The Twins and free-agent right-hander Matt Shoemaker have reached a one-year, $2MM agreement, pending a physical, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. The deal includes up to $250K in performance bonuses. Shoemaker is a client of ISE Baseball.
Shoemaker began his career as a member of the Angels, with whom he pitched from 2013-18 and typically provided respectable production as a mid- to back-end type of starter. But Shoemaker had some injury issues then, throwing just 108 2/3 innings in his final two seasons as an Angel, before moving on to the Blue Jays prior to 2019.
Shoemaker was also unable to stay healthy during his two years as a Blue Jay, as a torn ACL limited him to 28 2/3 innings in 2019, while shoulder problems held him to a matching 28 2/3 frames last season. That said, Shoemaker mostly did a decent job in Toronto when he was able to take the mound. The 34-year-old now owns a 3.86 ERA/3.88 SIERA with above-average strikeout and walk percentages of 21.8 and 5.9, respectively, in 602 1/3 major league innings.
Shoemaker will be the second free-agent signing this offseason for the Twins’ rotation, which added J.A. Happ earlier in the winter. Those two are in line to complement Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios and Michael Pineda at the beginning of the season, though Randy Dobnak could also push for a starting spot. It’s unclear if the Shoemaker addition will affect whether the Twins re-sign Jake Odorizzi, arguably the No. 1 starter left in free agency.
Cheap!
If he stays healthy….. great pitcher
good signing
His beard alone would have been a nice fit for the White Sox rotation following Dallas Keuchel and Lance Lynn!
The Twins were wise in signing a RHP the way the White Sox crushed southpaws in 2020.
I’m surprised the Angels passed on reuniting with Shoemaker, especially at these reported dollars.
The angels have a plethora of mid- back end options already. It would be pointless
123RedSox. Yes they do, what they have a bunch of pitchers with limited upside who can replace those back end options. What they don’t have is backend pitchers who is capable of being good. The Angels should be looking for pitchers with upside.
I would take Shoemaker over Cobb at this point without question.
I beg to differ. Griffin Canning has top of the rotation upside as does Ohtani. And quintana is a consistent number 2. Heaney has 2 or 3 upside and bundy could be a solid 3 or 4. Alex cobb is the only one I have no faith in.
This joke went over your head!
I’m not talking about Canning and Heaney and Ohtani. I’m talking about Quintana, Suarez, Barria, Cobb and Sandoval. I’d trade Cobb for a pitcher who could be good. If he gets hurt, the Angels have lots of low upside pitchers to take his places. Quintana ERA with the Cubs in that week division was 4.3. His odds of being good are ten percent at best. He hasn’t been goo in years.
The joke was hilarious.
Odo
Shoemaker in two postseason starts
9-7-1-0-0-8
Arte must not have the $2 million to sign him. They also missed on signing Petit. He was great for the Angels in 2017 and then the Angels let him leave. Arte doesn’t like to spend much on the bullpen I guess.
Why not go and get odorizzi back?! Obviously they are two completely different AAV’s but that’s a move you NEED to make.
Because he wants a 3 yr 15 mil deal. Twins weren’t willing to offer that. Not the aav nor the year. After last year he should have gave the twins a discount. 19 mil for a handful of innings. Injuries suck but part of the game
Who’s left on Jake Odorizzi? All I’m seeing lately are the Mets and maybe the Blue Jays. I’m not sure why the Cardinals wouldn’t be interested in an accomplished SP like Odorizzi who grew up a Redbirds fan in downstate Illinois and attended high school in Madison County which is part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area.
Cards came out and said their done. Maybe only the Mets honestly
I love this guy! Obviously needs more mound time this season but a really good roll of the dice on an affordable one year agreement. Twins could benefit this year and Shoemaker can benefit next offseason if he turns in a solid year. It’s a win-win.
Hasn’t pitched more than 20 games in the last 3 years combined. Cheap I guess… but still.
When he has pitched he’s been nothing but quality. Believe a lot of those injuries were freak injuries too that shouldn’t affect him much going forward
I’m guessing he told the jays to pound sand after the playoff game they pulled him from. Cause they should have easily been able to give him that. Feel like Charlie Is costing the jays yet again
Tore his ACL because Eric Sogard went the wrong way on a pickoff and rundown.
Good signing by the Twins. Money potentially very well spent.
Apparently he was high school teammates with Anthony Bass
And the Question is… Who is another pitcher I’d rather have than Alex Cobb.
And a ton cheaper too! I know Shoemaker is injured a lot but so is Cobb.
Will finish in cy young voting. Absolutely tremendous pitcher when healthy.
besides 2019 he has been very average
This comment is a very average comment.
Teams looking to contend are adding multiple arms this year to help compensate for expected overall reduced innings coming off the shortened 2020 season. The Rays signed Rich Hill fine with him giving them 60-80 innings. The Twins are likely doing the same with Shoemaker.
Right now, I have the Twins leading the division, with the White Sox and Indians fighting for second. One will fall short of a WC spot.
Honestly, I think the twins and white Sox would be competing for the first and second spots with Cleveland a far off third
Fangraphs agrees with you but Baseball Prospectus does not. The general conclusion is the Twins are clear favorites but it’s more likely a three team race than not.
Am I the only one who likes this signing more than the Happ one? Reminds me of their Rich Hill signing last season, whereas the Happ one reminds me of Homer Bailey.
Wonder if there’s any tread left
If Shoe can ever put together a healthy season, he is a solid hurler. This is a nice signing for the Twins
Good pickup if he can stay healthy. Sadly that is a very big IF
He’s good for about 10 starts.
Atkins is a clown!
Blue Jays have Stripling so Shoemaker coming back probably wasn’t happening anyway
They both suck but at least Stripling doesn’t end up on the injured list when someone breathes on him.
He’s had so every good years and he isn’t suffering from an arm injury. Do you guys follow this game. It doesn’t seem like it.
Stripling cost a lot for the Jays and isnt very good. Shoemaker is “free” pretty much so only risk is the roster spot, if he can stay healthy, he is better than Strip. That Stripling trade was dumb. Fisher trade was dumb. Villar trade was dumb. All dumb at the time, dont need hindsight.
Agreed Diggy. And, is Ray 4x the pitcher Shoemaker is? No. He could be but he’s not. You are correct on every trade you mentioned.
Atkins couldn’t manage a Burger King. He needs to go.
In case this opportunity with the Twins doesn’t work out.
He will go to work at Canterbury Park
as a…………………………..
SHOEMAKER !!
Have fun with Shoemaker. If they get 15 starts from him, it’ll be nothing short of a miracle. He breaks down like a French car.
Shoemaker is a great pick up for any team. Regarding his injuries, do some homework. His main injury with the Angels in 2016 was when he took a 105mph line drive off the noggin which fractured his skull. Obviously it was a freak accident.
In 2017, he had a forearm issue that went misdiagnosed until 2018 when he finally had the correct diagnosis and surgery.
In 2019 he suffered the freak ACL tear in a rundown. He was 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA before the injury.
Shoemaker has been the victim of misfortune more than bad health. He’s a good pitcher with a great story on how he got to the majors. No one works harder. Any team is blessed to have him.
This is the type of deal that would have made more sense for the White Sox than Rodon. They are both injury prone, but Shoemaker has a much better track record, especially recently. And he’s cheaper.
I also doubt this keeps the Twins from signing Odorizzi. They are quietly putting together a complete offseason.
Wtf jays. Depth.
This guy had stretches with the Angels where he pitched like an ace. He would usually get off to slow starts in the season, then something would click and pitch like a 1-2 pitcher for 7-8 starts in a row, until he’d get injured and finish the season with a sub-4 ERA. Total definition of a hard luck pitcher—fluke injuries and getting hit with a line drive on the head. I hope he can finally put together 32 starts in a season.
Joe Mauer just had a philly cheesesteak with some Frank’s hot sauce! (With sauteed mushroom, bell peppers and onions) of course! Just for a snack!