2022 MLB front office rankings: The American League Central
By Bill Felber
Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, Minnesota Twins
Impact: +0.4
Division rank: second
MLB rank: 11th
Levine and Falvey ran a high-risk churn mill of a front office operation in their effort to boost the Twins out of the cellar position they occupied in 2021. The duo was responsible for 55 moves involving MLB talent. Is that a lot? The next highest level of activity in the AL Central occurred in Kansas City, with just 40 such moves.
Perhaps remarkably, the Twins front office handled itself well through all that coming and going. Falvey and Levine added four players who produced a WAA in excess of +1.1 for Minnesota. In order of acquisition, they were:
- A March 13 deal with Cincinnati that also involved a pair of minor leaguers landed pitcher Sonny Gray. He made 24 starts with a 3.08 ERA and +1.3 WAA.
- The March 13 trade with the Yankees cost Isiah Kiner-Falafea, Josh Donaldson and a minor leaguer, but it brought in catcher Gary Sanchez and infielder Gio Urshela. The big catch was Urshela, who hit .285 with a .767 OPS, good for 1.3 WAA.
- On March 22, the Twins came to terms with shortstop Carlos Correa on a five-year, $175 million deal. Whether the Twins will hold on to Corrrea, who has an annual player option, remains to be seen. But he contributed 3.5 WAA, batting .291 with 22 home runs and an .834 OPS.
- Rookie pitcher Jhoan Duran made his debut on April 8, eventually contributing 68 innings of a 1.86 ERA. That works out to +1.8 WAA.
Overall, the Twins ranked a mid-range 14th in net trade impact and 16th in farm system impact. Thanks largely to the signing of Correa, they were, however, sixth in net free agent impact.