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Predict The AL Central Division Winner

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With final roster decisions in the books and the 2020 season underway at long last, it’s time to make some predictions. We’ll poll the MLBTR readership on each of the game’s six divisions — though plenty more teams will crack the postseason under the rather inclusive new playoff qualification system.

There’s rather an interesting dynamic in the American League Central division this year. The Twins stepped up in 2019 and have added Josh Donaldson to an already potent lineup. They’ll try to hold off the Indians, who had previously enjoyed a stranglehold on the division and have some of the best core talent around. There’s no denying the immense potential that resides on the White Sox roster, which features both elite youngsters and newly inked quality veterans. The Royals feel they’ve got quick bounceback potential after a few down seasons; if a few players hit their ceilings, perhaps they could surprise. It’s harder to see a path for the Tigers, but they’ve also got a load of elite young hurlers pushing into the majors and will enter the season determined to make strides.

Which team do you think is the best of the bunch? (Poll link for app users.)

Twins Select Aaron Whitefield

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The Twins selected outfielder Aaron Whitefield to their Major League roster yesterday in setting their Opening Day roster, per a club announcement. The Aussie speedster will go onto the team’s 40-man roster for the first time with the move.

Whitefield, 23, was signed out of Brisbane, Australia back in 2015. He’s something of a surprise addition given that he’s only played 31 games above A-ball, isn’t considered to be among the team’s top prospects and struggled at the plate this past season. Whitefield was a late addition to the player pool, joining the group just last week. However, he’s also swiped 115 bags in 337 minor league games in addition to 64 bases in 169 games while playing winter ball in the Australian League.

Whitefield has logged the vast majority of his time as a pro in center field, so he’ll give Minnesota a backup option at all three spots — notable with Byron Buxton coming back from a minor foot injury — as well as a pinch-running specialist late in games. Whitefield is a career .238/.299/.338 hitter in the minors, so it’s unlikely he’ll see too much time at the plate. However, we’ve seen a few clubs throughout the league opt to carry what amounts to a dedicated pinch-runner/defensive replacement (e.g. Terrance Gore with the Dodgers) while rosters are still at 30 players.

Jake Odorizzi To Begin Season On Injured List

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The Twins will open their season without right-hander Jake Odorizzi, who’s headed to the injured list with upper back soreness, Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those to report. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem that Odorizzi will be on the shelf for long.

If healthy, the 30-year-old Odorizzi should once again be a key part of the Twins’ rotation in 2020. He helped the club to an AL Central title last season, his first All-Star year, with 159 innings of 3.51 ERA/3.36 FIP ball and 10.08 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9. Odorizzi may have been able to secure a multiyear deal as a free agent after that, though he instead chose to stay in Minnesota when he accepted the team’s $17.8MM qualifying offer. But that means Odorizzi is once again set for a platform season, and beginning the 60-game campaign on the IL makes for an inauspicious start for him and the Twins.

With Odorizzi unavailable for now, the Twins will head into the year with Jose Berrios and three offseason acquisitions – Kenta Maeda, Homer Bailey and Rich Hill – as the top four in their rotation. Matt Wisler, Devin Smeltzer and Randy Dobnak, who are in the Twins’ 60-man player pool, are also among their hurlers who have logged starts at the MLB level.

Twins Release Jhoulys Chacin

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Right-handed pitcher Jhoulys Chacin requested his release from the Twins today, and he is no longer in camp with the team, according to Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Chacin had inked a minor-league deal with the Twins in February which included an opt-out clause that allowed him to enter free agency. The 32-year-old will hit the open market in hopes of latching on with another team ahead of Opening Day.

Chacin signed on in the winter with a chance to compete for a spot in the back of the Twins’ rotation, representing an insurance option against Michael Pineda’s suspension and the health of Rich Hill. Chacin would’ve competed with Randy Dobnak and Devin Smeltzer, but after subsequently acquiring starter Kenta Maeda and with Hill back to full strength, the need for Chacin has diminished. Presently, the Twins’ rotation is shaping up to consist of Maeda, Hill, Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, and Homer Bailey.

Last year was a frustrating one for Chacin, who went from starting Opening Day for Milwaukee to being released in August. That came after he stumbled to a 5.79 ERA through 19 starts with the Brewers. A September run with the Red Sox didn’t go much better, with his ERA climbing to 7.36 in a handful of appearances.

Still, Chacin authored an impressive stretch in 2017 and 2018, posting a cumulative 3.69 ERA in 67 starts with the Padres and Brewers. He has never been much of a strikeout specialist, as he averaged just 7.5 K/9 in those two years, but his increased reliance on his slider made him a tougher matchup for hitters. Last year, home runs were Chacin’s downfall, and teams looking at Chacin will have to decide if the 21% HR/FB rate was simply a streak of bad luck, or indicative of the pitcher Chacin will be this year and beyond.

Byron Buxton Expects To Be Ready For Season

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JULY 15: Buxton said Wednesday he expects to be ready for the Twins’ opener, per Hayes.

July 14: Buxton has been diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain, the team announced to reporters at Target Field today (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park). He’s listed as day-to-day for the time being.

July 13, 7:39pm: Buxton’s initial exam didn’t reveal any serious problems, according to manager Rocco Baldelli (via Hayes). They’re cautiously optimistic Buxton will be OK.

6:47pm: Buxton’s having imaging done on a left foot injury, tweets Hayes, who adds that the Twins should have more information on his status Tuesday.

6:38pm: Twins center fielder Byron Buxton was carted off the field Monday after suffering an apparent injury to his left ankle, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Buxton departed after possibly getting “a spike caught in the turf,” Hayes writes. Further details aren’t available yet.

Should this turn out to be a major injury, it would be the latest in an unfortunately long line of them for Buxton. The 26-year-old’s health issues helped limit him to 115 of a possible 324 regular-season games from 2018-19. Buxton only took part in 87 games last year, which ended for him when he underwent left shoulder surgery in September. That procedure prevented Buxton from participating in the Twins’ ALDS matchup versus the Yankees.

Thanks in part to injuries, Buxton’s career perhaps hasn’t gone to plan since the Twins drafted him second overall in 2012. But there’s no denying that Buxton has shown immense promise at times. The defensively brilliant speedster was a 3.6-fWAR player in 2017 – the lone season thus far in which he has amassed 100-plus games – and logged 2.7 fWAR in 2019 despite missing almost half the campaign. He slashed a career-best .262/.314/.513 (111 wRC+) with 10 homers and 14 steals over 295 plate appearances then, also chipping in 10 Defensive Runs Saved and a plus-8.7 Ultimate Zone Rating.

To their credit, he Twins did more than stay afloat without Buxton a season ago. And at least a few of the center field options they used in his stead – Max Kepler, Jake Cave and LaMonte Wade Jr. – are still on hand. That said, it would be optimal for the team to have Buxton in the mix. The hope right now is that he’s not dealing with yet another significant problem.

Miguel Sano Cleared To Re-Join Twins

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Twins slugger Miguel Sano has been cleared to re-join the club’s Summer Camp, per a team announcement. He had previously tested positive for COVID-19.

There’s no indication that Sano is any worse for the wear after dealing with the coronavirus infection. Thankfully, he seems to have had a mild case and has obviously now twice tested negative for a continuing infection.

Sano, 27, is slated to move to first base this season to make way for incoming third bagger Josh Donaldson. If all goes as hoped, Sano will pick up where he left off last year, when he socked a career-high 34 home runs and ran up a .247/.346/.576 batting line in 439 plate appearances.

That big showing earned Sano an extension this spring. Fortunately, for his sake, the deal included only a $3MM salary for the 2020 season — the one that’ll be discounted due to the pandemic. He’s guaranteed a total of $23MM for the 2021-22 campaigns (including the buyout on a 2023 club option).

Happ, Hill, McHugh Among Players Excluded From Vesting Clause Agreement

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6:39pm: Red Sox righty Collin McHugh is also excluded from the agreement, Martino tweets. McHugh, who’s still working back from the nonsurgical procedure he underwent on his pitching elbow over the winter, signed an incentive-laden deal with Boston in March. Back when McHugh inked the contract, it included $3.625MM in available incentives based on between 30 and 115 innings pitched; it also featured roster bonuses for 15 to 90 days on the team’s active roster.

1:02pm: It emerged yesterday that the league and union had agreed upon how to handle vesting clauses and certain bonuses in a highly modified 2020 season. But it seems the general agreement includes carve-outs for certain players.

Among those known to be excluded are Yankees lefty J.A. Happ and Twins southpaw Rich Hill, according to reports from Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Andy Martino of SNY.tv. In those cases — and, it seems, a few unidentified others — the team and player will have to reach modified agreements or submit cases to an arbitrator to decide how their contracts should be treated.

In Happ’s case, his original contract included a $17MM vesting/club option for the 2021 season. It would become guaranteed if he made 27 starts and/or threw 165 innings this year. As for Hill, there aren’t any options. But his deal included generous incentive pay for accumulating relatively small numbers of games started and/or innings pitched (maxing out at $9.5MM with 15 starts and/or 75 innings).

It’s still not fully clear just why certain players were excluded from the broader deal. A source tells Martino it relates to health situations at the start of the season, though as he notes that doesn’t quite align with Happ’s case.

Twins’ Wilfredo Tovar Tests Positive For COVID-19

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Infielder Wilfredo Tovar has tested positive for the coronavirus, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters (including MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park and Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune).  Tovar was included on Minnesota’s 60-man player pool but was training at the minor league site in St. Paul.  Tovar initially tested negative on the intake tests at the beginning of camp, but then had a positive result on a subsequent test.

There aren’t any other known cases in camp, as Miller writes that “contact tracing has produced no other positives among the squad.”  Tovar himself is asymptomatic, and will go through the mandatory procedures (two-week quarantine period, no symptoms developed, then two negative test results) before being allowed to return to camp.

Of the four other Twins players with positive COVID-19 tests on their record, Falvey said that Miguel Sano, Willians Astudillo, and Nick Gordon are all still in quarantine.  Right-hander Edwar Colina, however, has tested negative twice and is on pace to join the team in Minneapolis at some point this week.

Tovar inked a minor league contract with the Twins during the winter, looking to get another taste of the big leagues after returning to the Show in 2019.  Tovar appeared in nine games with the Mets in 2013-14 and didn’t make it back to the majors until last season, when he played in 31 games (with a .492 OPS over 88 PA) with the Angels.  In between those two big league stints, Tovar played for the Twins’ Triple-A club in 2016, and also spent time in the Cardinals’ farm system in 2017 and 2018.  Tovar was likely no more than a depth option anyway for Minnesota, though this two-week absence will erase any chance he had of making the Opening Day roster.

Willians Astudillo, Miguel Sano, Two Other Twins Test Positive For COVID-19

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July 4: The Twins have revealed that Miguel Sano was the fourth player to have tested positive for the coronavirus, as reported by Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As of yesterday, we were aware that Astudillo, Gordon, and Colina were among those who had received positive test results. Evidently, Sano is the fourth player who will be barred from participating in team activities until recording two negative tests. It’s worth mentioning that two other Twins, Cody Stashak and Byron Buxton, will also be absent from camp, but not for health-related reasons; both are on paternity leave.

July 3: Twins utilityman Willians Astudillo has tested positive for COVID-19, the Twins announced today. Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those covering the news on Twitter.

Fortunately, it does not appear as if Astudillo has had a worrying reaction to the disease to this point. He’s said to be symptom-free at the moment.

The Twins reported three other players that have active coronavirus infections. Edwar Colina and Nick Gordon are among them, having previously tested positive. Both are in the 60-man player pool; Gordon is on the 40-man. Neither player has to this point debuted in the majors.

It would certainly be unfortunate should the Twins open the season without Astudillo. He’s one of the game’s most offbeat players — and not only because of his barrel-chested figure and high-energy approach to the game. Astudillo is not just bemusing but also legitimately interesting as a player, owing to his blend of positional versatility (including catcher, his primary position) and unusual proclivity to put the ball in play (career 2.3% walk rate, 3.7% strikeout rate). Though he was not as effective last season as in his brief 2018 debut, Astudillo was and is expected to be an important part of the Minnesota roster this year.

Amateur Draft Signings: 7/1/20

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We’ll round up most of today’s draft signings in this post…

  • The D-backs agreed to an $800K signing bonus with third-rounder Liam Norris, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis. That checks in north of the $658K slot value associated with Norris’ No. 90 overall selection. A high school southpaw out of North Carolina, Norris had been committed to the University of North Carolina but will instead turn pro. Baseball America ranked Norris 143rd in the class, noting that his stuff ticked up early in the 2020 season after fading late in the 2019 campaign. His fastball velocity and curve both impressed scouts, but the season stoppage didn’t allow them the opportunity to see whether the 6’4″, 215-pound lefty could maintain those gains over a full season. Callis and the team at MLB.com ranked Norris 122nd in the draft, also praising his fastball/curveball combo but expressing command concerns.
  • The Twins have formally signed fifth-rounder Kala’i Rosario, tweets Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Darren Wolfson of SKOR North Radio and 5 Eyewitness News tweets that Rosario received a $270K bonus, which lands shy of his $330K slot value. An outfielder from Hawaii, Rosario was ranked No. 88 on Baseball America’s Top 500 list. BA touts his plus-plus raw power, noting that some scouts even grade it at an 80. Despite his huge power, he’s not a major strikeout risk at the moment and can hit the ball the other way. At 6’1″ and 205 pounds already, most expect Rosario to move from center field to left field at some point. Between Rosario and first-round pick Aaron Sabato, the Twins added some considerable right-handed pop to their minor league ranks. With today’s agreement, the Twins have agreed to terms with their entire draft class.
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