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Even with the Twins in the midst of a division race, it’s never too early to look ahead at plans for this winter. Minnesota’s starting rotation will have plenty of options for the start of 2023, but there are other holes to fill in the roster. Here are the top pending free agents and how they may or may not fit with the Twins.
Aaron Judge, OF
Judge bet on himself this spring and that bet is paying off. New York offered him a contract north of $215 million but he will make significantly more than that based on his monster 2022 season. He’s the likely front runner for the AL MVP and the Yankees are dominating one of baseball’s best divisions. Back in June, ESPN’s Buster Olney named the Twins as a potential landing spot for Judge. The team has the payroll flexibility to make a deal work, but the Twins also have quite a few options in the outfield. Judge likely gets a contract he is looking for from one of the big market teams.
Trea Turner, SS
Turner may be a sneaky fit for the Twins if the market plays out in their favor. Judge may be the top player on the market but Turner has skills on both sides of the ball that front offices covet. For the second consecutive offseason, the free agent shortstop class is considered strong. Turner is slightly older than Carlos Correa (see below) so a seven or eight-year deal will lock him up through his late 30s. As he ages, he will need to shift to a different defensive position, but he is currently one of the game’s best overall players.
Nolan Arenado, 3B
Like Judge, Arenado is in the midst of his best big-league season in a contract year. Arenado is under contract through 2027, but he can opt out of the remaining $144 million he is due after this season. He compares similarly to Anthony Rendon who signed a seven-year, $245 million contract entering the 2020 season. Arenado is in his age-31 season, so he is older than the other players on this list. Even with his age, he is considered one of the game’s premier defensive players, but the bulk of a long-term contract will be outside the prime of his career. For the Twins, Arenado may be slightly cheaper than the other players on this list.
Carlos Correa, SS
If Correa stays healthy, it is expected that he will opt out of his contract at the season’s end. Correa slumped to start the 2022 season and has struggled over the last couple of months. He is still having an overall good year, but the Twins and Correa were both expecting more during the 2022 campaign. His defensive numbers have declined this season, but there may be some reasons for his decline (see below). Even with his slump, Correa is younger than all of the players on this list which has a chance to result in a 10-year contract that takes him through his age-37 season. It would be out of character for the Twins front office to sign him to this kind of contract, but his first deal with the club was also uncharacteristic.
Do you think any of these pending free agents are a good fit for the Twins? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.
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