Nine Players Elect Free Agency
As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.
Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.
Catchers
- Rob Brantly (Rays)
Infielders
- Nick Maton (Orioles)
- Zach Remillard (White Sox)
Pitchers
- Diego Castillo (Twins)
- Yonny Chirinos (Marlins)
- Chris Devenski (Mariners)
- Jonathan Hernandez (Mariners)
- Erasmo Ramirez (Rays)
- Josh Rogers (Rockies)
Thad Levine Steps Down As Twins GM
Thad Levine has stepped down from his position as senior vice president and general manager of the Twins, a role he has held since November 2016. The team announced his decision in a press release on Friday morning, explaining, “After eight seasons of significant contributions and leadership, Thad Levine will depart the Minnesota Twins organization to pursue new challenges and opportunities, both inside and outside of baseball.”
The news of Levine’s departure comes just a few days after the Twins confirmed chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli would return in 2025. Levine has been working under Falvey for the past eight years. The pair led the team to three division titles and four playoff appearances between 2017-23, with the 2023 club finally ending the franchise’s 18-game postseason losing streak.
The 2024 campaign ended in disappointment, however, with a 13-27 record over the final 40 games of the season pushing the Twins out of a playoff position and into fourth place in the AL Central. While injuries and underperformance played a big role in the team’s downfall, so did a slow offseason and quiet trade deadline, during which Falvey and Levine did little to improve the club. It’s difficult to say how much of the blame lies with the front office as opposed to ownership, which forced the team to cut payroll. Regardless, it’s not hard to see why Levine was ready to seek new opportunities elsewhere. It’s possible the Twins didn’t want him back either, but the press release presents it as Levine’s decision. Furthermore, one would think that if ownership and executive chairman Joe Pohlad were displeased with the direction of the team, Falvey would be looking for a new job as well. Both Falvey and Levine’s contacts were believed to be expiring at the end of the 2024 season.
Prior to joining the Twins, Levine spent several years as an assistant GM for the Rangers. More recently, he has pursued top decision-making jobs around the league; the Twins gave permission for him to interview with the Phillies in 2020 and the Red Sox in 2023. Other teams that have shown interest in Levine in the past include the Mets and Rockies. Interestingly, however, he ultimately took himself out of the running for all those jobs.
If Levine wants a new job in baseball, it doesn’t seem as if he’d have any trouble landing one. He will surely be a candidate for any “chief decision-maker” openings around the league. It’s less clear if he would be interested in taking on another job where he would only be second-in-command, such as with the Giants. San Francisco is looking for a GM to replace Pete Putila and work under new president of baseball operations Buster Posey. For what it’s worth, the fact that Levine chose to remain underneath Falvey for so long – despite other opportunities – suggests he prioritizes his work environment over his status. Perhaps the Giants’ larger payroll will convince him to give the Bay Area a try.
Diamond Sports Group Planning To Cut Ties With 11 MLB Clubs
Diamond Sports Group said in court today that it plans to broadcast just one MLB club next year, the Braves, per reporting from Evan Drellich of The Athletic. The company, which owns the Bally Sports Networks, also had deals with the Reds, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Cardinals, Rays but plans on walking away from those. As Drellich notes, as part of the company’s ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, they can accept and reject contracts though the measures have to be approved by the court. The Brewers, Guardians, Twins and Rangers had one-year deals with Diamond for 2024. Those 11 clubs will now have to renegotiate new deals with Diamond or find other broadcasting arrangements.
Drellich provides some more specifics on X, noting that it’s more complicated than Diamond simply abandoning these 11 clubs, but that seems to be the company’s goal regardless. Alden González of ESPN adds some more details, noting that a confirmation hearing has been set for November 14 and 15 in Houston. The Marlins and Diamond have mutual interest in working out a new deal, per a report from Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. The Angels are working on a new deal with Diamond, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Per Drellich, league representatives said they were “sandbagged” by the news. “We have no information about what is being done,” said Jim Bromley, lawyer for MLB. “We’ve had no opportunity to review and now we’re in front of the court and being asked to make our comments.”
The ongoing financial situation of Diamond Sports Group has been a significant part of baseball’s economic landscape for a long time and this could prove to be a major development as part of that narrative. Largely due to cord cutting, the regional sports network model has been gradually collapsing in recent history. In the 2022-23 offseason, reports emerged that Diamond was in rough shape financially and the company filed for bankruptcy before the 2023 MLB season began.
They dropped their contracts with the Padres and Diamondbacks during that 2023 campaign. It threatened to do the same with the Guardians, Twins and Rangers for 2024 but ultimately renegotiated lower fees with those clubs and continued those broadcasts through this year. Now it seems like the company is continuing down this path but with an even more aggressive severing of their existing ties to Major League Baseball.
This is bound to have short-term effects on clubs and players. These contracts have been sources of significant revenue for clubs, as MLBTR covered earlier this year. The 11 teams that Diamond plans to cut ties with were previously receiving between $33MM (Brewers) and $125MM (Angels) on an annual basis. Per reporting in April, the Padres were set to receive about $60MM in 2023 before their deal with Diamond collapsed. The league reportedly covered about 80% of those fees last year but didn’t plan to do so in 2024 and beyond.
Uncertainty around broadcast revenue seemingly played a major role in the 2023-24 offseason, which was disappointing for players. Teams like the Padres, Rangers, Twins and others were either cutting payroll or not increasing it as much as had previously been expected, with the TV situation often being used as justification. This appeared to play a role in various free agents not finding markets as strong as they had anticipated and many of them lingered unsigned into the early months of 2024 and/or signed for deals well below projections. It seems fair to expect that similar narratives could emerge in the coming winter.
Per González, a company source says that Diamond is still hoping to sign new deals with the 11 clubs being cut out today. However, that would presumably involve reduce fee payments, such as those received by the Guardians, Twins and Rangers this year. As mentioned up top, the Marlins and Angels seem to expect to continue their relationship with Diamond/Bally in 2025, though negotiating new deals may take some time.
In the long-term picture, MLB might be happy to be further cutting ties with Diamond. They have continually expressed skepticism about the company’s plans to stay afloat. Diamond has tried various methods of refinancing, including signing a streaming deal with Amazon, but the league hasn’t seemed convinced that any of the company’s plans would lead to long-term stability.
As mentioned, the league has already started selling some games to fans in direct-to-customer fashion. Commissioner Rob Manfred has aspirations of marketing a digital streaming package consisting of several MLB teams, which fans could watch without blackout restrictions. MLB.TV already exists and allows fans to watch most games, but the RSN deals lead to certain teams being blacked out in the areas covered by those deals.
Having less commitment with Diamond going forward will increase the viability of that streaming plan over the years to come. However, as mentioned, less TV revenue figures to have a sizeable impact on the short-term economics of the game. This will lead to ripple effects throughout the upcoming offseason and will likely be worrisome for certain players hitting the open market in the coming weeks. New deals could be negotiated between now and the 2025 season, which could put some money back on the table, though likely less than in previous years.
There is also the matter of the fan experience, as there were times in 2024 where the Braves were not available on TV to some customers during a dispute between Bally’s and Comcast. For fans of these 11 clubs today, they will have to keep an eye on the proceedings to determine if their favorite club will still be accessed in the ways they are accustomed to or if they will have to switch to some new broadcast model.
Twins Part Ways With Four Coaches
Oct. 2: In addition to Popkins, the Twins announced that assistant hitting coaches Rudy Hernandez and Derek Shoman will not return to the staff next season. Infield coach/assistant bench coach Tony Diaz also will not return to next year’s staff. The rest of the group is expected to return.
Oct. 1: The Twins have informed hitting coach David Popkins that he won’t back next season, per a report from Dan Hayes of The Athletic. His contract just ended with the conclusion of the 2024 season and will not be renewed.
Popkins has been the club’s hitting coach for the past three years, getting hired prior to the 2022 campaign. The first of those seasons saw the club finish 78-84, though that wasn’t really on the offense. The club hit a collective .248/.317/.401 for a wRC+ of 106, 10th best in the majors. 2023 was more successful, as the club went 87-75 and won the American League Central. Their hitters collectively slashed .243/.326/.428 for a 108 wRC+, tied for sixth in the majors.
For a long time, it seemed like 2024 was going to be another successful campaign for the Twins. They were in playoff position for most of the season but collapsed at the end, going 9-18 in the month of September and missing out on the postseason.
The team was still strong at the plate overall this year, with a line of .246/.315/.411 and a 107 wRC+ that was ninth in the league. That includes a dismal .218/.285/.338 line and 78 wRC+ in September as the club’s season slipped away from them.
It’s always tough to separate the influence of a coach from the performances of the players. Over the course of the three years where Popkins has been the hitting coach, most of the results have been good, though the most recent stretch of play obviously leaves a bad taste. Whether one wants to blame Popkins or not would be a matter of debate. Key players like Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and others missed significant time with injuries this year and were either off the field or perhaps not playing at 100% health during the September swoon. Regardless, it seems the club has decided to go in a different direction for 2025.
34 Players Elect Free Agency
As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.
Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.
Catchers
- Alex Jackson (Rays)
- Andrew Knapp (Giants)
- Andrew Knizner (D-Backs)
- Reese McGuire (Red Sox)
- Jakson Reetz (Giants)
- Ali Sánchez (Marlins)
- Brian Serven (Blue Jays)
Infielders
- Diego Castillo (Twins)
- José Devers (Marlins)
- Thairo Estrada (Giants)
- Danny Mendick (White Sox)
- Cole Tucker (Angels)
- Jason Vosler (Mariners)
Outfielders
- Billy McKinney (Pirates)
- Cristian Pache (Marlins)
Designated Hitter
- Willie Calhoun (Angels)
Pitchers
- Phil Bickford (Yankees)
- Ty Blach (Rockies)
- Nick Burdi (Yankees)
- John Curtiss (Rockies)
- Kent Emanuel (Marlins)
- Cole Irvin (Twins)
- Casey Kelly (Reds)
- Matt Koch (Rockies)
- Steven Okert (Twins)
- Yohan Ramírez (Red Sox)
- Gerardo Reyes (A’s)
- Trevor Richards (Twins)
- Ryder Ryan (Pirates)
- Kirby Snead (Mariners)
- Touki Toussaint (White Sox)
- Tanner Tully (Yankees)
- Jordan Weems (Nationals)
- Mitch White (Brewers)
Twins Outright Cole Irvin
September 30: Irvin has been outrighted to Triple-A St. Paul, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com.
September 25: The Twins made a handful of moves before tonight’s games against the Marlins. Minnesota designated left-hander Cole Irvin for assignment, optioned southpaw Brent Headrick and placed outfielder Matt Wallner on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain. They’re replaced on the active roster by Justin Topa, Jorge Alcala and Austin Martin. Minnesota recalled Alcala and Martin from Triple-A St. Paul while activating Topa from the 60-day injured list.
Minnesota brought Irvin in on a waiver claim from the Orioles last week. The 30-year-old southpaw made four appearances out of Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen. He allowed five runs across 3 2/3 innings with four walks and only two strikeouts. Irvin made it through a scoreless inning yesterday against Miami but needed to work around a pair of free passes.
This has been a generally tough season for Irvin, whom the O’s had DFA twice as well. He bounced between Baltimore’s rotation and long relief work, combining for a 4.86 ERA across 107 1/3 innings. Irvin had been a durable source of roughly league average innings for the A’s between 2021-22, but he allowed 4.68 earned runs per nine over a season and a half in Baltimore.
The Twins will put Irvin on waivers in the next few days. He’ll almost certainly clear and would likely elect free agency at that point. Minnesota acquired Irvin after the calendar flipped to September. Even if they make the postseason — which now looks to be a long shot as they’ve fallen two games back of the Royals and Tigers with five to play — Irvin would have been ineligible to participate. It’s possible he’ll need to take a minor league deal this offseason.
Topa, 33, steps right into must-win games for his team debut. The Twins acquired him from the Mariners as part of the Jorge Polanco deal. They no doubt envisioned him as a high-leverage bullpen piece after he’d thrown 69 innings of 2.61 ERA ball in a breakout year for Seattle. A lengthy injury history had prevented Topa from emerging until his age-32 campaign, though, and that unfortunately resurfaced with his new organization.
The right-hander suffered a left knee injury in Spring Training and was eventually diagnosed with a partially torn patellar tendon. A rehab stint in July proved unsuccessful. Topa began a new rehab stint last week, pitching two innings in as many Triple-A appearances. With the minor league season finished and time running low for the MLB club, he’ll head to Target Field.
Minnesota’s bullpen has played a role in their second half collapse. Only the Red Sox have a higher bullpen ERA since the All-Star Break. They haven’t blown many leads but have had a tough time keeping games from getting out of hand. Baldelli might be reluctant to plug Topa into leverage spots after a six-month layoff. He’ll at least be a high-upside option in the middle innings.
The Twins will need to mount their playoff push without one of their more productive offensive players. Wallner is hitting .259/.372/.523 with 13 homers across 261 plate appearances. He’s done for the rest of the regular season and would miss at least the Wild Card series if the Twins qualify. Oblique strains usually cost a player multiple weeks, so there’s a good chance his season is over.
Max Kepler told reporters yesterday that he also won’t make it back during the regular season (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune). Kepler has missed most of September with a left knee injury. The Twins are going with an outfield of Willi Castro, Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach tonight against Miami righty Edward Cabrera.
Twins To Retain Derek Falvey, Rocco Baldelli For 2025
Both chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli will be returning to the Twins next season, as team executive chairman Joe Pohlad and Falvey himself told reporters (including the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale and The Athletic’s Dan Hayes). Today’s official announcements confirm yesterday’s report from The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman that both Falvey and Baldelli would be back for their respective ninth and seventh seasons with the organization.
Baldelli’s current contract runs through at least the 2025 season, while Falvey’s contractual status isn’t publicly known. Falvey’s previous deal was known to be up at the end of the 2024 campaign, yet the Twins have tended to be somewhat secretive when it comes to contracts for team personnel. It seems entirely possible that Falvey was inked to an extension at some point over the course of his previous couple of years, or his contract might indeed currently be up, but an extension is expected to be finalized shortly.
Of course, contracts might not have mattered much if ownership felt compelled to make changes following the Twins’ late-season collapse. Minnesota had a 70-53 record on August 17 and looked to be safe bets to make the postseason, either as AL Central champs for the second consecutive season or at least as a wild card. Instead, the Twins have gone 12-26 over their last 38 games, and two division rivals (the Tigers and Royals) zoomed past them en route to the playoffs.
As “embarrassing” as Pohlad felt this collapse was, he still has faith in Falvey to lead the front office. “I don’t judge employees off of six crummy weeks. He’s got eight years of a résumé and I talk with Derek daily so I know what he’s doing, ” Pohlad said. “He’s got player development resume, he’s got a major league resume and yeah, he’s busting his [butt]. He’s the right guy.”
Falvey made a similar defense of Baldelli, saying “we’ve been gutted during this process trying to figure out how we fix it. That’s led to sleepless nights and challenging conversations and one-on-one conversations between he and I that will stay one-on-one, but have been at times really digging deep and trying to figure out how to fix it. I believe in his process, I believe in him, I believe in the partnership I have with him. That is how I feel and ultimately, that’s the way we’re going to go forward.”
The 2024 season is the latest twist in the overall successful, yet inconsistent tenures of both the CBO and the manager. The duo have combined for three AL Central titles and four winning records in Baldelli’s time as manager, plus Minnesota also won 85 games and earned a wild card in 2017, Falvey’s first season with the organization. Still, the Twins followed up that 2017 campaign with a losing season in 2018 that got previous manager Paul Molitor replaced in favor of Baldelli, and the Twins stumbled to sub-.500 records in both 2021 and 2022 on the heels of consecutive division crowns in 2019-20.
A return to the playoffs last year and (most importantly) the Twins’ first postseason series win since 2002 seemed to restore order to the franchise, but that playoff success was then undermined by a controversial offseason. Ownership’s decision to cut payroll by roughly $30MM left Falvey and GM Thad Levine somewhat hamstrung in their roster maneuvering last winter, leaving it easy to second-guess plenty of decisions or non-decisions that could’ve made the difference between a playoff berth or the Twins’ current situation.
On the other hand, playing even .500 ball since August 17 would’ve sent Minnesota cruising into the postseason, and the payroll decisions wouldn’t loom nearly as large. According to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes (X link), the Twins aren’t planning any more payroll reductions this winter, so it would appear as if the front office will be working with at least the roughly $129MM that the club is currently spending on players.
While Falvey and Baldelli appear safe, neither Pohlad or Falvey mentioned Levine’s status heading into 2025. Levine has been serving as Falvey’s chief lieutenant since the pair were hired in November 2016, and like Falvey, his contract is also thought to be up once the 2024 season is over. Again, Levine might well have quietly signed an extension at some point, or the Twins might be looking to bring a new voice into the front office if they feel some kind of change is necessary.
Twins Select Randy Dobnak
The Twins announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Randy Dobnak. In a corresponding move, right-hander Diego Castillo was designated for assignment.
Dobnak, 29, signed an ill-fated extension with the Twins prior to the 2021 season on the heels of a 2020 campaign where he showed promise as a potential mid-rotation starter with a 4.05 ERA and 3.96 FIP through ten starts. After a strong rookie campaign in 2019, that gave Dobnak a career 3.12 ERA and 3.56 FIP across 75 innings of work in the majors at the time of the deal. Unfortunately, things quickly went off the rails for the right-hander as he surrendered a ghastly 7.64 ERA in 50 2/3 innings of work during the first year of his extension. Those lackluster results led to the club outrighting him off the 40-man roster in September of 2022.
Since then, Dobnak has remained in the Twins organization while primarily pitching at Triple-A. He’s done fairly well for himself in the minors this year, with a 4.25 ERA in 133 1/3 innings of work that earned him another look at the big league level. That stint back in the majors earlier this year didn’t go over very well, however, as Dobnak surrendered a 5.87 ERA in 7 2/3 frames before being shipped back to the minors. He’ll now finish the season in the Twins bullpen and on the 40-man roster. He remains under contract with the club through the end of the 2025 season, and does not yet have enough service time to reject an outright assignment without also forfeiting the remainder of his contract.
Making room for Dobnak on the club’s 40-man roster is Castillo, who signed with Minnesota on a minor league deal over the offseason and was first selected to the roster at the end of May. Since then, he’s posted a solid enough 2.70 ERA in 10 innings of work but hasn’t been able to stick on the Twins roster due to shaky peripherals, including more walks (eight) than strikeouts (six) in the majors. When at Triple-A with the Twins this year, Castillo has struggled badly with a 5.59 ERA in 40 appearances.
Despite those deep struggles, however, it’s not impossible to imagine the right-hander continuing to draw attention from clubs as a minor league depth option this winter. After all, Castillo excelled with the Rays and Mariners earlier in his career with a 3.12 ERA and 3.69 FIP in 250 appearances from 2018 to 2022. Any club that believes they can unlock that form in Castillo will surely have interest in bringing him into the fold and seeing what he has next spring. Of course, before Castillo can officially reach free agency he’ll need to clear waivers sometime in the next week.
Latest On Twins’ Offseason Plans
What once seemed to be a promising season for the Twins is coming to a devastating end, as the club was officially eliminated from postseason contention last night after a free fall in the standings spurred on by their brutal 9-16 record so far this September. While Minnesota entered the month with a 91.7% chance to make the postseason according to Fangraphs, they’ll sit on the sidelines this October just one year after breaking a 20-year drought without a victory in the postseason.
With that being said, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic suggested in a report today that both president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli (as well as team president Dave St. Peter, who handles business operations for the club) appear unlikely to be let go by the club as things stand. Falvey took the helm of baseball operations for the Twins prior to the 2017 season, and the team has generally been successful during his tenure with four postseason appearances and five seasons with an above .500 record during his eight years with the club’s front office. Meanwhile, Baldelli joined the club prior to the 2019 season and has led the club to three postseason appearances and four over .500 records in his six years in the Minnesota dugout.
That’s not to say no change is coming to the organization, however. According to Gleeman, it’s “expected” that changes will be made this winter that could impact high-ranking members of both the front office and coaching staff. Of note, Gleeman did not report on the status of GM Thad Levine. Levine has served as the #2 to Falvey throughout his tenure with the Twins and seemingly entered the year without a contract for the 2025 season. Speculatively speaking, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Levine depart the club if the Twins were to shake up their front office, particularly given the fact that Levine was a finalist for the top job in Boston last winter before the Red Sox ultimately hired Craig Breslow and could once again look to pursue a top job elsewhere this offseason.
Disappointing as the 2024 season was for Twins fans, it’s fair to point out that the club’s struggles can’t be blamed entirely on the front office or coaching staff. After all, club ownership slashed payroll by $30MM coming off the club’s successful 2023 season, not only forcing the club to enter 2024 without replacing 2023 AL Cy Young finalist Sonny Gray but also leaving them unable to make moves of significance to improve the roster beyond adding veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, a move that needed to be paired with a deal to ship out longtime infielder Jorge Polanco.
Unfortunately for fans in Minnesota, Gleeman suggests there’s little reason to believe payroll will increase headed into 2025. Instead, he notes that the club’s revenue has landed below expectations this year and could prompt even more cuts. That could leave the club needing to trade away veterans on guaranteed contracts over the winter in order to improve other areas of the roster, and Gleeman suggests that right-hander Chris Paddack and catcher Christian Vazquez could be the club’s most expendable pieces if such a situation were to come to pass.
Paddack, 28, returned to the club after Tommy John surgery wiped out nearly all of his 2023 season. He made 17 starts for the Twins this year but struggled with lackluster results, posting a 4.99 ERA despite a solid enough 4.18 FIP. It’s easy to see how Paddack could be an attractive trade piece for pitching-hungry clubs this winter, particularly those with budget constraints of their own. After all, he’s set to make just $7.5MM in 2025. Even back-of-the-rotation arms have typically garnered guarantees north of $10MM on the open market in recent years, so $7.5MM for Paddack could be viewed as a bargain even in spite of injury concerns thanks to the tantalizing upside he flashed during his time with the Padres.
Vazquez, on the other hand, appears unlikely to bring back much outside of salary relief for Minnesota. The 34-year-old veteran entered free agency following the 2022 season with a strong defensive reputation and a solid 95 wRC+ in four years since taking over as the primary catcher in Boston. Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out well since he signed with the Twins on a three-year deal prior to the 2023 season. In Minnesota, Vazquez has hit just .224/.267/.324 (64 wRC+) over the past two years while ceding the regular duties behind the plate to breakout youngster Ryan Jeffers. He still remains a stalwart defender behind the plate, but his lackluster offense and hefty $10MM salary for next year would make him unattractive as a trade candidate unless the Twins were to sweeten the deal with either cash or additional talent.
Twins Activate Kody Funderburk From Injured List
The Twins announced that they have reinstated left-hander Kody Funderburk from the 60-day injured list. Catcher Jair Camargo was optioned to open an active roster spot. Outfielder Max Kepler has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot. Prior to the official announcement, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North reported on X that Funderburk would be activated.
Funderburk, 27, had an intriguing debut last year. Called up in August, he was able to pitch 12 innings for the Twins with a 0.75 earned run average. He struck out 40.4% of batters faced and got grounders on 54.5% of batters faced.
He hasn’t been able to maintain results that strong in 2024. He currently has 33 2/3 innings on the year with a 5.61 ERA. His ground ball rate is the same as last year but his strikeout rate has essentially been halved, landing at 20.3% so far. In July, he landed on the 15-injured list due to a left oblique strain, later being transferred to the 60-day version.
The Twins have just one lefty in their bullpen at the moment in Caleb Thielbar. They have had Steven Okert, Cole Irvin and Brent Headrick on the roster somewhat recently but Okert and Irvin were designated for assignment in recent weeks while Headrick was optioned a couple of days ago.
The club’s season is currently hanging by a thread. They are three games back of the Tigers and Royals with each team having three games remaining. The Twins hold the tiebreakers over both of those clubs but still have long odds of getting back into a playoff spot at this point. Funderburk will give manager Rocco Baldelli a second lefty option in the bullpen as they try to hang on. The Twins host the Orioles this weekend as the Royals are in Atlanta and the Tigers host the White Sox.
As for Kepler, this move will end his season, regardless of whether the club makes the postseason or not. He landed on the IL September 2 due to left patellar tendinitis in his knee. He told Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic a couple of days ago that he wasn’t likely to return and might need offseason surgery.
That would be unfortunate timing as he is heading to free agency for the first time in his career. He and the Twins signed a five-year, $35MM extension going into 2019, with that deal containing a $10MM club option for 2024 that was eventually picked up.
Kepler is a strong defender on the grass, with career tallies of 50 Defensive Runs Saved and 66 Outs Above Average. He has occasionally paired that with strong offense, though not consistently. He hit 24 home runs last year and drew walks at a 9.2% clip, leading to a .260/.332/.484 batting line and 123 wRC+. But this year, around multiple IL stints, he has just eight homers and a 5.5% walk rate. His .253/.302/.380 line has led to a 94 wRC+.