The Minnesota Twins have secured a depth outfielder.
The team added Harrison Bader on a one-year, $6.25-million deal with a mutual option, pending a physical, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.
The deal also includes up to $2 million in bonuses.
Bader, 30, had a .236/.284/.373 slash line, hit 12 home runs and added 51 RBIs with the New York Mets in 2024. The centre fielder has also consistently graded out among baseball's best fielders by outs above average.
After spending the first five-and-a-half seasons of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Bader turned into a journeyman. The Twins will be his fourth team in three seasons after he bounced from the New York Yankees to the Cincinnati Reds and to the Mets before landing in Minnesota.
The Bronxville, N.Y., native provides a strong insurance policy for oft-injured Twins centre-fielder Byron Buxton, whose 102 games played last season was his most since 2017 and the second-most of his career.
He would fill a role similar to Michael A. Taylor in 2023, one the Twins hoped to rely on Manny Margot for last year, but Margot struggled and was not re-signed.
Bader has a .242 average with 71 homers, 268 RBIs and 94 steals in 120 attempts for the Cardinals (2017-22), Yankees (2022-23), Reds (2023) and the Mets, who signed the New York native to a $10.5 million, one-year deal.
--with files from The Associated Press
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