Fits and Failures to start
As I said, I wanted to upgrade the infield and I had two targets to start things off. I wanted to bring in SS Jose Iglesias and 2B/3B Jed Lowrie.
SS Jose Iglesias
Iglesias has spent time with the Detroit Tigers and represents a glove first shortstop who would give the Twins the flexibility to move Jorge Polanco to second base. Some defensive metrics give a bit of a mixed view of his defensive prowess, but Iglesias in 2018 ranked 3rd in UZR/150 with a 9.7 UZR/150. Defensive runs saved didn’t like Iglesias quite as much as he was 12th with 1 DRS.
Iglesias also produces pretty well at the plate for a defense first type player. In 2018 he slashed .269/.310/.389 and had 31 doubles and 15 stolen bases. His best season was 2015 when he slashed .300/.347/.370.
2B/3B Jed Lowrie
With Iglesias as part of the infield solution, I also wanted to walk away with a third baseman to start transitioning Miguel Sano to first base or designated hitter. Lowrie may be more thought of as a second baseman, but in the Twins lineup, I wanted him to play third most days and then be an impact bat that can be placed in the middle of the Twins lineup.
His defense is not great, but his bat should more than make up for that and Lowrie would be helped out by having Iglesias to his left while in the field. In 2018, Lowrie slashed .267/.353/.448 and a .801 OPS, 23 home runs and 37 doubles.
The Offers
As you can probably tell by the first heading on this section these free agent offers didn’t go well. I opened up bidding on Iglesias at 2 years, $13 million. There was no action on Iglesias for most of the 23 hour period until 12 minutes before the deadline when Iglesias was sniped from under me as I was unable to check back in on the progress. So the Angels ended up with him on a 2 year, $16 million deal.
I opened the Jed Lowrie bid at 2 years and $20 million. That was going pretty well until the Mariners came in with a contract of 3 years and $30 million. I considered topping the offer, but with the other infielders still on the board I thought I would take my chances elsewhere instead of offering more years or more money than I wanted to for a 34-year-old infielder.