The Minnesota Twins finally made their big splash in free agency, signing Josh Donaldson to a four-year deal with an option for a fifth year.
For those who have been on the case of the Minnesota Twins this offseason, Tuesday was a rough night. After months of wondering when the team would make their big splash in free agency, the Twins finally made their move, signing Josh Donaldson to a four-year deal and bolstering their infield both offensively and defensively.
The contract was first reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, but The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal revealed that the deal is worth $92 million. The contract also carries an option for a fifth year that would raise the total to $100 million.
While Donaldson is not the impact pitching the Twins were set to acquire this offseason, his signing is still a major victory for the Twins. Donaldson has been an offensive powerhouse outside of an injury-riddled 2018 season, hitting 33 or more home runs in three of the past four seasons.
In addition, the Twins also get a boost defensively as Donaldson ranked third among third basemen in Baseball Savant’s new outs against average metric behind Colorado’s Nolan Arenado and Oakland’s Matt Chapman. That number should help out shortstop Jorge Polanco, who ranked dead last in shortstops in the same metric.
The acquisition of Donaldson will send a ripple effect around the Twins infield, who lost a pair of starters in C.J. Cron and Jonathan Schoop earlier this winter. With Donaldson manning the hot corner, the Twins will likely move Miguel Sano, who finalized a three-year deal on Tuesday, to first base. With Polanco and Luis Arraez up the middle, the Twins will hope for some improvement in the infield to help out a pitching staff that crumbled toward the end of last season.
The early reviews for the move have already come rolling in as Twins reliever Tyler Duffey via Twitter suggested to put a roof on Target Field and catcher Mitch Garver asked if Donaldson could specifically bring purple rain to Minnesota.
All jokes aside, this move should make the Bomba Squad, who slugged an MLB record 307 home runs last season, even more potent and if the Twins can make another move to their rotation by the time pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers next month, there’s no reason they can’t make another run in 2020.