Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Twins Rumors

Roster Moves: Twins, Angels, Rockies

By | at

The Twins have activated Kyle Garlick from the 10-day injured list. In a corresponding move, Trevor Megill was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement. The latter move is retroactive to June 16th. Megill has made just eight appearances, but he’s looked good with a 2.08 ERA/2.99 FIP over 13 innings with a 15-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Garlick had been hitting with some pop before he went down. He owns a .250/.324/.567 line with six home runs in 68 plate appearances. He’ll jump back into the mix against southpaws for the Twins. In other moves…

  • The Angels have optioned infielder Jack Mayfield to Triple-A and recalled southpaw Kenny Rosenberg, per the team. Mayfield just joined the club two days ago, and now he’s on his way back to Triple-A. Rosenberg gives them a much-needed fresh arm after yesterday’s doubleheader. The southpaw has made two appearances for the Angles this year, his first two in the bigs, tossing six innings and giving up five earned runs.
  • The Rockies made a trio of roster moves today. Garrett Hampson was activated from the COVID Injured List, Alan Trejo was optioned back to Triple-A, and Tyler Kinley was moved to the 60-day injured list, per Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette (via Twitter). Trejo, 26, has appeared in just 11 games for the Rockies, slashing .231/.250/.333 over 40 plate appearances. Hampson, once a highly-touted prospect, has been unable to establish himself as a cornerstone piece, slashing just .236/.321/.375 over 83 plate appearances.

Twins Sign Braden Bishop To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Twins have signed outfielder Braden Bishop to a minor league deal, per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. Bishop has been assigned to the Triple-A St. Paul Saints.

Up until recently, Bishop had spent the entirety of his career with the Mariners, who drafted him in the third round in 2015. He reached the majors a few years ago and got into 47 games over 2019-2021. He was only able to muster a .133/.188/.156 batting line in that time, getting designated for assignment in May of last year.

He was claimed by the Giants, who designated him again a few days later. Clearing waivers this time, he spent the remainder of the year in Triple-A Sacramento, which went well for him. He hit .326/.388/.549 in 75 games with the River Cats, which amounted to a wRC+ of 131.

But after signing a minors deal with the Diamondbacks for this season, his fortunes have changed. In 37 games with the Reno Aces, he’s hit just .232/.312/.312, for a wRC+ of 62. Thanks to those uninspiring results, he was released a couple of weeks ago. Bishop will now look to get things back on track in the Twins’ system.

Twins Place Jorge Polanco On 10-Day IL, Recall Alex Kirilloff

By | at

The Twins have placed second baseman Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list, as Polanco is dealing with tightness in his lower back.  The placement is retroactive to June 13.  Former top prospect Alex Kirilloff has been called up from Triple-A to take Polanco’s spot on the active roster.

Polanco has missed Minnesota’s last three games, though manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park) that a recent MRI didn’t show anything unusual about Polanco’s sore back.  Baldelli said that Polanco has been dealing with back issues “on and off” for the last two seasons, though this is the first time the problem has actually forced the infielder to the injured list.  In fact, Park notes that this is the first IL placement of Polanco’s nine-year MLB career, and only his second trip to the injured list over 13 pro seasons.

While this doesn’t look like a long-term absence for Polanco, the Twins will miss his solid bat in the lineup.  Polanco’s power numbers are down from his career-high 33 home runs in 2021, but he is still an above-average (114 wRC+) offensive contributor this year, batting .245/.340/.389 over 250 plate appearances.

Luis Arraez was already playing second base in Polanco’s absence, which created more playing time for Jose Miranda at first base.  Kirilloff also looks to figure into the first base and outfield mix as he looks to finally establish himself in the majors.  After batting .251/.299/.423 with eight home runs over 231 PA in his 2021 rookie season, Kirilloff’s first year in the Show was cut short by wrist surgery last July.

Inflammation in that same wrist sent Kirilloff back to the IL early this season, and with only a .398 OPS to show for his first 32 PA of the 2022 season, the Twins optioned Kirilloff to Triple-A to get him back on track.  Judging by his .359/.465/.641 slash line over 157 PA for Triple-A St. Paul this year, Kirilloff is healthy, locked-in, and ready to start living up to his highly-touted potential.  Minnesota drafted Kirilloff with the 15th overall pick of the 2016 draft, and he was a regular in top-prospect rankings during his time in the minor leagues.

Twins Activate Joe Ryan, Designate Elliot Soto

By | at

The Twins announced that right-hander Joe Ryan has been reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list to start this evening’s game against the Mariners. To create space on the active and 40-man rosters, infielder Elliot Soto has been designated for assignment.

Ryan has missed a bit more than three weeks due to virus issues. The length of his absence necessitated a one-game rehab stint with Triple-A St. Paul, where the righty tossed three scoreless innings last Thursday. He’s now ready to return to the MLB rotation, where he’s made eight starts this season. Through 43 1/3 innings, the 26-year-old owns a sparkling 2.28 ERA with a solid 24.3% strikeout rate. Acquired from the Rays as part of last summer’s Nelson Cruz trade, Ryan was surprisingly tabbed Minnesota’s Opening Day starter and has allowed fewer than three earned runs per nine innings over his first 13 big league appearances.

Soto was selected onto the major league roster yesterday, and he loses his spot after just one game. The 32-year-old didn’t play in last night’s win over Seattle, leaving him without an MLB appearance since a three-game stint with the 2020 Angels. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, Soto has hit .213/.327/.331 with a pair of home runs in 159 trips to the plate with St. Paul.

Minnesota will likely place the right-handed hitter on waivers within the next few days. Having previously been outrighted in his career, he’d have the right to refuse a minor league assignment in favor of free agency if he passes through unclaimed.

Brewers Claim Chi Chi Gonzalez

By | at

The Brewers have claimed right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez off waivers from the Twins, per a club announcement. Right-hander Freddy Peralta was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster. Minnesota had both selected Gonzalez’s contract for a spot start and subsequently designated him for assignment over the weekend. He’d also been up for a start as a Covid-related replacement when the Twins were in Toronto.

The Twins signed Gonzalez to a minor league pact over the winter and got some decent innings out of him in Triple-A St. Paul, where he posted a 3.44 ERA with a 23.2% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in 36 2/3 innings (five starts, three relief appearances). Gonzalez tallied seven total big league frames with the Twins but was tagged for six runs on the strength of a dozen hits, including two homers.

A former first-round pick of the Rangers back in 2013 (23rd overall), Gonzalez has now seen action in parts of six Major League seasons between Texas, Colorado and Minnesota but has never had much success. He posted a 3.90 ERA in 67 innings as a rookie in 2015, but he did so while walking more hitters (11.4%) than he struck out (10.7%), so that production never felt sustainable. Indeed, in 201 2/3 frames since that rookie showing, he’s pitched to a collective 6.29 ERA with just a 14.2% strikeout rate (albeit against a solid enough 8.4% walk rate).

Though he hasn’t had much in the way of Major League success, Gonzalez clearly showed enough with the Twins to pique the interest of a Milwaukee front office that has done well when it comes to coaxing new levels of performance from pitchers. The 2022 version of Gonzalez, notably, is a bit different than prior iterations, too. He’s entirely scrapped his curveball, going from a five-pitch mix to a more concise four-pitch mix: sinker, four-seamer, changeup, slider. Gonzalez had begun to move away from the sinker in 2019 upon signing with the Rockies, but he’s using it nearly a quarter of the time in 2022 and enjoying standout ground-ball rates both in Triple-A (55.7%) and the big leagues (55.6%) as a result. He’s also back to sitting at 92 mph with the sinker after seeing his average velocity dip to 90.6 mph in 2021.

Gonzalez doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so the Brewers will try to elevate his game while he’s working at the big league level. There’s no immediate need in the rotation even with injuries to Peralta and Brandon Woodruff, as the Brewers are getting strong work from Corbin Burnes, breakout lefty Eric Lauer, rookie Aaron Ashby and quietly solid righty Adrian Houser. Rookie Jason Alexander has given them a handful of good starts, too, though like a younger Gonzalez, he’s walked more hitters than he’s fanned along the way. It’s possible Gonzalez will get a spot start for the Brewers, but he’ll otherwise likely be ticketed for a long relief role for now.

Twins Select Elliot Soto

By | at

The Twins announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Elliot Soto from Triple-A St. Paul. Right-hander Cole Sands was optioned to St. Paul to make room on the active roster, while righty Cody Stashak was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Stashak underwent season-ending shoulder surgery recently.

Soto, a 32-year-old journeyman, made his big league debut with the Angels in 2020 and went 2-for-6 in a brief three-game cup of coffee. Originally a 15th-round pick by the Cubs back in 2010, he’s seen action with the Cubs, Marlins, Rockies, Angels, Dodgers and now Twins over a 12-year minor league career. He was never a top-ranked prospect with any of those teams, although Baseball America at one point rated him as the best defensive infielder in the Cubs’ system.

Thus far in 2022, Soto has appeared in 41 games with the Saints and posted a .213/.327/.331 batting line. He’s a career .262/.341/.371 hitter in 1680 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. The Twins recently lost Royce Lewis for the season when he re-tore the ACL in his surgically repaired knee, and a seemingly minor hamstring issue for Nick Gordon have thinned things out a bit further. Gordon exited Saturday’s game against the Rays early and didn’t start Sunday, though he entered the game in the eighth inning.

Even if Gordon is available to start, Minnesota had been playing with a short bench and a 14-man pitching staff prior to optioning Sands, so Soto will give manager Rocco Baldelli a bit more flexibility.

Twins Release Derek Fisher

By | at

The Twins released outfielder Derek Fisher from their Triple-A affiliate over the weekend, per the transactions log at MiLB.com. The former Astros, Jays and Brewers outfielder inked a minor league deal with Minnesota over the winter.

Once regarded as one of the game’s top outfield prospects, Fisher has managed just a .195/.285/.378 batting line through 466 plate appearances at the MLB level. Strikeouts have been a major problem for the now-28-year-old former No. 37 overall draft pick, as he’s punched out at a 35.4% clip in the big leagues.

Despite those Major League struggles, Fisher never seemed to have much trouble handling Triple-A opponents — at least until last season. He slashed .205/.271/.308 in 85 plate appearances with the Brewers’ top affiliate in 2021, and his .158/.259/.305 batting line through 108 trips to the plate for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul marked an even bigger step back. He got out to a decent start with the Saints, but Fisher collected just four hits over his final 45 at-bats prior to his release, missing two weeks with a shoulder issue along the way.

Fisher is still a 28-year-old .272/.361/.486 hitter in parts of six minor league seasons overall, so another club might take a look on a minor league deal, even his recent work doesn’t inspire much confidence.

Twins Select Tyler Thornburg

By | at

The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Tyler Thornburg. He will take both the active roster spot and 40-man roster spot of Chi Chi Gonzalez, who was designated for assignment yesterday.

Thornburg had a nice run of success pitching for the Brewers in his first five seasons. From 2012 to 2016, he threw 219 2/3 innings in 144 games with a 2.87 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 35.8% ground ball rate. However, he’s dealt with injuries and underperformance since then, only throwing 59 MLB frames since the end of the 2016 campaign.

This year, he started the season with Atlanta, throwing 9 1/3 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 25% ground ball rate. Despite that respectable showing, he got designated for assignment when the club needed a fresh arm. He landed with the Twins on a minor league deal and has had a pair of good outings, logging three innings with five Ks and no walks or earned runs.

He’ll provide a fresh arm to a pitching corps that has been fairly snakebit recently, with Cody Stashak, Danny Coulombe, Sonny Gray, Josh Winder, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack all land on the IL in the past month.

Twins Designate Chi Chi Gonzalez For Assignment

By | at

5:13PM: Gonzalez has been designated for assignment, MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park reports (Twitter link).  Gonzalez allowed three runs in four innings during today’s start, as the Twins went on to capture a 6-5 win over the Rays.

11:57AM: The Twins have purchased the contract of Chi Chi Gonzalez and added him to the active roster, optioning Yennier Cano to open the roster spot, per The Athletic’s Dan Hayes (via Twitter). Royce Lewis was moved to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

By promoting Gonzalez, the Twins will keep him in the organization. Gonzalez has an opt-out clause that he was prepared to trigger today if he was not added to the active roster. The former Ranger and Rockie did make one appearance for the Twins this season, tossing three innings and giving up three earned runs to the Blue Jays on June 3rd. He’s done well enough in Triple-A, registering a 3.44 ERA over 36 2/3 innings.

The Twins rotation has been decimated by injuries with Chris Paddack and Kenta Maeda both undergoing Tommy John surgery, Sonny Gray and Bailey Ober both landing on the injured list, and most recently, Joe Ryan being placed on the COVID injured list.  That’s a full rotation on the injured list, paving the way for Gonzalez.

Cano has struggled in his two stints with the big league club this season, posting a 9.26 ERA over 11 2/3 innings with a 12-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The 28-year-old Cuban has a much more respectable 5.88 FIP over those same nine appearances.

Royce Lewis Diagnosed With Torn ACL Again, To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

By | at

The Twins announced to reporters, including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com, that Royce Lewis has a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, the same ligament he had surgically repaired last year, which will require another surgery. The estimated recovery time is 12 months.

This comes as brutal news for both Lewis and the team, as the youngster already went through this whole process a year ago. It was February of last year that Lewis underwent the procedure the first time, which wiped out the entirety of his 2021 season. This year, he was able to finish the long journey back to health and showed tremendous signs of promise over the first few months of the season.

With Carlos Correa missing some time this year, Lewis was able to make his major league debut. Although he was optioned when Correa returned, he eventually came back with the aim of being a super utility player of sorts, not letting Correa’s presence stop him from getting into the lineup. Such a plan was feasible because Lewis was hitting so incredibly well on the year. In 12 MLB games, he hit .300/.317/.550 for a 148 wRC+, while also slashing .313/.405/.534 in Triple-A for a wRC+ of 151.

Unfortunately, the very day he was recalled, he left the game with a bone bruise in his right knee, which will now finish his season. Unlike his recovery from surgery last year, Lewis will be on the major league injured list, thus entitling him to MLB pay and service time. Since he was in the minors for the first month of the season and then another stretch when he was optioned in May, he will come up short of earning a full year of service. He will still have a shot at earning Super Two status and qualifying for arbitration after the 2024 season, though future optional assignments could also change that trajectory. For his part, Lewis seems to be staying positive about the whole situation, telling Park that he’s not afraid of the surgery because he’s already been through it before.

For the Twins, they will now be without one of their most exciting young players, who was capable of covering shortstop for Carlos Correa but was also spending some time at third base and in the outfield in order to get into the lineup when Correa was healthy. Correa’s contract affords him the ability to opt-out of his contract at the end of this year, something he is expected to do. Many had considered Lewis to be the heir apparent at shortstop, with his dalliances at other positions a temporary measure just for this season. Now the club will likely go into the winter with less certainty around their shortstop situation next year, with the potential that neither Correa nor Lewis will man the position when Opening Day 2023 rolls around.

Show all

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

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top