Minnesota Twins: Top 3 Moves the Twins made in 2021

We are about 9 days away from the new year, and with the new year comes a new baseball season (hopefully). The 2022 Minnesota Twins will start the year undefeated, and with no moves to make until the lockout ends, I give the Twins an A+ so far.

However, with the current structure of the team, it would be naive to not look back at this past year and wonder how we got to this point. A lot had to go wrong for the Twins to go from first to worst in their division.

We rank the Top 3 moves the Minnesota Twins made this year.

Despite the year not going as well as we had hoped, there were a few bright spots to look back on. Before the year leaves us (or we leave the year at this point) let us look back at the best trades or contract moves the team made during the 2021 calendar year.

Minnesota Twins Best Move No. 3: Trading Jose Berrios at the deadline

At the 2021 trade deadline, Jose Berrios currently had a year and a half left on his current deal with the Twins. Over 6 years, Berrios appeared in 136 games, posted a 4.08 ERA, 781.1 IP with almost as many Ks (779) and an ERA+ of 107 and was in the midst of the best season of his career.

By looking at the numbers, Berrios was just a tad above average, but on the closer side to average. The Twins had a decision to make: trade the best starter they’d developed since Johan Santana or move him to avoid losing him in free agency. In my opinion, this made the deal a no brainer for the Twins.

The Twins made the executive decision to move Berrios while there was still some value in how much of his contract he had left. Hindsight is 20/20 but the extension that Berrios was offered by the Blue Jays seems like a price tag that the Twins would not (or at least should not) want to pay for a pitcher of his caliber.

Aside from saving themselves a ton of money on the extension, the Twins also received two prospects in Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson. Both are top prospects and should be seeing time in the majors within the next two years.

Minnesota Twins Best Move No. 1: Signing Byron Buxton to a team friendly extension

This extension had Twins fans in a whirlwind of emotions for an entire week when they realized Byron Buxton was locked in for 7 more years. It goes without saying that Buck has MVP potential and after just turning 28 years old, he has a ton left in the tank.

The contract is extremely team friendly, while at the same time, offering many incentives if the Twins receive MVP Buxton like they know he is capable of. If he plays up to the incentives, everyone wins.

As stated above by Jeff Passan and Ken Rosenthal, finishing anywhere in the top 10 for MVP voting awards Buxton a multimillion dollar bonus along with a ton of money just for staying on the field and racking up plate appearances.

Part of building to be a contending team in a few years is locking down key pieces and building around them with young talent. Extending the heart and soul of the team for 7 years and trading away 3 older players in return for younger studs that will be pivotal parts in the rebuild is exactly what the Minnesota Twins did in 2021. I personally am looking forward to the growth of this team and what they can do in 2022.