During the 2015 season, the Minnesota Twins underwent a youth movement. Exciting prospects such as Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, & Eddie Rosario all received big league call-ups and—combined with a now-established Brian Dozier superstardom—helped the ’15 squad compete for the postseason right down to the wire.
With the next wave of success seemingly positioned to come from within, GM Terry Ryan did more unloading than acquiring in the ‘15/’16 offseason—aside from one big splash and a search for a catcher.
Then, of course, the big one:
The Twins won the rights to negotiate with Korean Baseball Organization superstar Byung-ho Park, ending up signing him to a 4-year, $12 million contract. In the KBO, Park was as legitimate of a power threat as they came: 52 home runs with the Nexen Heroes in 2014, then 53 more and a league-record 146 RBI in 2015. Not just a bomber, Park also regularly posted batting averages north of .300. The Twins hoped he could anchor the middle of the lineup amidst the young guns.
It had been some time in Twins Territory since a season would be approached with such optimism as 2016!