*Photo from AP News*
You can always use some gold glove defense. The Minnesota Twins have acquired OF Michael A Taylor from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for LHP Evan Sisk and RHP Steven Cruz, according to both clubs.
Taylor represents a significant upgrade in outfield depth for the Twins behind Byron Buxton, who played more than 90 games last year for the first time since 2017. He is mainly a center fielder and plays the position well, as evidenced by a gold glove in 2021 with the Royals.
Last season was Taylor's second year with the Royals after playing for the Washington Nationals. Taylor ended the season with a .254 batting average and .670 OPS, hitting 9 home runs with 43 RBI's in 124 games of action for the Royals.
Taylor comes to the Twins on the second year of a two year, $9 million contract and serves as a right handed complement to lefties Joey Gallo, Max Kepler, and Nick Gordon in the outfield. He finished in the 88th percentile in outs above average last season, showing his strong defensive abilities. His .722 OPS against lefty pitchers could also give him some platoon appearances.
7 seasons with the Nationals and two with the Royals have covered Taylor's 9 big league seasons. In that time, he has a .241 batting average, .296 on base percentage, and .381 slugging percentage, hitting 74 home runs with 281 RBI's in 840 games played. Taylor has 4 home runs and 10 RBI's in 16 career playoff games.
Minnesota's outfield now becomes even more crowded with the addition of Taylor. He joins Buxton, Gordon, Gallo, Kepler, Matt Wallner, Alex Kirilloff, Gilberto Celestino, and Trevor Larnach are all able to play the outfield, though Kirilloff figures to see more time at first base.
This offseason, the Twins have traded for Pablo Lopez to aid the starting rotation while also bringing in Taylor, Gallo, Christian Vazquez, and Kyle Farmer to rebound after a tough end to 2022, while also re-signing Carlos Correa.
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