Minnesota Twins: Impact the free agent training camp has for the Twins
The majority of free agents remain unsigned and anxiety is high. How will the training camp for unsigned free agents impact the Minnesota Twins? Puckett’s Pond has you covered.
The Minnesota Twins are hoping Yu Darvish signs the contract they offered him, leaving one less unsigned free agent. However, with the astounding number of players still unemployed, a training camp for these players makes perfect sense. According to Ken Rosenthal that plan is in motion.
According to E-mail sent to agents, training camp for unsigned free agents will be led by former #Astros manager Bo Porter. Players’ personal trainers will not be permitted. Travel and housing arranged by union. Players given daily per diem. General liability insurance provided.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 8, 2018
Every player that is left unsigned when Spring Training starts is left to get themselves ready for the regular season, until now. This training camp offers unsigned players the chance at Major League instruction from former Houston Astros manager Bo Porter, among others.
Baseball is all about routine and having these free agents preparing for the season in their normal environment will pay huge dividends. Every year players sign with new teams deep into the Spring. Those players lose valuable training time while waiting to sign, oftentimes leading to injury or slow starts. This training camp should be a permanent fixture in MLB.
How does this affect the Twins?
This will have both negative and positive ramifications for the Minnesota Twins. First the positive side. Minnesota will inevitably need to sign somebody as the Spring progresses and now they’ll be signing a player already ready for camp.
Signing a pitcher will no longer mean you have to start from day one, he should be right where he needs to be. The injury risk will be significantly less as well. A player signing late will put pressure on himself to get ready faster than he should. That only leads to setbacks and inconsistency.
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Now the possible downside for the Minnesota Twins. The training camp puts less pressure on a player to sign sooner. In years past Darvish may have accepted the Twins offer just because we’re so close to camp. However, if players can train and get prepared in a separate training camp then there is no rush to join a new team.
There could also be financial ramifications of this development. As I’ve mentioned players can wait as long as they want to sign. This will allow teams like the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox to maneuver money around and find ways to fit more top end free agents.
A small market team like the Minnesota Twins almost never catches a break so they have to make their own every chance they can. This is a good thing for free agents and for MLB. How this impacts other aspects of MLB will soon reveal itself.
Stay tuned to Puckett’s Pond for the latest news and stories about your Minnesota Twins.