Minnesota Twins: Analyzing the Twins’ options to rebuild the infield

The Minnesota Twins non-tendered their first baseman earlier, but what is their plan to fill their newest hole in the infield?

The Minnesota Twins made a surprising move earlier this week as they opted not to offer a tender to first baseman C.J. Cron, making him a free agent. Cron was solid for the Twins in his first season in Minnesota, but several concerns including offseason thumb surgery, made the soon-to-be 30-year old’s projected $7.7 million salary hard to stomach.

While the concerns were enough to understand why the Twins let Cron walk, it might not be easy to comprehend considering the team does not have many options to replace him at first base. This means that the Twins could be busy in the coming days as they either look for someone to play first base in the free agent or trade market or even move a current player around in the infield to help fill the void.

With the winter meetings coming up next week, it’s probable that some tea leaves will drop as to what the Twins’ master plan in the infield is going to be. For the sake of this article, we took a look at some of the names who could either make the switch to first base or be added somewhere else to fill the void Cron leaves behind.

Moving Miguel Sano to first base

This is the most common idea on how to revamp the Twins infield and it is the most likely of the scenarios that will pop up in the coming weeks. While Sano’s strength has been his bat, the bigger topic of discussion has been about his defense, where he has been good, but not great at third base during his major league career.

Sano’s performance in the hot corner can be measured by UZR, which attempts to quantify which plays a player makes and should make by determining how many runs he saves. Throughout his career, his UZR hovered just under -2.0 runs saved, but last season, those numbers completely went off the rails.

Sano tied for second in MLB last season with 17 errors at third base behind Boston’s Rafael Devers, who had 22. That number is staggering considering that Sano played just over half a season (91 games) at third base and that sent his UZR projection over 150 games to -19.9 according to FanGraphs.

With a pitiful performance at third base, the Twins briefly experimented with Sano at first base over nine games and while he did make a pair of errors in those games, it wasn’t near as damaging as his time over at third base.

By moving Sano, it could at the very least serve as a stop-gap until Brett Rooker or Alex Kirilloff is ready for their major league debut. In the short term, the Twins would be allowed to dive into a third base market that’s deeper than what’s available at first base and could also improve their defense in the process.

Move Luis Arraez to third base

We will go into the free-agent options for the Twins at third base shortly, but the possibility of Arraez landing at third base and trying to find a new second baseman on the open market is a real one considering the rookie phenom wasn’t all that great defensively in 2019.

While Sano struggled at third base, Arraez had the same issue filling in for Jonathan Schoop at second base. Arraez committed four errors in 49 games at second base last season, which doesn’t look horrible, but his UZR painted a different picture at -5.0 and a UZR over 150 games at -22.6. Those numbers were even worse in a very limited audition at shortstop, but that bleeding stopped when he was moved over to third base.

Much like his numbers at shortstop, Arraez didn’t spend much time at third base with 17 total games (15 starts) at the hot corner in 2019. While he didn’t invoke memories of Brooks Robinson, he was serviceable, not making an error and producing a 7.8 UZR/150 rating per FanGraphs.

Again, this is an extremely small sample size and it makes bringing in someone outside of the organization a more likely scenario. However, if the Twins want to sign a second baseman, moving Arraez to third and Sano to first could be one way to fill their needs around the horn.

Hitting the free-agent market hard

The issue with moving one player to another position is that it creates a hole somewhere else. In some cases, this could cause a player being uncomfortable with their new surroundings, but the Twins will have to deal with that if that situation arises. What they can do is analyze which positions have the most talent and plug him into the Twins already powerful lineup.

One option that the Twins have reportedly had contact with (per KSTP-TV’s Darren Wolfson) is Josh Donaldson. Although he will turn 34 on Sunday, Donaldson can still get the job done with his bat, slugging 37 home runs with the Atlanta Braves last season and providing an above-average performance defensively with a 2.4 UZR rating and 13 errors.

The Twins have also inquired about Todd Frazier to potentially play third base. As Frazier will also turn 34, he enjoyed a rebound season hitting .251 with the Mets, but showing a little less power with 21 HR in 499 at-bats. Defensively, he’s also serviceable at third, but could also mix in at first base and in the outfield to provide depth throughout the roster. Perhaps a Marwin Gonzalez lite?

Finally, the Twins may also keep their eyes open at first base, where they have inquired about Japanese slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, who has hit 185 home runs over the past five seasons in Japan, but has questions about his defense that could relegate him to a designated hitter role that’s already occupied by Nelson Cruz.

Basically, the Twins have to look at the market and decide which position has the most value and attack it. Then again, they could just take the aggressive approach and decide to go big.