Twins settle with remaining 8 arb-eligible players

Twins settle with remaining 8 arb-eligible players

Club agrees to one-year deals with Odorizzi, Gibson, Rosario, Kepler, Sano, Buxton, Rogers, May

January 12th, 2019
Minnesota Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey, right, addresses a news conference Tuesday, Oct.2, 2018 in Minneapolis she he announced that Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor was fired, one season after he won the American League Manager of the Year award. In four seasons under Molitor, the Twins went 305-343 with one appearance in the playoffs in 2017. They were 78-84 this year, long out of postseason contention after a series of early setbacks to several key players. Listening at left is general manager Thad Levine. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)Jim Mone/AP

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins avoided arbitration with all eight of their remaining arbitration-eligible players at Friday's deadline to exchange potential 2019 salary figures, agreeing to one-year contracts with Jake Odorizzi, , , Max Kepler, , , and .
Odorizzi will earn $9.5 million and Gibson will earn $8.125 million in their final season of arbitration eligibility. Rosario settled at $4.19 million, Kepler at $3.125 million, Sano at $2.65 million, Buxton at $1.75 million, Rogers at $1.525 million and May at $900,000.
Prior to Friday, the Twins had already avoided arbitration with , who agreed to a one-year, $1.3 million contract, and newly acquired first baseman C.J. Cron, who signed for one year and $4.8 million.
Though the Twins went to an arbitration hearing with Gibson last season -- Minnesota's first hearing since 2006 -- the sides settled for '19 after the 31-year-old right-hander had a career-best 3.62 ERA and 179 strikeouts while earning $4.2 million last season. Odorizzi, 28, had a 4.49 ERA with 162 strikeouts in 164 1/3 innings in 2018, when he earned $6.3 million after he was acquired from the Rays during the offseason. He won an arbitration hearing against Tampa Bay prior to the 2018 season.
The 29-year-old May posted strong numbers in 2018 after his recovery from Tommy John surgery in March 2017, finishing with a 3.20 ERA and three saves in 24 appearances with career-best strikeout (12.8 K/9) and walk (1.8 BB/9) rates following his return to the team on July 31.
Kepler, Rogers, Rosario, Sano and Buxton were all arbitration-eligible for the first time. Kepler's .224 average and .727 OPS were the lowest full-season marks of his career, but he hit a career-high 20 homers and improved his walk rate while cutting down on strikeouts. He also played stellar defense, as his 10 outs above average, per Statcast™, ranked 14th in MLB. Rogers was scoreless through his final 28 outings of the season, which lowered his season ERA to a career-best 2.63.
Rosario hit 24 homers with a .288/.323/.479 line in 2018 but was sidelined at the end of the season with a right quad injury. It was his second consecutive season with at least 24 homers and an .803 OPS, and his 3.4 WAR (according to FanGraphs) was a career high.
Sano took a step back from his 2017 All-Star campaign, hitting .199/.281/.398 with 13 homers, and spent a stint in Class A Advanced Fort Myers. Buxton also struggled with a .156/.183/.200 line in 28 Major League games during an injury-plagued season. He was openly upset that he was not recalled to the Twins at the end of the season, which put him under team control for an additional year, through the 2022 season.
Worth noting
Right-hander was claimed off waivers by the Pirates on Friday. Slegers had been desigated for assignment on Jan. 3 to make room for on Minnesota's 40-man roster. The former fifth-round selection in the 2013 MLB Draft had a 5.90 ERA in eight Major League appearances for the Twins over two seasons.