All off season, the refrain was familiar. Sign a reliever! Sign a big name reliever! Sign one of the top closers out there! Andrew Miller! Adam Ottavino! David Robertson! All of those guys went elsewhere, including the name that seemed to ring most frequently through the internet. Cody Allen, who signed for $8.5mm with the Angels on January 20th.
Never mind that Allen had dropped off dramatically with the Indians last year, or that the Twins were rightfully trigger shy on relievers after the Addison Reed fiasco last season, or that if anyone would know Allen well, it would by Derek Falvey, Twins fans echoed an equally familiar chorus: the cheap Twins struck again. Allen should have been attainable.
Well guess what. He wasn’t even worth the 8.5 the Angels were paying him, and they cut him. Now, the Twins were able to sign him for the minimum, which is about the right price. Allen’s decline continued at about the same pace it did from 2017 to 2018, and he worked an ERA in the mid 6’s with peripherals that looked even worse.
Still, the Twins played the long game again, and ended up getting a player for way less than they would have if they acted earlier. Sure, Allen may never break into the majors, but the Twins finally got their man.
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