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Danny Coulombe Outrighted By Twins, Elects Free Agency

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The Twins have outrighted left-hander Danny Coulombe, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Coulombe cleared waivers and elected free agency.

Coulombe, 33 next week, has been on and off the Twins’ roster over the past few years. He was signed to a minor league deal prior to the 2020 season, got his contract selected but was designated for assignment shortly thereafter. He signed another minors deal for 2021 and spent a few months with the team before losing his roster spot at year’s end again.

A third straight minor league deal followed prior to 2022, with Coulombe getting selected to the big league team once again. He tossed 12 1/3 innings with a 1.46 ERA despite a 17% walk rate but made two trips to the IL due to a hip impingement that eventually required surgery. For his career, he’s thrown 192 2/3 innings with a 3.92 ERA, 22.1% strikeout rate, 9.9% walk rate and 52.5% ground ball rate.

The Twins suffered a large number of injuries this season, leading to them placing many players on the 60-day injured list. However, since there’s no IL between the World Series and Spring Training, those players will soon have to take up roster spots once again. In anticipation of that, the club has been placing some players on waivers in recent weeks, having lost Caleb Hamilton to the Red Sox, Jake Cave to the Orioles and Jermaine Palacios to the Tigers, in addition to outrighting Jhon Romero, Devin Smeltzer and now Coulombe. Players who have more than three years of MLB service time or who have been previously outrighted in their career are eligible to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. Coulombe qualified on both counts.

Given that Coulombe and the Twins have continued to re-engage each other in recent years, it’s entirely possible that they do so again. However, Coulombe will be free to pursue other opportunities for the time being, while the club will likely wait and see how the lefty recovers from his surgery.

Twins Likely To Explore Catching Market This Offseason

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Though the Twins’ top priority at the moment is likely ascertaining whether they have a real chance to extend Carlos Correa before he formally triggers his opt-out clause, they’ll head into the winter with a lengthy list of needs. Among the priorities will be looking for some help behind the plate. President of baseball ops Derek Falvey recently spoke of the “co-catcher” model — that is, two catchers splitting time more evenly rather than a conventional starter/backup committee (link via Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic). He implied that there’s “an opportunity to match up” right-handed-hitting Ryan Jeffers with a partner who can provide some more offense against right-handed pitching.

Falvey notably emphasized that Jeffers isn’t viewed as a strict platoon candidate, but there’s little denying that the 25-year-old has been vastly more productive in platoon matchups to this point in his career. Jeffers hit .306/.377/.532 in a small sample of 70 plate appearances against southpaws this season and carries a career .263/.344/.450 output against left-handers. Comparatively, he’s batted just .185/.256/.361 against right-handers. From a pure power standpoint, Jeffers’ .187 ISO against lefties and .176 mark versus righties are comparable, but Jeffers strikes out more often and walks less against same-handed opponents. He also makes far less hard contact against righties and pops up nearly four times as often in those matchups as he does against lefties.

While the pure offensive splits do speak to a potential platoon scenario being advantageous, it’s also worth pointing out that Jeffers is still young and any such numbers are coming in a small sample. Though he’s been a prominent factor in the Twins’ catching mix since late in the 2020 season, injuries have limited his availability. Most recently, spent more than two months on the injured list this season due to a fractured thumb. Considering that Jeffers hit .276/.362/.427 against righties in his final full minor league season (2019), the Twins may not want to completely cut off his avenue to at-bats against right-handed pitching; there’s still time for him to improve in that regard.

Beyond that, limiting Jeffers to a platoon setup inherently subtracts as quality defensive player from the lineup. True, Jeffers’ 19% caught-stealing rate is five percentage points below the league average during his three years in the Majors, but he regularly grades out as a strong framer and has long drawn praise for his receiving skills on the whole. In about a season’s worth of innings over the past two years, he’s been credited for eight Defensive Runs Saved.

Still, there’s some obvious cause to add not just catching option who can provide some clout against right-handed opponents, but one who can shoulder the workload in the event of any additional absences from Jeffers. This year’s injury was fluky in nature, but the Twins’ system is generally thin on catching prospects at the moment, so adding a veteran who can step up and take a bigger role, if needed, makes good sense.

Unfortunately, among this year’s group of free-agent catchers, the options in that regard are fairly limited. Certainly, the market’s top catcher, Willson Contreras, would provide some extra thump against right- and left-handed pitching alike (and bring more than enough bat to occasionally mix in at DH), but the competition for him figures to be strong. Some lefty-swinging backstops are available in the form of Omar Narvaez and switch-hitting Tucker Barnhart, but neither did much against righties or lefties in 2022. Both are coming off down seasons, though Narvaez in particular does carry a career .268/.345/.406 line against right-handers. The trade market will present everything from top-tier regularsi (Oakland’s Sean Murphy) to out-of-options rolls of the dice (the Angels’ Matt Thaiss).

The quintet of Jeffers, Gary Sanchez, Sandy Leon, Caleb Hamilton and Jose Godoy combined for a .197/.275/.355 batting line while catching in 2022, equating to an 81 wRC+ that ranked 17th in the Majors. Twins catchers were far from the sport’s least-productive unit, but that’s as much an indictment on the current production (or lack thereof) from catchers throughout the league as a testament to the Twins’ catching corps. Whichever route Falvey and his staff take, some form of complement to Jeffers feels inevitable. And, with only about $52.5MM on next year’s payroll (when factoring in Correa’s opt-out and the likely exercising of Sonny Gray’s club option), there’s plenty of room for upgrades up and down the roster.

The Twins’ Third Base Decision

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The Twins were one of baseball’s most aggressive teams last spring, and they’re in for another active offseason over the coming months. Carlos Correa has already implied he plans to opt out of the final two years of his contract, as expected. How to proceed at shortstop may be the biggest question facing president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and his staff, but they’ll also have a call to make at the other position on the left side of the infield.

This past season, third base was primarily the purview of Gio Urshela. Acquired from the Yankees alongside Gary Sánchez in the deal that offloaded Josh Donaldson’s contract and sent Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx, Urshela went on to start 131 games at the hot corner in Minneapolis. He stepped to the plate 551 times and hit at a solid .285/.338/.429 clip with 13 home runs and 27 doubles. By measure of wRC+, the Colombia native was 19 percentage points better than the league average hitter.

That represented a bounceback from a pedestrian final season in the Bronx, when Urshela hit .267/.301/.419 through 442 trips to the dish. He didn’t recapture his breakout 2019-20 form — a combined .310/.358/.523 mark — but he no doubt had a productive offensive season. He finished the year well, hitting .294/.343/.419 after the calendar flipped to September. Urshela doesn’t take many walks, but he makes contact at an above-average rate and has enough power to approach or exceed 30 doubles and 15 homers during his best seasons.

While Urshela has been an above-average hitter in three of the past four seasons, his defense draws more variable feedback from public metrics. Ultimate Zone Rating has consistently pegged him as an above-average third baseman, which aligns with the general reputation he’d had as a prospect. Defensive Runs Saved has varied in its enthusiasm for his work but comes in slightly positive overall, while Statcast’s Outs Above Average has rated him as a below-average defender in every season of his career. There’s a fair bit of variability in all public defensive metrics, but Urshela has proven particularly divisive across those measures. Consider his cumulative runs compared to average as a third baseman by each measure since he emerged as a regular with the Yankees in 2019:

  • UZR: +6.4
  • DRS: +5
  • Statcast: -9

The Twins’ internal evaluation of Urshela’s defense could go a long way towards determining how they proceed at third base. The 31-year-old is under club control for another season, and Minnesota could simply pencil him back into the everyday lineup. He’s a valuable player, and there’s something to be said for retaining stability. Yet the Twins will have to weigh his production against a fairly lofty salary; MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Urshela to receive roughly $9.2MM for his final year of arbitration eligibility.

That’s certainly not an outlandish figure, particularly if the Twins view Urshela as an above-average defender. At the same time, it’s not a completely insignificant sum for a team that entered this season with a franchise-record payroll in the $134MM range, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Assuming Correa opts out and the Twins exercise their option on Sonny Gray while buying out Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer, they’ll head into the offseason with roughly $51MM in guaranteed money on the books, according to Roster Resource. Minnesota’s arbitration class, led by Urshela, is projected for north of $37MM on top of that. Not everyone in the arb group will be tendered contracts — Emilio Pagán is projected for a $3.7MM salary and seems likely to be cut loose — but the Twins could have roughly $84MM in internal expenditures before looking to address shortstop, the bullpen and catcher.

An outright non-tender of Urshela would be a bit surprising. It’s easy to imagine the Twins entertaining trade possibilities, however, particularly with rookie corner infielder José Miranda an option to step in at third base. Miranda has always been a bat-first prospect, and he spent more time at first base than at third during his debut campaign. After hitting .268/.325/.426 through his first 483 MLB plate appearances, the 24-year-old Miranda is guaranteed a regular role somewhere in the lineup. Would the Twins feel comfortable turning to him on an everyday basis at third base, where he spent the majority of his minor league career? That’d leave more first base/DH at-bats for Luis Arraez, who’s not a good defender at either second or third, and potentially clear a path to at-bats for former top prospect Alex Kirilloff. Kirilloff will be returning from a second season decimated by wrist injuries and presumably has to earn his way into the lineup, but he has the offensive potential to do so.

Falvey indicated last week the team was at least open to Miranda playing more third than first moving forward (link via Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic). “We want to keep third base in his mix, for sure,” Falvey said. “We think he can play over there. It just worked out roster-wise that first is where he had to play a lot. I think our best team, our healthiest team, has Jose playing a lot of games at third, and some at first. But we want him to play both corners.”

The Twins’ baseball ops leader didn’t tip his hand as to whether that meant Urshela was likely to be on next year’s roster. “We’ll have some decisions to make, not just on him but a few others in the arbitration space,” Falvey said (via Gleeman). “He finished in a really good spot. He played really well down the stretch, and he was a great teammate, a great person in (the clubhouse). All of those are conversations we’ll start to have as we get closer to November and December.”

If the Twins did make Urshela available via trade (or non-tender), it’s easy to envision a few teams having interest. The D-Backs, Marlins, Cubs, Giants and Tigers could all look for third base help this offseason. There aren’t many obvious solutions available in free agency (particularly if Nolan Arenado sticks with the Cardinals by foregoing his opt-out clause or signing an extension), leaving the Twins to weigh their options with Urshela over the coming weeks.

19 Players Elect Free Agency

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Players hit minor league free agency on a daily basis during the postseason, as opposed to major league free agents who hit free agency following the World Series when their contracts expire. On Thursday, MLBTR covered 15 players who elected minor league free agency, and we will continue to provide occasional updates as players continue to hit the open market, as noted on the MiLB.com transactions log.

If a player is not on their organization’s 40-man roster at the end of the season, he will hit minor league free agency as long as he has at least 3 years of MLB service time, been assigned outright more than once in his career, and/or has played in the minor leagues for parts of seven or more seasons. Everyone on today’s list is part of that group of players, and most will search for another minor league deal this offseason, though a few may manage to latch onto a major league club and secure a bench or bullpen spot entering the 2023 season.

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15 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the postseason rolls along, players hit minor league free agency daily. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

MLBTR covered 34 players who qualified for minor league free agency last week. We’ll periodically provide updates as plenty more hit the open market, as reflected on the MiLB.com transactions log.

Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Twins Outright Devin Smeltzer, Jhon Romero

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The Twins have continued a busy few days of 40-man roster management, outrighting pitchers Jhon Romero and Devin Smeltzer after the pair cleared waivers, the team announced. Romero was outrighted to the minors, while Smeltzer elected free agency, per his MLB.com transaction log. It comes after the team recently lost outfielder Jake Cave, catcher Caleb Hamilton and infielder Jermaine Palacios on waivers.

Smeltzer, 27, tossed 70 1/3 innings of 3.71 ERA ball across 12 starts and three relief appearances for the Twins this season. Advanced metrics were less impressed with Smeltzer’s work, and his FIP sat at 5.23. The lefty struck out just 13.9% of batters this season while giving up walks 6.6% of the time.

The Twins acquired Smeltzer from the Dodgers in 2018 in the Brian Dozier deal, and he’s logged 140 innings of work through parts of four seasons as a swingman. Smeltzer’s out of minor league options and having already been outrighted previously in his career, he had the option to elect free agency after passing through waivers. It seems likely he’ll land somewhere on a minor league deal as pitching depth.

Romero, 27, was claimed off waivers from the Nationals during spring training and pitched out of the Twins bullpen to start the season, logging just five innings of 3.60 ERA relief before going down with what would wind up being season-ending biceps tendinitis on April 23. Romero was signed as an international free agent out of Colombia by the Cubs in 2015, and was traded to the Nationals in the Brandon Kintzler deadline deal in 2018.

He throws a fastball, slider, changeup mix and struck out roughly a third of the batters faced as he came up through the minors. Romero’s spent most of the season on the 60-day IL, meaning he wasn’t occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. There remains no clear timeline on his recovery, but regardless of his injury status the Twins would have needed to add him back to the 40 man before the start of the offseason.

Following their recent bevy of moves, the Twins’ 40-man roster now stands at 36 players.

Tigers Claim Jermaine Palacios, Designate Drew Hutchison

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The Tigers have claimed utility man Jermaine Palacios off waivers from the Twins, according to MLB.com’s transaction tracker. In a corresponding move, Detroit is designating starting pitcher Drew Hutchison for assignment. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News has confirmed the moves.

Palacios made his debut in the majors this year, appearing in 30 games for the Twins and slashing .143/.184/.229 with two home runs. That underwhelming offensive return was offset somewhat by the defensive versatility the 26 year old offered, logging time at all four infield positions. Palacios did hit a much healthier .283/.341/.462 with 14 home runs across 428 plate appearances at Triple A St. Paul, so there is some hope for his bat to develop a bit in the majors.

Palacios was signed out of Venezuela in 2013, and spent five years in the Twins organization before being dealt to the Rays in the 2018 trade for Jake Odorizzi. He elected minor league free agency at the end of 2020, and he rejoined the Twins that offseason and checked in as their 18th best prospect this year, according to MLB.com. He’ll add some defensive versatility in the Tigers infield, while they’ll look to unlock a bit of the potential he’s shown in the minors with the bat.

For Hutchison, it’s the third time he’s been DFA’d by the Tigers this year. After initially signing with the Tigers on a minor league deal he made the team out of spring training but wound up being DFA’d and released in May and June before immediately re-signing with the team. Hutchison logged 105.1 innings for the Tigers in 2022, pitching to a 4.53 ERA across 18 starts and ten appearances out of the bullpen. The 32 year old struck out just 14.7% of batters faced, while walking 9.1% of the time. Those numbers are largely in line with Hutchison’s career numbers, having pitched to a lifetime 4.89 ERA across nearly 600 innings in the big leagues.

Hutchison is arbitration eligible for another season, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him to receive a $1.8MM salary. That always made him a likely non-tender candidate, so it’s not surprising to see Detroit take him off the roster when a player of interest popped up on the waiver wire. Hutchison seems likely to clear waivers and elect free agency, where he’ll seek out another opportunity this winter.

Red Sox Claim Caleb Hamilton, Designate Abraham Almonte

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The Red Sox have claimed catcher Caleb Hamilton off waivers from the Twins, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com. Outfielder Abraham Almonte was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move. Chris Cotillo of MassLive confirmed the transactions (on Twitter).

Hamilton changes organizations for the first time in his career. The Oregon State product entered the professional ranks as a late-round Twins draftee back in 2016. He’s spent seven years climbing the minor league ladder and was rewarded with his first big league call when Ryan Jeffers landed on the injured list in mid-July. He appeared in 22 MLB games but only started four times and tallied 23 plate appearances. He struck out in 14 of them, an obviously untenable rate. He did, however, collect his first big league hit — a solo homer off José Quijada.

The 27-year-old spent the majority of the season at Triple-A St. Paul, where he had a solid showing. Over 251 plate appearances, he hit .233/.367/.442 with 11 home runs. He went down on strikes 26.7% of the time and didn’t post a particularly impressive batting average, but he showed the best power of his professional career and worked walks at a stellar 17.1% clip. That patient plate approach is clearly of some interest to the Red Sox, who add Hamilton to Reese McGuire, Connor Wong and Ronaldo Hernandez as backstops on the 40-man roster.

Hamilton only exhausted his first of three minor league options this year. If he holds his spot on the 40-man roster, the Sox can shuttle him between Boston and Triple-A Worcester for the foreseeable future. He’s still three years away from arbitration eligibility, so he’d be an affordable depth option for the Red Sox if they devote him a 40-man position.

Almonte is a journeyman who has gotten to the majors in each of the past nine years. He cracked Boston’s roster after the team had fallen out of contention in September, appearing in 15 games down the stretch. The switch-hitter picked up nine hits, including a homer, in 37 plate appearances. Still, it never seemed likely the Red Sox would tender him an arbitration contract this offseason. His projected $900K salary wasn’t onerous, but he always looked like a temporary stopgap for the season’s final few weeks.

The Red Sox will place Almonte on waivers in the next few days. He’s virtually certain to clear and elect free agency, as is his right as a player with more than five years of MLB service. The 33-year-old is coming off a .293/.417/.534 showing in Triple-A, so he shouldn’t have an issue finding another minor league opportunity with a Spring Training invitation this winter.

Orioles Claim Jake Cave, Designate Jake Reed

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The Orioles have claimed outfielder Jake Cave off waivers from the Twins, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. Baltimore is designating reliever Jake Reed for assignment in a corresponding move. Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com confirms the news (Twitter link).

Cave has played parts of five big league seasons, all of them with Minnesota. He was initially drafted by the Yankees but dealt to the Twins before making his major league debut in 2018. The former sixth-round pick played well in part-time action during his first two seasons, hitting 21 home runs over 163 games. He’s had a tougher go over the last three seasons, largely due to increasing issues making contact. Dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign, Cave owns a .206/.262/.351 line in 478 trips to the plate.

The Twins ran Cave through outright waivers last offseason, but he made it back to the majors in early August. He posted a .213/.260/.384 showing with five homers in 54 games, swinging through 17% of pitches he saw. It wasn’t a great big league showing, but the 29-year-old had been very impressive during a longer run with Triple-A St. Paul. Cave popped 14 homers in 373 plate appearances with the Saints, posting an overall .273/.370/.509 line. His 24.9% strikeout rate was still a bit higher than average, but he showed solid power and walked at a strong 11.5% rate.

Cave adds some left-handed hitting outfield depth to Baltimore’s ranks, at least for the moment. He has a fair bit of experience at all three spots on the grass, although public metrics haven’t been fond of his work in center field. He’s a career .243/.314/.430 hitter against right-handed pitching, and he’s been essentially unplayable (.210/.240/.352) in 230 plate appearances against southpaws.

With between three and four years of major league service time, Cave is eligible for arbitration through 2024. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $1.2MM salary if tendered a contract. It’s possible Baltimore still elects to non-tender him next month (perhaps with hopes of re-signing him to a cheaper or minor league deal), but they’ll add him to the 40-man roster for the time being. Cave still has one minor league option year remaining, so the O’s could keep him at Triple-A Norfolk next year if he holds his spot on the 40-man.

Reed is a recent waiver claim himself, having been added from the Dodgers five weeks ago. The low-slot righty made eight appearances with the O’s, allowing six runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings. He suited up with three different teams overall in 2022, also pitching for the Mets and Dodgers. Between the trio of clubs, the 30-year-old posted a 7.02 ERA with a modest 16.9% strikeout rate in 16 2/3 frames.

Despite his lack of major league success, Reed has been a fairly frequent target for teams once he’s hit the waiver wire. That’s in large part thanks to his solid Triple-A track record, as he owns a 3.84 ERA through parts of six seasons at that level. Reed has fanned an above-average 25.6% of batters faced there while walking 9.5% of opponents.

Reed will hit the waiver wire again in the coming days. Like Cave, he still has an option year remaining and could serve as a depth player if another team were to put in a claim. If he passes through the wire unclaimed, he’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment and elect free agency based on his minor league service time.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

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