strain cost him three months.

Muncy is out to a much slower start this year. He has yet to connect on a home run in 18 games. He’s batting .193 with 25 strikeouts in 68 plate appearances (a 36.8% rate). It’s very early, of course, but he’ll need to pick things up. Muncy turns 35 in August. NPB third baseman Munetaka Murakami will be posted for MLB teams next offseason. The Dodgers will very likely be involved on the 25-year-old slugger, so it’s possible they’d prefer to keep the position open early in the winter.

Taylor is in the final season of his four-year, $60MM free agent deal. He was coming off an All-Star season in 2021, when he hit .254/.344/.438 with 20 homers. His offense has trended down over the course of the contract, especially sharply over the past two years. Taylor fanned at a near-31% clip last season, batting .202/.298/.300 in 246 plate appearances. He has only been in the starting lineup three times this season.

The Dodgers have kept Taylor throughout his offensive struggles. They clearly place a lot of value on him as a clubhouse presence and appreciate the defensive versatility he provides off the bench. Still, it’s hard to imagine them paying the extra $8MM to exercise the option since he’s essentially the final position player on the roster. The option price would increase by $1MM if Taylor is traded or in the unlikely event that he reaches 525 plate appearances and/or makes the All-Star Game.

Note: Alex Vesia’s arbitration contract contains a ’26 club option, but he’s excluded from this exercise because he would remain eligible for arbitration if the option is declined.

San Diego Padres

Díaz finished last season in San Diego after being released by the Rockies. He re-signed on a $3.5MM deal as the Padres went with the affordable veteran catching tandem of Díaz and Martín Maldonado. He’s hitting .206 in 13 games, though he has taken seven walks against eight strikeouts.

  • Kyle Hart, LHP ($5MM club option, $500K buyout)

Hart, a soft-tossing lefty, returned to the majors after an excellent year in Korea. He signed a $1.5MM guarantee with a ’26 team option that has a $5MM base salary. The option price could climb as high as $7.5MM. It would jump $250K if Hart reaches 18 starts this year, $500K at 22 starts, $750K at 26 starts, and $1MM if he starts 30 games.

San Diego has given Hart a season-opening rotation spot. He has allowed seven runs over his first 11 2/3 innings. Hart has walked five with eight strikeouts and a below-average 8.3% swinging strike percentage.

King’s option is purely an accounting measure. He agreed to push $3.75MM of this year’s $7.75MM guarantee back to the end of the season in the form of a buyout — potentially buying the Padres a bit of flexibility for in-season trade acquisitions. Barring a major injury, he’s going to decline his end of the option and will be one of the top pitchers in next year’s class.

Wade agreed to a $1MM club option as part of a deal to avoid a hearing in his final year of arbitration. He was squeezed off the roster during Spring Training. Wade cleared waivers, accepted an assignment to Triple-A, then came back up last week. He’s playing center field with Jackson Merrill and Brandon Lockridge on the injured list. The option price is barely above the league minimum, but Wade is on the roster bubble and no guarantee to stick in the majors through the end of the season.

San Francisco Giants

San Francisco added Murphy on a two-year deal during the 2023-24 offseason. The veteran catcher has had a difficult time staying healthy throughout his career, and that’s continued in San Francisco. He played in only 13 games last year because of a knee sprain. He started this season on the shelf with a herniated disc that is going to keep him out for at least the first two months. This looks like a buyout.

Thairo Estrada To Miss Four To Eight Weeks With Broken Wrist

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Rockies infielder Thairo Estrada has a broken right wrist, suffered after being hit by a pitch yesterday, and will miss four to eight weeks. Manager Bud Black passed the information on to reporters, including Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Thomas Harding of MLB.com.

Estrada, 29, was set to be the club’s regular second baseman. They had Brendan Rodgers in that job for much of the past few seasons but non-tendered him after 2024. They signed Estrada to fill that opening, giving him a one-year, $3.25MM deal.

While he was coming off a down year, Estrada had a strong three-year run with the Giants prior to that. Over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, Estrada slashed .266/.320/.416 for a wRC+ of 105. He was mostly at the keystone in that time but also had enough versatility to play shortstop, third base and the outfield on occasion. He stole at least 21 bases in both 2022 and 2023.

But as mentioned, last year didn’t go well. He made multiple trips to the injured list due to left wrist sprains and hit .217/.247/.343 for a 64 wRC+. The Giants outrighted him off the roster at the end of August.

He and the Rockies were surely hoping he could bounce back in 2025 and he looked good in camp. He put up a line of .400/.421/.457 in 38 Cactus League plate appearances. Unfortunately, whatever momentum he was building for the regular season will now be put on hold for an extended stretch. Wrist problems are often tough to come back from, being obviously important for hitting. Estrada had left wrist problems last year and now has a broken right wrist, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll look like a few weeks from now.

With the schedule set to begin in a week, the Rockies will have to decide how to proceed. Harding reports that the first priority will be to try Kyle Farmer at second. Farmer also got a $3.25MM deal from the Rockies this winter, though he’s more of a glove-first player. He has hit .252/.313/.396 for a wRC+ of 93 over the past four years but with strong glovework at all four infield spots and the occasional appearance in left field.

Farmer was previously slated to serve in a multi-positional infield role. If he slides in as the regular second baseman, they will need to find another infielder for the bench. They only have four other regular infielders on the 40-man roster. Ryan McMahon is the regular third baseman, with Ezequiel Tovar at short. Michael Toglia will be in the first base job. Adael Amador is one of the club’s best prospects and has made a brief MLB debut, but he’s not yet 22 years old and hasn’t yet played at the Triple-A level. Greg Jones has some infield experience but played more in the outfield last year. Owen Miller isn’t on the roster but a non-roster depth option.

Nightengale suggests they could look to the open market, naming Nicky Lopez and Garrett Hampson as possibilities. Lopez was released by the Cubs today. Hampson has triggered an opt-out in his deal with the Diamondbacks, but they could add him to their roster this weekend. Players like Nick Ahmed and Jose Iglesias also have opt-outs in the coming days.

Photo courtesy Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Rockies Sign Kyle Farmer

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The Rockies announced the signing of utility player Kyle Farmer on a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2026. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client is reportedly guaranteed $3.25MM. Farmer will make $2.5MM in base salary next season and is guaranteed at least a $750K buyout on the option, which is valued at $4MM. The deal includes another $1.25MM in incentives. Farmer would unlock $125K apiece for his 200th and 350th plate appearance next year. He’d earn another $150K at 400 and 450 PAs, $200K for his 500th trip to the plate, and $500K if he reaches 550 plate appearances.

Farmer returns to the NL West, where he began his career as a member of the Dodgers. It wasn’t until Los Angeles dealt him to the Reds that he emerged as a significant contributor. Farmer played regularly as a multi-positional infielder with Cincinnati between 2021-22. He combined for 30 homers with nearly league average offense over that stretch. The Reds dealt him to the Twins over the 2022-23 offseason.

Over two seasons in Minnesota, Farmer hit .240/.308/.387 across 611 plate appearances. The bulk of that production was concentrated in year one. Farmer had a solid .256/.317/.408 showing with 11 homers and 14 doubles in 2023. His offense dropped off this past season, as he slumped to a .214/.293/.353 slash with only five longballs over 242 trips to the plate. A shoulder strain shelved him between the middle of July and the second week of August. The Twins made the easy call to pass on their end of a $6.25MM mutual option coming off that down year.

The Rockies will hope for a rebound as Farmer enters his age-34 season. He has primarily played on the left side of the infield in his career. He has more than 2000 innings at shortstop and just over 1000 frames at the hot corner. The Rox have Ezequiel Tovar locked in at shortstop and Ryan McMahon at third base. Farmer, a right-handed hitter with a career .283/.344/.468 batting line against lefty pitching, could spell McMahon against southpaws. He should get the bulk of his work at second base, where he has played around 800 career innings.

Colorado non-tendered Brendan Rodgers tonight, leaving second base wide open. The long-term hope is that prospect Adael Amador will take the job, but he’s coming off an unspectacular season in Double-A. Amador turns 22 in April, so there’s plenty of time for development. He’ll likely start the season in Triple-A Albuquerque. Farmer can serve as a stopgap with the versatility to move into a utility role if Amador plays his way into a job in the second half.

It’s the second free agent move for the Rockies, who also brought back Jacob Stallings on a one-year guarantee this week. As with Stallings, Farmer is a veteran with a strong clubhouse reputation who could serve a leadership role for a rebuilding team.

FanSided’s Robert Murray first reported Farmer was nearing a deal with the Rockies. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported there was an agreement on a one-year deal with an option. Heyman first reported the $3.25MM guarantee and $1.25MM in bonuses, while Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the option structure. The Associated Press reported the specific incentive terms.

Twins Decline Mutual Option On Kyle Farmer

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The Twins declined their end of a $6.25MM mutual option on Kyle Farmer, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). The veteran infielder will collect a $250K buyout and becomes a free agent for the first time in his career. Minnesota also declined an option on outfielder Manuel Margot this morning.

Farmer, 34, spent two seasons in the Twin Cities. He had a solid .256/.317/.408 slash during his first year after being acquired from the Reds. Minnesota brought him back for his final season of arbitration. Farmer struggled this past season, though, hitting .214/.293/.353 over 242 trips to the plate. He missed around a month with a strain in his right shoulder.

That made it an easy call for Minnesota to move on. The $6MM net decision was too pricey for a utility player coming off a down year. Farmer could be able to find a major league contract this offseason. He can play anywhere on the infield and carries a career .283/.344/.468 slash versus left-handed pitching.

The Twins still have Willi Castro and Austin Martin on hand as utility options behind Brooks Lee, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis. Minnesota will need to address first base with Carlos Santana hitting free agency and Alex Kirilloff’s surprise retirement.

Joe Ryan Diagnosed With Grade 2 Teres Major Strain

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The Twins received bad news following right-hander Joe Ryan’s MRI, as he’s been diagnosed with a Grade 2 teres major strain that’ll threaten the remainder of his season, manager Rocco Baldelli announced to the Twins beat this morning (X link via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). It’s a more serious injury than the Twins initially anticipated, and while Baldelli didn’t entirely rule Ryan out for the remainder of the season, he acknowledged that it’ll take “weeks to months” for the right-hander to recover.

Ryan is headed to the 15-day IL for now, and the Twins have also selected the contract of right-hander Scott Blewett from Triple-A St. Paul in his place. Right-hander Brock Stewart, who is headed for season-ending shoulder surgery, was placed on the 60-day IL to open a spot for Blewett. Minnesota also reinstated infielder Kyle Farmer from the injured list, placed infielder Brooks Lee on the 15-day IL due to biceps tendinitis, and called up right-hander Louie Varland as the 27th man for their pivotal doubleheader against the division-leading Guardians.

The injury for Ryan is a gut-punch to a Twins club that was unable to acquire a starting pitcher prior to the trade deadline and has already seen its rotation depth stretched thin. The 28-year-old Ryan has been perhaps their steadiest starter in 2024, logging 135 innings of 3.60 ERA ball with a strong 27.3% strikeout rate against an outstanding 4.3% walk rate. He’s been a fixture in the Twins’ rotation since being acquired from the Rays in exchange for Nelson Cruz at the 2021 trade deadline, making 84 starts with a 3.92 ERA and consistently strong strikeout and walk rates.

With Ryan joining Chris Paddack and Anthony DeSclafani — who required season-ending surgery back in spring training — on the injured list, Minnesota will be forced to lean on a rookie-heavy rotation while trying to overtake Cleveland and fight off Kansas City in the AL Central race. Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober provide plenty of big league experience, but they’ll be followed by Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa and likely Varland in the season’s final seven weeks or so. Right-hander Zebby Matthews, who has rocketed up prospect rankings in 2024 while dominating High-A and Double-A, could be called to the big leagues sooner than he otherwise would have with a healthier staff. Veteran righty Adam Plutko is also in Triple-A with the Twins and has pitched to a respectable 4.35 ERA there — including a 3.38 mark over his past seven starts.

Given the increased level of strain on the pitching depth, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see the Twins pursue some additional depth. Their avenues to doing so are limited now that the deadline has passed, but they still have some options. Rich Hill, who pitched for the Twins in 2020, is planning to sign for the stretch run and showcased for teams just today. Some depth options like Xzavion Curry (Guardians) and Jackson Wolf (Padres) were designated for assignment within the past week and could hold appeal — if they make it to the Twins on waivers. As MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald recently laid out for MLBTR Front Office subscribers, we could see a handful of notable veterans hit waivers later this month if their teams falter, although the Twins slashed payroll considerably this past offseason and ownership might balk at the notion of absorbing additional payroll for the stretch run.

In the short-term, the Twins will give Varland the first start and slot Blewett, who pitched for the 2020-21 Royals, into the bullpen. Varland opened the season in the rotation after an encouraging run late last year, but the Twin Cities native was hit hard early this season, optioned to Triple-A and eventually leapfrogged by Woods Richardson and Festa on the depth chart. He’s struggled in Triple-A overall but had rattled off a 1.48 ERA with 35 strikeouts and 14 walks in his past six starts there (30 1/3 innings).

As for Blewett, he inked a minor league deal in the offseason. The 28-year-old righty was a second-round pick by the Royals back in 2014 and has bounced around pro ball, also spending time in the White Sox and Braves systems in addition to a nice stint with the Uni-President Lions in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League last year. He’s pitched 56 1/3 innings for the Saints this season and notched a solid 3.66 ERA with a 23.2% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate in that time.

The injury to Lee, 23, will open the door for Farmer’s return. Lee was the No. 8 overall pick in 2022 and currently stands as a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport. He missed the beginning of the season with a stress reaction in his back but returned to light fire to Triple-A pitching, hitting opponents at a .329/.394/.635 clip with seven homers in just 94 plate appearances before being summoned to the majors amid other injuries in Minnesota’s infield. He’ll head to the shelf himself now, leaving the Twins with Farmer and Willi Castro at second and short, Royce Lewis at third base and Carlos Santana at first base (in addition to Jose Miranda mixing in at the infield corners).

Twins Option Edouard Julien; Royce Lewis Expected To Return Tuesday

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The Twins have optioned second baseman Edouard Julien to Triple-A St. Paul, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported last night that the move was likely on the horizon, as the Twins need to clear roster space for the return of infielder Royce Lewis, who’s expected to join the team tomorrow for their series opener against the Yankees.

Julien, 25, graduated from top prospect status to the Twins’ apparent everyday second baseman last year when he hit .263/.381/.459 with 16 homers in 408 plate appearances as a rookie. Minnesota felt comfortable enough with the Canadian-born slugger at second base that they traded stalwart infielder Jorge Polanco to the Mariners this offseason when looking for ways to pare back the payroll.

Julien hit .223/.330/.500 with seven homers through the end of April, but he’s since fallen into a slump that’s seen him post a bleak .169/.274/.181 slash over a span of 95 trips to the plate. He’s still walking at a hefty 12.6% clip but has also fanned at a 38% rate during that slump (and in 34% of his plate appearances on the season overall). Julien’s extremely patient approach has helped him walk in nearly 15% of his MLB plate appearances, but that patience can border on passivity as well. Jonathan India is the only qualified hitter in baseball who’s swung at fewer pitches than Julien’s 37%.

The monthlong slump will make Julien the roster casualty for the return of Lewis, who’s been Minnesota’s best hitter when healthy dating back to his 2022 debut. Injuries have marred Lewis’ career to date — he’s twice torn his right ACL and has been out since Opening Day due to a quad strain — but the 2017 No. 1 overall draft pick is a .313/.369/.564 hitter (159 wRC+) in 282 MLB plate appearances. He also swatted four homers in 26 postseason playoff appearances last year (in addition to homering in his first at-bat of the 2024 regular season).

With Lewis reclaiming the regular third base job and Julien headed to St. Paul, the Twins’ infield will take on a different look. Jose Miranda has been the team’s primary third baseman and, after a lost 2023 season, has reemerged as a key contributor. The 25-year-old Miranda (26 later this month) is another former Twins top prospect who impressed as a rookie in 2022, popping 15 homers and batting .268/.325/.426 in 483 plate appearances. He tried to play through a shoulder impingement that eventually required surgery last season, hitting just .211/.263/.303 in 40 big league games.

Now that his shoulder is back at full strength, Miranda looks like his old self. He’s taken 151 turns at the plate and delivered a quite-productive .280/.311/.469 slash with six homers and nine doubles. Miranda doesn’t walk much (3.3% this season, 5.3% career) but puts the ball in play at a very high rate (14.6% strikeout rate this year, 17.4% career) and has plenty of extra-base pop. Though he played some second base in the minors, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll do so at this point. He’ll rotate between the infield corners and designated hitter, but utilityman Willi Castro figures to pick up the bulk of playing time at second base. The switch-hitting Castro is out to a .260/.335/.420 start and has experience playing all over the diamond.

The Twins could’ve made a more aggressive roster decision, cutting ties with a struggling veteran instead. But Carlos Santana has rebounded from an awful start to bat .253/.340/.434 over the past 30 days. Kyle Farmer and Manuel Margot both have ugly numbers on the whole, but as Hayes notes, Margot is hitting left-handers fairly well and Farmer is valued both for his defensive versatility and his leadership in the clubhouse. Optioning Julien also preserves depth in a way that parting with someone like Farmer or Margot would not; both players could reject outright assignments to the minors in favor of free agency.

The Twins’ infield crunch falls into the “good problem to have” bucket of cliches. Julien’s demotion certainly doesn’t change the organization’s view that he can be a valuable long-term contributor, but he’ll head to Triple-A for what’s likely to be a relatively short-term reset. Presumably, in the event of an injury in the infield or at just about any non-catcher spot among the team’s position-player corps, Julien would be the first man back up. (Castro could slide right back into a super-utility role or into an everyday outfield role.)

From a service time vantage point, Julien’s slump could potentially cost him, however. He entered the season with 135 days of MLB service. Had he stayed in the majors for good, he’d have been a slam-dunk Super Two player following the 2025 season. It’s still possible he reaches that designation but is now far from a sure thing. Julien has already reached one full year of MLB service, so this assignment won’t impact his timeline to free agency, but it could potentially cost him a fourth trip through the arbitration process.

Twins Notes: Margot, Farmer, Lewis

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The Twins made a Spring Training acquisition this afternoon, bringing in Manuel Margot from the Dodgers. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters that adding a right-handed hitting outfielder has been the team’s primary focus for the last couple weeks (link via Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic).

While Falvey didn’t rule out the possibility of further acquisitions, he implied the bulk of the offseason team-building is complete. “Realistically, with where our team is, with how the roster now is built out, with the way it looks, obviously we’ll keep monitoring where our roster is, the health of it. But this was the primary focus for us over the last little bit. I would say that’s by and large the big-picture items, but we’ll keep an open mind about different opportunities that present along the way,” the baseball operations leader said (via Gleeman).

Roster Resource calculates their payroll in the $127MM range, which aligns with early-offseason reporting that they were targeting a payroll between $125MM and $140MM. Margot adds insurance behind Byron Buxton, who is returning to center field after knee injuries limited him to designated hitter a year ago. He also adds a righty complement to left-handed hitting corner outfielders Matt Wallner and Max Kepler. The Twins recently brought in Carlos Santana — a switch-hitter who typically fares better from the right side — to balance a lineup that was quite a bit better against righty pitching than left-handed arms a year ago.

They’re also retaining righty-hitting utilityman Kyle Farmer for a second season. Minnesota acquired Farmer from the Reds last winter. He had a decent year, appearing in 120 games and hitting .256/.317/.408 with 11 home runs. Between league average offense and the ability to handle anywhere on the infield, Farmer is a good depth player. Still, his rising arbitration price led to speculation he’d be traded or non-tendered, particularly with the Twins announcing early in the winter they were scaling back spending relative to last year.

Farmer acknowledged this weekend that he doubted whether he’d be back in Minnesota (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune). “I always saw myself here, but all the trade rumors and non-tender stuff, I figured I wasn’t going to be here. It worked out good,” Farmer said. He admitted that it wasn’t until the late-January deal sending Jorge Polanco to Seattle that he was confident he’d remain with the Twins.

Minnesota and Farmer agreed to a $6.05MM salary for his final season of arbitration. He’ll likely collect a $250K buyout in lieu of a $6.25MM mutual option and become a free agent for the first time next winter. Farmer should occupy a similar multi-positional role as he played a year ago. Edouard Julien is stepping in at second base alongside Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis and the Santana/Alex Kirilloff tandem throughout the infield.

Lewis showed the kind of talent that made him the first overall pick seven years ago. He raked at a .309/.372/.548 clip in 58 regular season contests and blasted four homers in six playoff games. He’s locked in as the starter at third base and looks like a franchise building block so long as he can stay healthy after twice tearing the ACL in his right knee.

The Twins have Lewis under club control for another five seasons. He’ll play this year on a near-minimum salary and qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player next winter. There’s no particular urgency for Minnesota to try to lock him up on a long-term deal, which Lewis acknowledged (via The Athletic’s Dan Hayes).

“I would love to hear anything, but I don’t think right now they’re in a position to do that,” Lewis said about an extension. “Especially with the payroll and the TV stuff going down, they have some stuff financially they have to figure out first. I’m last on the totem pole.” The 24-year-old indicated he’d be receptive if the organization did make extension overtures but downplayed any urgency to lock in short-term earnings. Lewis acknowledged he’s “definitely financially secure” after signing for a $6.73MM bonus out of high school.

His asking price on an extension would only escalate so long as he remains healthy into his arbitration seasons. Yet it’s understandable if the Twins want to see a full year against MLB pitching (to say nothing of gaining clarity on their local TV deal) before seriously engaging in talks. Falvey spoke broadly of a willingness to consider extension possibilities with the team’s young players but told Hayes and other reporters the focus with Lewis is “(making) sure he’s on the field the full year and (continuing) to build into what he’s already scratched the surface on in his career.“

Latest On Twins’ Trade Discussions

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The Twins have been candid all throughout the offseason about their plans to reduce player payroll this winter, and they’ve largely been successful in that endeavor. RosterResource projects the club for a payroll of just $124MM in 2024, which would represent a $35MM haircut relative to last year’s payroll. Given that reality, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the club does not plan on engaging in a “salary-dump” trade this winter.

That’s surely heartening news for Twins fans, given rumors that swirled earlier this offseason indicating that the likes of second baseman Jorge Polanco, outfielder Max Kepler, and infielder Kyle Farmer were available in trade this winter. While Hayes left open the possibility of a trade coming together, he made clear that the club doesn’t plan on dealing those players in order to clear salary or add prospects. Instead, the Twins are angling to bring back major league talent in any deal as they look to build on a 2023 campaign that saw the club win its first playoff series in two decades.

Hayes also indicates that the club would prefer to move Polanco and/or Farmer rather than Kepler, adding that the “expectation” entering the offseason was that Minnesota would move two infielders from their big-league roster to lessen the club’s positional logjam. Setting aside Polanco and Farmer, the club employees Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, and Edouard Julien as likely regulars with the likes of Jose Miranda, Austin Martin, Nick Gordon, Willi Castro and top prospect Brooks Lee all likely to spend at least some time on the infield dirt as well next season. The same goes for Alex Kirilloff, who figures to factor heavily into the club’s first base mix but has plenty of experience in the outfield as well. By contrast, the club’s outfield mix is much less crowded, with Kepler, Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner, and Trevor Larnach making up the club’s primary options though Kirilloff, Martin, Gordon, and Castro all also have experience on the grass as well.

Despite the club’s apparent willingness to deal from its surplus, Hayes suggests that a deal doesn’t appear likely to come together anytime soon. While he notes that the club has identified potential trade partners and begun talks with them, many of those teams are still waiting to see how the rest of free agency plays out. That’s not necessarily a surprise given the number of positional free agents, ranging from Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman to Justin Turner and Whit Merrifield, are still available at this point in the winter.

If the club hopes to add big league talent in exchange for parting with an established veteran like Polanco or Farmer, it’s not hard to see what areas of the roster they could target. The departures of Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda have left the club unusually thin in the starting rotation. While a quintet of Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack, Bailey Ober, and Louie Varland would be a viable group to carry into Opening Day, there’s plenty of room for improvement in that group and the club lacks much in the way of depth. Should any of the team’s starting five suffer an injury early in the season, the Twins currently figure to lean on an unproven arm like Brent Headrick or Simeon Woods-Richardson to take the ball every fifth day.

MLBTR took a look at possible trade partners for the Twins regarding Polanco last month, and many of those same teams could also benefit from the addition of Farmer as well. The Mariners, Cubs, Blue Jays, Giants, and Marlins were among the clubs mentioned who could stand to add another bat to their infield mix while also having the sort of MLB-ready pitching depth that the Twins could be interested in from which to deal. Speculatively speaking, a team like the Dodgers or Angels could also benefit from bolstering their infield depth given the uncertain shortstop situation in L.A. and the many injuries Anaheim’s infielders suffered last season. Both clubs also have controllable pitching options who could theoretically be moved this winter, such as Gavin Stone and Chase Silseth.

MLBTR Poll: Should The Twins Trade Kyle Farmer?

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The Twins are reportedly planning to scale back payroll into the $125-140MM range — below the approximate $154MM mark at which they opened the 2023 season. That has naturally led to trade speculation involving a handful of veteran players on the roster.

Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco are perhaps Minnesota’s most desirable realistic trade candidates. Set for respective $10MM and $10.5MM salaries, they’re each above-average regulars who would clearly be of interest to other teams. While they’re both viable possibilities, it’d perhaps be an easier sell for the front office to part with Kyle Farmer. He’s not as impactful offensively and has only spent one year in the Twin Cities — in contrast to Polanco and Kepler, career-long members of the organization who have been with the team for more than a decade.

It is somewhat surprising that Farmer is still on the roster. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects the utility infielder for a $6.6MM salary in his final season of arbitration. That made him a non-tender candidate. Dan Hayes of the Athletic wrote two weeks ago that Minnesota was exploring trade options on Farmer, which seemed to suggest they could simply move on if they didn’t line up a swap before last Friday’s non-tender deadline.

That didn’t end up being the case. Now that Minnesota has tendered Farmer a contract, he’s set for a payday that could land in the $6-7MM range. That doesn’t preclude the front office from continuing to explore trade options. Minnesota’s infield depth still leads to questions about how they should proceed.

Royce Lewis and Edouard Julien had excellent showings in the final few months. Lewis has clearly claimed the everyday third base job so long as he’s healthy. Julien is stretched defensively at second base but hit .263/.381/.459 through his first 408 MLB plate appearances. Polanco is one of the better bat-first middle infielders in the league. Even if the Twins wanted to get Julien more at-bats as the designated hitter, a starting infield of Alex Kirilloff, Polanco, Carlos Correa and Lewis has significant upside.

Everyone in that group aside from Julien has a notable injury history as well. The front office surely feels better about it if it’s backed up by a utility player of Farmer’s caliber. At the same time, there’s an argument the Twins have bigger needs. They could look for a right-handed hitting first base/DH to complement the lefty-swinging Kirilloff and Julien. Sonny Gray’s expected free agent departure thins the rotation. They may need to re-sign or replace Michael A. Taylor given the likelihood they’ll need to manage Byron Buxton’s reps in center field.

Farmer, acquired from the Reds last offseason, had a solid year. His .256/.317/.408 batting line over 369 plate appearances was league average. The righty-swinging Farmer produced a .289/.352/.430 showing when holding the platoon advantage, a nice boost for a Minnesota team that was far better against right-handed pitching overall. Farmer started 20+ games at each of second base, third base and shortstop.

Switch-hitting Willi Castro offers similar defensive versatility. He has neutral platoon splits for his career but was quite a bit more productive against right-handers this past season. While Castro could play a utility role, he’s likely an offensive downgrade from Farmer — particularly against southpaws.

That the Twins didn’t non-tender Farmer indicates they’re not going to simply give him away. The front office feels there’s some amount of surplus value. The trade offers for one season of a 33-year-old utilityman projected for a near-$7MM salary aren’t going to be overwhelming. A dreadful free agent middle infield class works in Minnesota’s favor somewhat by limiting the alternatives for teams in need, but it’s not going to result in a dramatically better prospect return. The primary motivation of a trade from the Twins’ perspective would still be about reallocating salary.

Is that worthwhile for Minnesota? Should they deal Farmer to open some spending room while recouping a mid-tier prospect?

(poll link for app users)

 

Twins Planning To Reduce Payroll

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The Twins anticipate scaling back player payroll this offseason, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters at the GM Meetings (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune). The Twins opened the 2023 season with an estimated $154MM figure, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts — about $20MM north of the previous organizational high.

“We’ve pushed our payroll to heights that we had never pushed it before with the support, certainly, of ownership,” Falvey said Tuesday. “We know there is some natural ebb and flow to that. Will it be where it was last year? I don’t expect that. I expect it less than that.”

Unsurprisingly, Minnesota’s front office leader declined to go on record with a specific spending target. However, Dan Hayes of the Athletic reports that the Opening Day number could land somewhere between $125MM and $140MM.

It’s not entirely surprising, as Falvey had alluded to a potential spending cut last month. At the time, he pointed to the club’s uncertain local television rights fees amidst the ongoing bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, the corporation that runs the Bally Sports networks. The Twins are one of 14 teams that had an agreement with Diamond. Minnesota is still without a resolution on its 2024 in-market broadcasts, as its previous local rights deal expired at the end of the season.

Nevertheless, it’ll be disappointing news for a fanbase just a month removed from celebrating an AL Central title and the end of an 18-game postseason losing streak. The Twins have a little over $90MM in guaranteed commitments after exercising options on Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco to start the offseason. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projects around $20MM in salaries for the group of arbitration-eligible players. Minimum salary players to fill out the roster bring their current projection to roughly $120MM.

However, that includes a $6.6MM arbitration projection for potential non-tender candidate Kyle Farmer. Hayes writes that Minnesota plans to explore trade possibilities on Farmer, who had a solid first year in Minneapolis. Acquired from the Reds last winter, he hit .256/.317/.408 over 369 trips to the plate. While that’s quality production for a multi-positional infielder, Minnesota got even better play out of minor league signee Willi Castro.

The Twins also have Polanco as an option to bounce between second and third base, which are likely to be manned by Edouard Julien and Royce Lewis to begin the year. With Castro and Nick Gordon also on hand, Farmer could find himself on the outside looking in. If the Twins can’t find a trade partner, they’d need to decide by November 17 whether to tender him a contract.

Of course, Polanco or Kepler could be trade possibilities themselves. Nothing prevents Minnesota from dealing either player after exercising the option. While Polanco is part of a crowded infield, Kepler is one of a number of left-handed hitting outfielders. They’re both key contributors to the lineup, so the Twins don’t figure to give either player away. They’d each have appeal were Minnesota to put them on the trade market, however. That’s especially true of Polanco, who is arguably better than any middle infielder in this winter’s free agent class and controllable for an additional season via a $12MM option for 2025.

As things stand, Minnesota could fall into the reported $125-140MM range without moving anyone off the big league roster. They’d be without much flexibility for outside acquisitions and are facing the departures of a few notable free agents. Sonny Gray is a lock to decline the qualifying offer in search of a multi-year deal worth upwards of $20MM annually, a price that’s difficult to see the Twins matching unless they move multiple players. Kenta Maeda, Michael A. Taylor, Emilio Pagán, Tyler Mahle and Donovan Solano all also hit the market. Taylor could be a particularly tough loss if the Twins aren’t confident in Byron Buxton manning center field regularly next season.

The rotation could be in solid shape even if none of Gray, Maeda or Mahle return. Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack is a strong front four, while Louie Varland has upside at the back end. The group would be a lot thinner without Gray and Maeda, however, making it difficult to repeat their AL-best production of this past season. It stands to reason they’d like to bring in at least one veteran arm to stabilize things — either in a trade or via free agency after reallocating some money.

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