The Phillies are trading infielder Kody Clemens to the Twins, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Philadelphia had designated him for assignment earlier in the week. Minnesota adds infield depth within an hour of losing rookie second baseman Luke Keaschall to a broken arm.
It’s the second DFA infield pickup for the Twins in as many weeks. They made a similar move to bring in corner bat Jonah Bride from Miami. Clemens, a left-handed hitter, has 402 MLB plate appearances under his belt. He owns a .197/.244/.367 slash over parts of four seasons. The Texas product has been far more productive in Triple-A. Clemens has hit .259/.331/.507 in nearly 1300 plate appearances at the top minor league level.
Clemens spent two-plus seasons in Philadelphia. He was included as part of the Gregory Soto/Matt Vierling trade during the 2022-23 offseason. They’d shuttled him on and off the active roster for the first two seasons, but he has now exhausted his minor league options. Philadelphia couldn’t get him back to Triple-A without running him through waivers. While he broke camp as a result, Clemens wasn’t playing enough to make that a worthwhile use of a roster spot. He didn’t start a single game and had come off the bench for just six plate appearances.
There should be a better path to at-bats in Minnesota. The Twins recently lost Willi Castro to the injured list as well. Clemens and Bride are multi-positional infielders off the bench. Neither can really play shortstop, but Clemens could factor at any of the other infield spots and in the corner outfield. He could play some second base when the Twins want to use Edouard Julien as the DH.
They’ll open an active roster spot by placing Keaschall on the injured list. They created a 40-man roster spot by running minor league catcher Diego Cartaya through outright waivers this afternoon.
Omg
Maybe Kody should have tried pitching like his dad.
Probably wishes he was 4 inches taller and could hit the juice too.
Clemens was great before the juice.
mercenary, Clemens did pitch for the Phils in a 2024 blowout, and he did well.
Make it a blockbuster for one of their BP arms, plus Byron Buxton. Phillies could offer some prospects with Kody Clemens for the pair.
Alex, I’ll take ‘OOTP Trades’ for 200.
Sure, in the sense that it’s better to have replacement level players than sub-replacement level players if your options don’t include guys who are actually good or young guys who have promise. .
The Twins are lucky to be getting Kody Clemens who has not been given any real chance to prove himself in the bigs. When he did play in Philly in 2024, he had a number of clutch hits and displayed his defensive versatility in the infield and outfield. In 2025, he rode the pine and wasn’t given any opportunities to participate. Clemens can play and, hopefully, he’ll have the chance to prove it with the Twins.