Minnesota Twins Offseason Weekly Reaction: Arbitration and TwinsFest

Writers Note: A weekly review of the Minnesota Twins offseason transactions, including reaction and opinions from fans and myself. Look for future polls on my Twitter account to share your opinions. Last week, 2016 Breakout and Bounce Back Projections.

Coming into today, the only player left to resign was Trevor Plouffe. His new contract is the last of the arbitration eligible players to sign with the Minnesota Twins this offseason. He and the team agreed today on a one year deal worth $7.25 million.

Earlier in the week the Twins avoided arbitration with Kevin Jepsen. He signed a one year deal worth $5.3125 million. What does this mean for the Twins? There is a good chance big transactions, such as trades or noticeable free agent signings, will not happen during the last month of the offseason.

Payroll wise, the Twins added just under $23 million. The team spent the money on six players; Plouffe, Jepsen, Tommy Milone ($4.50 million), Casey Fien ($2.27 million), Eduardo Escobar ($2.15 million) and Eduardo Nunez ($1.45 million). All the players worked well in their respective roles. For the amount each player received, none of the prices seem too high.

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Plouffe’s contract could seem too high to some fans. However, the value he has with the team is more than just his stats. He has become a co-leader in the Twins clubhouse. His drastic improvement on defense is the main reason for the raise. Last season, Plouffe had arguably his best statistical year. He had career highs in many offensive categories. On defense, he committed the least amount of errors at third base in his career.

Jepsen, last year had a 1.61 ERA while allowing just one home run in 28 innings pitched with the Twins. When Glen Perkins struggled and eventually spending time on the DL, Jepsen took over closer duties saving 10 games. He was terrific for the Twins after coming over from the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline.

Plouffe will start the year at third base. Escobar seems likely to start at shortstop. Nunez will continue to serve as a utility infielder. Milone could return as the fourth starter but will need to hold off others in spring training. Jepsen and Fien will return as late inning relievers setting up Perkins.

TwinsFest 2016

TwinsFest is this coming weekend. I asked fans if they were going to the event.

Will you be attending #TwinsFest?
— Martin Schlegel (@mschlegel34) January 23, 2016

Not many voted, yet an overwhelming majority said they are not going. The TwinsFest is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each year the team has autograph lines, games featuring Twins players and fans, ticket sales, memorabilia dealers, and much more. Twins fans of all kinds should attend TwinsFest. It is exciting to see Twins players and it ensures everyone that baseball will return soon.

I am going on Saturday, as I have done every year. There my father will join me in all the fun. As I did last year, I will be live tweeting my TwinsFest activities. If you would like to follow along, follow me on Twitter.

Strong Waiver Claim

Hiding behind the Jepsen and Plouffe deals is this nugget. Mike Strong, 27, was claimed off waivers from the Miami Marlins, and Logan Darnell was designated for assignment. Strong hails from Afton, Minnesota, and went to Stillwater Area High School.

The lefty reliever spent his whole baseball career in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Strong spent last year splitting time between double-A and triple-A. Pitching more in double-A, he provided solid relief. In 66 innings, he had 61 strikeouts, a 1.152 WHIP and a 8.2 SO9. Strong’s weakness is his control. His career BB9 in the minors is 4.2. He tends to walk batters around half the amount of innings pitched. At this point in his career, he is depth relief. However, he will need to improve upon his walk totals to have a chance at making a debut with the Twins. Likely, he will compete for a triple-A roster spot.

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