With new crop of free agents available, here are 3 ideas for the Twins
A new crop of free agents are available after players like C.J. Cron and Trevor Hildenberger weren't offered contracts by Monday's MLB-wide deadline, with many of the players who weren't tendered offers likely destined for short-term prove-it deals on the open market.
Here are three players the Twins should consider looking at for next season.
Kevin Pillar, OF
Pillar spent his first seven seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays before being traded to the San Fransisco Giants five games into the 2019 season.
The 30-year-old outfielder had the best year of his career last season, slashing .264/.293/.442 with 21 home runs, 37 doubles, 87 RBI and 14 stolen bases. He also has plenty of postseason experience with 74 at-bats with two stops in the ALCS with Toronto.
However, his career OPS of .701 isn't going to land a big-time deal. Pillar would be a great insurance policy for Byron Buxton, who seems to always find himself on the injured list. At the very least, he would be an upgrade as Minnesota's fourth outfielder, or even pushed into the starting lineup if Eddie Rosario is traded this winter.
Pillar was projected to make $10 million in the final year of his contract before being non-tendered by the Giants and it's likely he won't be getting a contract near that figure on the open market.
Josh Phegley, C
The Twins are in the market for a catcher to pair with Mitch Garver since Jason Castro is a free agent.
Phegley is an ideal backup with solid pop and steady defense. He played in a career high 106 games last season with the Oakland Athletics, hitting 12 homers with 62 RBI and 18 doubles.
He was projected to make $2.2 million in arbitration before Oakland deemed him expendable, so he'll likely come even cheaper on a short-term deal.
Taijuan Walker, SP
Walker is a hard-throwing righty who made just one appearance last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018.
The 27-year-old made a touch over $5 million last season before being non-tendered by the Diamondbacks.
He made his MLB debut as a 20-year-old with Seattle in 2013 and spun together a nice career before his arm surgery. Over that time, Walker had a 3.96 ERA, 8.1 strikeouts per 9 innings and only 2.8 walks. Walker's fastball was clocked at 93.3 mph last year, according to FanGraphs, which is a tad under his career average of 94.0.
If his velocity and health are trending in the right direction, the Twins should absolutely be in on his services. It's likely they could broach a similar deal to when they signed Martin Perez to a two-year contract with a team option built in for the second season.
