Minnesota Twins: 5 moves that led the Twins to the AL Central title

Signing Nelson Cruz

Throughout the years, the Twins have tried to get one last gasp out of an aging player as a bargain basement deal. While the Ruben Sierra and Tony Batista signings didn’t work back in the day, the acquisition of Nelson Cruz was one example where spending the money in the right place paid major dividends.

The now 39-year old slugger had a year that hasn’t been seen much in Twins’ history, leading Minnesota in home runs (40) and RBI (105) while recording the second-highest OPS of his career (1.017).

While those numbers were enough to justify his one-year, $14 million deal (which has an option for the 2020 season that will definitely be exercised this winter), his impact in the clubhouse may have been even more valuable to this team.

We already talked about Kepler and Polanco, but others such as Mitch Garver, Miguel Sano and even Byron Buxton (pre-injury) followed Cruz’s lead on how to be a professional and take the next step in their development.

The result was the crowning of the Bomba Squad, who took the necessary steps needed to claim Minnesota’s first American League Central title since 2010.