The Minnesota Twins should lock up their first baseman of the future

With the 2017 MLB Winter Meetings underway, should the Minnesota Twins consider locking up their first baseman of the future?

The Minnesota Twins head into the 2017 MLB Winter Meetings with plenty of needs. In reality, they could use a starting pitching, a relief pitcher, and a right-handed power bat. As matter of fact, when it comes to pitching, the Twins could use multiple arms considering that’s their main area of weakness.

While the Twins would do right by addressing any of these needs, there’s one more move they should be looking to make. That is, a move for their first baseman of the future.

Before getting too ahead of myself, I’ll be quick to point out that this isn’t a priority by any means. I mean, whether you love him or hate him, Minnesota has Joe Mauer and to his credit, he’s turned into a great defensive first baseman. Not to mention, he’s coming off his best offensive season since 2013. Nevertheless, there’s a perfect opportunity to make a move for a first baseman in this free agent market. One that can be considered the first baseman of the future with Mauer’s contract expiring at the end of next season.

Particularly, the first basemen market boasts the likes of a couple familiar faces. Those familiar faces would be Eric Hosmer and Carlos Santana. Of course, Hosmer has spent his whole seven-year career with the Kansas City Royals, while Carlos Santana has spent eight years with the Cleveland Indians.

Both players are intriguing names that should land big contracts in free agency. The 27-year-old Hosmer, who’s also a Scott Boras client, is likely to see a bigger deal in the six-year, $120 million-plus range. On the other hand, the 31-year-old Santana probably gets a four-year deal around $60 million. Given the Twins lack of options behind Mauer currently — although they could consider moving someone like Miguel Sano to first base eventually — Derek Falvey and Thad Levine may be smart to sign one of these first basemen to a long-term deal.

In my opinion, Santana is the better fit for the Twins. Basically, he boasts an underrated defensive game at first base and is the more consistent offensive player. Just take a look at their career batting statistics. Specifically, pay attention to the batting average and on-base percentage of both players.

Eric Hosmer: CAREER BATTING STATISTICS
YEAR	TEAM	GP	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	WAR
2011	KC	128	523	66	153	27	3	19	78	34	82	11	5	.293	.334	.465	.799	1.3
2012	KC	152	535	65	124	22	2	14	60	56	95	16	1	.232	.304	.359	.663	-0.7
2013	KC	159	623	86	188	34	3	17	79	51	100	11	4	.302	.353	.448	.801	3.6
2014	KC	131	503	54	136	35	1	9	58	35	93	4	2	.270	.318	.398	.716	0.8
2015	KC	158	599	98	178	33	5	18	93	61	108	7	3	.297	.363	.459	.822	3.6
2016	KC	158	605	80	161	24	1	25	104	57	132	5	3	.266	.328	.433	.761	1.0
2017	KC	162	603	98	192	31	1	25	94	66	104	6	1	.318	.385	.498	.883	—
Total	Total	1048	3991	547	1132	206	16	127	566	360	714	60	19	.284	.342	.439	.781	—
Season Averages	149.0	570.1	78.1	161.7	29.4	2.3	18.1	80.9	51.4	102.0	8.6	2.7	.284	.342	.439	.781	—

Carlos Santana: CAREER BATTING STATISTICS
YEAR	TEAM	GP	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	WAR
2010	CLE	46	150	23	39	13	0	6	22	37	29	3	0	.260	.401	.467	.868	1.8
2011	CLE	155	552	84	132	35	2	27	79	97	133	5	3	.239	.351	.457	.808	3.4
2012	CLE	143	507	72	128	27	2	18	76	91	101	3	5	.252	.365	.420	.785	3.8
2013	CLE	154	541	75	145	39	1	20	74	93	110	3	1	.268	.377	.455	.832	4.4
2014	CLE	152	541	68	125	25	0	27	85	113	124	5	2	.231	.365	.427	.792	3.1
2015	CLE	154	550	72	127	29	2	19	85	108	122	11	3	.231	.357	.395	.752	1.1
2016	CLE	158	582	89	151	31	3	34	87	99	99	5	2	.259	.366	.498	.864	3.0
2017	CLE	154	571	90	148	37	3	23	79	88	94	5	1	.259	.363	.455	.818	—
Total	Total	1116	3994	573	995	236	13	174	587	726	812	40	17	.249	.365	.445	.810	—
Season Averages	139.0	499.3	71.6	124.4	29.5	1.6	21.8	73.4	90.8	101.5	5.0	2.1	.249	.365	.445	.810

As you can see, Hosmer has been very up-and-down throughout his career compared to Santana, who’s been far more consistent. Considering Hosmer could make double what Santana gets on the market, the former Indians first baseman looks like the better value. Additionally, Santana is more likely to accept a bigger role as a designated hitter with Mauer still on the roster next season. He also brings flexibility to the lineup as a switch hitter and is a legitimate power presence from both sides of the plate.

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Even so, I’m not expecting the Twins to pull a trigger on either player, but they’d be smart to at least consider it with the long-term in mind. Both players can hold down the first base position for the foreseeable future and bring power from the right side of the plate.

While the Twins could still re-sign Mauer after the 2018 season, the likelihood of that isn’t great unless he takes a short-term, incentive-laden deal. A type of deal that doesn’t guarantee him a starting spot. Minnesota could also look at moving another position player to first base, but Hosmer and Santana bring seasoned defensive games to the position. Something that likely couldn’t be replicated by someone else on the Twins roster.

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All things considered, Mauer is on the last year of his contract and Minnesota doesn’t have a clear-cut replacement for him at the moment. By signing Santana or Hosmer, the Twins save themselves the trouble of finding a replacement a year from now and improve their lineup for 2018 in the process.

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