Twins reliever Sam Dyson has a consequential medical appointment today, with the expectation being that he’ll require a significant procedure to his ailing shoulder. It’s not clear whether the Minnesota organization has any way of salvaging the transaction that brought Dyson into town, but LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports that the team has begun exploring its options.
Dyson’s troubles cropped up not long after he changed hands, which made for inopportune timing. Eyebrows were no doubt raised when the veteran righty informed his new organization that he had experienced problems since mid-July. After all, the Twins had found no reason to fear this sort of situation when they checked over the medicals at the time of the deal.
Unsurprisingly, Neal reports, the Twins have “investigated” the situation since it arose. That has included “discussions” with the Giants’ front office. To this point, as Neal puts it, “The Twins have been unable to find any evidence that the Giants had knowledge of an injury.”
It isn’t clear whether Dyson has spoken directly on the subject. But there’s no public indication that he had informed his prior organization of the health issue before the deadline. And he has made clear through prior comments that he simply believed he was dealing with typical soreness that wasn’t a major concern.
Assuming that the Twins don’t end up coming across any evidence that anything untoward occurred, it seems they’ll have no recourse vis-a-vis the Giants. In that case, the question becomes one of dealing with an unfortunate medical situation as with any other player.
The trouble for the Twins is that Dyson’s anticipated procedure comes with a lengthy rehab process. Per the report, the 31-year-old wouldn’t be expected to return until some time in the middle of next season. If that’s the best-case scenario, it’d be awfully difficult to tender Dyson a contract for his final year of arbitration eligibility. He’ll be due a raise on his $5MM salary. Given all the uncertainties inherent in a shoulder procedure, that seems like a hefty bill.
It’s certainly possible the Twins could attempt to work out some kind of multi-year arrangement, as we’ve seen with other injured players who sign during the recovery process. Otherwise, it is possible that the organization has already received the entire return for its investment of three young players (Prelander Berroa, Jaylin Davis and Kai-Wei Teng).
As long as he didn’t tell them, there’s not really much that could be done. Kind of like if Vazquez were dealt. I’d think the league would have a hard time reversing a trade when the organizations had no knowledge of certain circumstances.
You’re right, but there has to be something for the grumpy old men in Minnesota to whine about.
Hahaha!
Damaged goods?
If you look up the deal that involved the Reds trading for Gary Majewski, you’re going to find the same result if the Twins were to bother pursuing this. There would need to be an overwhelming amount of evidence for the league to award any kind of compensation for this when you look at the statements that have been given thus far.
Twinkies got HOSED on this one.
Like to believe the owners have some trust and honesty between them – because if they try to screw somebody over in one deal – it’s gonna come back later down the line and they’ll get a reputation
It’s a 31 year old reliever – check the history. It’s always a roll of the dice.
Is he related to Jarrod Dyson? I swear they look just alike.
Hope for a speedy recovery. Dyson was such a pleasant surprise this year in SF. He was nails and a ground ball machine. Hopefully for the Twins sake there was no shady doings, just bad luck. For SF’s sake as well. You dont wanna be that shady club.
The Giants are a class organization…..it is very doubtful that they had any prior knowledge of the seriousness of Dyson’s arm issues. If they had known the current details…..They would not have traded him……..
Karma for the A.J. Pierzynski for Joe Nathan/Francisco Liriano trade?
Getting flat out beat in trading 3 healthy players that turn into borderline HOF quality, quality (but then much later, injured), and serviceable for 1 quality MLB catcher isn’t the same as trading damaged goods for 3 otherwise healthy players. Dyson claims to have felt some discomfort as far back as June/July before being traded. Apparently he failed to disclose the extent of his injuries to his former team (as I’m sure many players have done and continue to do.) Pretty frustrating all the way around really. As a fan, I expected to have Dyson help the Twins in the pen during the playoffs. I’m sure he appreciated the opportunity to play in October too. The Twins Front Office is surely in a bit of a pickle with Dyson as they’ll probably have to foot the bill for his surgery and subsequent recovery which puts him coming back midseason 2020; add in the arbitration situation and it’s kind of a mess. From my uninformed foxhole, I get the impression that the new Twins Front Office and Baldelli have had and will continue to have conversations with Dyson and his agent to figure out if there is room for him beyond 2020 and what that might look like. Perhaps a team friendly deal with Team Options, and/or reduced salary with heavier bonuses for innings pitched/appearances made would make sense. Maybe Dyson’s feelings about the situation will dictate his willingness to make a deal like that. There is a lot of incentive for a guy like him to stick around a young and upcoming team like the Twins…he also could get pushed out by the young guns waiting in the wings. Tough situation to be in all the way around.
Yawn
Quippy
Twinsfan84: Good assessment of situation with Dyson. I don’t think his salary will be the deciding factor if the Twins decide to offer him arbitration, but the FACT is he made $5mill this past season and will be expecting MORE next year. With the gaping holes in our starting rotation going into next year…as Berrios is the only SP under contract, I think the Pohlads and Falvey take a pass. Sure would’ve like to see “the Dyson” that pitched effectively for SF the first half of the season instead of the broken down version that had struggled continually with his command.
I thought he had a biceps problem, when did the shoulder thing crop up?
Better not be returned to us if so