When the Minnesota Twins traded for Manuel Margot last offseason, the idea was that he’d be a power hitting insurance policy in the event something happened to Byron Buxton. It wasn’t a bad bet at the time, but it didn’t take long for the team to end up on the wrong side of the deal, one that has mercifully come to an end.
According to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson, the Twins informed Margot on Thursday that they would be declining the $12 million mutual option on his contract. This means after just one season in Minnesota, Margot will become a free agent this winter.
It’s hardly surprising news, but the move now seemingly gets the wheels turning on what will be a busy and important offseason for the Twins.
No surprise: #MNTwins have let OF Manny Margot know that they declined their part of the mutual 2025 option. He’s going to be a free agent. ‘25 option was for $12M. It’s $2M to buy that out (not paid by Twins).
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) October 31, 2024
Twins declining Manuel Margot’s mutual option is hardly a surprise
Margot was truly awful for the Twins, even if he provided some upside against left-handed pitching and showed a few flashes. For whatever good he may have done, Margot outweighed it by going 0-for-30 as a pinch hitter while slowly becoming a defensive liabilty.
For the season, Margot hit .238/.289/.337 with a -0.9 WAR. To be fair, he finished the year slashing .269/.322/.391 with a .713 OPS against lefties, which is the main arguement for bringing him in over re-signing Michael A. Taylor and running things back. To that end, Taylor his an abysmal .196 against left-handed pitching so analytically the move was a win for the Twins.
That’s about the only way it felt worth it, though.
Minnesota didn’t need to take on much of Margot’s salary when they acquired him from the Dodgers last February which was a big reason why the deal got done. It was a bigger swing than anyone thought the team would make after slashing $30 million from the payroll, but the financial win is where things peaked.
There are a few ways Margot could be remembered in Minnesota, but one in particular sticks out. As the Twins were starting to fall into a slump in early-April, Margot came to the plate in Milwaukee with two outs and the bases loaded, and proceeded to put down a surprise bunt.
It didn’t work, and pretty much set the tone for how the rest of the season would go for him. It was truly a disappointment to see him falter so badly offensively, but the biggest win ended up being that the Twins didn’t need a Buxton insurance policy as much as we thought they might.
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