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Twins Set Wild Card Series Roster; Buxton Active, Donaldson Out

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The Twins have formally announced their 28-man roster for their three-game Wild Card series against the visiting Astros. Among the most notable decisions is the inclusion of center fielder Byron Buxton and the omission of third baseman Josh Donaldson. Buxton has been recovering from concussion symptoms since being hit in the head with a pitch, while Donaldson has been battling renewed calf issues. Both worked out yesterday, but it seems Donaldson is still not quite up to good enough health to factor into the first round. He could still be added for future rounds, should the Twins advance.

Also notable on the Twins’ roster is top prospect Alex Kirilloff, whose previously reported promotion could lead to a rare MLB debut in the postseason. The Twins aren’t carrying lefty Rich Hill due to the fact that he tossed 93 pitches in the regular season finale Sunday. Right-hander Jake Odorizzi is back from a blister, but he’ll likely work in relief. Here’s a rundown of the Twins’ postseason roster for Round 1 of play:

Right-Handed Pitchers

Left-Handed Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Catchers

Designated Hitter

The Twins’ taxi squad includes righty Jorge Alcala, infielder Travis Blankenhorn, righty Edwar Colina, Donaldson, top pitching prospect Jhoan Duran, right-hander Juan Minaya, lefty Devin Smeltzer, left-hander Lewis Thorpe and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr., per the team.

Astros Sign Yuli Gurriel To One-Year Extension

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11:10am: Gurriel will earn $250K upon reaching 300 and 350 plate appearances, tweets The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. He’ll also earn $350K for reaching 400 and 450 plate appearances as well as $400K for reaching 500 and 550 plate appearances.

10:32am: Just hours before postseason play begins, the Astros announced that they’ve extended first baseman Yuli Gurriel on a one-year deal that includes a club option for the 2022 season. The 36-year-old Wasserman client would’ve been a free agent this winter but will instead return for at least a sixth season in Houston.

Yuli Gurriel | Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Gurriel will be guaranteed $7MM on the contract, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter). That comes in the form of a $6.5MM salary and a $500K buyout on an $8MM option for the 2022 season. He can also earn another $2MM worth of incentives on the deal.

The 2020 season hasn’t been a good one for Gurriel, who has followed last year’s superlative .298/.343/.541 slash with a dismal .232/.274/.384 batting line in 2020. The downturn at the plate doesn’t seem to have scared off first-year GM James Click, owner Jim Crane and the rest of the Astros’ decision-makers, however. “We’re excited to bring him back and get this done before the playoffs,” Click tells reporters (Twitter link via FOX 26’s Mark Berman).

Gurriel was just one of many impending free agents for Houston. They’re still facing the prospect of losing an entire outfield, with each of George Springer, Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick slated to hit the open market.

The emergence of top prospect Kyle Tucker fills one of those previously expensive outfield slots on the cheap, but it remains to be seen how the Astros will address the additional pair of vacancies. Crane has repeatedly voiced a desire to keep Springer in Houston long term, but extension talks have obviously yet to bear fruit.

Even with all those salaries coming off the books, the Astros already had just shy of $117MM committed to the team’s 2021 payroll. Gurriel’s new deal pushes that sum north of $122MM. A hefty portion of that payroll commitment is the $33MM owed to Justin Verlander, who will likely miss all of next year due to Tommy John surgery.

Despite the gut-punch of losing their ace and possibly seeing the likes of Springer and Brantley walk out the door, though, the Astros’ decision to re-sign Gurriel at what looks to be a relatively aggressive rate is at least an early signal of a continued win-now outlook.

Gurriel earned $8.3MM in 2020, so this new salary does represent a bit of a pay cut. However, non-star-caliber first basemen have seen the market rate for their services continually deteriorate in recent years. Between that trend, the considerable revenue losses that have hit the league’s 30 teams and Gurriel’s 2020 struggles, it’s a bit surprising to see him land a $7MM guarantee. The contract likely reflects that the Astros have come to value Gurriel for reasons beyond his production at the plate and that the team is confident in his ability to rebound.

The new contract further thins out what was already a bleak crop of free-agent first basemen. Other clubs seeking options at the position will likely need to invest in a rebound candidate or else take to the trade market as they search for upgrades.

Astros Designate Joe Biagini, Select Chas McCormick

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The Astros have designated right-hander Joe Biagini for assignment, general manager James Click announced to reporters prior to today’s opening round against the Twins (Twitter link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). His roster spot will go to outfielder Chas McCormick who has been included on Houston’s postseason roster. McCormick becomes the third player promoted to the big leagues for a potential postseason MLB debut today — joining Minnesota’s Alex Kirilloff and Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan.

McCormick was a 21st-round pick for the Astros in the 2017 draft, and he has made a relatively quick trip up Houston’s minor league ladder, already reaching Triple-A ball in 2019.  Over 1126 plate appearances in the minors, the 25-year-old McCormick has hit .276/.360/.400, with 20 homers and 41 steals (out of 53 chances).  MLB Pipeline rates McCormick as the 24th-best prospect in the Astros’ farm system, citing his “solid raw power,” ability to play all three outfield positions, and a “grinder makeup [that] allows him to get the most out of his tools.”

The Astros’ starting outfield mix is heavy in left-handed hitters, so McCormick’s right-handed bat will provide a bit of balance if necessary off the bench.  Myles Straw is the only other right-handed hitting outfielder on Houston’s postseason roster, though backup infielder Aledmys Diaz has played a handful of games in the outfield over his career.

It’s been a tough year for Biagini, who only appeared in four games due to a shoulder injury and then a demotion to the Astros’ alternate training site.  Biagini allowed damage in all four of his outings, finishing with a ghastly 20.77 ERA over 4 1/3 innings of work.  The righty is arbitration-eligible this winter (his third of four trips as a Super Two player), but Biagini’s struggles both in 2020 and even since joining the Astros last season make him seem like a non-tender candidate.

Twins Designate Sean Poppen For Assignment

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The Twins announced this morning that right-hander Sean Poppen has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to top outfield prospect Alex Kirilloff, who is being promoted for his MLB debut in Minnesota’s Wild Card showdown with the Astros.

Poppen, 26, has seen limited big league time with the Twins in each of the past two seasons, pitching to a combined 6.19 ERA and 3.33 FIP with a 19-to-9 K/BB ratio in 16 innings of relief. A 19th-round pick by the Twins back in 2016, Poppen carries a 3.84 ERA and a 68-to-27 K/BB ratio in 61 innings of work in Triple-A. He averages 94 mph on his sinker and has multiple minor league options remaining beyond the 2020 season, which could prompt another club to take a speculative look with a waiver claim.

Rays Designate Sean Gilmartin For Assignment

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The Rays have designated left-hander Sean Gilmartin for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for top pitching prospect Shane McClanahan, tweets Juan Toribio of MLB.com.

A former first-round pick and top pitching prospect himself, Gilmartin had a strong rookie campaign with the Mets as a Rule 5 pick back in 2015 but hasn’t found much success in the big leagues since. He logged just 4 1/3 frames with Tampa Bay this season, yielding four runs on seven hits and four walks with five strikeouts. Since that sharp rookie season, Gilmartin has a combined 6.09 ERA in 54 2/3 innings. He did notch a 3.95 ERA through 66 innings in an extremely hitter-friendly Triple-A setting last year, though Gilmartin carries a more pedestrian 4.93 mark in 486 frames at that level. He’ll be a minor league free agent at season’s end, assuming no other club claims him.

Rays Add Top Prospect Shane McClanahan To Playoff Roster

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The Rays are adding top left-handed pitching prospect Shane McClanahan to their postseason roster, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. They’ll need to make a 40-man roster move to formally select the 2018 first-rounder’s contract.

McClanahan, 23, was selected with the No. 31 overall pick out of the University of South Florida. He split the 2019 season across three levels — Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A — while pitching to a combined 3.36 ERA with 11.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 0.52 HR/9. He currently ranks 79th on Baseball America’s end-of-season Top 100 prospect rankings and 99th at MLB.com. FanGraphs isn’t quite as bullish, listing him 10th within his own organization.

Armed with an upper-90s heater, a plus breaking ball and a potentially average changeup, McClanahan has the potential to eventually slot into the Rays’ rotation. That almost certainly won’t be his role this postseason, as he’ll likely instead give Kevin Cash a hard-throwing lefty with whom opposing advance scouts may not be especially familiar. MLB.com’s report on McClanahan gives him the upside of a No. 3 starter or better while noting that the effort in his delivery gives some scouts pause in projecting him as a starter. Even if the ’pen is his home in the long run, McClanahan’s power fastball and plus curve give him the tools to serve as a formidable relief weapon with Tampa Bay.

McClanahan won’t gain any big league service time for the days spent on the Rays’ postseason roster, but he’ll be added to the 40-man roster sooner than was necessary to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft and now firmly put himself in position for a big league opportunity early in the 2021 campaign. The Rays may still want to see McClanahan get some work in Triple-A next season, but a strong showing during a deep postseason run could also force the organization’s hand.

Twins To Add Top Prospect Alex Kirilloff To Playoff Roster

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In a surprise move, the Twins are set to promote top outfield prospect Alex Kirilloff for what would be his MLB debut during the first round of the postseason. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported last night that the move was being discussed, and both Seth Stohs of TwinsDaily.com and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com (Twitter link) hear that Kirilloff is indeed being added to the big league roster. His contract will need to be formally selected, although fellow rookie outfielder Brent Rooker is on the 10-day IL with a season-ending forearm fracture, so he could just be moved to the 45-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Alex Kirilloff | David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports

Kirilloff, 22, was the No. 15 overall pick of the 2016 draft. He missed the 2017 due to Tommy John surgery but cemented himself as one of the game’s top 50 overall prospects when he laid waste to Class-A pitching in his 2018 return. The Pittsburgh native split that season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, posting a combined .348/.392/.578 slash with 20 homers, 44 doubles and seven triples in just 561 plate appearances. He followed that up with a .283/.343/.413 slash that was good for a 121 wRC+ in the pitcher-friendly Double-A Southern League last year.

The move to bring Kirilloff up could very well mean bad news for either Byron Buxton or Josh Donaldson, each of whom has been hobbled by injuries recently. Buxton showed concussion symptoms after being hit in the head by a pitch late last week, while Donaldson has again been dealing with calf issues. Both Buxton and Donaldson worked out with the club yesterday, and manager Rocco Baldelli tabbed it a “relatively good day” for both players.

If and when Kirilloff is added to the roster there’s no guarantee he’ll draw a start in the series. Even if Buxton is sidelined, the club could lean on Eddie Rosario, Jake Cave and Max Kepler across the outfield. Kirilloff, as is the case with that trio, is a left-handed bat, so he wouldn’t even necessarily draw a platoon-based date with Houston lefty Framber Valdez. At the very least, however, he’d give the club an intriguing lefty bat to pinch-hit. Kirilloff has experience at all three outfield positions and at first base as well, so Baldelli could work him into the mix in a variety of ways.

Kirilloff won’t get any big league service time for appearing on the Major League roster in the playoffs, but his promotion only further confirms that he’s on the cusp of an audition as an everyday piece in Minnesota. The only question is just where he’ll slot in. The Twins locked Kepler up on a five-year extension just last year and control Buxton through the 2022 season. Rosario, meanwhile, is only controlled through 2021. Between fellow top 100 prospect Trevor Larnach and the aforementioned Rooker, Minnesota is well stocked with corner outfield bats that are MLB-ready or quite close to it.

Wilmer Font Elects Free Agency

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Sept. 29: Font rejected the outright assignment in favor of free agency, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. He’d have had the right to do so after the postseason anyhow, barring a surprise addition back onto the roster.

Sept. 28: Blue Jays righty Wilmer Font cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster, per the transactions log at MLB.com. Font remains in the club’s 60-man player pool, however, and because he was on the team’s initially listed playoff player pool, he’d be eligible to pitch in the postseason should injuries prompt a need to select him back to the 40-man roster. That’s assuming Font accepts the outright assignment, of course. He does have the right to reject the assignment both by virtue of service time (three-plus years) and having previously been outrighted (back in 2014).

Font, 30, has pitched for five different clubs over the past three seasons, seeing time with each of the Dodgers, Athletics, Mets, Rays and Blue Jays while bouncing around the DFA circuit. He spent all of 2020 with the Jays but was tagged for 18 earned run in just 16 1/3 innings. Eight of those earned runs came in a pair of four-run meltdowns, but Font wasn’t exactly reliable even setting those two drubbings aside. He made 21 relief appearances this season, only three lasting more than an inning, and surrendered runs in nine of them.

Font has above-average velocity and solid spin rates on his heater and hook, all of which has contributed to five clubs rolling the dice on him since 2018 despite a lack of consistent success. Font did notch a sub-2.00 ERA in 27 frames with the 2018 Rays, but he struggled through 14 innings with Tampa Bay the next season before being cut loose. Overall, he’s pitched 151 2/3 innings in the big leagues but has just a 5.82 ERA and 5.41 FIP to show for his efforts.

Quick Hits: Padres, M’s, Twins, White Sox

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It’s possible Dinelson Lamet or Mike Clevinger could start Game 1 of the Padres’ series against the Cardinals on Wednesday, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It’s fantastic news for the Padres, who saw Lamet go down with right biceps tightness last Friday, while Clevinger suffered a sprained right elbow last Wednesday. At least in Clevinger’s case, it initially didn’t seem he would be ready for the start of the playoffs, but it now looks as if the Padres’ top starters (along with Zach Davies) will be ready when they begin their first postseason series since 2006.

  • The  Mariners will enter the upcoming offseason with a focus on upgrading their bullpen, per general manager Jerry Dipoto (via Greg Johns of MLB.com). Seattle would “like to add three or four guys down there that can stabilize that group and give us some certainty as we move toward the end of a game,” acccording to Dipoto. The Mariners, who finished with a 27-33 record, kept their long-running playoff drought going this year thanks in part to a weak relief corps that finished last in the AL in ERA (5.92).
  • Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson (calf) and center fielder Byron Buxton (concussion) had “a relatively good day” Monday, according to manager Rocco Baldelli (via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Donaldson battled calf problems in the past, but that didn’t stop the Twins from signing him to a four-year, $92MM contract in the offseason. Further calf troubles have held Donaldson to 28 games this year, though, and he hasn’t played since Sept. 25. Buxton, who also has a history of injuries, only played in 39 regular-season games. However, even without full campaigns from either of those two, the Twins won 36 games en route to a second straight AL Central title. They should be even stronger if the two are ready for playoff action.
  • White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez expects to be available for the team’s Game 1 playoff showdown in Oakland on Tuesday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com was among those to tweet. Jimenez hasn’t played since Sept. 24 because of a mid-foot sprain, but when he was able to take the field, he was one of Chicago’s most valuable hitters. As a .296/.332/.559 hitter in 226 plate appearances, the 23-year-old Jimenez helped the White Sox to their first playoff berth since 2008.

Michael Lorenzen Could Start For Reds In 2021

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Having finished the regular season 31-29, the Reds are gearing up for their first playoff appearance since 2013. However the postseason ends for the club, though, it will face important questions in its starting rotation heading into 2021. National League Cy Young candidate Trevor Bauer (whom the Reds unsurprisingly want to re-sign) and fellow right-hander Anthony DeSclafani are due to become free agents in a couple months, so Cincinnati will have questions to address in its starting staff.

Fortunately for the Reds, they do have a few notable starters locked into spots going into next year. Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle and Wade Miley are slated to remain in place, so the Reds are already in better shape than a lot of teams even if they lose Bauer and/or DeSclafani. But if a worst-case scenario happens and both players depart, the Reds are interested in moving reliever Michael Lorenzen to their rotation, Bobby Nightengale of the Cinncinati Enquirer relays.

“He’s put himself in that conversation,” pitching coach Derek Johnson said of Lorenzen. “Where we need to go depends on who is going to come back, who we’re going to get.”

Lorenzen first debuted in 2015, a year in which he amassed 21 starts in 27 appearances, but has largely served as a bullpen piece since then. The 28-year-old has been a useful member of the Reds’ staff throughout his career, having pitched to a 3.97 ERA/4.28 FIP with 7.8 K/9, 3.71 BB/9 and a 48.5 percent groundball rate across 444 1/3 innings. Lorenzen’s also known for his prowess at the plate (at least, compared to most pitchers), but if he moves into a starting role next year and the universal DH sticks around, at-bats could be hard to come by for him.

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