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Elite Defender Finds New Home with Twins

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports | By Ryan Giglio | Last updated Feb 5, 2025 2:24 PM ET

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, center fielder Harrison Bader and the Minnesota Twins have agreed to a one-year deal, with a mutual option for 2026. Bader has long been known as an elite center-field defender who has struggled to stay healthy and produce offensively. The 30-year-old experienced a bit of a rebound last season with the New York Mets and will look to carry it into 2025.

Twins, Harrison Bader Agree to One-Year Deal

The Mets signed Bader to a one-year, $10.5 million deal last winter betting on his upside and locker room presence. Though his overall offensive numbers don’t look great, Bader represented an important piece on an inspiring Mets squad.

In a career-high 143 games, the New York native batted .236/.284/.373 (86 OPS+) with 12 home runs, 17 steals and 19 doubles. His offense also came with poor contact quality, a bad walk rate, and a roughly league-average strikeout rate.

They could never make me hate 2024 Harrison Bader. pic.twitter.com/k8UfIaA8zZ

— MetsMuse (@MetsMuse) November 20, 2024

That said, Bader was worth roughly 1 WAR last season largely due to his defense. In 1,025 1/3 innings in center field, he accumulated 10 Outs Above Average, which ranked in the 95th percentile of the league. Bader also displayed top-tier arm strength and ranked amongst the fastest runners in MLB.

Untapped Offensive Potential?

Despite his reputation as a poor hitter, Bader has shown flashes throughout his career. From 2020-2022, he hit .255/.315/.418 (104 OPS+) in 239 games. Plus, Bader was a solid contributor to the Mets lineup for most of the 2024 season before fading at the end.

From Opening Day to August 8, Bader hit .271/.312/.409 in 98 games and 330 plate appearances. Those 98 games matched his total from the prior season. Plus, the last season in which he appeared in more games was 2021 (103 games).

Bader’s offense cratered from August 9 through the end of the regular season. He hit .125/.196/.260 in 45 games and lost playing time to Tyrone Taylor, especially in the postseason.

Harrison Bader tells us here how he dealt with limited postseason role. Bader was good on his college buddy Pete, his own journey and more in full cast. Joel and I talk World Series.

YouTube: https://t.co/2qLLZiR0wJ
Spotify: https://t.co/hjMu3BXAHe
Apple: https://t.co/v3S7XHr1m0 pic.twitter.com/MNLnmS483O

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 1, 2024

It’s not publically known if Bader was dealing with an injury in the final stretch of the season. However, it’s it’s not difficult to imagine that Bader slowed down due to fatigue. The last season in which he appeared in more than 103 games was 2019 (128 games).

TEAM will sign Bader to a seemingly fair contract hoping he can enter 2025 with a little more stamina. With his great defense, Bader needs to provide only around league-average offensive production to be a valuable player.

With Max Kepler hitting free agency, the Twins project to have Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnch in the corners. Bader can provide that needed depth and perhaps platoon with them.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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