It’s been a slow offseason in baseball overall, so the Minnesota Twins’ sluggish start seems even worse in our tiny echo chamber. The Twins weren’t the only team to cut spending this winter, and players like Carlos Santana weren’t the only ones who got better deals than they would have in another year.
Twins fans have been disappointed by the lack of expenditure, but players bear the burden of teams’ unwillingness to spend as much as they formerly did.
Cody Bellinger is an example of this, as he was expected to sign a $300 million contract but ended up returning to the Chicago Cubs after Spring Training began on what amounts to a one-year, $30 million deal with options.
Blake Snell won the NL Cy Young but is still a free agent, and his price is dropping as teams gain leverage as Opening Day approaches. It’s not just top-tier free agents who have signed contracts that appear unusually low.
Nationals sign former Twins starter to an extremely cheap deal.
MLB reporter Daniel Álavarez-Montes reported on Wednesday that the Nationals have agreed to sign Eddie Rosario. The agreement is only worth $4 million with incentives, which is less than Washington paid Joey Gallo despite having a less productive season last year than Rosario.
Aside from the comparison to Gallo, that seems extremely low for Rosario. He was a mid-tier free agent, but the league has a clear need for outfield help, which the Twins hoped to capitalize on by dangling Max Kepler as trade bait this winter.
Kepler did not get dealt, and there was no gold rush for outfielders. Juan Soto was the most prominent player to change sides, but everything else was rather quiet. Despite being the top free agent on the market, Bellinger was unable to get a contract until February.
Rosario could have been a good fit for the Twins if he was a right-handed batter, as everyone remembers him fondly from Minnesota. He hit.279/.309/.479 during six seasons with the Twins, starting with Byron Buxton in the outfield.
After departing the Twins, he played for Cleveland and Atlanta, with his output peaking in 2021 before dipping slightly a year later. Last season, he appeared to be pushing things in the right direction, and he comes to Washington as solid depth.
The fact that the Nats obtained him for such a low price feels like a steal, and it demonstrates that the Twins aren’t the only ones who are being cautious with their spending this offseason.
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