The Twins are interested in free-agent reliever Joakim Soria, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets.
The well-traveled, right-handed Soria spent the previous two seasons with the Athletics, with whom he was quite successful. Now 36 years of age, the former standout Royals closer has put up a 3.01 ERA/3.06 FIP with 9.81 K/9 against 2.72 BB/9 in 725 2/3 innings in the majors. He’s one of many accomplished relievers currently on the open market.
The Twins’ bullpen was really good in 2020, finishing third in K/BB ratio, fifth in FIP and sixth in ERA. The unit has since lost Trevor May to the Mets, though, and Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard are currently on the free-agent market. With so much turnover occurring, it’s no surprise the Twins are looking to bolster their bullpen this offseason. They’re casting “a wide net” in their search for bullpen aid, Wolfson writes.
What happened to the Mexicutioner nickname? Too edgy in 2020?
He himself said he didn’t like that nickname.
Soria asked KC media to stop using it because of the cartel violence that was happening in his home country at the time.
He specifically asked people to stop calling him that because Mexican cartels were executing men, women, and children. So yes, ‘too edgy’.
So if he were the Texicutioner it would be ok since they dont execute people in Texas lol.
I don’t care its still a cool name.
Texas still has capital punishment.
As we should.
While African-Americans comprise less than 13% of the Texas population, they comprise 44.1% of death row inmates, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).
Okay? And your point? Death row is death row if you are there you’ve got a VERY good reason for being there… white black or purple… I mean idk what you were getting at there…
The Texas Rangers (militia, not Mlb), executed minorities BOS lynching. Now the state, no republic of Texas does it through capital punishment.
But so brave of you to stand up for the rights of purple people.
And Texas still has ties to the Cartel, so it likely wouldn’t be okay..At last not from his standpoint
Joedirt, of course you dont care, it doesn’t affect you.
Nickname checks out.
Soria is the type of player to go to Minnesota. They like to bring players with their prime gone, but are still good.
Looks like a replacement for Sergio Romo
May > Soria > Romo
Well…that’s how I have it anyway.
Guys been a pretty good reliever for a while, man. Just checked out his career numbers. Only twice has he had an ERA+ below 100 in 14 seasons. Pretty consistent.
However, one of those two seasons was 2019. 99 that year, so nothing terrible, or whatever. Just – ya know – average. So there’s that.
But, I’d take him on my squad no question. I’m good with stuffing your bullpen with closers & former closers. Everybody has room for one more, uh?
Actually that 99 is his career-low, the 81 was a partial year for the Tigers. His full season number that year was over 100.
Good catch.
You are correct. Thanks.
Seems like a bit of a gamble to me nonetheless. “Poorest” (still serviceable) season two years ago then a bounce back in a shortened season.
I still like him more than Romo. & average bullpen arms are important, too.
Finally a rumour that doesn’t involve the Blue Jays or Mets, this was refreshing to read.
What a boring offseason.
I know it’s not a normal winter but usually by now, something of consequence has happened.
It’ll pick up (hopefully) after the winter meetings.
Hope you’re right!
Morton to Braves was pretty significant, no?
Compared to last year at this point when Zach Wheeler, Yasmani Grandal had already signed huge deals and several big names had been traded?
No. A one year deal for someone who slots in as a team’s third or fourth starter is not that significant even if you want it to be especially for a team like the Braves who give them out every year.
If you’re waiting for the Twins to sign anyone of consequence, don’t hold your breath.
Soria would be a good fit in Minnesota. Twins bullpen has some solid holdovers in Rogers, Duffey, Alcala, and Thielbar but definitely needs work
Thought the article cover was Liam Hendricks
Perhaps turn the clock back to 2018 =
Many of these “problem solvers” are available.
“Minnesota made it a priority to revamp the bullpen this offseason as a result, signing closer Fernando Rodney, right-hander Addison Reed and left-hander Zach Duke to a combined $23.4 million guaranteed to bolster a relief corps that already has relievers such as Trevor Hildenberger, Taylor Rogers, Ryan Pressly and Alan Busenitz. It’s the most exciting group of relief arms the Twins have had since last winning the division title in 2010.”.
“Minnesota also has a young group of arms close to making an impact such as John Curtiss, Tyler Jay, J.T. Chargois, Gabriel Moya, as well as Rule 5 Draft pick Tyler Kinley.”
For the love of God and all that is sweet and holy——-just NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Hell to the no. The Twins, as of the Rosario non tender, have over 60M off the books pending a Cruz re-sign. When you have decision makers that take a cruising Maeda and Berrios out of playoff games early, you better have at least a couple lock down relievers in addition to a few highly competent 6th & 7th inning guys. Soria is not a championship caliber pickup, and is trending age-wise in the wrong direction. More likely, he’s another version of the late career Sergio Romo we saw…serviceable over a long season, but not the reliever who gets you anywhere in the playoffs. When the Twins just watched 5 relatively young, promising, good-to-great relievers (Brusdar Graterol, Ryan Pressly, Nick Anderson, John Curtiss and Aaron Slegers) that were cast away by Falvey/Levine, pitch in the LCS and beyond, why would they choose to continue to go down a path that’s proven not to work for them? I get ‘don’t fall in love with your own players’, but going the opposite direction in letting them go to be replaced by lesser versions doesn’t seem too smart to me.
As a Twins fan my soul died a little bit after reading this
that were cast away by Falvey/Levine
————————————————-
Graterol was cast away for Maeda, who was #2 in the C.Y. voting.
Pressley was cast away when he was 2 months away from being a FA. He now gets paid $9M/year. The player obtained in the trade had a 2.63 ERA for the Twins while Pressley had a 3.43 ERA.
The net result of these two trades, I mean castaways, is an overwhelming win for the Twins. You should read up on the Twins before commenting.
The Dodgers wanted 2 things: 1) to unload Maeda’s team friendly contract so much that they gave the Twins an additional 10M, in order to 2) pry the Twins top pitching prospect away (a 21 yr old anomaly that throws a 100mph sinking fastball that induces groundballs as much as strikeouts, a pitcher the Twins had never developed before in their 60 year existence in MN), along with a 2nd round pick. The Dodgers made an impact baseball move to win now and in the future; the Twins grabbed the cash and leveraged the future while trying to save face for missing out on their free agent targets after promising an impact pitching acquisition. Don’t forget they signed Homer Bailey for the rotation at a wasted 7M before the Dodgers ‘helped’ the Twins out after the initial Betts deal fell apart. The fact that Maeda had a career (60 game) season notwithstanding, this trade will prove over time to be a major win for the Dodgers. Not only is Graterol the future closer, but he proved his value this year throughout the Dodgers run to the title. That IS what it’s all about, right? Or is having high bWAR regular season bullpens the goal? Meanwhile, the Twins sealed their playoff losses when they went to their supposedly great bullpen early. Impact players in the present tense are a necessity to win championships, not declining former closers for perennial losing teams, as the Royals were. When Soria implodes, as we’ve seen him do more than a few times against the Twins, he demonstrates very clearly why he’s so well traveled. If any team would want him as some posters claim, then why hasn’t he sniffed an opportunity with one of the Cubs, Astros, Red Sox, Nationals or Dodgers? You know, teams that searched to shore up their bullpens so they could WIN. His 10.13 postseason ERA in 14 appearances for 4 teams also is a thing. As for Pressly, it’s not just his performance this year, it’s how he utterly dominated for the Astros in ‘18 and much of ‘19. And you’re wrong; his contract had a year and a half left when he was traded in ’18 while the Twins front office gave up on a team that still had a chance to gain a playoff spot (!?!) Don’t forget, the Twins FO really gave up, trading Eduardo Escobar in a career season (that he would top the next year), Brian Dozier (who contributed to two WS teams in ‘18 and ‘19), Lance Lynn (who rediscovered his Mojo pretty much immediately) and Pressly. And the reliever (Jorge Alcala) the Twins got with the 2.63 ERA? They trusted him so much that he only saw 1 high leverage outing for a team with a wide open window to win now, while Graterol was winning the hearts of Dodgers fans for performances in clutch situations. So yeah, I’ll give you Maeda and Alcala for Graterol, Pressly, Anderson, Curtiss and Slegers. I happen to like relievers with diverse and devastating stuff in the era of 5 inning starts. Is that enough reading up on the Twins for you?
Any team would take Joakim Soria right now. I was hoping he would come back to Kansas City. Still effective but he is not going to be one of your 8th or 9th inning relievers. He can still get guys out with his stuff. One of my favorite players of all time.
D’accord, @jay13.
I think a lot of contending clubs are going to be interested in him as a reliable guy in that 4-6 range of arms in their respective bullpens. I’d gladly take Soria as a replacement for the recently jettisoned Holder *or* as a guy who is better than Cessa.
I’m sure fans of lots of teams have their own bullpen guys they’d gladly swap out.
I’m not getting all the angst from Twins fans. Their front office seems to do a decent job putting deep pens together.
Give ’em a chance to see what the finished product looks like before hitting the panic button, fellas.
Jay13, Ducky BF, – As a fan of an AL West rival team (with an MLB TV package) I can tell you I’ve watched a lot of Soria over the last two years. Like you I don’t understand the disgust of a lot of Twins fans. He would be a great pickup for any pen. I can’t tell you how happy I’d be if Soria leaves our Division. He is literally Mr reliable and I marvel at how he continues to be this good for so long. Our hitters saw him a lot in 2020, when we were finally able to get to him in a game in mid- Sept I was shocked. He may have had a bad couple games to end his 2020 season but up until then he was nails for Melvin in 2020. As far as the Sergio Romo comp? Soria has almost double the bWAR (10.5-18.6) in the same 13 yr career. Frankly I’d rather my team signed him!
I appreciate the take.
Always good to have someone who has seen quite a bit of a player weigh in. He’s never pitched in the AL East, so I’ve not been highly exposed to him.
I have a hard time naming a team who’s pen wouldn’t be improved by adding him. I realize relievers are fickle or volatile or whatever & can blow up any season. But Soria has an outstanding track record.
Like I said, I’d be excited to see him on the Yanks, man.
makes no sense since they let go of Matt Wisler who could have been used in a set up role for less money.
This is what I keep bringing up. That move was maybe the most confusing of all the non-tenders to me. He was dominant last year, and was cheap and under control for years. Why pay way more for Soria or others and dump him? It just makes no sense at all to me.
Who are the twins?
Small sample size alert, but as good as he’s been in the regular season, he has been awful in the postseason.