Twins Notes: Tonkin, Canterino, Topa, Rodriguez
We already covered Erasmo Ramirez‘s long-term shoulder issues in larger detail earlier tonight, but Twins trainer Nick Paparesta’s meeting with reporters (including MLB.com and La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune) also addressed the status of several other players.
Right-hander Michael Tonkin seems to be the newest player bitten by the injury bug, as the reliever is battling a strain in his right rotator cuff. The strain appears to be on the mild side, as Paparesta said Tonkin’s MRI came back clean. For now, Tonkin will be shut down for the next 7-10 days and then re-evaluated.
Tonkin tossed 79 1/3 combined innings with the Yankees, and two separate stints apiece between the Mets and Twins. Beginning the season on the Amazins’ roster, Tonkin went from the Mets to the Twins to the Mets to the Yankees and then finally back to Minnesota after being repeatedly designated for assignment and then traded or claimed on waivers. Amidst all of these moves, Tonkin delivered solid numbers, posting a 3.63 ERA, 25% strikeout rate, and 8.8% walk rate.
These results continued what has been a pretty successful second act to Tonkin’s big league career. After appearing in parts of five seasons with the Twins from 2013-17, Tonkin didn’t return to the majors again until 2023, as his interim years were spent pitching in the minor leagues, Nippon Professional Baseball, independent ball, and sitting out altogether during the pandemic-marred 2020 season. The 35-year-old entered Minnesota’s spring camp looking for more stability and to secure a job in the Twins bullpen, though this injury setback may hurt his chances of making the Opening Day roster.
Matt Canterino is unfortunately no stranger to injuries, as the 2019 second-round pick has seen his pro career repeatedly stalled by arm problems. Between a Tommy John surgery and then a rotator cuff strain, Canterino hasn’t pitched at all since 2022, and he now faces an appointment with Dr. Keith Meister this week in the wake of another shoulder strain.
The exact severity of Canterino’s latest injury won’t be known until the right-hander undergoes an internal dye procedure known as an MR arthogram. In terms of what the team knows at the moment, Paparesta said “last year [Canterino] had a fairly moderate right subscap strain. This year it is a little bit of a milder subscap with a more moderate strain of his teres major and latissimus dorsi.”
The bottom line is that even in a best-case evaluation, Canterino is likely facing another lengthy absence as he tries to put this latest injury behind him. Canterino has pitched only 85 professional innings, though his impressive numbers (1.48 ERA, 39.16% strikeout rate) hint his potential if he can just stay healthy.
Justin Topa‘s pro career has also been heavily impacted by injuries, including left knee problems that limited him to only three games with Minnesota in 2024. His work in camp was halted by soreness in his right shoulder, though Paparesta said the problem wasn’t severe enough to merit an MRI, and Topa could resume throwing as early as today.
Top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez also seems to be making progress from a sprained ankle, as Rodriguez took part in a live batting practice yesterday. Beyond just the recovery from his ankle sprain, the BP session also seemingly provided Rodriguez some relief from the thumb problems that plagued him for most of 2024. Rodriguez underwent surgery on his thumb back in November, and Paparesta said that following batting practice, Rodriguez commented that “it didn’t hurt for the first time in seven months” after swinging and missing.
Rodriguez might see some game action as early as this week, if he is able to run the bases without issue. With only seven Triple-A games under his belt, Rodriguez is expected to begin the 2025 campaign in the minors, but all signs point to the outfielder making his MLB debut at some point during the coming season.
Erasmo Ramirez To “Miss Significant Time” Due To Shoulder Injuries
Twins right-hander Erasmo Ramirez has tears in his teres minor and lat muscles, team trainer Nick Paparesta told reporters (including La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). It appears as though Ramirez is facing a long absence, as Paparesta said it will be multiple weeks before the veteran pitcher is even re-examined for a status check.
Ramirez has been a member of the Twins organization for less than a month, after he signed a minor league contract with the club back on February 15. Ramirez threw in just one Spring Training game, and that now looks like it’ll be his only game action for quite some time, dealing a severe blow to the righty entering what would be his 14th Major League season.
It isn’t known if surgery might be a consideration, or if such steps won’t be known until after Ramirez is re-examined. Ramirez has been relatively durable during his long career, though he missed over four months of the 2018 season dealing with a couple of shoulder-related problems.
Ramirez has pitched for six different teams over his career, working as a starter, swingman, and now as a multi-inning reliever. The majority of Ramirez’s career has been spent with the Mariners and Rays, as two separate stints with each of those two teams have accounted for 691 2/3 of his 849 career innings. Ramirez is coming off his second stint in Tampa Bay, and he posted a 4.35 ERA over 20 2/3 innings for the Rays at the big league level last season.
José Valdivielso Passes Away
Former MLB shortstop José Valdivielso passed away on Tuesday. He was 90 years old. His obituary is available courtesy of a New York funeral home.
Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Valdivielso made his MLB debut with the Washington Senators in 1955. He earned a down-ballot MVP vote at the end of his rookie season. Valdivielso would later move with the organization to Minnesota when the Senators became the team known today as the Twins. Over 401 games from 1955-1961, the 6-foot-1 infielder recorded 201 hits and scored 89 runs. Primarily a shortstop, he also appeared in a handful of games at both second and third base. He is well-remembered among Cuban fans for making the final out in the only all-Cuban triple play (h/t Francys Romero).
Although he played his last MLB game in 1961, Valdivielso spent three more seasons in the minor leagues from 1962-64. Following his playing career, he worked on the Spanish-language radio broadcast teams for both the Yankees and Mets. He was also well respected for his work with the MLB Players Alumni Association.
We at MLB Trade Rumors offer our deepest condolences to Valdivielso’s family and friends, as well as everyone whose life he touched throughout his career in baseball.
Injury Notes: Jordan Walker, Christian Walker, Topa
The Cardinals got good news on Jordan Walker this afternoon. An MRI revealed no structural damage in his left knee, manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including John Denton of MLB.com). Walker is dealing with inflammation that’ll shut him down for around a week, but there’s nothing to suggest this’ll be a serious issue. It would have been a freak injury, as the young outfielder felt the discomfort after stepping on a sprinkler head while tracking a fly ball during Tuesday’s game.
With three weeks until Opening Day, it seems the 22-year-old will be on track for the start of the regular season. He’s in line to work as the everyday right fielder. The former top prospect has yet to develop into the impact hitter that many evaluators believe he could become. Walker has turned in a .255/.317/.423 slash in 643 career plate appearances. That includes a .210/.253/.366 line over 51 MLB games last season. He had pedestrian numbers (.263/.326/.427 over 377 PAs) in Triple-A as well. Walker is young enough that this isn’t yet a make-or-break season, but the Cards’ transitional year should give him an extended opportunity to cement himself.
A couple other health updates from around baseball:
- Christian Walker felt soreness in his left oblique during batting practice before the Astros game on Wednesday, manager Joe Espada told the beat (relayed by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). He’s day to day for the moment, but the team will know more tomorrow after further testing. Any kind of strain would make a season-opening injured list stint likely. Walker was Houston’s big free agent pickup, inking a three-year deal that guarantees $60MM. He’s coming off his third consecutive Gold Glove win and hit .251/.335/.468 with 26 homers over 552 plate appearances during his final season in Arizona. If Walker misses time, Jon Singleton would get the bulk of the first base reps. Righty-hitting Zach Dezenzo could take some at-bats against lefty pitching in that situation.
- Twins reliever Justin Topa has had unfortunate injury luck for most of his career. He has undergone two Tommy John procedures and a flexor tendon surgery. A patellar tendon issue in his left knee limited him to three MLB appearances last season. Topa is now dealing with shoulder discomfort, writes Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. Minnesota lifted the righty from Wednesday’s game after seven pitches when Topa reported shoulder tightness. Manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters that the pitcher wasn’t overly concerned, so it’ll hopefully be a precautionary removal, but he’ll go for further testing tomorrow.
AL Notes: Slater, Garcia, Canterino
White Sox outfielder Austin Slater was scratched from yesterday’s game with a left oblique strain, with Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times among those to relay the information. The club hasn’t provided any details about how long they expect Slater to be out but oblique strains are notoriously pesky.
The Sox have taken a few hits to their outfield mix recently. Andrew Benintendi suffered a fracture in his hand after being hit by a pitch and is slated to be out of action for four to six weeks. Michael A. Taylor has been undergoing scans due to some elbow inflammation.
The club isn’t planning on being competitive this year but has made an effort to bolster the roster. They signed Slater, Taylor and Mike Tauchman to join an outfield/designated hitter mix alongside Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. The idea was seemingly to add some veteran presence to a young roster while also giving the club some potential midseason trade candidates. With some more playing time opening up, perhaps young guys like Dominic Fletcher or Oscar Colás could seize roles. The club also has Joey Gallo, Brandon Drury and Corey Julks among their non-roster invitees.
Some more notes from around the Junior Circuit…
- Rangers left-hander Robert Garcia hopes to be a closer someday, telling Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News as much. He also believes now is a good time to take a shot at it with Texas not having a set closer yet. Garcia had a 4.22 earned run average last year but his 29.9% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were quite strong. A .329 batting average on balls in play and 57.2% strand rate pushed that ERA up, which is why he had a 2.38 FIP and 2.71 SIERA. He doesn’t yet have a save in his career but has 17 holds. His main competition could come from veteran Chris Martin, who has plenty of good numbers on his track record but more as a setup guy than a closer. Martin has 14 career saves in the majors and 106 holds, though he did have a 21-save season in Japan in 2016.
- Twins right-hander Matt Canterino has been shut down due to a right shoulder strain, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune. He’s awaiting a second opinion with no current timetable for his return. It’s another unfortunate setback for a righty who has had many. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 season and then a rotator cuff strain prevented him from getting back on the mound last year, meaning he hasn’t pitched in official game action since 2022. Thanks to the pandemic and some other injuries, he only tossed 85 innings from 2019 to 2022. He had an excellent 1.85 ERA and 39.2% strikeout rate in that time, prompting the Twins to protect him from the Rule 5 draft by giving him a roster spot in November of 2022. But since then, he has burned through two of his option years without throwing an official pitch and is now hurt again.
AL Central Notes: Guardians, Taylor, Jenkins
The Guardians’ estimated $100.4MM payroll is lower than the $104.2MM they spent in 2024, as per RosterResource‘s calculations, and Cleveland also moved a lot of long-term money off the books by trading Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw to the Blue Jays in separate deals. Despite what might seemingly be a bit of extra money available for the Guards to spend before Opening Day, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer thinks the team won’t dip into free agency for any late additions, and is more likely to re-invest those savings towards possible extensions for current players on the roster.
Early-career extensions have long been a key plank of Cleveland’s team-building strategy, dating back to John Hart’s tenure as general manager in the 1990’s. On the current team, Jose Ramirez, Emmanuel Clase, and Trevor Stephan are all playing on multi-year extensions, and there are plenty of interesting talents the Guardians might look to lock up for the future. Steven Kwan is in his first of three years of arbitration eligibility, and Tanner Bibee stands out as the top extension candidate among the Guards’ long list of pre-arb players. It takes two to tango, of course, so there would have to be an equal desire on the part of any interested players in working out an extension that is acceptable to both sides.
More from the AL Central…
- Michael A. Taylor will undergo scans on his right elbow, White Sox manager Will Venable told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times) today. Taylor was scratched from the lineup due to what the Sox initially described just as elbow inflammation, but the issue is serious enough to merit more testing. An injury would be a rough start to Taylor’s stint with the White Sox, as it was less than three weeks ago that the veteran outfielder and former Gold Glover signed his one-year, $1.95MM deal.
- Walker Jenkins suffered a left ankle sprain last Sunday, and Twins GM Jeremy Zoll told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and other reporters that Jenkins will be set back around one or two weeks. This might mean Jenkins misses the very start of the minor league season, but the injury is minor enough that the top prospect shouldn’t be sidelined for too long. The fifth overall pick of the 2023 draft, the 20-year-old Jenkins is considered one of baseball’s elite prospects, and he made it up the ladder for six games in Double-A last season. Jenkins’ big league debut is probably likelier to happen in 2026 than in 2025, yet a cup of coffee in the Show could be possible this year if Jenkins keeps performing well against minor league pitching.
Twins, Brady Feigl Agree To Minor League Deal
The Twins are in agreement with reliever Brady Feigl on a minor league contract, as reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. He’ll head to Triple-A St. Paul to begin the season.
Feigl, who turned 34 in December, has pitched professionally for over a decade. He spent time in the Atlanta and Texas farm systems without getting to the majors. Feigl logged a couple years in independent ball and pitched well enough to secure a minor league deal with the Pirates last winter. The 6’4″ southpaw was rewarded for his perseverance with an MLB call last August. He made his debut and pitched in mop-up work against the Cubs, surrendering six runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Pittsburgh designated Feigl for assignment after that lone appearance. They ran him through outright waivers and kept him in Triple-A until he elected minor league free agency at season’s end. While his debut didn’t go as hoped, he had a nice year in the upper minors. Feigl pitched 60 innings of 4.05 ERA ball with a 27.5% strikeout rate. He has a 3.27 ERA across 124 Triple-A frames over parts of four seasons.
Latest On Twins’ Ownership Situation
Yesterday’s news that Justin and Mat Ishbia were no longer looking to buy the Twins surprised many around the baseball world and within the organization itself, though the Athletic’s Dan Hayes hears from a source that there was some indication last month that the Ishbias would instead look to increase their minority share in the White Sox rather than seek out a full purchase of the Minnesota club. Still, the Ishbias’ departure from the Twins’ process now means that “everything’s on the table” in regards to the sale, as another source puts it.
This includes the possibility that the Pohlad family could pull the team off the market entirely, if no bidder is willing to meet the Pohlads’ asking price. Hayes wrote in January that there was plenty of interest in the Twins, to the point that the Pohlads felt a sale could be arranged by Opening Day. That optimistic viewpoint could have been inspired by the Ishbias’ interest, of course, and their departure from the pursuit naturally changes the equation. In his latest piece, Hayes writes that the Twins expect to “have more clarity on the sale process within the next 30 to 60 days.”
The Ishbias were the only known bidder for the Twins, fueling to the perception that they were also the leading contenders to succeed the Pohlads as franchise owners. Justin Ishbia was the driving force behind the bid, with the plan being for Justin to become the Twins’ control person while Mat remained the governor of the brothers’ other major sports interests — the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Both the Twins and Major League Baseball itself had vetted Ishbia, a process likely streamlined by the fact that the Ishbias (due to their involvement in the White Sox ownership group) were already a known quantity within the league.
As Hayes’ first source described things, there was some feeling among other Twins bidders that the Ishbias were “preordained” within the process, so their departure might now open things up for other candidates to step forward. The number of other bidders isn’t known, though the source said there were an “adequate” number of suitors beyond just the Ishbias. While much about the situation remains up in the air, the presence of other bidders indicates there is still momentum towards a sale, even if the process will take significantly longer than anticipated.
Justin Ishbia Abandons Pursuit Of Twins, Will Increase Minority Stake In White Sox
Billionaire brothers Justin and Mat Ishbia are no longer interested in purchasing the Twins from the Pohlad family, reports Jon Greenberg of The Athletic. Justin Ishbia instead intends to purchase a greater minority share of the White Sox, Greenberg writes. Kurt Badenhousen and Eben Novy-Williams at Sportico reported last month that the Ishbias had purchased a small share of the White Sox back in 2021.
In the short term, the biggest significance is that it’s a major setback in the Twins sale process. The Pohlad family announced in October that they were looking to sell the Minnesota franchise, which they’ve owned for four decades. The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported in early January that the Pohlads had received robust interest and were hoping to have the sale finalized by Opening Day. There were reportedly multiple interested parties, but the Ishbias seemed the early frontrunners.
Mat and Justin Ishbia co-own the Phoenix franchises in the NBA and WNBA. While Mat Ishbia is the majority owner of the basketball teams, Justin Ishbia would have been the control person had they purchased the Twins. It’s unclear how far down the road the Pohlads got in negotiations, but they’ll now need to turn their attention elsewhere.
Over the longer haul, this is also a potentially seismic development for the White Sox. Greenberg writes that some people familiar with the situation believe this will be a stepping stone to Justin Ishbia eventually assuming majority control of the franchise from Jerry Reinsdorf. White Sox VP of communications Scott Reifert pushed back against that notion. “White Sox limited partners have received an offer from a third party to purchase their shares in the team, providing liquidity for the limited partners on their long-term investment in the club,” he told Greenberg. “This offer to limited partners has no impact on the leadership or operations of the Chicago White Sox and does not provide a path to control.”
Reinsdorf, who turns 89 next week, has owned the White Sox since 1981. He has owned the NBA’s Bulls since the mid-80s. For more than a decade, Reinsdorf has maintained that his family should sell the White Sox after his passing. He reportedly had conversations with a Dave Stewart-led group about a sale last October. It’s not clear whether those talks made progress, though Stewart joined the A’s in a special assistant role last month.
That process also involved some speculation about relocation. The Sox’s lease at Rate Field runs through 2029. Reinsdorf lobbied for a reported $1 billion in public funding for a new stadium in Chicago’s South Loop last year. As of last October, the White Sox were continuing to pursue the South Loop project.
MLBTR Podcast: Alex Bregman, The Padres Add Players, And No Extension For Vlad Jr.
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 Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Red Sox signing Alex Bregman (1:15)
- The Tigers just missing on Bregman (9:35)
- The Cardinals seemingly holding onto Nolan Arenado (12:15)
- The Padres signing Nick Pivetta and Kyle Hart (17:40)
- The Blue Jays not getting an extension done with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (20:50)
- The Diamondbacks extending Geraldo Perdomo (31:30)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- The Twins had a quiet offseason but projection systems have them winning the division. Are they the best team in the AL Central? (38:25)
- Why did the Giants have a quiet offseason apart from Willy Adames and Justin Verlander? Was it ownership reluctance or Buster Posey’s conservative stance? (42:25)
Check out our past episodes!
- Pete Alonso’s Deal, And Potential Landing Spots For Bregman and Arenado – listen here
- Jack Flaherty Back To Detroit, Max Scherzer, And What’s Next For The Padres – listen here
- Ryan Pressly To The Cubs, Bregman’s Future, And Jurickson Profar – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!