Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Twins Rumors

Twins Decline Mutual Option On Alex Colome

By | at

The Twins have declined a $5.5MM mutual option on veteran right-hander Alex Colome, tweets Dan Hayes of The Athletic. He’ll instead be paid a $1.25MM buyout and return to the open market in search of a new opportunity.

Colome, 32, joined the Twins after spending two years as the primary stopper for the division-rival White Sox. He got out to a dismal start in April and had a rough final month few weeks, but from May 1 through early September was generally strong (3.06 ERA, 56.5% ground-ball rate). Of course, the unsightly bookends on his season can’t be overlooked, and Colome’s lone year in a Twins uniform will culminate in 65 innings of 4.15 ERA ball with a 20% strikeout rate, a 7.9% walk rate and a 53.7% ground-ball rate.

While it’s certainly a respectable overall season for Colome, that 4.15 ERA is a far cry from the 2.27 mark he posted with the South Siders from 2019-20. That much shouldn’t come as a total surprise, as Colome’s excellent run with the Sox was largely fueled by a microscopic .211 average on balls in play that he never figured to repeat. Colome’s 20.9% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate and 47.2% grounder rate are all at least loosely in line with what he gave to the Twins, but this year’s .305 BABIP from Colome fell more in line with the league average than during his time with the Sox.

The Twins likely weren’t counting on Colome to replicate that low-2.00s ERA, rather seeing him as a potential bargain late in the offseason last winter. The fact that Colome settled for a one-year deal of this nature even after that shiny ERA and an AL-leading saves total from 2019-20 suggests that the rest of the market was similarly bearish on his chances of repeating the feat.

Colome will join the middle tiers of a free-agent market that lacks too many high-end options. Raisel Iglesias is in his own tier as the clear No. 1 reliever in free agency, with breakout righty Kendall Graveman perhaps leading the second tier of options. Colome didn’t find a multi-year deal last winter, so it’s possible he’ll ultimately sign another one-year pact this time around.

As for the Twins, they’ll be on the hunt for additional arms both in the rotation and in the bullpen. Closer Taylor Rogers saw his season end in July due to a strained ligament in his pitching hand, but if his health outlook is clear then he should return to hold down the fort in the late innings again. Veteran Tyler Duffey, flamethrowing 26-year-old Jorge Alcala and graybeard lefty Caleb Thielbar should all have roles in that late-inning mix next year, too, but the Twins figure to bring in at least one arm — if not multiple arms — in order to bolster that group.

Latest On Royce Lewis

By | at

  • Twins star prospect Royce Lewis missed all of 2021 recovering from a torn ACL, but the youngster told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes that he is making good progress in his recovery.  The highlight was a pair of Instructional League camp games in October, since represented Lewis’ first proper on-field action since the 2019 Arizona Fall League.  Lewis has been medically cleared to play, but he said that he will continue to focus on his running this winter, as he feels he is running at only 60 to 70 percent of his full ability.

Latest Mets’ Front Office Rumblings

By and | at

As names continue to be bandied about in the Mets’ front office search, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that Twins assistant general manager Daniel Adler will be staying put. It’s not clear whether Adler had a formal interview. He was previously reported to be “on the Mets’ radar,” but both Heyman and SNY’s Andy Martino suggest that Adler prefers to remain in Minnesota rather than pursue outside opportunities — be it with the Mets or another club.

Adler has spent the past four-plus years in the Twins’ front office. Initially hired as the team’s director of baseball operations, he was bumped up to assistant general manager over the 2019-20 offseason. Prior to being hired by Minnesota, the now 34-year-old Adler spent a few seasons working in research and development with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

Apparently, Adler has decided to spend at least one more season with the Twins, although it wouldn’t be a surprise if his name comes up in other executive searches in future offseasons. For now, his decision to stay put removes another candidate for the Mets, whose search for a new baseball operations leader has already seen numerous targets either take themselves out of consideration or not receive permission from their current clubs to interview with New York.

While Adler’s no longer in the running for the position, another candidate has emerged. The Mets are considering Orioles assistant GM Sig Mejdal as part of their ongoing search, report Dan Connolly and Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic (Twitter link), although they caution it’s unclear as of yet whether Mejdal has interest in the position.

Mejdal has spent the past three seasons as an AGM with Baltimore, serving as a top lieutenant for baseball ops leader Mike Elias. Mejdal, 55, followed Elias to the O’s after six years working together in the Astros’ front office. A former NASA biomathematician, Mejdal has been a key member of Elias’ analytics staff in Baltimore.

Latest On Mets’ Front Office Search

By | at

NOVEMBER 1: The Red Sox are expected to grant Ferreira permission to interview with the Mets, assuming she’s interested in doing so, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (on Twitter).

OCTOBER 30, 1:23PM: Brewers VP of baseball operations Matt Kleine is another candidate the Mets have discussed, as per Martino (Twitter link).  With both Kleine and Rodriguez, however, the Mets are wary about approaching the Brewers and Rays since both teams have repeatedly denied New York’s requests to interview other front office personnel in the past.  Kleine is believed to be interested, and his hiring could help set the stage for the Mets to land Stearns as a free agent a year from now (or after the 2023 season, depending on the reported vesting option in Stearns’ deal with Milwaukee).

OCTOBER 30, 8:05AM: The Mets’ attempts to hire a new president of baseball operations or general manager has hit its share of roadblocks, and Dodgers assistant GM Jeff Kingston is the latest executive to decline an interview with the team, according to The New York Post’s Mike Puma.  However, several other prospective candidates remain, as it seems as though the Mets now could be specifically looking for a general manager, rather than someone to fully take the entire reigns of the baseball ops department.

To this end, Puma writes Rays VP of player development Carlos Rodriguez, and assistant GMs Daniel Adler (Twins), Randy Flores (Cardinals), and Ben Sestanovich (Braves) are all “on the Mets’ radar” as possible candidates.  The Mets have also asked the Red Sox for permission to speak with assistant GM Raquel Ferreira, SNY’s Andy Martino reports.

Any of these five executives would be a first-time GM, and ostensibly in charge of the baseball operations department even without the official “president” label.  The unusual nature of the Mets’ front office dynamic has led to some questions about how much authority a new GM would have, as team president Sandy Alderson is remaining with the club and has said he’ll be shifting over to focusing on the team’s business matters once a new baseball ops head is in place.

Had Mets owner Steve Cohen been successful in luring one of his big-ticket initial targets (i.e. Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, David Stearns) to New York, it would’ve made for a smoother transition, as any of those execs would’ve been the PBO and had the sway to make their own choice for a general manager to act as their chief lieutenant.  However, it is perhaps understandable why Kingston and others have opted out of what could be considered as something of a glorified one-year trial period.  If the Mets play well in 2022, a newly-hired GM could be entrusted to become the president of baseball operations; if the Mets struggle, Cohen could resume his search for a major name as PBO, leaving the general manager as perhaps something of a lame duck.

Cardinals GM Michael Girsch, Giants GM Scott Harris, newly-promoted Brewers GM Matt Arnold, and another Dodgers assistant in Brandon Gomes have all declined to be considered for the Mets’ job.  For the five names mentioned by Puma and Martino, it is possible any of the Rays, Twins, Cardinals, Braves, or Red Sox could deny New York permission to interview their personnel, though teams usually don’t stand in the way of their executives being offered a promotion.

Kingston technically has experience as a general manager, as he served as the Mariners’ interim GM for the last month-plus of the 2015 season after Jack Zduriencik was fired.  Kingston has worked as an assistant GM for the last six seasons (three with the Mariners, three with the Dodgers) and he has been considered for other front office openings in recent years.  The Phillies and Angels each had interest in Kingston for their most recent GM vacancies, and Kingston was a finalist for the Angels’ position before the team hired Perry Minasian.

Twins Hire David Popkins As Hitting Coach

By | at

The Twins have hired David Popkins as their new hitting coach, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).  Popkins will take over for Edgar Varela, who was reassigned from the position earlier this month.

Popkins has worked in the Dodgers’ minor league system for the last three years, including working this past season as the hitting coach for high-A ball Great Lakes Loons.  This represents the highest tier of Popkins’ coaching experience, though as teams have increasingly looked to expand the scope of coaching hires, prior experience on a big league staff or even in the upper minors is no longer the prerequisite it once was.

Popkins also brings a fresher perspective to the mix, as he doesn’t turn 32 years old until next month and isn’t far removed from his own playing days.  An undrafted free agent, Popkins caught on with the Cardinals and played in their farm system for three seasons, reaching as high as the Double-A level in 2014.  He then went onto play three seasons of independent ball before calling it a wrap on his on-field career.

The Minnesota lineup lacked consistency in 2021, as while hitters combined for a slightly above-average 101 wRC+ (ranking 11th in baseball), the team’s overall .241/.314/.423 left something to be desired.  Overall, the Twins still showed plenty of power in finishing fifth in the league in home runs, but finished around the middle of the league in several other offensive categories.  Getting more out of Max Kepler, Alex Kirilloff, and Trevor Larnach could be the top priority on Popkins’ list, though the Twins also have some very dangerous bats in Jorge Polanco, Josh Donaldson, and (when healthy) Byron Buxton.

Twins Outright Six Players

By | at

The Twins have outrighted six players off their 40-man roster after they went unclaimed on waivers, as first noted on the transactions page at MLB.com. Right-handers Kyle Barraclough, Nick Vincent, Ian Gibaut and Luke Farrell were all removed from the roster, as were lefty Andrew Albers and infielder Drew Maggi.

All of the players dropped from the roster today will be eligible to become free agents. The 30-year-old Farrell spent more time in the big leagues than any of the bunch this season, tossing 24 2/3 innings with a 4.74 ERA, a 22.1 percent strikeout rate and an 11.5 percent walk rate. It was the fifth straight season with some Major League action for Farrell, although the Twins are already his fifth big league team as well. In 87 2/3 innings at the MLB level, Farrell carries a 4.93 ERA.

Vincent, 35, is the most experienced of the group, having accrued more than seven full years of Major League service time across the past 10 seasons. He held opponents to just one run in 12 2/3 innings, albeit with a tepid 19.1 percent strikeout rate, a higher-than-average 10.6 percent walk rate and a fastball that averaged just 89.3 mph. Vincent was set to become a free agent anyway, based purely on service time, so his outright is largely a formality.

The 31-year-old Barraclough worked in a setup role for the Marlins from 2015-18, logging 218 2/3 innings of 3.21 ERA ball with a hefty 29.8 percent strikeout rate but also a bloated 14.3 percent walk rate. He’s bounced around the league a good bit since that time, and in 13 frames with Minnesota this season allowed eight runs on 12 hits and eight walks with 18 strikeouts — a 5.54 ERA on the whole.

Albers, 36, returned for a third stint with the Twins and was tagged for 16 runs in 19 innings (7.58 ERA) in a late-season call back to the big leagues. He had a solid year in the rotation for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, logging a 3.88 ERA in 102 innings. Albers had spent the three prior seasons pitching with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, logging a 4.02 ERA in 266 1/3 innings.

Gibaut, 27, only pitched 6 2/3 big league innings with the Twins. He held opponents to a pair of runs in that time but spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A St. Paul, where he posted an unsightly 6.80 ERA with a solid 26 percent strikeout rate against a 10.1 percent walk rate. He’s now seen MLB time with the Rays, Rangers and Twins but only managed a 5.40 ERA in 33 1/3 innings.

Maggi, 32, had his contract selected to the Majors late in the season, but the Twins somewhat surprisingly didn’t get the veteran minor leaguer into what would’ve been the first big league game of his career. He’s spent two seasons in their system and turned in a .252/.354/.456 batting line with a career-best 16 home runs and a dozen stolen bases while playing shortstop, second base, third base and left field in Triple-A this year.

Today’s slate of subtractions will help to open roster space for a Twins club that finished the year with eight players needing to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list. They’ll still need to open a couple more spots to accommodate a 60-day IL group that includes Kenta Maeda, Taylor Rogers, Alex Kirilloff, Cody Stashak, Devin Smeltzer, Randy Dobnak, Kyle Garlick and Lewis Thorpe.

Rangers Claim Edwar Colina From Twins

By | at

5:16 pm: Colina recently underwent another elbow surgery, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters (including Dan Hayes of the Athletic).

3:08 pm: The Rangers announced they’ve claimed right-hander Edwar Colina off waivers from the Twins. Colina has spent the entire season on Minnesota’s injured list and will immediately land on Texas’ 60-day IL.

Colina made his first big league appearance last season. The right-hander allowed four hits and issued three walks while recording just one out in that game, but he averaged north of 97 MPH on his sinker. Entering this season, Baseball America slotted Colina as the #21 prospect in the Minnesota system, writing that his arm strength and hard-breaking slider gave him a chance to be a middle relief option in spite of below-average control.

Unfortunately, Colina missed the entire 2021 season after undergoing an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his throwing elbow in May. He did pick up a big league salary and MLB service time while on the injured list. The Rangers will take a flier to see if he can translate that big arm speed into major league success. Colina still has all three minor league option years remaining, so Texas can move him back-and-forth between Arlington and Triple-A Round Rock for the next few seasons if he sticks on the 40-man roster.

Twins Reassign Coaches Edgar Varela, Kevin Morgan

By | at

Twins hitting coach Edgar Varela and Major League field coordinator Kevin Morgan won’t be turning to the coaching staff next season, as the club announced that two were reassigned to player development roles.  With the bench coach position also open and veteran coach Bill Evers retiring, Minnesota now has four vacancies to fill on Rocco Baldelli’s staff for 2022.

Varela has been with the Twins for four seasons, serving as the hitting coach for the last two years.  Offense was the least of the team’s concerns when the “Bomba Squad” put up big numbers in 2020, but even that lineup was a little one-dimensional and too focused on power, and a lack of consistent production in 2021 was one of the many reasons the Twins fell to last place in the AL Central.

While Minnesota batters still finished fifth in home runs, the Twins were closer to the middle of the pack in most other offensive categories.  In fairness to Varela, the Twins’ statistics surely would’ve been more impressive if several regulars (i.e. Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Mitch Garver) hadn’t missed a lot of time on the injured list, and if slugger Nelson Cruz hadn’t been dealt to the Rays.

Still, the Twins clearly felt some new voices were necessary, leading to both Varela and Morgan departing the staff.  Morgan just finished his first year in the field coordinator role, as he was moved up to the MLB coaching staff to help fill the void left when former bench coach Mike Bell passed away last March.

Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Dan Hayes wrote about how the Twins were looking to expand their coaching staff in terms of overall positions (from 10 coaches up to as many as 14), though potentially with some names being reassigned elsewhere.  The expectation is that Minnesota’s next bench coach will come from outside the organization, and the team might also look to add another pitching coach with big league experience.

Pineda, Baldelli Voice Interest In Reunion

By | at

Twins righty Michael Pineda is set to hit free agency this winter, but he again made clear that he hopes to re-sign with the team following last night’s victory. Pineda stressed to Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and others that he “loves” Minnesota and would be happy to return — echoing previous comments about his hope to continue calling Target Field his home. Manager Rocco Baldelli also voiced his own hope that the front office will be able to come to terms on a reunion with Pineda, calling the big righty a “pillar in our clubhouse” and extolling Pineda’s leadership qualities.

There’s no indication the Twins and Pineda have begun extension talks, but Minnesota has already re-signed Pineda once. He’s spent the past four seasons in the Twins organization, playing on a pair of two-year deals ($10MM and $20MM, respectively). It’s been a mixed bag of a season for Pineda, who sports a 3.62 ERA through 109 1/3 innings. He’s missed time due to both an elbow injury and an oblique strain, the former of which surely curbed interest in him at the trade deadline.

Pineda’s average fastball is down to a career-low 90.9 mph, and his 19.2 percent strikeout rate is also a career-low. He’s allowing more hard contact than ever before, both in terms of average exit velocity (91.2 mph) and hard-hit rate (46.1 percent). That said, Pineda is also sporting one of the best walk rates of his career (4.6 percent), the best first-pitch strike rate of his career (69.7 percent) and continues to be one of the best in the game at inducing swings on pitches outside the strike zone.

The Twins have an obvious need for rotation help next season. They traded away Jose Berrios for a pair of high-end prospects at the deadline and lost righty Kenta Maeda to Tommy John surgery. Rookie Bailey Ober has stepped up and laid claim to a 2021 spot with a quietly solid debut campaign. Right-hander Joe Ryan, whom they acquired from the Rays in exchange for Nelson Cruz, has been excellent through the first four starts of his own career. Minnesota has plenty of near-MLB prospects as well — Jordan Balazovic, Jhoan Duran, Josh Winder and Matt Canterino among them — but there’s no experienced starter returning to next year’s staff with Maeda likely to miss the 2022 season.

Minnesota figures to pursue multiple veterans in free agency and via the trade market this winter, as owner Jim Pohlad has already emphatically declared that even after trading Berrios, his club isn’t planning on embarking on a rebuilding effort. A Pineda reunion wouldn’t be the marquee addition for their staff this offseason, but he’d give the team some continuity from a leadership standpoint and some innings at the back of the rotation behind whichever higher-profile arms the Twins ultimately pursue.

Of course, Pineda voicing his own desire to return in no way guarantees the interest will be reciprocated, but Baldelli’s comments at least indicate that he’ll be making his own pitch to the front office to keep Pineda in the fold. Given the injuries Pineda has battled and the drop in fastball velocity, it’s possible the Twins’ front office will simply decide it’s best to move on. At the same time, however, those factors will limit Pineda’s appeal on the market and could force him into an affordable one-year pact, which could pique the club’s interest.

Carlos Gomez Officially Announces Retirement

By | at

Former major league outfielder Carlos Gómez officially announced his retirement this afternoon in a ceremony at Milwaukee’s American Family Field (video via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The announcement finalizes the end of a 13-year major league career.

Of course, there hasn’t been much doubt that Gómez’s playing days had already concluded. The 35-year-old last played in the majors in 2019, and he hasn’t played professionally since wrapping up a stint with the Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League between 2019-20. Reports out of the Dominican Republic in January 2020 indicated Gómez’s playing days were likely coming to an end, but he hadn’t publicly finalized that decision until today.

Gómez ceremoniously hung up his spikes as a Brewer, with whom he had the best run of his career. Acquired from the Twins over the 2009-10 offseason, the electric center fielder spent the next four and a half seasons with the Brew Crew. At his peak, Gómez was one of the sport’s top power-speed threats. Between 2013 and 2014, the right-handed hitter posted a .284/.347/.491 line with 47 home runs. He chipped in 74 stolen bases over those two seasons while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense.

Gómez earned down-ballot MVP support in both of those campaigns, and few players could match his well-rounded skillset. Over that two-year stretch, Gómez ranked seventh among all position players in FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement, trailing only Mike Trout, Andrew McCutchen, teammate Jonathan Lucroy, Buster Posey, Miguel Cabrera and Josh Donaldson.

Milwaukee traded Gómez to the Astros at the 2015 deadline for then-prospects Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana, Josh Hader and Adrian Houser. It proved an opportune time for the Brewers to add an influx of young talent still helping the team immensely today, as Gómez’s productivity was never quite the same from that point forward. As he entered his 30’s, Gómez bounced around the league with a few clubs. He ended his playing days with the Mets, ironically the team that initially signed him as a 16-year-old back in 2002.

Gómez appeared in the majors with six different clubs over the course of his career, although he’ll be best known for his peak in Milwaukee. He appeared in 1461 MLB games and hit .252/.313/.411 with 145 home runs, 236 doubles and 41 triples. Gómez stole 268 bases, scored 675 runs and drove in 546. He appeared in two All-Star Games and won a Gold Glove during his aforementioned star-level peak. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each valued his career at around 25 WAR. MLBTR congratulates Gómez on a very fine career and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top