Minnesota Twins

Police have launched an investigation after three people smashed windows at the home of Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Kenta Maeda near Los Angeles before being scared off by the house's alarm system.

TMZ Sports reported Tuesday the alarms alerted police of the attempted burglary at 7:19 p.m. local time Sunday night. It appears no one was home at the time of the incident.

Maeda opened his MLB career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016 after eight seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in his native Japan. He joined the Twins in a February 2020 trade from L.A.

The 32-year-old right-hander is currently with Minnesota at the club's spring training complex in Fort Myers, Florida. He made his spring debut Thursday with two scoreless innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.

There was a large string of burglaries targeting athletes, including Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Robert Woods and former Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, and other celebrities in 2017 and 2018.

Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times reported local authorities arrested 13 alleged gang members in connection to those heists, and noted they would often review sports schedules and social media posts as they "deliberately targeted athletes" during times they most likely wouldn't be home.

Maeda was terrific for the Twins during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season. He posted a 2.70 ERA and a microscopic 0.75 WHIP with 80 strikeouts in 66.2 innings across 11 starts. He finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting behind only Cleveland's Shane Bieber.

Minnesota could have one of the AL's deepest rotations in 2021 with Maeda joined by Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda, J.A. Happ and Matt Shoemaker or Lewis Thorpe.

Minnesota Twins bench coach Mike Bell has taken an indefinite leave of absence due to kidney cancer, the team announced on Wednesday.  

Bell, 46, is the younger brother of Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell and the son of Buddy Bell. He was diagnosed with cancer during the offseason and had surgery to remove a growth in late January. He'll contribute to the club remotely as he recovers. 

"Mike has handled this with great courage, and as I said before, he’s recovering, doing great and is looking for the next part of his recovery, which will take place at home in Arizona for the time being," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "But believe me, he’s already plotting his return back to the dugout and getting back with the guys and getting ready to go."

Minnesota added Bell to its staff at the beginning of last season after Derek Shelton was hired to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Twins said Bell will "publicly address" his condition at a later time. Until then, Minnesota will not make any staffing changes, instead opting to dole out Bell's responsibilities among the coaches while he's away. 

Bell will still help manage spring training with quality control coach Nate Dammann as well as provide feedback on exhibition games and workouts. 

After spending 10 years with the Arizona Diamondbacks player development department, Bell got his first major league coaching job with the Twins last year.

Minnesota now eagerly awaits his return. 

"At this point, he's at home, which is really important to him, and he's just focused on getting healthy, getting stronger," David Bell said. "He has a ton of people that love him and support him and will all help him get strong and get back healthy and get back to work. One other thing is just the amount of support and amount of people throughout the game and friends that have reached out to him. I know it's meant a lot to him."

The Minnesota Twins upgraded their bullpen with the reported addition of Alex Colome.

According to LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, the reliever will make $5 million in 2021 while the team will have a $5.5 million option for 2022.

He provides some much-needed depth to the bullpen after it lost Tyler Clippard, Trevor May, Matt Wisler and Sergio Romo from last season. Here is what the staff will look like going into 2021. 

     

Twins Bullpen

Alex Colome (R)

Taylor Rogers (L)

Tyler Duffey (R)

Hansel Robles (R)

Jorge Alcala (R)

Caleb Thielbar (L)

Cody Stashak (R)

Devin Smeltzer (L)   

       

Colome is a proven closer with 138 career saves, serving the high-pressure role with the Tampa Bay Rays and the last two years with the Chicago White Sox.

The one-time All-Star had a league-high 47 saves in 2017 and finished the 2020 season with a 0.81 ERA and 12 saves.

While this would likely ensure he finishes games with the Twins, manager Rocco Baldelli chooses not to define roles that way.

"We haven't named a closer at any point in the last couple years and we're not going to do that going forward," he said in December, per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. "We want to pitch our guys when we think they're going to help us win a particular game. Maybe in a particular inning, with a particular set of hitters coming up. So our guys know that."

Colome will likely pitch in high-leverage situations throughout the year, but it doesn't guarantee he will earn the save.

Taylor Rogers also gives the team a lot of versatility as a left-hander capable of closing games. Though he struggled to a 4.05 ERA in 2020, this could be partially attributed to a small sample size after posting a 2.62 ERA the previous two years combined. 

With 24 strikeouts and just four walks in 20 innings, there are plenty of reasons to believe in the 30-year-old.

Baldelli can choose one of these pitchers based on the matchups, while Tyler Duffey should also get some opportunities.

Few other positions in the bullpen are guaranteed, but fans should expect Hansel Robles, Jorge Alcala and Caleb Thielbar to lock down roles in 2021.

Alex Colome agreed to a one-year, $6.3 contract with the Minnesota Twins, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, Colome will have a $5 million base salary in 2021 and a 2022 option. 

Colome spent the past two seasons with the Chicago White Sox, who acquired him from the Seattle Mariners in November 2018.

His first year in Chicago was a mixed bag.

Colome sported an impressive 2.80 ERA, which was partially down to opposing hitters batting .215 on balls in play, well below his career BABIP (.279), per FanGraphs. He made 62 appearances, earning 30 saves and posting a 4.08 FIP. This was the third straight season in which his FIP climbed following his All-Star appearance in 2016.

Rather than non-tendering him or going to arbitration, the White Sox signed Colome to a one-year, $10.5 million contract for 2020. He responded with a dominant performance over the abbreviated season. 

Over 22.1 innings, he notched 12 saves while allowing three runs. He left runners on base 86.4 percent of the time, which helped compensate for a substandard walk rate (3.22 per nine innings).

Colome's work on the mound helped the White Sox earn a wild-card berth and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008. He threw two scoreless innings in the wild-card series against the Oakland Athletics.

The problem for Colome is that he hit the free-agent market at an inopportune time. Teams are tightening their budgets because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and relievers are feeling the crunch.

The Cleveland baseball team declined a $10 million team option for three-time All-Star Brad Hand, who became a free agent when nobody else claimed him off waivers and assumed his salary. Cleveland moving on from Hand was surprising but not a massive shock. Him clearing waivers was far more telling.

To a lesser extent, the Tampa Bay Rays may have set the blueprint for others as they rode a pretty nondescript bullpen to an American League pennant. The unit was collectively excellent and didn't have anybody who arrived at significant cost.

Of course, that possibly creates a new market inefficiency for those who are willing to sign experienced relievers. Although Colome doesn't transform Minnesota's bullpen, he'll be a proven option for manager Rocco Baldelli.

The Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers are probably at least another year away from contention, and Cleveland continued its payroll slashing by trading Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to the New York Mets.

The American League Central could be a two-horse race between the Twins and Chicago White Sox, thus giving Minnesota a strong incentive to add to its options in late-inning situations.

Nelson Cruz has agreed to return to the Minnesota Twins on a one-year deal, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

"While a reunion with Minnesota was long expected, the likely lack of a designated hitter in the National League this season hastened the agreement and brought Cruz back to where he is beloved," Passan wrote.

Cruz will receive $13 million this season, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

The 40-year-old will be playing his third season with the Twins and 17th overall in an MLB career that has included stops with the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Minnesota.

Here's a look at how the Twins lineup may shake out with Cruz back in the fold, per RosterResource (via FanGraphs). A payroll estimation can also be found below via Cot's Contracts.

        

Projected Minnesota Batting Order

1. RF Max Kepler

2. 2B Luis Arraez

3. 3B Josh Donaldson

4. DH Nelson Cruz

5. 1B Miguel Sano

6. LF Alex Kirilloff

7. CF Byron Buxton

8. C Ryan Jeffers

9. SS Andrelton Simmons

                               

Bench

C Mitch Garver

INF Jorge Polanco

OF Jake Cave

OF/1B Brent Rooker

                  

Payroll

Prior to the Cruz deal, Cot's Contracts listed the Twins' 26-man Opening Day payroll at $107,627,666. The addition of Cruz at $13 million in 2021 would presumably put the Twins' payroll at $120,627,666 for now, although that number is nowhere near final with the Opening Day still two months away.

           

Notes on Cruz

Cruz has been at the forefront of a power surge in Minnesota that started in the 2019 season, when the team hit an MLB-record 307 home runs. Cruz led that team with 41 dingers and finished second on the Twins with 108 RBI and a .311 batting average.

That Twins team won the American League Central after posting 101 wins but fell to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series.

Minnesota once again went yard frequently in 2020, hitting 91 home runs in a 60-game season shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That mark was good enough for third in the American League and sixth in the bigs.

Cruz once again proved to be money at the dish, hitting a team-high 16 home runs alongside 33 RBI and a .303 batting average.

The Twins won the AL Central for the second consecutive year, finishing with the league's second-best record at 36-24. However, they fell short in the Wild Card Series, losing to the Houston Astros.

Minnesota's batting order will look a bit different this year sans outfielder Eddie Rosario, who signed with Cleveland as a free agent. Shortstop and defense wizard Andrelton Simmons was brought in from the Los Angeles Angels to shore up the team's middle infield.

Alex Kirilloff, the No. 15 overall pick in the 2016 MLB draft, also figures to be a regular this year after making his debut in last year's playoffs.

The rest of the lineup is largely intact from 2020. Expect the Twins to bash the ball and finish with a winning record once again in 2021, with the ageless Cruz defying time for at least one more year.

Nelson Cruz will play his 17th year in the majors with the Minnesota Twins after agreeing to a one-year, $13 million deal Tuesday, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Sources: Nelson Cruz signs one-year deal with the #MNTwins is worth $13 million.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 3, 2021

The 40-year-old continues to produce at a high level, hitting 16 home runs in 53 games for the Twins during the shortened 2020 season. He also hit .303 with a .397 on-base percentage and ranked eighth in the majors with a .992 OPS.

It earned him a spot on the All-MLB second team.

In 2019, he ranked fourth in MLB with a 1.031 OPS to go with a .311 average, 41 home runs, 108 RBI and a Silver Slugger award. He finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in each of his two seasons with Minnesota.

Cruz has been one of the top power hitters in baseball during his career, hitting at least 20 home runs in 11 straight seasons from 2009-19. With 417 career home runs, he ranks fourth among active players behind only Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Edwin Encarnacion.

Despite his age, he isn't looking to stop anytime soon.

"My body is in good shape, and I'm doing everything I can to keep it that way," he said in July, per Phil Miller of the Star-Tribune. "Why would I retire?"

It's enough to return to Minnesota for a third season as the squad tries to finally realize its potential.

The Twins won the AL Central in each of the past two years but didn't win a playoff game in either season. Retaining a difference-maker like Cruz can go a long way toward helping them go on a deep postseason run.

The veteran will remain a designated hitter with the team, but his offensive impact should be worth the cost for Minnesota. 

New Minnesota Twins shortstop Andrelton Simmons opted out of the final week of the Los Angeles Angels' 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, he told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register in a series of Twitter direct messages that he did so because of depression and suicidal thoughts he's experienced since his youth:

"It was tough for me mentally to where the thought of suicide crossed my mind. It was something I vowed a long time ago I would never consider again. I was fortunate to talk to a therapist, which helped me let go of those thoughts. At the end when a lot of people were still going through what most would think of as tough times, the idea of finishing the season in a bubble was too much for me to handle."

Simmons, a four-time Gold Glove winner who signed a one-year, $10.5-million deal with the Twins over the weekend, said he wanted to talk openly about his own situation to help others.

"Now seeing how more and more people are struggling with depression, anxiety and suicide I felt it might be time to share a little piece of my story," he wrote. "I was afraid of people judging and people twisting my story."

Seeing other people's struggles during the pandemic—along with Major League Baseball mandating a more intense quarantine for teams still in playoff contention the final week of the season—prompted Simmons' decision not to play the Angels' final games.

"I was really saddened by how much I was hearing about the death toll," he said, "and seeing how smaller businesses were going out of business and I was a little depressed at how the effects of all the new rules and fears were gonna affect people’s livelihoods and how disconnected people were becoming."

A number of athletes have publicly been speaking out about mental health struggles, from Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan in the NBA and Dak Prescott and Hayden Hurts in the NFL to swimmer Michael Phelps and MLB player Drew Robinson.

Shortstop Andrelton Simmons is headed to Minnesota.

The four-time Gold Glove Award winner reached an agreement with the Twins on a one-year, $10.5 million contract, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. 

The Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies were also interested in the 31-year-old, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman. 

Simmons was a free agent for the first time after the seven-year deal he signed upon entering the majors with the Atlanta Braves expired. He played for Atlanta for four seasons before being traded to the Los Angeles Angels.

With the Angels, he earned his most recent two Gold Gloves, in 2017 and 2018. He finished in the top 15 of MVP voting during both of those years, earning a career-high finish of eighth in 2017. That season, he slashed .278/.331/.421 with 14 home runs and a career-high 164 hits and 38 doubles.

In 2020, Simmons hit .297/.346/.356 in 118 at-bats before opting out of the season on September 22.

"At this moment, I feel this is the best decision for me and for my family," he told Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times. "We don't know what the future holds, but we would like to sincerely thank the Angels organization and Angels fans for welcoming us and making us feel at home." 

While he's packed an offensive punch since joining the Angels, Simmons is best-known for being one of the top defensive players of all time. He is credited with 191 defensive runs saved, second to Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre in FanGraphs' database (which goes back to 2002).  

The Twins have Jorge Polanco rostered at shortstop, and he won't hit free agency until 2026, with options in the two years preceding. Simmons is a serious upgrade at the position, since Polanco hasn't had a positive value in the Defensive Runs Saved metric since 2015 (h/t Mike Axisa of CBS Sports). 

Per Passan, Polanco will move over to second base, and former second baseman Luis Arraez will "get plenty of at-bats in a super-utility role." 

The Minnesota Twins reached an agreement with starting pitcher J.A. Happ on a one-year contract on Wednesday, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported Happ's deal is worth $8 million.

Happ quietly put together a solid bounce-back season in 2020 with the New York Yankees after a disappointing 2019 campaign landed him in the bullpen for that year's playoffs.

The 38-year-old left-hander posted a 3.47 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with 42 strikeouts in 49.1 innings across nine starts during the coronavirus-shortened season.

That was closer to the performance the Yanks expected after he shined in 11 outings after being acquired in a 2018 trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, going 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA down the stretch.

He did struggle in his final outing of 2020, giving up four earned runs in 2.2 innings of a playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, though.

"I've been here for two years and if anyone has heard me make an excuse for my performance in two years, they can speak up," Happ told reporters in October. "It didn't happen. I'm not gonna make an excuse."

His career ERA stands at 3.98 through 324 appearances (298 starts).

Happ has long been a reliable mid-rotation starter and that's the role he'll likely fill with the Twins. He's enjoyed some extended stretches where he's pitched like a top-end hurler, including 2015 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and 2018 with the Yankees, but that's unlikely over a full 30-start campaign.

There are multiple teams interested in adding power to their lineup this offseason by way of former Minnesota Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz.

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, teams in both the American League and National League have "ongoing interest" in the 40-year-old slugger. 

The league has yet to announce whether there will be a universal designated hitter in 2021, as there was in the 2020 pandemic-shortened campaign, but Cruz also has experience in the outfield. 

Upon joining the Twins in 2019, Cruz hit .311 with 41 home runs and 108 RBI. He followed up that act in a pandemic-shortened season with a .303/.397/.595 season at the plate, belting 16 home runs. He anchored a Twins lineup that led the league in home runs and ranked second in runs scored in 2019 and was a mainstay even through a quieter 2020 season. 

Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said last week on WCCO Radio that Cruz "has earned the opportunity and the right to work through free agency in full" but offered no assurance that he would return next season.

While Falvey was noncommital, KSTP-TV's Darren Wolfson said the Twins are the "number one choice" for Cruz, but he is holding out to see whether or not he could find a home in the National League if a universal designated hitter returns for 2021.  

La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune said Cruz is hoping to land a two-year deal this offseason, which would keep him in his future home until he turns 42.