While the Minnesota Twins have put together a season of competitive play—much more competitive than we thought second or third in the AL Central would be, in the bigger picture of baseball—one issue has continued to rear its ugly head season after season, and seems to mute the team’s successes: The Twins’ star players continually seem to be injured.
In the last two seasons, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa have been unavailable to the team. To be clear, the words to follow are not meant to indict either of these players. Instead, they point out the negative side of a strategy the Twins appear to have used—a strategy that the front office has only been able to go halfway on.
Buxton has a well-documented history of injuries. When Buck is right and roaming center like he has been for much of the year, he is a game-changing player. Likewise, when going right, Correa is the same type of star player who can feel like he is single-handedly propelling his team toward victory.
Even after missing significant time, FanGraphs values Buxton’s contributions to the team at $26.3 million, well above his salary of $15 million for the season. Just before he went down with plantar fasciitis, Correa was on a tear where he was slashing .375/.435/.625 and a 1.060 OPS from Jun. 5 until the injury. Both still sit atop the Twins fWAR leaderboard.
This season is yet another example of how both Correa and Buxton, if healthy, deserve much larger contracts than either of them is on. The injury history and Correa’s medical imaging of his ankle are the only reasons the Twins were able to jump up and sign both stars. The worries surrounding each star’s availability created a situation where both became a “distressed asset” that the Twins were willing to keep on board.
The Twins have yet to experience the worst-case scenario, as Buxton and Correa have at least been available for some of the season. This season’s situation isn’t good by any means, as their inability has coincided with a very important stretch run in which they could use the jolt their bats would bring and the consistency of their gloves.
As fans, we are experiencing the dark side of dealing with distressed assets. When it works for teams with the quasi-need to save money and the star player is healthy and performs well, a front office has more than maximized those dollars. When the player continues to be injured, and the team cannot rely on them for at-bats and innings in the field, the dollars begin to feel wasted, even if FanGraphs tells us otherwise.
To the Twins’ credit, two parts of the roster-building process have gone well. The front office did avoid some other potential distressed assets along the way, who have cratered. At two years and $24 million, Kenta Maeda went to the Detroit Tigers. It was tempting to try and squeeze more out of the veteran to help fill out the rotation. Thankfully, the Twins said no to the contract, as Maeda has performed poorly enough that he has been moved strictly to a relief role.
As Jordan Montgomery hung out unsigned late, many of Twins Territory pointed to the playoff standout to help bolster the Twins ranks. In 19 starts, the lefty has a 6.43 ERA and amassed a -1.5 WAR. The Diamondbacks are paying $25 million for those services. Carlos Rodon can also be mentioned here. While his contract still has some time to pay off for the Yankees, the first year was a lost one, and this season, it has settled out at least to a more respectable level.
The second aspect of this process the Twins have done well is that they have either signed or developed a good crop of players to provide depth when Buxton and Correa have been out. Imagine where this team would be without Willi Castro, a Detroit Tigers payroll casualty who is now an All-Star. Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, José Miranda, Brooks Lee, and Austin Martin have all put together some big innings at different junctures for the Twins.
Even on the pitching side, the performances of Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, and Zebby Matthews have helped push off some of the adverse effects of not acquiring or spending money on another starter. Of course, as of late, there have been struggles between two of the three in that group. Even with those struggles, they have, at times, thrown big innings for the Twins.
There is a lot to celebrate among that list of names, but it still hasn’t been enough. The Twins have fallen short in carrying this process to the finish line. Yes, a team can save money by buying these distressed asset-type players. However, the team does need to consider spending slightly more on the next level of replacement players if they want to ensure it will work. In fact, that’s a vital piece of this style of team-building, as seen in other teams who do it, like the Dodgers and Yankees. Instead of trading for Manuel Margot, the team should consider spending some assets or money to bring in someone of a higher caliber.
Instead of bringing in nothing in the way of starting pitchers outside of the trade for Anthony DeSclafani, find a capable starter to add length to that rotation so the club wouldn’t be currently relying on three rookies. The Twins could have looked toward players like Shota Imanaga, who signed for four years and $53 million with the Cubs. Another potential starting pitching signing could have been Erick Fedde, whom the Twins were interested in at the trade deadline and signed for two years and $15 million with the White Sox at the beginning of the season.
Those sorts of signings have been needed to push the roster to another level and would have gone a long way for the 2024 season. Yes, the risk is always present that one of those players also does not perform well. It does increase the pool of MLB level talent the team has. That talent would help to buoy the team when one of those star players goes down.
There is still a chance Buxton and Correa will return and lead the team into and through the playoffs. There is also the chance that fans will be left with their palms to the sky, wondering once again where their star players were at the most critical moments. A failure to participate in or advance through the playoffs will lead to each fan looking at ownership and asking why they didn’t feel the urgency to put some more money out there to push the roster over the finish line.
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Publish date : 2024-09-09 18:14:00
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