A Sendoff for Denard Span

Span was taken 20th overall in the 2002 draft. It took him a few years to make it to the big leagues, but he got his chance in 2008 and put together a nice rookie season with a .294/.387/.432 triple slash.

He would play 4 more seasons in a Twins uniform and would become one of the true stud leadoff hitters in all of baseball. Span put together a strong five years in Minnesota including:

-.284/.357/.389 triple slash and 90 stolen bases

-Accumulating 15.1 fWAR and 17.2 bWAR

-(Technically) The first hit and home run in Target Field in an exhibition game

-First regular season run and stolen base at Target Field

-Led off for two AL Central champion Twins teams

Denard span has a lot of weird moments in a Twins jersey that are just downright hard to forget. Considering the odds of him hitting a foul ball into the stands and hitting his own mom to his record tying three triple game, Span certainly had an interesting stay in Minnesota on top of a productive one. He was a player that I for whatever reason felt would always stay in Minnesota.

Much to many’s disgust, the Twins traded Span in 2012 to Washington for Alex Meyer. This trade needs no explanation for how bad it was. The Twins would struggle to find production in center field for years to come while Span would go on to have some of his most productive years in Washington, even finishing 19th in MVP voting in 2014.

After three productive years, Span departed for San Francisco where he continued being an around league average hitter before being traded to Tampa Bay and eventually Seattle later in 2018.

Despite putting up a top 5 offensive season in his career (112 wRC+), Span couldn’t find a contract in the 2018 offseason and sat out 2019. After similar issues this offseason, Span retired feeling disrespected by the free agent market. He was an above league average hitter in 4 of his final 5 seasons. His fWAR hovered in the low to mid 1s in his last five seasons. While his defense had slipped a bit, he still had plenty to offer the game of baseball.

https://twitter.com/CodyPirkl/status/1270544992038240256

The issue that caused Span to ride off into the sunset is one that has become all too common in recent years. The free agent market has recently put players in situations where they’ve had to compromise on the value of their talent. The end of Span’s career however shows his character. He knew he was still a productive player and refused to give into the salary offers trying to tell him otherwise. For that I will always respect the Twins center fielder tremendously.

In a post game interview in 2018 after a showdown between the Twins and the Rays, Span pulled at our heartstrings by saying he will always be a Twin at heart. I strongly suggest watching the interview and getting all the feels.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’re happy to have him. It broke my heart to hear him talk about coming back. My baseball knowledge of the Twins stacked outfield situation just melts away and makes me wish the Twins would just give the man a contract just to see Denard Span standing in the outfield in Target Field again.

At any rate, cheers to the career of a former Twin who can only be remembered fondly. A player who did it the right way up until the day he called it a career. Wishing Denard Span all the best in retirement.

— Latest Twins coverage from our writers

— Recent Twins discussion in our forums

— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email

— Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here