After four terrible seasons Kurt Suzuki had to settle for a one-year, $2.75 million deal this offseason, but now he’s having a career-year for the Twins and made his first All-Star team at age 30.
Not surprisingly the Twins thought a contract extension was a topic worth broaching with Suzuki, but Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press says those talks didn’t go very far at all:
According to two people with direct knowledge, the Twins and Dan Lozano, Suzuki’s agent, had exploratory talks about extending the catcher’s expiring contract. Establishing fair contract parameters, however, appears to be a challenge as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches.
Armed with a combined on-base/slugging percentage of .753 — 62 points higher than his career rate — Suzuki must weigh the security of putting down roots in the Twin Cities after being traded in August the past two seasons. If Suzuki can maintain his offensive resurgence for another couple of months, he could cash in this winter on his second pass through the free-agent market.
This season Suzuki is hitting .305 with a .753 OPS in 82 games.
Last season Suzuki hit .232 with a .627 OPS in 94 games.
Combined during the previous four seasons Suzuki hit .237 with a .650 OPS in 477 games.
It’s definitely possible that Suzuki will cash in big as a free agent following the season, since decent-hitting catchers are forever tough to find and his defensive reputation has always been very good, but it’s also hard to blame the Twins for not wanting to break the bank on a 30-year-old having a career-year after looking washed up for 500 games.
And if extension talks continue to go nowhere, the Twins may look to shop Suzuki before July 31.
