The Twins announced to reporters, including Dan Hayes of The Athletic, that outfielder Jordan Luplow elected free agency after being outrighted off the 40-man roster. Outfielder Andrew Stevenson and right-hander José De León, who were outrighted last week, also elected free agency. The removal of Luplow opens up another spot on Minnesota’s 40-man roster in advance of the offseason.
Luplow, 30, has bounced around the league quite a bit in his career, with teams often trying to deploy him as a lefty-mashing right-handed role player. He has shown enough flashes of promise in this role that he has been employed in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Tampa and Arizona in previous seasons. His best stretch was with Cleveland in 2019 when he hit .276/.372/.551 in 261 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 141, most of that damage being done against southpaws.
He was cut by the Diamondbacks at the end of 2022 and then signed with Atlanta on a one-year deal with a $1.4MM guarantee. But he was optioned to the minors to start the year and was designated for assignment in early April, never suiting up for Atlanta at the big league level. Waivers claims would take him to the Blue Jays and Twins as the season progressed and he eventually got into 39 games in the most recent season. He hit a paltry .154/.267/.154 against righties but his .235/.350/.412 line with the platoon advantage amounted to a wRC+ of 110.
Despite that solid work in his specific role, Luplow didn’t crack the club’s playoff roster. He could have been retained for 2024 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a salary of $1.6MM, but it seems the Twins weren’t willing to keep him around at that price point. Since Luplow was outrighted, that means he passed through waivers unclaimed.
Players with more than three years of service time or a previous career outright can reject a further outright assignment in favor of free agency. Luplow qualifies on both accounts and will now head to the open market. He will likely garner interest from clubs this winter, likely for a similar depth role to the one he filled this year.
Classic AAAA platooner vs LHP when we’ve got a couple guys injured, break in case of emergency player. Hopefully he accepts the outright or signs a split deal
Elected free agency. I don’t see him earning an MLB contract anywhere, but maybe? He got an MLB deal with Atlanta before being waived by them mid-season.
Haha, sometimes what I read doesn’t translate into what I’m thinking
Martras, do you think they’ll tender Gordon? His versatility is nice to have but with Castro and Martin around he’s not needed imo
@ohyeadam – 50/50. While Gordon has been asked to play a number of positions, he’s no more versatile than Willi Castro. Then there’s the fact Castro is quite a bit faster, less error prone, and has a stronger arm than Gordon. Further, Castro even comes with an option left where Gordon has none. Finally, Castro is a switch hitter where Gordon is a lefty with some pretty ugly splits (career wise) against lefties.
If the Twins are planning on trading Polanco, Gordon could stay on the roster as the starting 2B out of spring training while Martin and Lee get more seasoning in the minors and Castro takes on the super utility role.
If the Twins are not committed to trading Polanco, I’d say the Twins will try to pass Gordon through waivers.
See also Nick Senzel master of lefties Mendoza vs righties
Future Columbus Clipper
Hello Mike Elias…
Good fit for the A’s.
I have a couple of old baseball cards of his great uncle, Al Luplow. That tidbit and $3.00 can get you a cup of coffee.
I remember Al Luplow.
I also remember when that and $0.25 would get you a cup of coffee.
Rup roh. Rhymes with Luplow.
Twinkies got to make room on the 40 man roster or risk losing players in the Rule 5.
Shouldn’t teams on the low end of the revenue scale that rely heavily on drafting and development for MLB level players be afforded the advantage of having a 45 Man Roster?
What is so magical and sacred about the 40 Man Roster limit anyway?
I think players would balk. This keeps teams from just stocking players in the minors when those players could potentially sign a better deal in free agency. Even a minor league contract for an out righted player likely has better terms than the standard MiLB contract. Like guaranteed invites to spring training for example.
Everyone at 40 is the only thing that makes sense. Not rewarding some teams with extra roster spaces due to the way they handle their money
Not much worth protecting from the rule 5 draft for the Twins. Maybe 2-3 guys.
twinkietown.com/2023/10/16/23919162/twins-full-off…
The 40 man roster is a huge bonus for players. Huge salary increase, health and welfare benefits, player time and option clocks start.
Once added to the 40 man, players can only be optioned to the minors in 3 different years and it makes it super easy to get called up.
Retaining the status quo just continues to reward high revenue organizations and continues to put lower revenue organizations at a competitive disadvantage.
What is so magical and sacred about 40??
I don’t care if it’s 40,50 or 100, as long as it’s the same for everyone. However there are very few rule 5 success stories every year, so it seems like 40 is a pretty decent place to be.
Across the State of Minnesota, I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if thousands of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.
Yep, Levine is staying at Target Field.
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