Max Kepler, OF
- Unrestricted Free Agent
- Contract: $7M
Perhaps the toughest decision the Twins will have to make this winter is what happens with Max Kepler. He's been with the team since 2009, but is set to hit free agency at a time when them team is counting every penny in its piggy bank.
Kepler could return on a team-friendly deal and everything suggests he has loyalty to Minnesota that could lead to this happening. Then again, he's a mid-tier right fielder who could get a call from a team like the Yankees or Braves who want to add him as depth and pay him more than the Twins would be willing to.
There were talks of Kepler potentially being traded last winter knowing that his free agency was looming. That didn't happen, and while he didn't blow anyone away with his numbers, he had enough successful stretches to garner some interest on the open market. Minnesota's vast array of outfield talent in the minors is likely to sway the team away from bringing Kepler back at a price point it doesn't like, and could outright take a reunion off the table.
If that happens, it will truly be the end of an era for everyone involved.
Kyle Farmer, INF
- Mutual Option
- Contract: $6.3M
One thing the Twins love to do as a means of skirting around actually adding to the roster is to tout internal talent as though it balances out a hypothetical external solution. Look no further than the team giving Kyle Farmer $6 million as an arbitration settlement and writing it off as the team's big free agent signing.
That's effectively what it was, as no contract got added to the books that was bigger than Farmer's. Not only is that sad to begin with, but he also failed to live up to the expectations that came with the salary.
He turned things on a bit toward the end of the season, hitting .289/.339/.519 as he saw more regular work due to injuries thinning out the roster. For most of the season, though, Farmer was a total disaster. He hit an unplayable .121 over the first month, an average that only marginally improved to .165 through the end of May.
Willi Castro had the type of season the Twins were expecting out of Farmer when they paid him last winter, which is why it's unlikely he'll be back. For as rough as he was on the field, Farmer is well liked and highly respected in the clubhouse, but at $6.3 million he's way too expensive for a team that is looking to save where it can.
Caleb Thielbar, RP
- Unrestricted Free Agent
- Contract: $3.225M
His season debut was delayed due to injury, and it took one single appearance for Caleb Thielbar to undo all of the hype around him adding some relief to the bullpen. He was another one of the guys Minnesota touted as a potential addition without actually needing to add salary, but Thielbar was atrocious for large stretches of the season.
He hit rock bottom in June when he went back-to-back appearances against the Rockies without recording a single out. His high points weren't much better has he finished the season with a 5.32 ERA and -0.6 WAR.
While he managed to avoid getting DFA'd during the season, there doesn't seem to be many routes for him back to Minnesota this winter.
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