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Twins Make Cuts To Scouting Department

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The Twins have eliminated four of the five jobs on their pro scouting staff, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Ken Compton, John Manuel, Keith Stohr and Jose Marzan will not have their contracts renewed at the end of the current season. That will leave Wesley Wright as the club’s lone remaining pro scout.

As Hayes mentions in the article, cutting down on pro scouts is a league-wide trend. He uses the Cubs as an example, linking to a November 2024 article from Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic detailing that club’s move to more analytics and less reliance on traditional scouting. Hayes writes that the Twins, like the Cubs, have been relying more on video in recent years with far less travel for in-person scouting.

However, even in that example, the Cubs dropped their pro scouting department to seven employees. That’s more than the five the Twins had this year, before dropping down to just one individual going forward.

The decision to rely more on analytics and less on scouting is one that is often debated in baseball circles, going back at least to the Moneyball days and surely even beyond that. However, Hayes says the Twins scaling back the department is about cutting costs, which is potentially ominous for the club’s future.

Money has been hovering around the Twins in many ways recently. The club’s regional sports network deal with Diamond Sports Group, now known as Main Street Sports, was not renewed after 2024. That left Major League Baseball in charge of the club’s broadcasting in 2025. Those league-run arrangements are believed to give clubs less revenue than a healthy RSN agreement.

Regardless, the club came into 2025 hoping to contend and they did so for a while. The Twins were in the playoff race for the early months of the current season but fell out of the race as the trade deadline approached. Many expected that the club would trade impending free agents with the goal of contending again in 2026 but the sell-off ended up being more notable than anticipated. In addition to the impending free agents, they also sold controllable players like Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax.

From a financial point of view, the most notable trade was the one sending Carlos Correa to the Astros. Though the Twins ate some money in the swap, they moved the majority of his contract off the long-term books. He was owed approximately $103.4MM through 2028 at the time of that trade, with the Twins staying on the hook for $33MM of that. There were more marginal financial notes as well. For instance, the Twins included Randy Dobnak in the deal sending Chris Paddack to the Tigers, which was seemingly to save them the roughly $2MM still owed to Dobnak.

A couple of weeks after the deadline was another notable development. The Pohlad family, which had been pursuing a sale of the franchise, decided to take the club off the market. They were looking for about $1.7 billion, though reportedly were carrying over $425MM in debt. They didn’t seem to find anyone willing to meet their asking price and instead sold minority stakes to a pair of new parties. The infusion of cash from selling those stakes to the new partners will reportedly help pay down the debt somewhat, though it’s unclear to what degree. Hayes notes that the new owners haven’t yet been officially approved by Major League Baseball.

Going into the winter, it’s not confirmed which direction the club will go for the 2026 season. They did target a lot of MLB-ready talent at the deadline, including players like James Outman, Alan Roden, Mick Abel and Taj Bradley. That arguably points to the club hoping to remain relevant next year but the continued penny pinching doesn’t bode well.

If further cost-cutting is a priority, that presumably increases the chances of players like Pablo López or Joe Ryan being made available this winter. López is making $21.5MM annually through 2027. Trading him could be big savings for the Twins but would still have plenty of appeal for other clubs. Ryan is even more of a bargain as he’s still in his arbitration years. He is making just $3MM this year and will be owed a raise in the two coming campaigns before he’s slated to reach free agency after 2027.

Players like Ryan Jeffers, Bailey Ober, Trevor Larnach and Royce Lewis are also in their arb years and could be candidates for cost-cutting moves if that’s the road the Twins go down. Byron Buxton is the club’s other significant salary commitment, next to López, though he has a no-trade clause and has said he would like to remain a Twin for life.

Photo courtesy of Brad Rempel, Imagn Images

MLB Orders Winter Scouting Moratorium For Draft-Eligible Players

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Major League Baseball has ordered a new policy, the Amateur Recovery Period Policy, which adds some new rules applying to the scouting of amateur players over the winter. Reports from Jeff Passan of ESPN and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America provide the details.

There are plenty of complicated nuances involved, but the gist of the new policy is that no team employee is to scout amateur players, either with their own eyes or video/data-tracking equipment, for a period of the winter. This is to encourage players to rest, rather than staying in top game shape for showcases. This applies only to domestic, draft-eligible players. It doesn’t apply to international players or undrafted free agents.

The moratorium covers a period from October 15th to January 15th for high school players. There is a slightly narrower window for college players, going from November 15th to January 15th. During those windows, MLB team personnel are not allowed to see any draft-eligible player in a baseball setting. That includes games, showcases, training sessions “and any other activities related to throwing, hitting, catching or fielding.” They are also not allowed to procure video or data-tracking info on players. If any player submits unsolicited video to a team, the club must notify MLB within 24 hours. Cooper notes that the NCAA also has a quiet period for off-campus recruiting of baseball players from October 13th to February 28th, which also gives players less incentive to stay in game shape during the winter.

All baseball fans are surely aware that arm injuries have become increasingly common in the modern era. Major elbow and shoulder surgeries that require absences of more than a year — particularly for pitchers — are a regular occurrence nowadays. The amateur ranks have not been spared this trend, as the frequency of injuries has also impacted high school and college players.

Both articles cited above mention a December 2024 study from MLB which looked into this problem. Cooper cites an American Sports Institute study which found that pitchers were five times more likely to require surgery if they did not have an offseason rest period. Under these new rules, players can still work out if they choose to, but the hope is that the lack of scouting opportunities will encourage them to take a break and create a “dead period” of scouting.

There are some exceptions. Employees are allowed to watch players in a non-baseball setting, which includes playing other sports such as basketball. Cooper notes that there are four fall ball games scheduled on November 15th, which are grandfathered in. Additionally, scheduled regular-season games played before January 15th are eligible to be scouted. Team personnel can also watch their own children play baseball but only in a non-professional setting, meaning no data can be collected for a team’s database. Scouts can also visit players at their homes as long as no baseball activity is involved.

As mentioned, this policy does not apply internationally. Only players from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico are eligible for the MLB draft. Players from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and other countries are part of the international signing bonus system. The policy also does not cover agents, who are regulated by the MLB Players Association and not the league.

Any employee who violates the rules could face individual punishment, such as fines or suspensions. Their team could potentially face penalties in terms of sanctions in the draft or in the amateur signing system.

MLB’s memo, sent to all 30 teams, states that the hope is to “reduce the incentive for amateur players to perform at maximum effort year-round by designating a period in the calendar, during which time clubs are prohibited from evaluating amateur players, to ensure appropriate rest, recovery and development for players.” Cooper notes that all 30 amateur scouting directors were consulted, along with coaches and medical experts. The policy also has the support of the MLB Owners Competition Committee.

Photo courtesy of Greg Derr, Imagn Images

Nationals Have Interviewed Red Sox’ AGM Eddie Romero

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The Nationals are continuing to their attempts to get a front office in place before the offseason. Per a report from Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic, the Nats recently interviewed Eddie Romero, assistant general manager of the Red Sox. In a tweet, Ghiroli also mentions Royals assistant general manager Scott Sharp, though it’s unclear if Sharp has interviewed for the job.

Romero was been with the Red Sox a long time, having been hired in a scouting role back in 2006. He has since risen through the ranks, getting the assistant GM and executive vice-president titles in 2018. His work in Boston is clearly respected within the Red Sox franchise. In the fall of 2023, after the Sox had fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, Romero interviewed to be his replacement. That job ultimately went to Craig Breslow.

Romero is the second Boston assistant GM to be connected to the opening in Washington. It was reported last week that Paul Toboni is also a candidate. Today’s reporting confirms that Toboni did indeed interview for the job. However, Breslow is planning to a hire a GM to work as his second-in-command and Tim Healey of The Boston Globe writes that Toboni is a strong candidate for that position. If Toboni ultimately gets tapped for the GM role in Boston, that takes him off the table in Washington and could also lead to increased speculation about someone like Romero leaving.

Like Romero, Sharp has been with his club for many years, having been hired by the Royals in 2006. The Kansas City front office is currently headed by general manager J.J. Picollo. Sharp has been connected to a number of vacancies over the years, including the Mets’ GM search back in 2018, the Angels’ GM search in 2020 and the Giants’ GM search last year.

Sharp withdrew himself from the Giants’ GM search about a year ago, per Rosenthal. That was reportedly due to family considerations, though Rosenthal noted at that time that Sharp had an interest in running a front office at some point in the future.

The Nationals have been rebuilding for years now but the lack of progress led to president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo, and manager Dave Martinez, getting fired in July. Assistant GM Mike DeBartolo was given the GM title on an interim basis. He is a candidate to run the front office beyond the 2025 season, though the Nats have also considered a number of external candidates.

In addition to Romero, Toboni and Sharp, Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman, Dodgers senior vice president Josh Byrnes and D-Backs AGM Amiel Sawdaye have been tied to the Nats. Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins was also in the mix but is reportedly no longer in the running.

Per Rosenthal and Ghiroli, the Nats are considering hiring both a president of baseball operations and a general manager. It’s therefore possible they hire two of these aforementioned executives, though there are perhaps others in the mix who haven’t been publicly connected to the club.

The Nats want to have those decisions made by the end of the regular season so that they can then pivot to the managerial search. Miguel Cairo has been in the interim skipper since Martinez was fired. Whether or not Cairo is a candidate to stick around is presumably dependent on who is eventually picked to run the front office and how that person wants to go about the managerial search.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: The Struggling Mets, Bryce Eldridge, And Trey Yesavage

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will the Astros trade Christian Walker in the offseason and move Isaac Paredes over to first base? (38:45)
  • Will the Braves make any shocking trades of their core this offseason? (47:40)
  • Will the Red Sox nab a postseason spot and can they make a deep postseason run? (55:00)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

Brewers Place Jose Quintana On IL Due To Calf Strain

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The Brewers announced that left-hander Jose Quintana has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 15th, due to a left calf strain. Right-hander Nick Mears has been reinstated from the 15-day IL as the corresponding move.

Quintana started Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. He was pulled after throwing 67 pitches over four innings, having allowed three earned runs. After the game, manager Pat Murphy told members of the media that Quintana had been pulled due to a calf injury, adding that the lefty was in a walking boot and would require an MRI.

The Brewers took a few days to see how Quintana’s calf responded but have evidently decided that he’ll need to sit out a while longer. Even with the backdating, his regular season is over. He finishes the year with a 3.96 earned run average in 131 2/3 innings, though his underlying numbers are a bit less impressive than that ERA. His 9% walk rate and 43.3% ground ball rate are close to average but he only struck out 16% of batters faced. A low .259 batting average on balls in play seemed to help him, which is why his 4.83 FIP and 5.05 SIERA are both about a run higher than his ERA.

Even before the injury, Quintana wasn’t especially likely to be playing a meaningful role for Milwaukee in October. With the off-days in the postseason, teams are able to rely on just three or four starters instead of the usual five or six. Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester and Jacob Misiorowski are all having better seasons than Quintana.

In the short term, the Brewers are still in a good position. They have already clinched a playoff spot and seem highly likely to get a bye through the first round. They are currently 4.5 games up on the Cubs in the Central. The Brewers are eight games clear of the Dodgers, who lead the West division at the moment, in addition to being a game and a half clear of the East-leading Phillies.

To finish the job, they will need to replace Quintana in the rotation for the near term. They have Woodruff, Priester and Misiorowski taking the ball in the next three games. Peralta started yesterday and won’t be available on normal rest by Saturday. Milwaukee doesn’t have an off-day until the 25th, next Thursday.

Chad Patrick has had success as a starter this year but he is currently in the bullpen. His two most recent appearances have been of the single-inning variety but he did pitch 4 1/3 innings as recently as September 9th, so perhaps he could cover multiple innings. It’s a somewhat similar situation with guys like Erick Fedde and Tobias Myers, who have done some starting but have been in shorter stints more recently.

Another option to help out fairly soon is Robert Gasser, who is nearing a return from last summer’s Tommy John surgery. He was reinstated from the IL at the end of August but was optioned to the minors. Most of his recent minor league outings have been around three innings, at intervals of three days or so. He won’t be available for a traditional start but could cover a few frames in some capacity. “I think you’ll see him soon,” Murphy said today, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Turning back to Quintana, he will presumably be trying to get healthy for the postseason. Assuming the Brewers eventually do secure a bye through the Wild Card round, he’ll have over two weeks until the Division Series begins. As mentioned, the Brewers probably don’t need him in their postseason rotation, though an injury to one of the other arms could always change that. Even if he’s not needed to make a start, he could perhaps work out of the Milwaukee bullpen.

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

Rays Acquire Marshall Toole As PTBNL From José Caballero Trade

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Outfield prospect Marshall Toole is heading from the Yankees to the Rays, according to announcements from both clubs. He is the player to be named later from the deadline deal which sent José Caballero to the Yankees and Everson Pereira to the Rays. Toole wasn’t on the Yankees’ 40-man roster and therefore doesn’t need to take up a spot with the Rays.

Toole, 22, was a 15th-round pick of the Yankees in last year’s draft. Since that selection, he has played in 113 Single-A games, stepping to the plate 441 times. His 20.6% strikeout rate thus far is decent while his 15.2% walk rate is quite strong. His .298/.413/.462 batting line translates to a 148 wRC+. He has also stolen 52 bases in 60 tries.

Those are obviously some nice numbers but there are some caveats. That offensive production includes just six home runs and is being propped up by a massive .380 batting average on balls in play. Toole is also a bit old for his level and will face stiffer competition as he moves up the ladder. He’s not currently listed as one of the top 30 prospect in the Yankee system by Baseball America nor MLB Pipeline.

Put all together and it feels like a very Rays-style pickup, a player without a huge profile but one with some interesting tools. The club has turned a few such players into decent big league contributors over the years. Perhaps the same could be true of Toole but he’s likely a few years away since he still has to climb a few more rungs of the minor league ladder. He won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until December of 2027.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Pirates Select Rafael Flores

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The Pirates announced that they have selected the contract of catcher/first baseman Rafael Flores. In a corresponding active roster move, infielder Liover Peguero has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full.

Flores, 24, was just acquired from the Yankees as part of the deadline deal sending David Bednar to the Bronx. He was going to be available in the upcoming Rule 5 draft if not added to Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster. They were surely planning to give him a roster spot in order to him from that draft. Doing so a few months early allows them to get a look at him in the big leagues before the offseason arrives.

The youngster took an unusual path to being a notable prospect. He attended Rio Honda, a community college outside Los Angeles, and was playing summer ball for the Alaska Goldpanners when the Yanks found him and signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He was roughly league average at the plate in 2023 while playing at the High-A level.

Flores seemed to take a big step forward last year, both offensively and defensively. He stepped to the plate 506 times between High-A and Double-A, producing a combined .279/.379/.495 line and 152 wRC+. FanGraphs ranked him 34th in the system prior to that campaign, noting that his work behind the plate was improving. Baseball America ranked him tenth among New York farmhands heading into the current season.

The 2025 season has seen Flores boost his stock even further. The righty-swinging 24-year-old clobbered Double-A pitching at a .287/.346/.496 pace (145 wRC+) in 370 plate appearances and has hit .281/.363/.459 (119 wRC+) in 157 Triple-A plate appearances with the Pirates following the trade. He’s not great when it comes to controlling the running game, but Baseball Prospectus gives him above-average framing and blocking grades in the minors this year. At the very least, he has the makings of a bat-first option behind the plate — an area of dire need for the Pirates for the past several years.

Catcher has been a revolving door in Pittsburgh ever since the Bucs traded Jacob Stallings to the Marlins after the 2021 season. They’ve since used a combination of Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, Joey Bart, Jason Delay, Yasmani Grandal, Tyler Heineman, Austin Hedges, Michael Perez, Andrew Knapp and Roberto Perez — among others — and received disastrous results with the bat. Only the Guardians have received less offensive output from their catchers than Pittsburgh’s combined .208/.285/.314 since Opening Day 2022.

The hope moving forward will be that Flores can turn that tide — or at least play a meaningful role in a catching committee that begins to right the ship. The Pirates’ offense, in general, is among the most anemic in baseball on an annual basis. If Flores can provide even average offense (or slightly above), he ought to receive plenty of looks moving forward, given the difficulty the Bucs have had when it comes to scoring runs year over year.

Angels Outright Niko Kavadas

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The Angels have sent first baseman/outfielder Niko Kavadas outright to Triple-A Salt Lake, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.

Kavadas, 26, was acquired from the Red Sox as part of the July 2024 trade which sent Luis García to Boston. The Halos added Kavadas to their 40-man roster a few weeks later. He has largely been on optional assignment since then. His major league work consists of just 40 games with 129 plate appearances. He has produced a rough .168/.271/.292 line in that small sample.

His minor league work has generally been that of a three-true-outcomes guy, as he usually hits lots of home runs and draws lots of walks while also striking out a bunch. That has continued to be the case in 2025, though the overall production has taken a step backwards. He has 23 Triple-A homers this year while walking at a 14.7% clip and striking out 30.8% of the time. In the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, his .231/.363/.449 line translates to a wRC+ of 100. Last year, he slashed .264/.399/.521 in Triple-A for a 138 wRC+.

He’s not a burner on the basepaths nor is he an especially strong defender, so that lesser offensive production is notable and likely helped him get through waivers unclaimed. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of big league service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. That allows the Halos to keep him as non-roster depth. He won’t be eligible for seven-year minor league free agency at season’s end either, since he was drafted in 2021 and has therefore only played parts of five minor league campaigns.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images

Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.

Only two weeks remain in the 2025 regular season. Do you have a question about the stretch run? A move made at the deadline? The upcoming offseason? If you have a question on those topics or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The Opener: Rangers, Astros, Phillies, Dodgers, Strahm

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Just two weeks left to go in the regular season! Here are three things we’re monitoring around baseball today…

1. Silver Boot series kicks off with huge implications:

The American League west is the tightest division in the majors. The Mariners took over the top spot this weekend and currently sit one game clear of the Astros. That leaves Houston in possession of the final A.L. Wild Card spot but the Rangers are just two games behind them. The Rangers are in Houston for three games starting tonight for a series that should play a huge role in the A.L. playoff picture.

It begins tonight with Jack Leiter taking the ball for Texas against Jason Alexander. The Rangers will turn to Merrill Kelly and Jacob deGrom in the next two games. The Astros don’t have starters listed beyond Alexander but Cristian Javier will likely start one of those contests. They might have to do a bullpen game in the other, with Luis Garcia recently hitting the injured list. Guys like AJ Blubaugh, Jayden Murray, Colton Gordon or J.P. France could cover multiple innings.

2. Division leaders face off in Los Angeles:

Over in the National League, a couple of division leaders are squaring off as the Phillies open a three-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers tonight. The Phils have the East division locked down with the Mets 12 games back. The Dodgers have more of a fight in the West, as they are only 2.5 games up on the Padres. The Phils are in a good spot to earn a bye through the first round as they are behind the Brewers but 4.5 games ahead of the Dodgers, though Los Angeles can tighten things up with a sweep in the coming days.

The Phils are going with Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo while the Dodgers counter with Emmet Sheehan, Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell. The Padres are off tonight but will be watching and rooting for the Phils, before they start their own important series against the Mets tomorrow.

3. Strahm on verge of vesting:

Circling back to the Phillies for one note of interest, left-hander Matt Strahm is on the verge of being locked up for 2026. His contract originally contained a $4.5MM club option for 2026 but he already bumped that up to $5.5MM when he reached 40 innings pitched this year and then $6.5MM when he got to 50 frames. If he gets to 60, it jumps another million to $7.5MM and becomes guaranteed, pending the result of a postseason physical examination. Strahm is up to 59 1/3 innings on the year now, meaning he’s two outs away from vesting that option.

Photo courtesy of Tim Heitman, Imagn Images

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