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Twins Designate Craig Breslow For Assignment

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The Twins have designated veteran left-hander Craig Breslow for assignment, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (Twitter link).

Breslow signed a minor league deal with Minnesota last winter that ended up paying him $1.25MM in guaranteed money when he broke camp with the team after Spring Training.  After getting off to a good start in his first 21 outings, Breslow struggled in June and then spent much of July on the DL with a rib injury.  Overall, Breslow has a 5.34 ERA, 5.3 K/9, 1.64 K/BB rate over 30 1/3 IP for the Twins.

Twins manager Paul Molitor told Berardino and other reporters that Breslow (who turns 37 on August 8) intends to continue his career.  Despite the lackluster overall numbers, there is still evidence that Breslow has something left in the tank — he held left-handed hitters to just a .176/.262/.235 slash line this season.  Since right-handed batters (.992 OPS) were responsible for much of the damage against Breslow this season, he could still provide value to another team in a strict specialist role.  With several teams looking for bullpen help, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Breslow get some calls should he hit the open market, or perhaps even a club could work out a minor trade to acquire Breslow from Minnesota during the DFA period.

Blue Jays Acquire Nick Tepesch

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The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander Nick Tepesch from the Twins for cash considerations, reports Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link).

This is the second trade of the day for the Blue Jays, who picked up utilityman Rob Refsnyder from the Yankees earlier this afternoon. Like Refsnyder, Tepesch should only be a minor contributor for the Blue Jays – if he contributes anything, that is. Tepesch made one start this season in Minnesota, on May 6, and yielded seven runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks over 1 2/3 innings. The Twins released the 28-year-old a month later, but he quickly re-upped on a minor league contract. Tepesch logged 29 innings with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate this year and recorded a 5.59 ERA, 8.38 K/9 and 2.79 BB/9.

At one point in his career, Tepesch was a passable back-end starter in Texas, where he posted a 4.56 ERA, 5.42 K/9, 2.92 BB/9 and a 43.9 percent ground-ball rate across 219 frames (39 starts, 42 appearances) from 2013-14. Tepesch hasn’t been nearly that effective since, though, so it’s doubtful he’ll do much at the major league level with his new organization.

Latest On Jaime Garcia

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SUNDAY, 12:41pm: Add the Brewers to the list of teams interested in Garcia, per Crasnick (Twitter link).

10:34am: Minnesota and Atlanta continue to discuss Garcia, but the Twins are also focusing on starters from other teams, Wolfson indicates (on Twitter).

SATURDAY, 1:32pm: Righty Nick Burdi was involved in the deal, Rosenthal tweets. Burdi had Tommy John surgery in late May and will be out until next season. The Braves already obviously would have been aware of that, and they haven’t shied away from acquiring injured pitchers in the past (such as Max Fried, who they got when they traded Justin Upton to the Padres in the 2014-15 offseason). So perhaps the player whose medicals they took issue with was someone else. It’s still possible, though, that they saw less than they hoped for in Burdi’s medical reports. The 24-year-old Burdi had an 0.53 ERA, 10.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 17 relief innings with Double-A Chattanooga before the injury.

11:30am: Talks between the Braves and Twins came to an impasse due to a medical issue the Braves had with a prospect they would have received from the Twins, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. The two sides are currently considering other options, though they could return to the table at some point.

FRIDAY 8:34pm: All indications are that Garcia will take the ball for Atlanta tonight. The front office is in contact with a half-dozen organizations regarding the lefty at present, Feinsand tweets.

3:04pm: It is still possible that the Twins will acquire Garcia, though MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports that such a trade is “not probable.”

2:35pm: Garcia will make his scheduled start for the Braves tonight against the Dodgers, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Talks are still ongoing between the Braves and other teams about Garcia’s services, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports, so a late deal could still happen.  Aaron Blair was scratched from a minor league start yesterday and is in Los Angeles to make a spot outing should Garcia be scratched at the last minute.

9:32am: Teams besides the Twins are still talking to the Braves about Garcia, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (via Twitter).  It isn’t known who the other clubs in the mix are, though earlier today, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweeted that the Astros and Royals were two of the the teams that had previously shown interest in Garcia.  Kansas City, however, now appears to be more focused on acquiring a right-handed starter.

TODAY, 7:14am: No deal has been finalized between the two sides as of this morning, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports.

THURSDAY, 8:24pm: Minnesota is “very likely” to take over all of Garcia’s remaining salary (about $4.7MM), per 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson (via Twitter).

7:42pm: For what it’s worth, Garcia is still in a Braves’ uniform tonight, Kevin McAlpin of the Braves Radio Network tweets. Of course, that doesn’t mean the deal isn’t nearing completion; he isn’t scheduled to start until tomorrow.

6:44pm: It’s possible the Twins will be receiving an additional player in the deal, per LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune (via Twitter), though it seems that’d likely be a lower-level player of some kind.

6:12pm: It seems the swap is done except for the formalities. It’s being finalized right now, tweets Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, while MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger adds on Twitter that the sides are currently waiting on medical assessments. Atlanta will be receiving a minor-league player in return, he adds.

5:51pm: Minnesota is closing in on a deal for Garcia, Rosenthal tweets.

5:46pm: Amidst ongoing rumors that Braves starter Jaime Garcia may be dealt in short order, the Twins are engaged in discussions on the veteran southpaw, according to Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (via Twitter). It’s not apparent at this point whether other teams are still involved or whether an agreement could be nearing completion.

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Garcia is probably one of the better rental starters on a market that doesn’t have many of great interest (pending the availability of Yu Darvish). I’d generally concur with MLBTR’s readers, who rated him alongside Jeremy Hellickson, and behind Trevor Cahill and Marco Estrada, in a poll yesterday.

Over his 106 innings this year, Garcia has pitched to a 4.33 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 along with a healthy 54.7% groundball rate. At times, previously, he has shown a fair bit more, but that sort of output likely represents a reasonable expectation moving forward for Garcia, who the Braves acquired over the winter after a long run with the Cardinals.

Those looking for upside will note that Garcia does carry an 11.5% swinging-strike rate that is more reminiscent of his prime-level work. And it’s important to note that he has been plenty durable recently after experiencing several seasons marred by shoulder troubles.

While Garcia doesn’t necessarily excite, he should represent a sturdy option for a club that needs good innings down the stretch. That’s the case for Minnesota, which finds itself firmly in the AL Central (and AL Wild Card) hunt despite a generally underwhelming overall performance — particularly from its pitching staff.

The Twins just lost Phil Hughes back to the DL, where Hector Santiago also resides. Neither has been effective when healthy, and the same holds of Kyle Gibson and Adalberto Mejia — whose palatable 4.22 ERA isn’t supported by the peripherals. That leaves just two reliable rotation pieces in Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios. The Twins did just add former Braves hurler Bartolo Colon, though it’s anybody’s guess what he’ll provide.

While the Minnesota front office has focused more on the possibility of acquiring a controllable starter, it has acknowledged that rentals could also be pursued in the right circumstances. “We’re probably not going to be inclined to spend lavishly on short-term assets,” GM Thad Levine explained recently, “but we would be very open to spending aggressively on assets that we could use to propel our team forward this year and for years to come.”

Garcia would help shore things up for the rest of the season, but he’ll head to free agency thereafter. If Levine’s statement still holds, then, it seems reasonable to anticipate that the Twins won’t be sending a big package to acquire Garcia — who, it should be noted, is earning at a hefty $12MM rate this year. Taking on some salary now, though, may be the preferred route to boosting the team’s chances at earning a surprise postseason spot, particularly if the demand for the few available top-end controllable pitchers is as great as it seems.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Twins Sign Michael Kohn

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  • The Twins have added righty Michael Kohn on a minors deal, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports (Twitter links). He’ll continue rehabbing a rotator cuff injury that has kept him off the mound since 2015. Kohn previously turned in 115 innings of 3.52 ERA ball — but with 6.2 walks to go with his 8.7 strikeouts per nine — in parts of five seasons of MLB action.

Bartolo Colon Has Considered Retirement

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Veteran right-hander Bartolo Colon tells ESPN’s Marly Rivera that he’s considered retirement recently. The 44-year-old signed a minor league pact with the Twins and made his debut in Minneapolis last night, surrendering four runs in four innings vs. the Yankees. Colon hasn’t made up his mind yet, and it sounds as if he’s planning to make his next start (which comes against the Dodgers in L.A. on July 24), but Rivera notes that his performance in that outing could directly impact his future.

The 2017 season has been brutal for the affable Colon. Signed to a one-year, $12.5MM contract on the heels of an excellent age-43 season with the Mets, Colon limped to an 8.14 ERA with the Braves before last night’s poor outing with Minnesota. Colon did navigate the Yankees’ lineup rather successfully twice through, allowing just one run in his first four innings of work, but he allowed some hard contact in the fourth before kicking off the fifth with a single and a pair of ringing doubles that ended his night.

Colon’s admission is somewhat reminiscent of 40-year-old Bronson Arroyo’s candor with the media earlier this season, in which the veteran Reds right-hander bluntly acknowledged to the Cincinnati media that if he didn’t soon “see something a little bit crisper and able to keep us in the ballgame a little bit better, maybe you’re at a dead end street.”

Obviously, the Twins and Colon will both hope for better results in his next scheduled outing. If he’s able to soak up some innings for a Minnesota club that finds itself a surprising contender in late July, he’d be a quality asset simply by functioning as a durable innings eater. That, however, hasn’t been the case to this point. There’s no evidence to suggest that the Twins would try Colon in a long relief role, and it’s not known how open he’d be to that at this stage of his career.

If things do go south for Colon once again in his next time out and it does prove to be the end of the line, he’ll have turned in a fairly remarkable career. Colon has spent parts of 20 seasons in the Major Leagues, totaling 3329 1/3 innings while appearing as a member of the Indians, Angels, Mets, Athletics, White Sox, Expos, Twins, Braves, Red Sox and Yankees. In that time he’s worked to a 235-171 record with a 4.02 ERA, 6.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 and been named to four All-Star teams in addition to taking home 2005 American League Cy Young honors.

Twins Not Focused On Rental Pieces

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  • MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand hears that the Twins are shying away from rental assets and are focusing primarily on pieces they can control beyond the current season. Minnesota is preparing for the deadline with a buyer’s mindset, but it’s not clear exactly how aggressive they’ll be. ESPN’s Buster Olney recently wrote that Minnesota isn’t prepared to gut its farm system in order to make a significant splash, but if the team isn’t keen on rentals, as Feinsand suggests, then perhaps they’ll zero in on some second-tier assets that will remain under contract through 2018. Speaking purely speculatively, David Phelps, AJ Ramos and Brad Brach are among the bullpen names that could potentially be had without ransacking the farm, while a starter like Edinson Volquez could fit the same bill.

Phil Hughes To 60-Day DL With Recurrence Of TOS Symptoms

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4:54pm: Hughes adds that if he can avoid undergoing a second surgery, the issue may not quite be season-ending (Twitter link via Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press).

4:04pm: Hughes tells reporters that he’s experiencing the same symptoms he felt last year and could undergo another surgery to remove the remaining portion of the rib that was half removed in the first procedure (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger). He’s seeking additional opinions before deciding a course of treatment.

3:50pm: The Twins announced on Tuesday that they’ve placed right-hander Phil Hughes directly onto the 60-day DL — he’d been on the active roster — due to a recurrence of thoracic outlet syndrome symptoms. Hughes’ 2016 season was cut short by surgery to alleviate TOS, but the veteran righty has struggled to stay healthy in 2017 even after the operation.

Hughes, 31, has pitched to a 5.87 ERA through 53 2/3 innings in 2017 as he attempted to reestablish himself following a pair of down seasons (both of which may well have been impacted by the TOS issue). Hughes maintained his excellent control and actually upped his strikeout rate a bit as he tried to reinvent himself as a changeup/curveball artist to compensate for diminished fastball velocity (89.7 mph on average). Upon his return from a DL stint tied to biceps tendinitis, Hughes was placed in the bullpen with the hope that a change in role could keep him healthy and help to bolster a Twins relief corps that has often been problematic in 2017.

Unfortunately for both Hughes and the Twins, the results obviously weren’t favorable, and now a return this season looks to be uncertain. The earliest he can be activated from the disabled list would be mid-September. Hughes is still controlled for another two seasons beyond the 2017 campaign, during which he’s guaranteed a total of $26.4MM.

The placement of Hughes on the 60-day DL seemingly represents a change of course, as last night it was reported that righty Dillon Gee would land on outright waivers today, thus creating a roster spot for Bartolo Colon. The Twins, however, announced that Colon will step into Hughes’ roster spot, so for the time being it looks as though Gee will remain on the 40-man roster.

In related moves, the Twins also announced that lefty Craig Breslow has been activated from the disabled list, with first baseman/designated hitter Kennys Vargas being optioned to Triple-A Rochester to create a vacancy on the 25-man roster for Breslow’s return.

Twins To Select Contract Of Bartolo Colon, Outright Dillon Gee

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The Twins have prepared their roster moves to accommodate the promotion of recently signed veteran Bartolo Colon. Minnesota will outright fellow righty Dillon Gee, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter), with slugger Kennys Vargas being optioned for an active roster spot.

Once that move is official, the 44-year-old Colon will be ready join his tenth MLB organization. The twenty-year MLB veteran signed on with the Twins on a minors deal after a disappointing start to the year with the Braves, who’ll remain responsible for the vast majority of his $12.5MM salary.

With the Minnesota front office eyeing possible pitching upgrades at the trade deadline — with a focus on controllable arms, per reports — it’ll have a few chances to see Colon pitch again in the majors before making any final decisions. It’s unlikely that the ageless wonder will significantly alter the club’s decisionmaking, but if he shows well the team would obviously have somewhat less incentive to consider giving up talent or taking on salary for a short-term rotation boost.

Though Colon was knocked around with the Braves, coughing up 57 earned runs on 92 hits in his 63 frames, he has been much better in recent years. In 2016, in fact, he spun 191 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball. That kind of productivity isn’t to be expected, of course, but perhaps there’s reason to hope he can still turn in some reliable frames. That’d be a welcome development for the Twins, who hope to stay in the postseason hunt but surely don’t wish to push in too many chips to do so as the organization’s new front office keeps the focus on achieving sustainable contention.

Gee, 31, was briefly called up after joining the Twins on a minors deal. But he did not appear before being optioned back to Triple-A. He made four appearances earlier in the year with the Rangers, but has spent most of the season at Triple-A. Gee has been rather effective in his 66 innings over a dozen starts, working to a 3.00 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. A veteran of eight MLB campaigns, Gee is looking to reestablish himself at the game’s highest level after a pair of rough seasons.

Olney: Twins Will Be "Measured" Buyers

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  • The Twins have let other clubs know that while they plan to be buyers at the deadline, they’ll act in a measured sense and won’t gut the upper echelon of their farm system in order to land a significant name. Minnesota has previously been linked to bullpen and rotation help, and while GM Thad Levine has outwardly suggested that the team will at least consider pursuing controllable assets this July, Olney’s column casts some doubt on how strongly the Twins will be in the mix for the top names available (e.g. Gray).
  • Currently sitting at 46-49 and buried in the AL West but just 3.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, the Angels will determine their deadline course based largely on their play in the next week or so, per Olney. A strong week that puts them closer to a Wild Card spot could lead to a conservative buyers’ mentality (similar to the Twins), but if they struggle and fall further back, rental relievers like Bud Norris, David Hernandez and Yusmeiro Petit could all be marketed. The same goes for other impending free agents such as Cameron Maybin and Yunel Escobar.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Twins Notes: Santana, Kintzler, Perkins

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Though the Twins have received trade interest in both ace Ervin Santana and closer Brandon Kintzler, it would be “very difficult to justify selling” either hurler with the team still in the pennant race, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets.  Minnesota enters play today just 1.5 games out of first place in the AL Central and one game out of a wild card slot, and if anything, the Twins look like they’ll be trying to acquire pitching at the deadline rather than sell arms.

  • Glen Perkins isn’t sure he is interested in pitching in 2018, though the former Twins closer tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he is still determined to complete his long recovery from 2016 shoulder surgery to return to the bigs this season.  “I still just want to pitch in a game. I mean, I do. I’m aware that the further along this goes, the less likely that is. But as long as I have a chance, I’m going to try,” Perkins said.  The southpaw tossed just two innings in 2016 before being shut down due to the surgery, and Perkins has yet to be cleared for a full rehab assignment.  The Twins have a club option for Perkins in 2018 that can (and almost surely will) be bought out for $700K, though Perkins said he is too focused on his recovery to worry about contract issues at this point.

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