Josh Donaldson, Twins sign a Free Agent AND trade for a starting pitcher!!
JoeBanzai
Posts: 11,794 ✭✭✭✭✭
I am happy to see the Twins going after and getting a top level free agent. Donaldson appears to be one of the best 3rd basemen in the league.
Go Twins!
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Really surprised he got a 4 year deal. Not a question of talent but durability. last year was the first year he was able to play pretty much without injury for the whole season. The Twins already have a ton of offense, so if goes down for a period, the have adequate replacement talent and shouldn't feel the pain as much.
He did have 4 seasons where he virtually played every day.
The 4th year was prolly what they had to give him or he wouldn't have signed.
Hopefully he will stay healthy. If he does and Buxton can avoid injury, the Twins should be better than last year.......on paper.
I thought the reason he stayed out there as long as he did was his demand (if that's not too hard a word) for the 4th year. I knew the Phils had some interest, but not 4 yrs worth. I thought the Braves felt the same way. He did have 4 seasons where he played almost every day and he was incredible in those years, but we've all seen what father time does to the skills of the aging player.
I have nothing against him; in fact I hope he does well. He always seems to wind up on my fantasy team (not last year) and he's now in the Al, so I won't have to worry about him when he plays the Phillies. He seemed to have at least one critical 3 run HR in every series we played last year. Hope he cane get the Twins to the next step.
Me too! He can always move to 1B or DH if he can't play 3B.
We might be losing Nelson Cruz after this year. Contract is up and he is 38, Josh just turned 34.
Just wait and see if Buxton can play 140 games, you will see something else!
Not betting on it though.
Joe, get ready to be disappointed.
We'll have to hang our hat on hope.
He played for you guys for a while didn't he?
Why do you think he will disappoint? I would be happy with two good/great years and a couple of ok ones.
Joe, he just seems like he's put his best years behind him and has slipped into being a "journeyman" who has managed to get a four year contract to close out his career. maybe it's because his injuries have made him inconsistent, but his average is down while his K's and HR's are up, reflective of the balls MLB used last season. if that ball is constructed like it was for the play-offs and the previous seasons I would envision his numbers dropping more. he rebounded well last year and got back to his 2016 games played, but he's also a few years older. at that, back in the AL he has the advantage of days off when he can DH, so thing balance out.
I was excited when the Indians signed him but not very happy about his contributions. maybe it will be different in Minnesota, he'll have some off-season and all of pre-season to "fit in" and not have to adjust on the fly. he has been a dynamic player at times, but I think that's in the rear view mirror now.
I can see that, but even if he plays CLOSE to last year's form, he will bring great defense and excellent hitting to the Twins.
In listening to the "experts" analysis, it was said he was about the 3rd best fielding at the hot corner and he is a 30+ double and 35+ HR guy who walks a lot, so this should really help for (hopefully) at least a couple of years.
Sano moving to 1B makes a lot of sense as well. Polanco will be a better SS with Josh there who was one of the best at charging in on balls hit that have to be "charged in" on.
Looks like his numbers with you guys were pretty good only 16 games, but a .920 OPS.
I am just happy and surprised the Twins actually got a free agent who was somewhat in demand. If it doesn't work out, at least they spent some money.
He will certainly help your team as long as he stays healthy, and he played a very nice third base last year. I'm glad he's no longer on the Braves.
Gave up a VERY promising pitcher with a 100 MPH fastball for a guy who looks pretty good against right handed batters. NASTY slider.
Hated losing Graterol, but he has had some injury issues. He looked great when he pitched against the Yankees in the playoffs last year.
Kenta Maeda looks like a solid addition to the rotation, tough on RHB with that slider. Looks like he does NOT want to pitch out of the bullpen. Pretty good contract, strikes out a lot of guys, never pitched over 175 innings but stays healthy. Under contract for 4 years which is good as Jake Odorizzi is a free agent after this year.
Twins look to have one of the best hitting lineups in MLB, do they have enough pitching to challenge?
My first thought is no, the teams they are in competition against for a championship all have at least one if not two STUD starting pitchers. The Twins have one guy who MIGHT be that good in Berrios.
The Dodgers sure look good now!