The Twins have signed first baseman Mike Ford to a minor league deal, in keeping with a report from Jon Morosi of MLBNetwork. The deal consists of an invite to huge league Spring Coaching subsequent month.
Ford, 32, made his huge league debut again in 2019 with the Yankees. Ford hit the bottom working in 50 video games for the membership, slashing a powerful .259/.350/.559 with 12 residence runs in simply 163 plate look. That dynamic efficiency was sufficient to earn Ford further probabilities with the Yankees over the following two seasons, however he wasn’t in a position to capitalize on them as he hit simply .134/.250/.276 in 156 journeys to the plate cut up between the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The Yankees ultimately opted to commerce Ford to the Rays in a money deal halfway by way of the 2021 season.
Although Ford wouldn’t make it again to the majors in 2021, that commerce nonetheless set off a prolonged collection of transactions that noticed the slugger bounce across the league with a lot of totally different stops. Two months after being acquired by the Rays, he was claimed off waivers by the Nationals. After being non-tendered by Washington following the 2021 season, he was signed by the Mariners and added to their 40-man roster forward of the 2022 season. Earlier than showing in a giant league recreation with the membership, nonetheless, he was traded to the Giants in a money deal. His keep in San Francisco then lasted only one recreation earlier than he was traded again to the Mariners, the place he then appeared in 16 video games earlier than being designated for project and claimed off waivers by the Braves. After 5 video games in Atlanta, he was then shipped to Anaheim and completed the 2022 season with the membership, enjoying 28 video games for the Angels down the stretch.
Provided that whirlwind of transactions Ford discovered himself part of over the course of 14 months, it’s maybe no shock that his 2022 season left a lot to be desired. Whereas he garnered 149 plate appearances throughout 50 video games with the 4 groups that performed him within the majors that yr, he hit simply .206/.302/.313 throughout that point. Ford finally returned to free company and signed a second consecutive minor league cope with Seattle. After lingering at Triple-A for the primary two months of the yr, he was added to the Mariners’ roster firstly of June and proceeded to have one of the best season of his profession. He slashed a strong .228/.323/.475 (128 wRC+) in a career-high 84 video games whereas clobbering 16 residence runs in simply 251 journeys to the plate. Ford nonetheless struck out at a hefty 32.3% clip, however his energy allowed him to carve out a semi-regular function with the Mariners serving largely because the membership’s DH.
Sadly for Ford, he was non-tendered by the Mariners following the 2023 marketing campaign because the membership regarded to overtake its lineup to focus extra on contact reasonably than energy. Ford signed with the Reds on a minor league deal previous to the 2024 marketing campaign however managed to get into simply 17 video games with the membership this yr and hit a paltry .150/.177/.233 in 62 plate appearances. After being reduce unfastened by Cincinnati on the finish of Might, Ford tried his luck abroad with Nippon Skilled Baseball’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars. His time in Japan didn’t go particularly properly, and he made it into simply six video games with the membership’s Central League workforce earlier than returning to the open market this winter.
Now, Ford is poised to affix the Twins as a funds first base choice for the membership. Minnesota has struggled with a big payroll crunch all through the offseason and been restricted in its means so as to add to a roster that entered September in clear playoff place however collapsed down the stretch. After watching Carlos Santana depart for his or her division rivals in Cleveland final month, Minnesota appeared skinny at first base with some mixture of José Miranda and Edouard Julien prone to be the membership’s inner answer on the place. With Ford now within the combine, these two children can have further competitors this spring for the primary base job, although signing a non-roster veteran like Ford is unlikely to cease the Twins from including a extra confirmed participant in free company ought to they handle to create sufficient payroll area to take action.
