September 30: Irvin has been outrighted to Triple-A St. Paul, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com.
September 25: The Twins made a handful of moves before tonight’s games against the Marlins. Minnesota designated left-hander Cole Irvin for assignment, optioned southpaw Brent Headrick and placed outfielder Matt Wallner on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain. They’re replaced on the active roster by Justin Topa, Jorge Alcala and Austin Martin. Minnesota recalled Alcala and Martin from Triple-A St. Paul while activating Topa from the 60-day injured list.
Minnesota brought Irvin in on a waiver claim from the Orioles last week. The 30-year-old southpaw made four appearances out of Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen. He allowed five runs across 3 2/3 innings with four walks and only two strikeouts. Irvin made it through a scoreless inning yesterday against Miami but needed to work around a pair of free passes.
This has been a generally tough season for Irvin, whom the O’s had DFA twice as well. He bounced between Baltimore’s rotation and long relief work, combining for a 4.86 ERA across 107 1/3 innings. Irvin had been a durable source of roughly league average innings for the A’s between 2021-22, but he allowed 4.68 earned runs per nine over a season and a half in Baltimore.
The Twins will put Irvin on waivers in the next few days. He’ll almost certainly clear and would likely elect free agency at that point. Minnesota acquired Irvin after the calendar flipped to September. Even if they make the postseason — which now looks to be a long shot as they’ve fallen two games back of the Royals and Tigers with five to play — Irvin would have been ineligible to participate. It’s possible he’ll need to take a minor league deal this offseason.
Topa, 33, steps right into must-win games for his team debut. The Twins acquired him from the Mariners as part of the Jorge Polanco deal. They no doubt envisioned him as a high-leverage bullpen piece after he’d thrown 69 innings of 2.61 ERA ball in a breakout year for Seattle. A lengthy injury history had prevented Topa from emerging until his age-32 campaign, though, and that unfortunately resurfaced with his new organization.
The right-hander suffered a left knee injury in Spring Training and was eventually diagnosed with a partially torn patellar tendon. A rehab stint in July proved unsuccessful. Topa began a new rehab stint last week, pitching two innings in as many Triple-A appearances. With the minor league season finished and time running low for the MLB club, he’ll head to Target Field.
Minnesota’s bullpen has played a role in their second half collapse. Only the Red Sox have a higher bullpen ERA since the All-Star Break. They haven’t blown many leads but have had a tough time keeping games from getting out of hand. Baldelli might be reluctant to plug Topa into leverage spots after a six-month layoff. He’ll at least be a high-upside option in the middle innings.
The Twins will need to mount their playoff push without one of their more productive offensive players. Wallner is hitting .259/.372/.523 with 13 homers across 261 plate appearances. He’s done for the rest of the regular season and would miss at least the Wild Card series if the Twins qualify. Oblique strains usually cost a player multiple weeks, so there’s a good chance his season is over.
Max Kepler told reporters yesterday that he also won’t make it back during the regular season (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune). Kepler has missed most of September with a left knee injury. The Twins are going with an outfield of Willi Castro, Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach tonight against Miami righty Edward Cabrera.
Topa! Didn’t think he was gonna make it this year
Come back to the O’s, Cole.
Maybe they can do a like-for-like trade, Irvin for Rogers?
Why?
Irvin wasn’t the answer, eh?
3 years in a row of ERA+s in the 90s, usually pretty dependable.
Considering the lack of depth the Angels have, snagging him off waivers and bringing him into big league camp wouldn’t be a bad idea. He’d take Canning’s place on the roster once free agency begins.
Baldelli needs to go
He’s not favorable among any of us Twins fans, but ownership needs to be willing to open their wallets more than anything. The reason we end up with guys like Irvin who aren’t great is not because Baldelli tells the front office to go get him, but rather because ownership is only willing to make significant moves if it means offloading current salary.
The entirety of the management, the front office, and the Pohlads’ ownership of the Twins needs to be reevaluated if they’re going to win.
A significant effect of this budget pressure is the deep interest in discounts on players with high injury risk. Correa wouldn;t be anywhere near MN if he was whole. Buxton is playing for half his value were he at all likely to reach the field 120 times. They tried replacing the entire training staff to make it work better, and Rocco spends half his time standing on one foot and chanting ritual health prayers to keep them available. But it’s a losing battle with some guys and the office needs to start weighing “Availability is an important ability” more heavily. Examples: Carlos Santana is always ready to go. Sonny Grey always had injury concerns (and was let go – so good to see.) Descalfini, Paddack, Mahle did not have good records and didn’t make it. Pitchers get hurt, but some guys always get hurt – big difference.
You raise a good point – Injuries have been a major liability in the Twins’ ability to compete, too.
I’d replace Rocco only if there were a top-quality manager to take the job. There’s no point in firing Baldelli and then bringing in some inexperienced skipper or someone who has never finished higher than 4th.
Mets should grab him to make a start this weekend against the Brewers
Cardinals pick him up
Think the Cards may look into Burnes this winter?
Doubtful since it appears the Cardinals are shedding payroll this winter ( Goldschmidt, Gibson, Lynn). Even talk of possibly moving Sonny Gray ( doubtful since he has no trade clause). If they are looking to move Gray they wouldn’t pursue Burnes. And if Gray refuses a trade there’s no way they would pursue Burnes
I don’t think they will
So Cole is rolling the dice and accepting the outright assignment to see if the Twins offer arbitration – which will guarantee a higher salary than he received this year.
If Irvin went free agent, he’d likely receive a minor league deal with a spring training invite and a $1M big league salary (if on the mlb roster). Maybe he can negotiate a minor league minimum salary, but he’s hoping they offer arb.
Pretty sad actually.
Unless the Twins select his contract he will be a minor league free agent. He’s no longer on the Twins 40 man roster. Since he has more than 6 years professional experience he can be a free agent. Doubt the Twins select his contract and offer arbitration.