Derek Falvey, president of the Twins for baseball operations, admitted during a TwinsFest town hall virtual meeting Saturday that his team still had to work on this off-season before reporting to Fort Myers, Fla. For spring training. Part of that work could include the return of batsman-designate Nelson Cruz. Falvey spoke
Derek Falvey, president of the Twins for baseball operations, admitted during a TwinsFest town hall virtual meeting Saturday that his team still had to work on this off-season before reporting to Fort Myers, Fla. For spring training.
Part of that work could include the return of a designated batsman
“There was a lot of uncertainty early on in the off-season about a universal DH what that would mean,” said Cruz’s Falvey. “Given its position and impact [he] he and his agents rightly deserved the opportunity to go through the off-season and ponder which seizures would work. He has been to different places over time.
“We made no secret of the fact that we continue to have a dialogue and a good dialogue about it. I can say without going beyond that in terms of the internal conversation with Nellie and his agents, it remains active and productive on that front. “
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Cruz remains an interesting player scenario for the 2021 season. He will turn 41 on July 1, but the most productive seasons of his 16-year career have been the last seven. Cruz has spent the last two with the twins and with an OPS of 1.031, 41 homers and 108 RBIs in 19 and an OPS of 0.992, 16 homers and 33 RBIs during a cutoff, an excellent lead and exceptional mid-order production bid ’20 campaign.
A universal DH would clearly open up Cruz’s market. Falvey spoke with encouragement about the addition of the twins to the starting pitcher JA Happ, the late-rinning reliever Hansel Robles and the shortstop Andrelton Simmons, but made it clear that the team is not finished yet.
“I feel like we had some really productive conversations over the course of the off-season that ultimately resulted in some really great additions,” said Falvey. “Its a lot to do.
“That’s strange to say on January 30th, but that’s just the reality. This is how the market has developed. So we still have a few weeks before we get to Fort Myers, but we’re really excited about the team we will have on the field. “
