Twins Outright Tommy Milone, Four Others
11:33pm: Milone has elected free agency, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports on Twitter.
8:08pm: The Twins have announced five outright assignments as the team clears 40-man roster space entering the offseason. Southpaws Tommy Milone, Andrew Albers, and Pat Dean were all cut, as were infielder James Beresford and outfielder Logan Schafer.
None of the moves is terribly surprising. Though incoming Minnesota chief baseball officer Derek Falvey has yet to join the organization — he’s staying with the Indians as they continue their postseason run — the organization obviously already knew these five roster spots would be opened up to make way for new acquisitions and/or Rule 5 draft protection.
Milone, 29, was slated to earn a slight raise on his $4.5MM arbitration salary, with MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $4.9MM figure this winter. It never seemed particularly likely that the Twins would pick up that tab after Milone turned in 69 1/3 innings of 5.71 ERA ball on the year. He has provided some solid major league innings over the years, though, and could earn a shot at a swingman or even rotation role from another organization in the right circumstances (and at a lower price).
The 31-year-old Albers and 27-year-old Dean have not topped one hundred total major league frames in their careers, and neither have been particularly productive in their limited opportunities. Albers worked 17 frames this year for Minnesota, allowing five home runs and 27 base hits along with 11 earned runs. Dean ended his first MLB campaign with a 6.28 ERA on 6.7 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 over 67 1/3 innings.
As for the position players, Beresford briefly cracked the big leagues for the first time in 2016 but has never really hit much in a decade-long minor league run. The 30-year-old Schafer has seen action in six seasons, but owns only a .214/.292/.318 career batting line in 720 plate appearances.
Central Notes: Cardinals, Fowler, Twins
The Cardinals have a number of roster decisions to consider even before beginning to look at free agency this winter, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jordan Walden‘s option will be bought out, while Seth Maness, who is currently on the 60-day DL, is a possible non-tender candidate in Goold’s eyes (though that decision won’t come until later this winter). Plenty of deliberation will need to be dedicated to the Rule 5 Draft, Goold writes, as the Cardinals have a large number of players to consider protecting. Last year, St. Louis opted not to protect right-hander Luis Perdomo, believing him to be too inexperienced to stick in the Majors for a full season, but the Padres hung onto him and received 15 starts with a 4.13 ERA in the final few months of the year. Goold lists 15 players that are in need of protection this winter, headlined by infielders Eliezer Alvarez, Edmundo Sosa, Allen Cordoba and Juan Herrera as well as outfielder Magneuris Sierra. Goold’s piece has quite a bit of additional info on each prospect listed, so Cardinals fans (and those who track the Rule 5 Draft in general) will want to check out his column.
More from the game’s Central divisions…
- Dexter Fowler tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today that his options in free agency last winter were “few and far between” before he decided to return to the Cubs. “My agent, Casey (Close), was talking to everybody, and I felt like this was the best fit to come back here,” Fowler explained. One reason for Fowler’s struggles on the open market last year, he says, was a perception of his defense. “They said I was a bad outfielder, and I kind of took offense to that,” he explained. “So I just moved back a few steps. I didn’t really do anything too different.” Fowler says that he approached Joe Maddon and other Cubs decision-makers in Spring Training about playing deeper in the outfield and was informed that they’d been hoping to talk to him about that very same strategy. Fowler rated +1 in both UZR and DRS this season, which may not seem overly impressive, but that DRS rating is a stark improvement from his 2015 mark of -12. Fowler implied that he’ll again aim for a long-term deal this winter, though obviously he’ll have more pressing needs on his mind over the coming two to three weeks.
- Poor fastball command has become a systemic failure for the Twins, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and it was one of the chief reasons for the struggles of top prospect Jose Berrios in the Majors this season. Berardino examines the struggles that the Twins have had up and down their ranks with fastball location and spoke to pitching coach Neil Allen about the problem. While Allen isn’t even sure that he’s going to be employed by the team next season — the fate of the Twins’ coaching staff will be largely determined by new chief baseball officer Derek Falvey — but he’s taken steps to impress his new boss by compiling a comprehensive pitching plan that he hopes to have implemented throughout the entire organization. Allen said that a more stringent organizational emphasis was placed on fastball command while he was serving as the Rays’ Triple-A pitching coach before joining the Twins, and he hopes to deploy a similar philosophy in Minnesota in 2017 if retained.
Quick Hits: De La Rosa, Plouffe, Wacha, Cards CF, Rothschild
All indications are that Jorge De La Rosa‘s nine-year run with the Rockies is at an end. The southpaw, who largely thrived at Coors Field, spoke with MLB.com’s Thomas Harding about the possibility that he’ll be looking for a new organization this winter. De La Rosa, 35, ended the year with a 5.51 ERA and 7.3 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9. He also allowed 10.5 basehits per nine in what was his worst season in Colorado (excepting a truncated 2012). De La Rosa spoke well of his time with the Rockies and did not rule out a return, while noting that he battled through health and mechanical issues this year. He added that he “liked” pitching out of the bullpen, though he added that he still believes he can succeed as a starter. It remains to be seen how the market will view the southpaw, and whether he’ll be pursued in some capacity by his long-time organization, but there figures to be a fair bit of interest in a pitcher who has proven able to supply solid innings in a tough pitching environment.
- There are also questions moving forward for Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe, though he remains under Minnesota’s control for one more year. As Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports, the 30-year-old acknowledged that his future with the organization is uncertain. Plouffe dealt with injuries for much of the year, which he says was especially problematic because he tried to rush a return. With a $7.25MM base salary heading into a final run at arbitration, where he’ll tote a .260/.303/.420 batting line and a dozen homers over 344 plate appearances, Plouffe could be non-tendered or perhaps tendered and traded by a Twins team that suffered through an abysmal 2016 campaign.
- The Cardinals still view Michael Wacha as a starter, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports, though that’s in greater question than ever after an injury-riddled 2016 season that was easily his worst as a big leaguer. Skipper Mike Matheny suggests that Wacha’s shoulder health could be improved by building up his upper-body strength. “As you start to look for some compensation and where there might be weaknesses, how can he build up some parts of his body muscularly that will help support maybe the arm and the demand that comes with being a starting pitcher?” asked Matheny. “When his health is right, you’re seeing the right arm action. The next step is going to be the one that’s missing right now. That’s consistency in the strike zone. He’s a rare talent that we need to figure out how to get into a consistent spot.”
- Sticking with the Cardinals, Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at some options for the team in center field — which increasingly seems to be a target area this winter. He runs through a variety of trade and free agent targets, some of whom seem more achievable than others. At this stage, it’s tough to handicap from the outside, though GM John Mozeliak has certainly hinted that defense will be a priority in the search.
- Pitching coach Larry Rothschild will be back with the Yankees for his seventh year with the organization, per a club announcement. He had been the only member of the coaching staff who had yet to agree to terms with the team to return. With his re-signing, Joe Girardi and the rest of the uniformed staff are all set to repeat in 2017.
Twins Hire Derek Falvey To Oversee Baseball Operations
The Twins have officially announced that they’ve hired Indians assistant GM Derek Falvey as their executive vice president and chief baseball officer. Falvey will join the Twins once the Indians’ season is over. Rob Antony will continue as interim GM until then. Twins Daily’s Jeremy Nygaard and ESPN’s Keith Law were among the first to tweet that the Twins would hire Falvey, with Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan tweeting that Falvey had emerged as a favorite.
“I believe the addition of Derek Falvey to the Minnesota Twins will markedly enhance our organizational excellence and bring championship baseball back to Minnesota,” says Twins Owner Jim Pohlad.
“It’s a tremendous honor to have the opportunity to lead the Twins baseball operation. This is a proud, resilient franchise, and I’m eager to return championship-caliber baseball to the Twin Cities,” says Falvey. “We will work diligently and collectively to select and develop top-performers, advance our processes, and nurture a progressive culture that will make fans across Twins Territory proud.”
The Twins had been linked to a number of young executives as they look for a replacement for recently dismissed GM Terry Ryan. Among the other names known to have been in the mix were Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo and Cubs senior vice president of player development Jason McLeod.
The 33-year-old Falvey will become one of baseball’s youngest executives and represents a significant departure from the status quo for Minnesota. His rise to the position of president is a surprise, to say the least, as he’s spent less than one full season as an assistant GM. Falvey was promoted to that post last October in conjunction with the promotions of Chris Antonetti to president of baseball operations and Mike Chernoff to general manager. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as Cleveland’s director of baseball operations. The Boston native holds a degree in economics from Trinity College, where he also played baseball, and has contributed to the Cleveland front office in many capacities. In addition to his longstanding role in the team’s player development process, Falvey has overseen the advanced scouting department and worked with Antonetti and Chernoff on “financial, statistical and contractual dealings,” per the Indians’ media guide.
Falvey figures to be the first of multiple new hires for the Twins, who reportedly will allow their new president to hire a general manager to work underneath him as well. Beyond that, changes atop a baseball operations hierarchy often lead to personnel shuffling further down the pecking order, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if further new faces join the Minnesota front office. One name that won’t be changing, however, is manager Paul Molitor, whom owner Jim Pohlad has already stated will remain his manager in 2017.
AL Notes: Moylan, Suzuki, Wieters
Royals manager Ned Yost would have interest in the team retaining reliever Peter Moylan, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com writes. “He’s a great teammate. Great in the clubhouse. Great in the bullpen. Great on the field,” Yost says. The 37-year-old Moylan looked like he might be entering a new phase of his career in 2015, when, after having Tommy John surgery, he signed a two-year minor-league deal with the Braves with the idea that he would coach while he was recovering. He did return to the mound last season, though, and this year he’s pitched 44 2/3 effective innings in the Royals’ bullpen, posting a 3.43 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 while thriving against righties. Here are couple more notes on potential AL free agents.
- Geography will be a consideration when Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki picks a team as a free agent this winter, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press tweets. Suzuki’s family lives in the Los Angeles area. Suzuki has recovered somewhat from a poor 2015 season to post a .258/.301/.403 line in his walk year, although it remains to be seen how he’ll fare on the free agent market, which currently is slated to feature competition like Matt Wieters, Jason Castro and the now-injured Wilson Ramos.
- Speaking of Wieters, the veteran isn’t looking too far ahead with regard to his future with the Orioles, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com writes. Wieters was a free agent last season, and ended up accepting the Orioles’ qualifying offer, an outcome he says he couldn’t have predicted months before. “It was different than I would have thought the process would have been last year and it’ll probably be different this year then I think it will be this year,” he says. “I don’t like thinking about things that I actually have no idea how they are going to go.” The 30-year-old Wieters hasn’t had a strong season by his standards, batting .241/.301/.395, although he’s stayed healthy enough to accumulate 456 plate appearances. He likely has more on his mind than free agency right now anyway, given that the Orioles are still fighting for a Wild Card spot.
Latest On Twins’ Front Office Search
9:34pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports (via Twitter) that while Mets assistant GM John Ricco has recently been linked to the Twins’ job, Ricco is no longer in the running at this point. Berardino adds to that report, tweeting that Ricco was never under heavy consideration.
9:28am: The Twins appear to be homing in on a handful of possibilities for their open president of baseball operations position, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. Though the team could still conduct interviews with additional executives, it may be that the slate of candidates is already set, he adds on Twitter.
One outside option who has impressed, per Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Twitter link), is Cubs vice president of player development and amateur scouting Jason McLeod. He is “well-regarded” and “well-positioned” in the Twins’ search after impressing in his early interactions with Minnesota’s top brass, according to the report.
McLeod obviously isn’t the only highly-regarded young executive under consideration. Prior reports have suggested that Rays AGM Chaim Bloom, Indians AGM Derek Falvey, and Royals AGM J.J. Picollo are also in the discussion.
Then, there’s sitting Twins interim GM Rob Antony, who rounds out the five names known to be in the hunt. Per Berardino, he’s the only internal candidate who will receive an interview. The club did consider VP of player personnel Mike Radcliff, scouting director Deron Johnson, and special assistant (and former Reds GM) Wayne Krivsky, but elected not to hold meetings with them.
Trevor May Diagnosed With Stress Fracture In Back
Twins righty Trevor May has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. His specific condition was diagnosed as a “pars defect” by specialist Dr. Robert Watkins.
It seems that the injury has been present for some time, with Watkins telling May that it had already undergone “cycles of healing” that never completed. “I just kept pitching on it and probably shouldn’t have,” said May. “It was an injury that was a little more serious than I thought it was.”
The 26-year-old said that he anticipates that an offseason of rest will cure the ailment, which is apparently similar to what Lucas Duda has struggled to return from this year. In May’s case, the hope is that he can rest for the remainder of the calendar year before undergoing a strength program and beginning to throw early in 2017.
May has shown plenty of promise despite an unsightly 5.27 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. Working exclusively from the bullpen, he has racked up 12.7 K/9 (with a 13.2% swinging strike rate) against 3.6 BB/9 while sitting at nearly 94 mph with his average fastball.
Home runs have been a problem — May has allowed homers on 15.2% of his flyballs and at a clip of nearly one-and-a-half per nine innings — but the overall numbers seemingly bode well. Of course, there’s an argument to be made that he ought to be given a chance to stick in the rotation before a relief role is set in stone. Regardless the Twins seem to have a useful arm on hand so long as May can progress as hoped from the back issue.
Three Needs: Minnesota Twins
The Twins are up next in MLBTR’s Three Needs series, and while isolating three individual needs for a team with the worst record in Major League Baseball is a tall order, here are three aspects that the organization needs to shore up in order to facilitate a return to relevance in the AL Central…
1. Improve the player development process. There’s been plenty written about the Twins’ lack of embracing analytics, and while hiring a president of baseball operations that will embrace data and statistical analysis more than the preceding regime is indeed important, owner Jim Pohlad and president Dave St. Peter should also be looking to bring in an executive with a strong background in player development. The Twins have long had one of the game’s top-rated farm systems, yet time and time again the fruits of their vaunted minor league ranks struggle tremendously upon reaching the Major Leagues. Aaron Hicks and Byron Buxton were rushed, thereby explaining some of their struggles. Buxton is finally showing some promise, but Hicks has already been traded and has yet to develop into a regular player.
No one would make the case that Jose Berrios was rushed, but has been shelled in virtually every start he has made in the Majors this season. The list of Twins prospects that ranked comfortably within the top 100 from outlets such as Baseball America, MLB.com, ESPN and Baseball Prospectus but failed to deliver on that hype at the big league level is long. Kyle Gibson has shown little consistency in the Majors, Oswaldo Arcia has been designated for assignment by three organizations this year and Eddie Rosario hasn’t given any indication that his OBP is ever going to top .300. Alex Meyer has only made four big league starts — three of which have come with the Angels (though shoulder injuries have played a large role in his lack of contribution). Organizational top prospects like Danny Santana, Trevor May and Kennys Vargas have shown glimpses of usefulness but to this point have lacked consistency (Santana, in particular, seems to be at a crossroads).
The best pitcher the Twins have drafted in the past 15 years was Matt Garza, who was traded before ever pitching a full season in Minnesota. Following that, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey and Gibson are the only starters drafted and developed by the Twins in that stretch that have made any real degree of impact at the MLB level. The Twins took Kohl Stewart with the fourth overall pick in 2013, but his raw stuff has yet to generate strikeouts and his stock has already dipped to the point where he’s fallen off of most prospect lists. For an organization that can rarely spend at high levels on the open market, the complete dearth of homegrown pitching talent is glaring — and it’s probably the chief reason that the Twins have been in the division cellar in five of the past six seasons.
That ties in nicely with the next need on this list…
Latest On Twins’ Front Office Search
The Twins are moving quickly in their search for a president of baseball operations and could hire one by the end of the regular season, club president Dave St. Peter told La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune earlier this week.
“That certainly is within reach,” said Peter. “It’s certainly not a requirement, but I think I have reason to believe that it is possible.”
St. Peter wasn’t willing to discuss specific candidates with Neal, who notes that the next head of the Twins’ baseball department might land the job in the next couple weeks but not take over until late October or early November. That could be the case if the Twins select a candidate from a team with World Series hopes. The Cubs fit that description, and the Twins have shown interest in multiple Chicago executives, including senior vice president of player development Jason McLeod, assistant general manager Shiraz Rehman and pro scouting director Jared Porter. They’ve also been connected to a pair of other likely playoff-bound assistant GMs, the Mets’ John Ricco and the Indians’ Derek Falvey. Royals AGM J.J. Picollo and Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom are also possibilities, but Kansas City is barely in the postseason race and Tampa Bay is out of it.
To this point, Minnesota hasn’t reached out to Red Sox GM Mike Hazen or Rangers assistant Thad Levine, reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). It’s unclear if either would want to join the Twins, who have had difficulty finding candidates willing to interview, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reported Wednesday. “Multiple GM types” haven’t reciprocated the Twins’ interest, per Passan, but St. Peter refuted that notion.
“We certainly understand and appreciate the high level of interest in our search,” he said. “We also recognize that a search of this nature is going to bring in a heavy dose of speculation. I will just say that it also brought a heavy dose of misinformation. Unfortunately, that is a product of the media world we live in today.”
In addition to candidates reportedly turning down Minnesota’s overtures, some teams have declined the Twins’ requests to conduct interviews with key members of their front offices, writes Neal. It’s not unusual for teams to prevent their executives from potentially heading elsewhere, but it’s an inconvenience for a Twins club that has been on the hunt for a front office leader since firing longtime GM Terry Ryan in July.
Brian Dozier On Potential Future In Minnesota
Twins second baseman Brian Dozier would like to stay in Minnesota for the long haul, but he realizes the rebuilding club might not feel the same way.
“You need to see after the season who is going to be our GM, which obviously plays a huge part in it,” Dozier told Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The Twins are in the midst of a front office shakeup and are looking for both a president of baseball operations and a general manager. Interim GM Rob Antony is a candidate to take over as president, and he’s aware of Dozier’s desire to remain with the Twins.
“I know talking with (interim GM Rob Antony) he knows I’d love to be here for a very, very long time,” Dozier said. “We made that clear the past three or four years as we’ve been talking about extensions and that kind of thing. But there’s way too many (questions) and there’s a lot of other things involved that have to take place rather than just for me to say, ‘Hey, I’m open. Let’s do it.’ ”
Antony was working under then-GM Terry Ryan when the Twins signed Dozier to a four-year, $20MM extension prior to the 2015 season. That contract has been a bargain for the Twins, especially this season. After slashing .240/.322/.425 with 69 home runs and 47 stolen bases in 2,034 plate appearances from 2013-15, during which time he combined for 10.5 fWAR, Dozier’s performance has reached an higher level in 2016. The 29-year-old has belted 41 homers, becoming just the fourth second baseman to hit 40 or more in a season, to accompany a .282/.354/.577 line across 641 PAs. Dozier has also added 15 steals on 17 attempts and accumulated 6.2 fWAR, the majors’ eighth-highest total among position players.
Given both his on-field excellence and cheap remaining control (two years, $15MM), the last-place Twins will have a highly appealing trade chip on their hands if they choose to shop Dozier in the offseason. Before putting Dozier on the block, the Twins would likely approach him about an extension, according to Berardino. Not only would locking Dozier up be costly, but the possibility of the team being a fair distance from returning to contention could make retaining him for the foreseeable future all the more difficult.
“I want to win,” Dozier said. “I want to win more than ever. It’s a point in my career that I want to have everybody on the same page — to be dedicated to win and make sure to do that. That comes first.”
With the offseason approaching, plenty of opposing scouts have been on hand at Twins games this month to watch Dozier, per Berardino. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported last week that the Twins would likely want front-line pitching in return for Dozier, for whom they have a potential successor in Baseball America’s 97th-ranked prospect, Jorge Polanco. While mostly playing shortstop for the Twins, the 23-year-old has held his own with a .294/.344/.431 line in 217 trips to the plate this season.
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