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Twins Looking Into Rental Starters

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The 54-42 Twins enter the second half of the 2024 season sitting a dozen games over .500 and in possession of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. After falling behind both the Guardians and Royals early in the year, they’ve leapfrogged Kansas City (54-45) and sit a manageable four and a half games back of Cleveland (58-37) for the division lead. They’re lining up to act as clear buyers at the deadline, and Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Minnesota would like to add another arm in the rotation — likely a rental.

Adding a starter who’s only controlled through season’s end is sensible for the Twins but a departure from the types of rotation arms they’ve targeted at recent trade efforts. It’s worth remembering that Twins ownership slashed payroll meaningfully this past offseason, cutting down from 2023’s mark of around $155MM to this season’s Opening Day mark of about $127.5MM. That came amid uncertainty regarding the future of the Twins’ television contract with Bally Sports, and given that the eventual resolution was a one-year deal to remain with Bally, it’s not surprising that the club might prefer to avoid committing substantial salary to the 2025 books in the form of acquiring a more controllable arm. (Although to be clear, there’s no indication ownership would be staunchly opposed to adding to the ’25 books.)

A short-term stopgap in the rotation is sensible for reasons beyond the 2025 payroll, of course. The Twins could currently use some extra innings in the back half of the rotation, where Chris Paddack has had an inconsistent season as he pushes his workload back to levels he hasn’t seen since 2019 in what is his first season back from a second career Tommy John surgery. Rookie right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson has enjoyed a breakout year but is 23 innings shy of last season’s total of 118 1/3 innings. Bringing in a veteran arm would offer some stability behind the staff-leading trio of Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober.

Adding to the appeal of a rental, the Twins’ entire slate of 2024 rotation options is controlled/signed beyond the current season. Lopez is signed through 2027. Ryan and Ober are controllable via arbitration through that same year. Paddack is signed through 2025 and presumably won’t have as many workload concerns next year. Woods Richardson can’t reach free agency until the 2030-31 offseason.

The organization’s top two pitching prospects, David Festa and Zebby Matthews, are both in the upper minors and could be in the mix for starts next year as well. (Festa has already made his MLB debut in 2024, though he’s been hit hard in a pair of spot starts.) That doesn’t even include hometown righty Louie Varland, who opened the season as the Twins’ fifth starter but has fallen behind Woods Richardson and Festa on the depth chart. He’s still starting in Triple-A for now, but there’s been plenty of speculation about an eventual move to the bullpen for the former top prospect.

Hayes lists Toronto lefty Yusei Kikuchi as one name the Twins “could” target, though it’s not clear just yet whether the two parties have had any meaningful discussions about the southpaw. Kikuchi is in the final season of a three-year, $36MM contract and is widely expected to be traded, with the Jays buried by 14 games in the AL East and only sitting marginally better in the Wild Card hunt (nine and a half games out).

The 33-year-old Kikuchi has logged 106 innings of 4.42 ERA ball with a sharp 26% strikeout rate and excellent 5.8% walk rate that belie his pedestrian earned run average. After a tough first season in Toronto, he’s proven to be a solid pickup in years two and three of the deal, thanks in large part to his revamped curveball. That said, he’s hit a rough patch of late, stumbling to a 6.00 ERA in his past nine starts (45 innings). His strikeout and walk rates have remained excellent, but a longstanding issue with home runs has once again reared its head; Kikuchi has been tagged for 11 round-trippers in that time (2.2 HR/9).

Detroit’s Jack Flaherty is the most highly regarded rental arm likely to be on the market, though he’d likely command a prospect of note and the Twins might balk at sending a touted farmhand to a division rival. Washington’s Trevor Williams would be among the more clearly available rental arms on the market were it not a for a flexor strain that’s sidelined him since late May. There are a number of potential rental arms who could hit the market in the days ahead, depending on how their respective teams play. The Reds (Frankie Montas), Rangers (Michael Lorenzen, Andrew Heaney), Pirates (Marco Gonzales, old friend Martin Perez) and Giants (Alex Cobb) are all within five games of a playoff spot but could make some sell-side moves if they fall into a losing streak coming out of the break.

Twins Outright Zack Weiss

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The Twins have sent right-hander Zack Weiss outright to Triple-A St. Paul, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic on X. He had been on the 60-day injured list but was reinstated and passed through waivers. The club’s 40-man roster count stays at 40.

Weiss, 32, has never appeared in a big league game for the Twins. He was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in February and then began the season on the IL due to a teres major strain, getting transferred to the 60-day version in early April. He recently began a rehab assignment, making five appearances in the minors since the end of June. He was going to need to retake a spot on the 40-man roster but the Twins decided to put him on waivers instead.

Since he passed through unclaimed, he’ll stick in the organization as depth without taking up a roster spot. He doesn’t have three years of service time, nor does he have a previous career outright, meaning he can’t elect free agency.

The Twins will therefore get to keep a guy who has put up some intriguing numbers in recent years. Over 2022 and 2023, he tossed 27 1/3 innings in the majors with a 3.29 earned run average. His 11.4% walk rate was on the high side but he struck out 28.9% of batters. In that same period, he also tossed 91 1/3 innings in the minors with a 4.93 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate.

Weiss will report to St. Paul and try to earn his way back onto the 40-man roster. If he succeeds in doing so, he still has two options and less than a year of service time.

Caleb Boushley Accepts Outright Assignment With Twins

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Right-hander Caleb Boushley has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment a few days ago, with Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com among those to relay the transaction on X. The righty had the right to elect free agency but has accepted his outright and will report to Triple-A St. Paul.

Boushley, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason. He was added to the club’s roster in May but mostly kept on optional assignment, only getting into one big league game. That brought his tally of big league appearances to two, as he also appeared in one game with the Brewers last year. He has a 6.23 earned run average in his 4 1/3 innings at the top level.

He’s made 16 Triple-A starts this year with a 4.68 ERA. His 20.8% strikeout rate is a bit below par but he’s limited his walks to a tiny rate of 4%. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has a 4.55 ERA in 463 1/3 minor league innings with a 19.4% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate.

He still has a full slate of options yet the other 29 clubs passed on the chance to claim him and bring him aboard as pitching depth. Since he was outrighted by the Brewers last year, he had the right to elect free agency but has chosen to stay in the Twins’ system.

Minnesota lost Anthony DeSclafani for the year to flexor tendon surgery but their rotation is currently pretty healthy apart from that. At the moment, it consists of Pablo López, Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack and Simeon Woods Richardson. Guys like David Festa and Louie Varland are on the 40-man and currently in Triple-A, with Boushley now providing more depth alongside them in a non-roster capacity.

Twins Acquire Rylan Bannon From Mets

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The Twins have acquired infielder Rylan Bannon from the Mets, per their transaction log at MLB.com. The return isn’t specified, though it’s typical for midseason trades of non-40-man players of this ilk to send cash the other direction. Speculatively speaking, Bannon may have had an out clause in his deal with the Mets; he was hitting well in Triple-A Syracuse prior to this swap.

Bannon, 28, has played in parts of two big league seasons, spending time with the Orioles, Braves and Astros. Despite having suited up for three clubs in 2022-23, he’s tallied only 21 plate appearances at the MLB level and gone 2-for-20 with a walk and eight strikeouts.

A seventh-round pick by the Dodgers back in 2017, Bannon was one of five players the Dodgers traded to Baltimore in the 2018 Manny Machado deal and for a few years looks as though he could have a role with the O’s in the majors. Bannon ranked among the Orioles’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com from 2019-21, sitting between 18th and 23rd on their list along the way. He’s had an inconsistent but at-times productive track record in the upper minors.

That minor league track record includes a strong three-month stint with the Mets organization to begin the 2024 season. Bannon appeared in 79 games and tallied 342 plate appearances with the Mets’ Syracuse affiliate, batting .254/.392/.475 with 15 homers, seven steals and a gaudy 17.5% walk rate. He played second base, third base, shortstop and both outfield corners during his time in the Mets’ system but ultimately didn’t receive a call to the majors.

The Twins have a crowded but increasingly banged-up infield mix, so it’s not a shock to see them adding some more depth. Third baseman Royce Lewis is on the shelf with an adductor strain, and Minnesota placed Jose Miranda on the injured list with a back issue just prior to the break. Neither player is expected to be in for an especially lengthy IL stint. The Twins selected the contract of infielder Diego Castillo just before the break when Miranda hit the injured list.

Carlos Correa, in the midst of his best season since signing with the Twins, is skipping the All-Star Game due to an ongoing bout of plantar fasciitis. There’s no indication yet that Correa will head to the injured list, and the Twins still have top prospect Brooks Lee to slot in at third base and All-Star utilityman Willi Castro as an option at second base. If Correa does require a stint on the 10-day IL, Edouard Julien could be recalled from St. Paul, with Castro or Lee taking over at shortstop.

Current And Former Top Prospects To Watch As The Trade Deadline Approaches

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Last week, MLBTR's Anthony Franco ran through a handful of under-the-radar trade candidates for teams on the hunt for bullpen help. It was a simple enough premise. While there's rightly a heavy focus placed on high-quality relievers on bad teams (e.g. Mason Miller, Tanner Scott, Carlos Estevez), MLB teams will be casting a wider net than just those obvious trade candidates.

I wanted to do something similar with hitters -- and may still do so -- but as I parsed through some potential options, I was also struck by the likelihood that there are a number of current and former (more of the latter) top prospects who increasingly look like they'll have an uphill battle to earning a role with their current club. Oftentimes, this is due to other prospects leapfrogging them on the depth chart, the team extending a current key player and/or injuries. While today's front offices tend to hoard depth as much as possible the finite number of minor league options a player possesses can put an inherent clock on that depth's shelf life.

Not all of the players highlighted in this exercise are teetering on being out of options, nor is this intended to be an exhaustive list of names in this situation. (If there's anyone you feel I missed, by all means, let me know in the comments and bring them to the discussion!) I'm also not going to focus much on former prospects who've already been passed through waivers/released or those who are performing poorly enough in the minors that they're now DFA candidates themselves.

The aim here is to find some interesting, controllable names still on the 40-man roster who have decent minor league (and in some cases, big league) track records but lack a clear path to an everyday role on their current roster. That sort of player ought to have appeal to rebuilding teams or retooling sellers who are looking to take another shot at contending as soon as next year. Here are a few situations that seem worth monitoring as the deadline draws near:

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Carlos Correa Dealing With Plantar Fasciitis, Will Skip All-Star Game

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7:34PM: Correa won’t participate in the All-Star Game.  The Rangers announced that Corey Seager has been named to the AL All-Star squad as Correa’s replacement.

4:15PM: Carlos Correa wasn’t in the Twins lineup yesterday or today due to what was initially described as a bruised right heel.  However, Correa and Minnesota manger Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including The Athletic’s Dan Hayes) that the shortstop is dealing with a case of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, as was revealed in an MRI taken last night.

This is the second consecutive year that plantar fasciitis has emerged as an issue for Correa, though last season’s injury was located in his left foot.  Correa described his current issue as not “as bad as last year.  Last year I played through a lot of pain.  The first game I played here was discomfort.”  A trip to the injured list doesn’t appear to be in the works for now, as Correa didn’t even entirely rule out playing in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, though he noted that the All-Star break will be helpful in managing his foot problem.

“We’re taking the precautions that we need to take right now before it gets worse,” Correa said.  “We kind of know how to manage it, all the info we have from last year.  I think I’ll be ready for the second half.”

Plantar fasciitis is ultimately a pain-tolerance type of injury, so theoretically, Correa could be able to stay on the field as long as he is able to handle what can be a very painful case of inflammation in the foot and heel area.  Of course, playing and playing well are two different things, as Correa’s attempts to largely try and play the pain in his left foot in 2023 resulted in subpar performance.  Correa hit .230/.312/.399 over 580 plate appearances and also had below-average defensive metrics at shortstop, and he held off an IL trip until late September after Minnesota had clinched a playoff berth.

Correa made it clear that he doesn’t want a repeat of 2023, as “I don’t just want to be a body on the field….Last year, one thing I learned is people don’t care if you go out there and play hurt.  They’re always going to talk about your performance and that only.  I’m just going to make sure that when I’m on the field, I’m not just somebody that’s just standing there.  I’m going to be Carlos Correa.”

Though Correa missed a couple of weeks in April with a minor oblique strain, he has certainly returned to his usual form this season.  Correa is hitting .308/.377/.520 with 13 homers over 317 PA, with his 152 wRC+ is on pace to be a personal best of a full season.  His performance is a big reason why the Twins find themselves again in a postseason position heading into the All-Star break, though Minnesota is in a wild card slot, and entered today’s action 4.5 games behind the Guardians for first place in the AL Central.

A tight pennant race will again make Correa eager to play as often as possible, so he and the Twins will have to be careful about how they manage his playing time in order to keep him both healthy and effective.  The overall health of the Twins’ infield is another issue, as Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Alex Kirilloff, Austin Martin, and Kyle Farmer are all on the 10-day IL, leaving Minnesota quite thin on depth options.

Twins Designate Caleb Boushley For Assignment

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The Twins announced this afternoon that they’ve designated right-hander Caleb Boushley for assignment. In addition, they’ve announced that infielder Diego Castillo’s contract has been selected and that he’ll be taking the place of infielder Jose Miranda on the active roster. Miranda has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a low back strain. The Castillo and Miranda moves were previously reported last night.

Boushley, 30, appeared in just one game for the Twins this year. He signed with the club on a minor league deal back in January but wasn’t selected to the roster until the beginning of May. Boushley struggled in his lone appearance in a Twins uniform, allowing two runs on three hits while recording both a strikeout and a walk in two innings of work. He’s spent the rest of the season to this point pitching as a starter at the Triple-A level, where he sports a 4.68 ERA across 16 starts. His 20.8% strikeout rate is solid and his 4% walk rate is incredible, but Boushley has had some trouble with the long ball this year, surrendering ten in his 84 2/3 innings of work this year.

A longtime Padres farmhand after being selected in the 33rd round of the 2017 draft, Boushley moved on to the Brewers prior to the 2022 season and spent two seasons with the club before finally making his big league debut in late September last year, just days before his 30th birthday. His lone major league appearance in a Brewers uniform went better than his outing with the Twins, as he struck out five batters while walking two and allowed just one run on a solo homer in 2 1/3 innings of work. With a relatively pedestrian 4.62 ERA in 87 appearances (82 starts) at the Triple-A level for his career, the journeyman has shown himself to be a serviceable multi-inning depth option for a club in need of pitching.

Minnesota will now have one week to either work out a trade involving Boushley or try and pass him through waivers. If Boushley clears waivers, the Twins will have the opportunity to assign him outright to the minor leagues, though Boushley could opt to reject that assignment in favor of free agency should he choose to do so after being outrighted previously by the Brewers last year.

Twins To Place Jose Miranda On 10-Day Injured List

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The Twins will place Jose Miranda on the 10-day injured list prior to tomorrow’s game with the Giants, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press).  Utilityman Diego Castillo will have his contract selected from Triple-A to take Miranda’s spot on the active roster, and the Twins will have to make another move to clear space on the 40-man roster.

Lower back tightness has kept Miranda off the field since Wednesday, so the Twins will be able to backdate Miranda’s IL stint to July 11.  With the four-day All-Star break also factoring into the 10-day span, Miranda won’t miss much additional game time if he is able to return after only 10 days, though the Twins will certainly be careful with a player who has emerged as one of their chief offensive weapons.

Miranda seemed to lay claim to the Twins’ third base job with a very solid rookie season in 2022, but then struggled through a rough 2023 campaign that was limited to 40 games due to shoulder surgery.  Royce Lewis’ own injury problems allowed Miranda to get a fresh chance at regular playing time this season, and he has explored for nine home runs and a .325/.366/.522 slash line over 276 plate appearances, translating to a 149 wRC+.  This big year included a place in the history books, as Miranda’s string of 12 consecutive at-bats with a hit matched a Major League record.

Miranda has a .349 BABIP, and between middling hard-contact numbers and a below-average 5.1% walk rate, he is certainly overachieving to some extent — the infielder’s .380 wOBA is well above his .345 xwOBA.  Still, even that xwOBA is well above the league average, and Miranda’s contact is helped by the fact that he is rarely swinging and missing.  His 13.4% strikeout rate is in the 93rd percentile of all batters, even if his chase rate is unimpressive.

This production has been a big reason why the Twins are in possession of an AL wild card spot, so the club can only hope that Miranda’s back problem won’t linger.  Beyond just Miranda’s absence, the Twins’ wider-scale problem is a sudden swath of infield injuries, as Miranda joins Lewis, Kyle Farmer, Alex Kirilloff, and Austin Martin on the club’s 10-day IL.  Star shortstop Carlos Correa was also a late scratch from today’s lineup due to a heel contusion, though there isn’t yet any indication that Correa’s injury is anything but a day-to-day issue.  With so much infield depth missing, Minnesota had to get creative with today’s lineup, moving catcher Christian Vazquez to third base — Jair Camargo was called up from Triple-A earlier this week, so the Twins still had flexibility behind the plate with Vazquez, Camargo, and Ryan Jeffers all available.

Castillo brings some versatility to this mix, as the 26-year-old has already played five different positions and even thrown a couple of innings over his two MLB seasons.  Debuting with the Pirates in 2022, Castillo hit .206/.251/.382 over 283 during his first year in the Show, and was then traded to the Diamondbacks after the season and appeared in just one MLB game during the 2023 campaign.  A flurry of waiver claims this winter saw Castillo join four different organizations before finally landing with Minnesota, via an early April trade with the Orioles.

Twins Sign Wynton Bernard To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have signed outfielder Wynton Bernard to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had previously been with the White Sox on a minor league deal but was released a few days ago.

Bernard, 33, got into 41 games with Triple-A Charlotte prior to being released. His 3.2% walk rate in that time was well below average but he also kept his strikeouts down to a 16.8% clip. His .306/.328/.446 batting line translates to a 97 wRC+ in this year’s International League environment. He also stole 11 bases in 12 tries and played all three outfield positions.

That’s a perfectly solid performance but the White Sox are deep in a rebuild and probably prefer to give their minor league playing time to younger players who could perhaps progress towards helping the club in the future.

For the Twins, they are in win-now mode and are a more logical fit for a veteran depth guy like Bernard, though his path to a big league roster spot in Minnesota will be steep. The Twins currently have an outfield mix consisting of Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner and Manuel Margot, with Willi Castro splitting his time between the infield and outfield. Alex Kirilloff and Austin Martin would also be in the infield/outfield camp but both are currently on the injured list.

Buxton and Margot both have pretty checkered injury histories, so it’s possible the need for help on the grass could emerge at any point. Bernard has also stolen quite a few bases in his minor league career and could perhaps serve as a bench piece as a September call-up, jumping in for some pinch-running opportunities or to serve as a defensive replacement. His major league track record consists of 12 games with the Rockies in 2022, during which time he hit .286/.286/.310 and stole three bases in four tries. If he gets a 40-man roster spot at any point, he still has a couple of options remaining.

Twins Place Austin Martin On 10-Day Injured List

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Prior to today’s game with the Astros, the Twins placed Austin Martin on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to June 6) with a left oblique strain.  Outfielder Matt Wallner was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and Wallner was in the lineup today as Minnesota’s starting left fielder.

Martin has hit .265/.331/.372 with one home run over 124 plate appearances in his first Major League season, primarily playing in left and center field with a handful of games as a second baseman.  This versatility and his roughly league-average offensive production has been quite helpful for the Twins in managing several injuries, as Martin has been recalled three times from Triple-A to help fill holes around the diamond.

Unfortunately, Martin has now been bit by the injury bug himself, and could be facing a lengthy stint on the IL if he has a longer-lasting type of oblique issue.  While he’ll collect some extra Major League service time on the injured list, it’s obviously a setback for a former top prospect looking to firmly establish himself as a big leaguer.  The Blue Jays selected Martin with the fifth overall pick of the 2020 draft and then dealt him to Minnesota as part of the Jose Berrios trade a year later, and Martin’s prospect stock diminished after a pair of injury-marred seasons in the minors.

Martin joins Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff on the Twins’ 10-day IL, and the team had another injury scare today when Carlos Correa left the game after being hit on the right hand by a pitch.  The Twins announced that Correa suffered only a finger contusion and that x-rays were negative, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if Correa took a day or two off (or even went on the 10-day IL himself) if there are any lingering soreness.

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