TODAY: Outfielder Ryan LaMarre is coming back up for the Twins, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets.
YESTERDAY: The Twins have designated righty Phil Hughes, per a club announcement (as Phil Miller of the Star Tribune was among those to tweet). Manager Paul Molitor says the organization has not asked whether Hughes would waive his right to reject a minor-league assignment, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports on Twitter.
It seems, then, as if this is the beginning of the end of Hughes’s tenure in Minnesota. The club will have seven days to find a taker via trade. Otherwise, Hughes will go on the waiver wire. He’s sure to clear, given his contract, though he would not need to accept an assignment to Triple-A in order to keep the money he’s guaranteed.
The Twins still owe Hughes the balance of a $13.2MM salary this year and another $13.2MM for the 2019 season. That’s what’s left of the five-year extension he signed in December of 2014, which overwrote the rest of the three-year deal that Hughes signed with Minnesota as a free agent in the prior winter.
Students of hot stove history will recall that sequence rather well. Hughes had seemed likely to sign a make-good deal after a disappointing end to his tenure with the Yankees in 2013. But he went with a $24MM guarantee over a trio of campaigns with Minnesota, then made good on the contract in year one by spinning 209 2/3 innings of 3.52 ERA ball, with an unbelievable 186:16 K/BB ratio.
Unfortunately, the second pact — which boosted Hughes’s overall compensation while expanding the team’s control — just never worked out. He turned in 155 1/3 innings of 4.40 ERA pitching in 2015, but since has managed only a 5.99 ERA in 124 2/3 frames.
Health has been a major factor in recent seasons. Hughes requried two significant procedures to address thoracic outlet procedure, ending both his 2016 and 2017 seasons. He also dealt with knee and biceps injuries.
OMG, it happened, it really happened. This brings me such joy.
Best thing since Toby went away…
Goodbye Toby, it’s been nice. Hope you find your paradise…
As a Supertramp fan, I approve that message. 🙂
Oh
jays will prob get him
any GM who claims him should be banned from ever having a job again.
i mean ANY job, even Walmart greeter.
Claims? They don’t need to claim him. Someone will snag him for league minimum after he rejects a minor league assignment
But the al east al central and nl central would be a bad idea
Nl east NL West and al West would be the better options
Larger pitcher friendly parks
which is exactly why anyone that claims him should be fired on the spot
I don’t think he will be claimed
I also don’t think he will accept a minor league assignment
I can see the Mariners, Marlins, padres, giants, As, Mets or maybe a mystery team take a flier on him after he is released
Hughes for Morales wouldn’t have been bad for the Jays had they tried prior to the designation.
It wouldn’t have made a lick of sense for the Twins.
Which is why it never happened.
Actually he would fit right into the Texas Ranger rotation. Probably a #4 starter with them. A 5.99 ERA would look good around Matt Moore or Martin Perez’s neck. .
I’ve been saying for a couple months that I think the Jays actually line up with the Twins on this one. Swap Hughes for Morales
We had way too many DH types and we need a long man to soak up innings in the many games we get blown out
twins should hire better pitching scouts, and better ways to use their money more wisely
Really? Send a resume!! Old regime took a flyer and unfortunately did not work Only result the team could do. Sadly!!
A three year $24 million “flyer” that they doubled up on the following year. Twins can’t afford $50 million flyers.
Foad, blame old management for this signing. Justhindsight is 20 20. Send a resume u goober
You are a douche
Ummm. It was Terry Ryan who signed him to the unnecessary extension….one of the reasons he lost his job.
Thanks for the analysis, they really should fire Terry Ryan
I would say their scouts (they don’t have hitting vs pitching scouts) did a great job in that they saw a broken player in 2013 when he was with the Yanks and had a 5+ ERA and returned him into an effective pitcher who was able to pull from him his best full year with highs in IP, lowest ERA as a SP, strike outs and lowest K/BB rate. The problem, if you want to identify a culprit, is the GM who signed him to a risky yet somewhat reasonable 3/$24 year deal and then for some reason, jumped the gun and gave him a much more expensive extension. That’s on the GM and not the scouts..
What a weird Twins tenure. Terry Ryan turned that initial gold mine of a three year deal into a pretty awful contract. Gunna hurt having that $13 million on the payroll next year with the potential extension candidates and a healthy 2018 free agent class. I applaud Falvine for biting the bullet and getting someone in the bullpen that actually deserves a shot. I expect Phil to catch on with a rebuilding team and get another shot. After he clears waivers of course.
Falvey and Levine… not Falvine. Although I may have just discovered a potentially great couples nickname? Eh? What a duo.
Falvine is a common nickname for the duo. TwinkieTown coined it, if I’m not mistaken.
Really? I had no idea lol. Makes sense I guess.
“Common” may be an overstatement, but yeah, I’ve seen it around the local Twins blogosphere and even taken to using it myself (within my inconsequential crew of diehard Twins junkies).
TwinsHomer, I’d just assumed you’d meant to call the two “Falvine” like Hollywood gossip rags like to identify celebrity couples of the moment.
Why is his salary gonna hurt next year? There is no salary cap. Exactly how would it affect extension candidates or free agents? The only thing that’s gonna hurt is the Pohlad family wallet.
Would live to hear from the “Pohlads are cheap” crowd after this move.
Because the Pohlad wallet is our salary cap. They don’t spend money. Just because there is no salary cap doesn’t mean we don’t have limitations to our spending. That $13 million still is getting paid to Phil next year.. that’s $13 million less we can/will spend.
If that was an issue, he’d still be on the roster. The Pohlads are cheap mantra is old and spoken by the uninformed.
Regardless if you consider the Pohlads cheap or not that $22 million of dead money still hurts. That being said I’m glad they DFAd him.
It really makes no sense to try to drop tons of cash on players who won’t want to play in Minneapolis.
News flash: Minneapolis is not a cosmopolitan world-destination.
Ned Colletti had enough of a penchant for extending players for a half season of performance that some friends and I took to calling him “Double Down” Colletti, but that Philip Hughes double-down deal was way worse than anything the Dodgers consummated under Trader Ned.
Jason Schmidt???? Remember that disaster? The Ethier extension sucked too. I could go on but Colletti was a disaster in LA.
Oh and EVERY Cuban beside a Puig he signed.
Clears waivers, rejects assignment, someone grabs him and catches lightening in a bottle
And then the unicorns arose from Atlantis to rule the world!
That’d be sweet !
Will they have a stargate ?
(laughing) Let’s hope so!!!
Given the AL east history ….why do I see the sox taking a flyer?
Because The White Sox are rebuilding, could sign Hughes at a league minimum as an innings eater, like James Shields, but for substantially less, and if he does bad, they can release him, and if he does decent, they can flip him for some minor league guys at the deadline.
I remember at the time they said Hughes took unnecessary risk taking the extension at such a young age. (28 at time of extension) This is why upfront-money is good, hindsight everything. ($42 million, three-year extension)
I credit Minnesota for accepting Hughes as a sunk cost: Hughes still has more than $22 million remaining on his contract that runs through the end of next season, which the Twins are still responsible for. (Assuming he gets released)
Wow the down votes.
Wow you still use MLBTR thru a desktop interface…
The mobile version doesn’t show up/down votes. So many of us are oblivious to them.
Phil Hughes should take his demotion like a man and accept the assignment. He’s been absolute trash except that one year when he fooled everyone into thinking he can pitch. Sad!
Why would he do that if he can catch on on with another MLB team? Whether he accepts assignment or not has nothing to do with his manhood.
Why would he do that?
Pablo Sandoval status
Reject and hook on somewhere else and let the Twins this time front majority of the bill
I can see a deal in the works with the Rangers. Or the Rangers will pick him up for league minimum after he is released. Heck he would fit right in with the Rangers pitching staff. Good fit for him in Texas
Great! Here comes the new Kansas City ace. I can already see it now….
I miss the days when Yankee fans had him and Joba going in on the first ballot together.
Their last season with NYY… was a special year for the Yankees: 2013-season. I say that half self-deprecatingly. It was a miracle, that roster finished above .500, Lmao.
Geez, tons of downvotes.
Right? Are people downvoting cause they’re pretending that didn’t happen?
Before they came up it was an 18 month hype death match between them and Red Sox fans over who would the next 10 Cy Youngs… them or Bucholz.
Own it. People will like you more.
I mean their first season they were pretty good sooooooo………
Unfortunately, Phil Hughes had TOR surgery. Few pitchers recover. You may talk about all the teams that are just waiting to sign him once he clears, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he accepts a minor league assignment. The Twins should contend. Why move to a “rebuilding” team? The pay will be the same, and it’s not like the Twins won’t have room in the rotation if he ever recovers.
I’d welcome him back to NY for depth and nostalgia purposes. Maybe convert Hughes to a reliever. He’s had success there before. On a league minimum deal there’s almost no risk
Hughes had a lot of talent, had trouble with consistency and injury. Now, of course, you have no idea whether he’s healthy enough to take a chance on. I liked him in New York, but he was frustrating–spotless through 4 or 5, then, bang, 4 quick runs.
Yanks are going to trade for Cole Hamels apparently he said yesterday he wants to come here, I wouldn’t mind that but only if Texas pays some of his remaining salary.
If he’s given a choice, I guarantee you he chooses the Phillies.
Phillies don’t need Hamels and the Phillies aren’t world series contenders this year like the Yanks are he said he wants to go to another world series so I don’t see him going to the Phillies.
I can see the M’s picking him up to help with the horrible pitching staff.
I see this as a potentially good pick up for the Reds, Marlins, or Royals to eat some innings. Truly is a shame. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome seems to be ruining a lot of careers these days.
Was a fan of Hughes when he was with the Yankees out of the pen, not as a starter. Someone will take the risk for the league minimum. If I were GM and was willing to take a risk on him, I would put him in the pen.
Sunk costs are just that. I applaud the foresight. I wish the O’s would tell the Twins to “hold my beer” and DFA Chris Davis.; who is the very definition of “sunk cost.”
There has gotta be a bad contract swap out there. Some over paid bullpen piece on a team that can’t field a starting rotation. Maybe they can swing something with the rays to get Ramos. If they’re eating Hughes wages anyway, but sadly Ramos is hitting well so the money might not be enough of an incentive.
Hughes for Melancon. Done.
More like Hughes to TOR for Kendrys Morales, or Hughes and a lottery ticket either to the Orioles for Mark Trumbo or to MIA for Prado.
Melancon may not have played much recently, but his on-field performance hasn’t held his team back like Hughes and his troubles have.
They need a Catcher or reliever. The corners are set, especially with Morisson actually hitting. Starting staff is about to have some issues with Santana returning, but we all know who the odd man out is.
True, Pablo… just seems unlikely that anyone would trade that catcher or reliever the Twins need for Hughes and any part of that contract.
Perfect for the Mets!
Cracker Jack Sandy is working hard to get Phil into the NY minor league team jersey. He was quoted this morning, “this move is right up our alley. Anything cheap is a great
move.”
Phil Hughes can laugh all the way to the bank.
CLE should take note of this move not because they should be the least bit interested in Hughes, but because it’s another small market team willing to eat a contract because the player is garbage. Josh Tomlin is only owed approximately $3.3M for the remainder of the season and is a FA thereafter. Cut Tomlin loose and eat the cost – it can and should be done.