Minnesota Twins: Power hitting options in free agency
30+ Home Run Hitters
Undoubtedly, Martinez is the top power hitter on the market. Over the last four seasons, he’s hit 128 home runs, including a career-high 45 in 2017. Most impressively, 29 of those home runs came in 59 games after being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Detroit Tigers. In all, he ranked third in baseball behind Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge. Martinez is also a great contact hitter, batting .307 in 2016 and .303 in 2017. For his career, he’s a .285 hitter, so expect him to receive a $25+ million a year contract.
The long-time Kansas City Royals third baseman came back strong after missing most of 2016 with a torn ACL. In fact, he hit a career-high 38 home runs and 85 RBIs, making him a favorite for MLB Comeback Player of the Year. Previously, he never had a season with more than 22 home runs, so there’s no reason to believe he can continue hitting home runs at that rate. Even so, the two-time All-Star is only 29 years old, so he’s definitely in the midst of the prime of his career.
Like Moustakas, Morrison had a career year with the Tampa Bay Rays, tying the Royals third baseman with 38 home runs and 85 RBIs. Given his past, it’s hard to justify giving the 29-year-old a big contract after one fantastic year. Prior to 2017, he only had 84 home runs in seven seasons, so there’s reason to believe this season was an outlier. To his credit, he has a .995 fielding percentage as a first baseman. So, at the right price, he could be worth picking up in hopes that the power numbers carry over into 2018.
Bruce had another 30-home run season with the New York Mets and Cleveland Indians, the fifth of his 10-year career. In total, he hit 36 home runs, while driving in 101 RBIs. Basically, you know what you’re going to get from the 30-year old, plenty of home runs and RBIs. He’s consistently been a dangerous bat in the lineup and bats at a respectable .249 rate. The consistency is nice to see from the three-time All-Star, but it also raises his price tag to over $20 million per year in all likelihood.
In Duda’s last four seasons, he’s hit 30, 27, 7, and 30 home runs. The outlier was in a season that he played only 47 games because of an injury. Therefore, the first baseman has been fairly consistent over the last few seasons and should come at a reasonable rate, likely under $10 million. He has a .995 fielding percentage at first base, but has also seen much time at designated hitter in his career with the New York Mets and Tampa Bay Rays.
The journeyman third baseman is coming off a 30-homer, 97-RBI season with the Colorado Rockies. A career .237 hitter, he’s drastically improved the last couple of seasons batting .282 and .267, respectively. That being said, he’s known as a power hitter. As matter of fact, he had seven straight seasons of at least 21 home runs from 2008 to 2014 and has 281 career home runs. If 2017 shows us anything, it’s that he still has some left in the tank at 34 years old. Like Duda, he’s likely not going to be too expensive compared to the rest.