The Twins have re-signed relievers Jovani Moran and Ronny Henriquez to minor league contracts, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Both were non-tendered a few weeks ago. The left-handed Moran is expected to miss the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery following the ’23 campaign. Henriquez, acquired from the Rangers as part of 2022’s Mitch Garver trade, battled elbow trouble and struggled in 37 Triple-A appearances this past season.
Both pitchers were non-tendered despite being several years from arbitration eligibility. However, the non-tender deadline gives teams the unique opportunity to immediately remove a player from the 40-man roster without needing to pass him through waivers, so the Twins used that chance to clear up some space while retaining hope for this type of minor league re-signing.
Moran, 26, has been a heavily used option for manager Rocco Baldelli over the past two seasons, at times looking like a potential setup man — he logged a 2.21 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate in 40 1/3 innings in 2022 — but also battling inconsistencies stemming from his below-average command. He picked up nine holds for the Twins this past season but struggled to a 5.31 ERA with a diminished 26.1% strikeout rate and an alarming 14.7% walk rate.
Moran looked to have righted the ship, to an extent, after a shaky start to the year before a brutal stretch in July that saw him yield nine runs on seven hits and seven walks in what proved to be his final seven innings of the season. He was placed on the injured list with an always-ominous forearm strain, ultimately going under the knife a couple months later. He’ll miss the 2024 season and look to get back into the mix for a roster spot in 2025.
The 23-year-old Henriquez made his big league debut with the Twins in 2022 and impressed with 11 2/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball. He fanned 18% of his opponents against a 6% walk rate and kept the ball on the ground at a healthy 52.8% clip while averaging 93.2 mph on his heater. He ranked 19th among Twins prospects at FanGraphs and 23rd at Baseball America before this past season’s elbow troubles derailed his year. Henriquez had multiple IL stints due to elbow inflammation and ultimately pitched to an unsightly 5.64 ERA in 57 Triple-A frames. He’ll likely open the season back in Triple-A St. Paul as a depth option.
Moran is the goat
Nice:) both of them have had good results when healthy
Twins offseason is now complete.
Lol hope not. Based on recent years, they wait until the last week of ST to make moves, getting “bang for their buck”
What could the Twins get trading Byron Buxton and his salary? A Top Quality AAA Starting Pitcher and maybe a AA 1st baseman or corner outfielder? The Twins could move Max Kepler to CF and not lose much. What about Trading Carlos Corea and his salary? The Twins would get a Top of the line Starting pitcher and probably a starting first baseman or starting 3rd baseman.. Royce Lewis could almost replace Corea defensively at Short and positively improve the Twins offensively. Trade both, and you save the Twins 40-48 million a year. You can keep the rest of the team and add contributors, and complete the rotation, CF problems.
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For Buxton? Nothing, even if they could get Buxton to sign off his full no trade clause for Buxton, the Twins would have to probably eat $5MM per year to get a PTBNL. Kepler in CF would be well below average. He was okay as an option 4-5 years ago when he was still fast, but he’s lost a step or two entering his 30s. Also, Kepler misses a lot of playing time due to frequent injuries, always missing 30-50 games a year.
Carlos Correa also has a full no trade clause he’d have to waive, and again, even if he did, he has major negative trade value right now. I think the Twins could unload Correa’s contract right now by eating $10MM/yr and get a PTBNL. Lewis has been highly error prone so he’d need to take major strides forward to replace Correa defensively (though it’s still certainly possible). Tough to say how much better at the plate Lewis might be. Correa could very well have a return to form next year which would have the Twins trading very, very low on him.
I really don’t get how many fans propose trading guys with full NTC’s….