Another trip to the MLB playoffs ended without a single victory for the Minnesota Twins, who have now lost 18 consecutive postseason games dating back to 2004. The playoff disappointment comes on the heels of another strong regular season, as Minnesota won the American League Central crown with a 36-24 mark before being swept out of the AL Wild Card Series by the Houston Astros.
Bradford Doolittle takes a look at where the Twins stand and answers three key questions for the club moving forward to 2021 and beyond.
Minnesota Twins
Notable free agents: Jake Odorizzi, Nelson Cruz, Alex Avila, Rich Hill, Marwin Gonzalez, Sergio Romo (club option with $250,000 buyout), Tyler Clippard, Ehire Adrianza
Trade candidates: Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano
Extension candidates: Jose Berrios, Byron Buxton, Luis Arraez, Taylor Rogers
1. Can they re-sign Nelson Cruz? Should they?
Only nine players have hit at least 400 homers after reaching their age-28 season. With five more HRs in 2021, Cruz will make it 10. Of course, the other nine all hit lots of home runs before age 28; Cruz hit 22. There really has never been a career shaped like the one Cruz has enjoyed. He turned 40 before this season and was as good as ever.
No one, even Cruz's agent, would make the case that someone should dole out a massive five-year deal for a 40-year-old designated hitter. But how high should a team go? For how many years? Because not even Cruz can keep this up forever. Or so we think. As valuable as he is in a vacuum, Cruz might be even more valuable to the Twins. He has been the avatar for what the team has been the past couple of years -- the Bomba Squad.
2. Do they need a contingency for Josh Donaldson's injuries?
The four-year, $92 million contract the Twins gave to Josh Donaldson last winter is a huge investment for the team. The deal was a gamble that the Donaldson who played in 150-plus games for most of his career was not the player who couldn't stay on the field in 2017 and 2018. During 2020, Donaldson played in 28 games, hit .222, drove in 11 runs and was unavailable for the AL Wild Card Series against the Houston Astros.
Hopefully, the Twins will still garner plenty of value from Donaldson, but Year 1 of the deal was not a resounding success. And he'll be 35 in December. Obviously, the Twins won't rush out and sign another full-time third baseman. However, as the Twins fill out their roster over the next couple of years, they might want to make sure one of their every-day bats has the versatility to slide over to the hot corner for 50 or 60 games a season.
This year, those guys were Marwin Gonzalez and Ehire Adrianza, both of whom are headed into free agency. Going forward, it could be prospect Royce Lewis. But Minnesota will have to make the right call because Donaldson's deal kind of signals that the Twins will -- and should -- remain in win-now mode.
3. Should Minnesota make room for the kids?
Beyond Lewis, the other key position prospect who should be ready for the majors going forward is Alex Kirilloff, who has yet to debut in the bigs during the regular season but made his major league debut in Game 2 against the Astros. He is a corner, right-field/first-base type who profiles as more of a full-service hitter than a pure basher -- which might be a bit of variety needed on a Twins club that was a bit too homer-dependent in 2020.