The Minnesota Twins are proud of the season they just completed, where they ended a dreaded 18-game postseason losing streak and won their first playoff series in 20 years. The group of players all seemed to be cohesive, and their ability to maximize the value of some of their veterans didn’t seem to interfere much with their desire to make room for exciting rookies.
That was by design.
The team has made some tough decisions through the years, where they ultimately had to bid adieu to talented players to maximize the efficiency of their roster, or because they bet on other players to fill those roles at more value. But now that the Twins are watching the championship series from their couch, it’s worth reflecting on a few of their former teammates that are still in contention for a World Series ring. One is a middle-of-the-order, bat-first veteran catcher we all know. The other is a journeyman pitcher.
Mitch Garver
As one of the primary members of the 2019 Bomba Squad Twins, Garver was somewhat of a late-bloomer who burst onto the scene in powerful fashion. The catcher swatted 31 home runs in just 93 games played that season, propelling his team to an all-time record for team home runs in a season. The sky was the limit for the cost-controlled slugger playing a premium position and coming off a career year.
But like many players in 2020, Garver struggled mightily in the small 23-game sample size, slashing just .167/.247/.264 (46 wRC+). And while it’s hard for a team to put too much stock into a disappointing season in such a strange, pandemic-affected context, it put pressure on Garver’s pivotal 2021 campaign as the Twins determined his future on the club. For what it’s worth, Graver rebounded tremendously that year. He hit .256/.358/.517 (139 wRC+) while playing in 68 games.
However, the Twins ultimately found Garver to be expendable in the right deal. Ryan Jeffers had emerged as a suitable gamble to take his place, and offered more upside based on his age. The team determined that the then-24-year-old would be the backstop of the future. Theoretically, Garver’s trade stock should’ve been pretty valuable based on his bounce-back season and ability to play a premium position.
However, injury had mostly relegated him to designated hitter in the final months. So the Twins traded him to the Texas Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. Minnesota sent Kiner-Falefa to the New York Yankees along with Josh Donaldson for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela. The Twins got one year of solid production from Urshela before trading him to the Los Angeles Angels for Alejandro Hidalgo.
From looking at the series of transactions, the Twins traded Garver and received one solid season of action (Urshela), a predictably disappointing year (Sánchez) and whatever the club can get out of two good-not-great pitching prospects (Henriquez and Hidalgo). It’ll take time to really determine if that decision to trade Garver ended up being worth it. But for now, it’s hard to love the deal on Minnesota’s end when they’re watching him drive in eight runs in the postseason.
Jeff Hoffman
Twins fans like to criticize the soggy-bottom of the club’s bullpen in 2023. But let’s be honest, no fanbase likes the secondary options in their team’s relief corps. Ever.
Still, it stings to see Hoffman, who was a minor-league signee by Minnesota last off-season, absolutely thrive in his first season with the Philadelphia Phillies. The veteran righty posted a sterling 2.41 ERA in 54 games with the National League powerhouse this year, setting career-highs in strikeout percentage (36.4%), walks/hits per inning pitched (0.92 WHIP) and opponent batting average (.155).
The former top-prospect struggled early in his career with the Colorado Rockies before being shipped to the Cincinnati Reds. In 2022, Hoffman looked like a prime breakout candidate based on his strong splitter and a regression in his batter-ball data thanks to leaving Coors Field. So it’s easy to see why the Twins would take a flier on the 30-year-old pitcher.
But they should have stuck with their guns. They decided to let Hoffman walk just days before Opening Day this season, and he signed shortly after with the Phillies. Now, they get to reap the benefits of Hoffman’s breakout. They have him throwing his fastball harder (97.1 MPH average fastball velocity, 94.3 MPH in 2022), his slider more often (a whopping 47.9% this year, 23.7% in 2022) and missing more bats (15.8% swinging-strike rate, 10.7% in 2022). Hoffman was worth 1.5 Wins Above Replacement according to Fangraphs, which is more than every reliever in Minnesota’s bullpen not named Jhoan Duran and Brock Stewart combined.
There’s no getting around this one. The Twins lost their gamble by releasing Hoffman. Sure, the buy-in didn’t cost them much, but the wasted opportunity was cringeworthy knowing how much this lottery ticket ended up being worth.
