Minnesota’s Free Agent Targets Become Clearer Following Arbitration Deadline

Twins general manager Bill Smith had better have the Pohlad’s checkbook ready.

As Tuesday night’s 11 p.m. deadline for teams to offer arbitration came and went, it officially sounded the real opening bell on free agency.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that free agents, all 171 of them, have been able to sign with teams since November 20th. However, teams rarely sign any Type-A or Type-B free agents prior to the arbitration deadline.

If a team signs a player prior to the deadline, the other team will undoubtedly offer arbitration to recoup their losses in the form of draft picks.

Tuesday’s deadline, however, was the last opportunity for teams to offer arbitration to free agents.

Any players who were offered arbitration now have one week to determine whether or not they’ll accept.

Any players who were not offered arbitration just became a whole lot more attractive on the free agent market.

The opportunity to sign high-profile players without surrendering draft picks makes them all the more appealing.

As such, I’ve taken a look at some of the popular targets for the Minnesota Twins this offseason who were NOT offered arbitration by Tuesday night’s deadline.

All of these players who—reportedly and/or hopefully—are on the Twins’ offseason radar are now available, without the added cost of a draft pick.

Let the games begin…

Rich Harden: Right-Handed Starting Pitcher

(Not offered arbitration by the Chicago Cubs – Type-B Free Agent)

Rich Harden is exactly the type of pitcher the Twins need at the front of the rotation.

Harden, 28, is a bulldog who can go deep into games and strikeout hitters by the boatload.

He does, however, come with the caveat that must always be stated before one can begin waxing poetic about his skills, and that caveat is “when healthy.”

You see, when healthy, Harden is one of the top pitchers in the game and can literally carry a team on his back.

When he’s not healthy, which has been an inordinately large percentage of his career, he’s going to be the trainer’s best friend and everyone else’s worst nightmare.

The Twins showed interest in Harden before the trade deadline in August and had reportedly won a waiver claim on the righthander before the Cubs pulled him back so he could be present for their late season push for complete irrelevancy in the National League Central.

Harden could probably be had on a one-year deal, but the Twins would be wise to offer at least a two-year deal with an option for a third year.

The deal would undoubtedly have to be loaded with incentives for at least the first year, but if the Twins got the dominate, healthy-version of Harden, he’d prove to be worth every penny.

Orlando Hudson: Second Baseman

(Not offered arbitration by the Los Angeles Dodgers – Type-A Free Agent)

Orlando Hudson, the free agent that could have been.

A year ago, Hudson could be had for pennies—and by pennies I mean a $3.38 million base salary—if the Twins had been willing to give up a first-round draft pick.

In the end, I’m happy they didn’t make the move, because Hudson’s late-season swoon probably would have tanked the Twins in this year’s heated American League Central dogfight.

Hudson, 32, is still, however, an enticing option as he hits the free agent market again this season.

Once again he is a Type-A free agent, but the Dodgers chose to let him walk rather than risk having him return and receive a hefty arbitration raise.

On the whole Hudson put up a solid .283/.357/.417 line that would have looked much better in the Twins’ two-hole than anything Orlando Cabrera, Alexi Casilla, or Matt Tolbert did all year.

Many people are very high on Hudson and would really like the Twins to pursue the veteran.

I, on the other hand, am not one of them. I wouldn’t complain if the Twins did sign him, but on the whole his overrated defense and his inability to stay healthy in recent years don’t lend themselves to the type of player the Twins need going forward.

If the Twins do sign him, I’d hope it’s a two-year pact at most, but I expect that—especially without an arbitration offer—he’ll find bigger money and more years elsewhere.

Erik Bedard: Left-Handed Starting Pitcher

(Not offered arbitration by the Seattle Mariners – Type-B Free Agent)

Erik Bedard is something of an enigma in the same vein as the aforementioned Rich Harden.

He can be flat-out dominant, if you can keep him on the field.

He made $7.75 million last year, while pitching just 83 innings. That was, however, two more innings than he pitched in 2008, when he made $7 million.

Needless to say, the Seattle Mariners didn’t exactly get a solid return on their investment when they acquired Bedard for a truckload of top-flight prospects before the 2008 season.

He had just 30 starts during his two-year stint in Seattle, roughly the equivalent to one healthy year, and in that time he went 11-7 with a 3.24 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and 162 strikeouts in 164 total innings.

The talent is there; the ability to stay healthy, not so much.

Obviously Bedard will be taking a serious pay cut, but for a player who will be 31 years old on Opening Day, and has a track record of falling apart, he can’t be too picky.

If the Twins could sign Bedard and somehow keep him on the mound instead of on the trainer’s table, he could be the dominate, overpowering lefty the club has been seeking since Johan Santana was traded and Franisco Liriano forgot how to pitch.

If they can’t keep him healthy, hopefully he’d just be a one-year bad investment with a low—and we’re talking REAL low base salary.

Placido Polanco: Second Baseman

(Not offered arbitration by the Detroit Tigers – Type-A Free Agent)

Placido Polanco, quite simply, is exactly what the Minnesota Twins need to solidify the infield.

Polanco, 34, is a Gold Glove second baseman who is statistically one of the best at the position in all of baseball.

That type of defensive upgrade would allow the Twins to shift the incumbent second baseman (by default) Nick Punto over to third base, which is statistically his best defensive position, thus creating one of the best defensive infields in all of baseball.

Additionally, Polanco is the ideal number two hitter that the Twins have wanted (and desperately needed) for some time now. He is a career .303/.348/.414 hitter with modest pop and a knack for getting big hits at the right time.

Making Polanco even more attractive is that he made just $4.6 million per year for the last four years. He is expected to take a pay cut with his next team and that would put him right in the Twins’ rather modest price range.

As if Polanco needed to be talked up any more than he already has been, there is the familiarity factor.

Polanco has been toiling in the American League Central with the Detroit Tigers for four-and-a-half seasons. He knows the league, he knows the pitchers, he knows the teams, and as such, his learning curve would be virtually non-existent.

On a one or two-year deal, Polanco is a perfect fit at the keystone corner

Miguel Tejada: Third Baseman

(Not offered arbitration by the Houston Astros – Type-A Free Agent)

Miguel Tejada—as I’ve previously written—is about five years removed from being a legitimate impact player.

His power is pretty much gone. His defensive range at shortstop is all but non-existent. He is destined for a move to third base, a position he has never played at the big league level.

However, there is one thing that he can still do very well—hit a baseball.

Tejada, 35 (in theory), hit .313/.340/.455 with 14 home runs and 86 RBIs last season with Houston.

His days as a big-time power-threat are long gone, but he can be the productive number two hitter that the Twins so desperately covet, while offering slightly more power than most of the other free agent options at third base.

His defense at third is a complete question mark at this point, but his ability to field the ball has never been in question. His range is gone, not his glove.

Additionally, he is well renowned for his throwing arm and could logically make the transition quite easily.

Despite his age, Tejada is known for his durability. Since 1999 he’s played in 158 games or better every year, except for 2007 when a fractured wrist limited him to 133 games.

That kind of reliability would be a nice change of pace after years of flip-flopping players in and out at the hot corner.

Tejada did, however, make a base salary of $13 million last season in the final year of his six-year, $72 million contract. He would need to be willing to accept an offer of roughly half that amount, perhaps with incentives, for the Twins to be able to afford him.

He may not be as “sexy” of an addition as Adrian Beltre (who, as a Type-B free agent, was offered arbitration) or as popular with the fans as last year’s Opening Day third-sacker, Joe Crede, but he could offer plenty of production, which is exactly what the Twins need.

Felipe Lopez: Second Baseman

(Not offered arbitration by the Milwaukee Brewers – Type-B Free Agent)

Felipe Lopez—as I’ve written about previously—may be the best option the Twins will find this offseason.

Lopez, 29, is coming off an incredible season in which he split time between Arizona and Milwaukee.

On the whole, Lopez hit his way to an impressive line of .310/.383/.427 with nine homers and a career-best 38 doubles.

While he’s not going to be confused for Placido Polanco with the leather, he can certainly hold his own. Most statistical metrics ranked him as a top five defender at the keystone corner last season, despite his penchant for piling up errors.

Overall, Lopez makes plenty of sense for the Twins.

Acquiring the switch-hitter would—much like the aforementioned Polanco—give the Twins a viable number two hitter to slot between Span and Mauer in the lineup and a solid, but not great, defensive second baseman.

If nothing else, Lopez offers a much younger alternative to signing Polanco or Hudson to shorter deals. At just 29 years old, Lopez figures to have plenty of productive seasons ahead and would fit in nicely with the young core of the Twins lineup.

Lopez made a modest $3.5 million last season and will likely make closer to $6-7 million this offseason, again, within the range that the Twins can likely afford to spend this offseason.