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Twins Notes: First Base, Kirilloff, Henriquez, Rotation

By | at February 24, 2023 3:41pm CDT

The Twins don’t plan on using a dedicated first baseman in 2023, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters this week (link via Dan Hayes of The Athletic). Minnesota will utilize a rotation of players through the position, giving looks to Alex Kirilloff, Jose Miranda, utilityman Nick Gordon and offseason signees Joey Gallo and Donovan Solano at the position. The Twins cycled through various DH options last season after three years with Nelson Cruz as the mainstay in that spot of the lineup, and it seems as though they’ll now go with a that rotational approach at both DH and first base.

Kirilloff told Hayes that he’s feeling “optimistic” about his twice-surgically repaired wrist, which is improving by the week. A healthy Kirilloff would be the favorite for work at first base. The former No. 15 overall draft pick climbed as high as the ninth-ranked prospect in all of baseball on MLB.com’s top-100 list prior to the 2019 season (and No. 15 at Baseball America), and the Twins thought highly enough of him to give him his MLB debut during the 2020 postseason.

Injuries have derailed both his 2021 and 2022 seasons, however, and after a hot start in 2021, his production began to slide. He currently has just a .251/.298/.398 batting line in 387 Major League plate appearances, but Kirilloff is also a .323/.378/.518 hitter in the minor leagues and comes with substantial upside at the plate. He could be an option in the outfield as well — he’s played all three spots in his career — but the Twins are deep in the outfield and clearly have more playing time for him at first base.

Of the options to split time at first base, the newly signed Solano could be a frequent one. Twins president of baseball ops Derek Falvey told reporters this week Solano will get a “good amount” of time at the position (link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Helfand writes that the Twins first reached out to Solano back in early January, though a deal obviously took quite a bit longer to formally come together. Solano adds that other clubs made him offers, but it seems some might’ve come from rebuilding teams, as he cited the Twins’ desire to compete in 2023 as a reason for signing in Minnesota.

Elsewhere in camp, pitching prospect Ronny Henriquez, who recently underwent an MRI after experiencing posterior elbow soreness, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (Twitter link). The right-hander received an injection and will be reevaluated in a week’s time.

The 22-year-old Henriquez, acquired alongside Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the trade that sent catcher Mitch Garver to the Rangers, made his big league debut in 2022 and tossed 11 2/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball. He struggled to a 5.66 ERA in 95 1/3 Triple-A frames, thanks largely to an inflated 1.79 HR/9 mark, but his 25.7% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate were more encouraging. He currently ranks 23rd among Twins farmhands at Baseball America. A strong performance in camp and/or in Triple-A to begin the season could put him in the mix for a bullpen spot during the upcoming campaign.

Henriquez has been primarily a starter in the minors, but with a rotation consisting of Sonny Gray, Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Tyler Mahle and Kenta Maeda — plus Bailey Ober looming as a solid sixth option — it’d be an uphill battle to get into the starting mix. It’s a deep collection of starters for the Twins — one that Baldelli will likely treat differently than in 2022, when pitchers like Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy were deployed in short starts by design. Via Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Baldelli said this week that he expects Twins starters to work deep into games this year.

“I expect more out of our starters this year,” Baldelli said. “…We have several guys that, what they probably take most pride in, is giving you a good, deep effort into a ballgame. Guys that are not satisfied giving you five good innings. They want more than that out of themselves.”

The now-26-year-old Ryan led all Twins pitchers with just 147 innings pitched in 2022. Part of that was due to rampant injuries up and down the roster, but part of it was also an ostensibly conscious effort to shield starters from facing a lineup three times in an outing. Twins starting pitchers averaged just 4.83 innings per outing in 2022. The group ranked as a middle-of-the-pack unit in terms of results, landing 20th in MLB with a 4.11 ERA. Archer, in particular, averaged just 4.11 innings per start. Lopez, acquired from the Marlins last month, averaged 5.63 innings per start and pitched at least six frames in 16 of his 32 starts.

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Minnesota Twins Notes

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

By | at February 9, 2023 7:30pm CDT

The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

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Arizona Diamondbacks Athletics Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Guardians Colorado Rockies Detroit Tigers Houston Astros Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Miami Marlins Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins New York Mets New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Washington Nationals

Twins Notes: Lewis, Polanco, Kirilloff, Miranda

By | at January 31, 2023 5:54pm CDT

The Twins were leading the American League Central division for much of 2022. However, injuries mounted throughout the season and the Guardians surpassed them for good in September, eventually finishing 14 games ahead of Minnesota. Better health and depth will be key for the Twins if they are to have better results this year, and the club even went so far as to hire a new head athletic trainer, getting Nick Paparesta to jump over from the A’s. “I think he’s going to have a huge impact,” manager Rocco Baldelli told Dan Hayes of The Athletic recently. “I’m not just confident of it — I know he’s going to have a huge impact in what goes on inside those doors.”

One of the players whose health will be in focus in 2023 is Royce Lewis. The first overall selection in the 2017 draft, he’s long been considered one of the best prospects in the league. However, he struggled a bit in 2019 and then saw the minors wiped out by the pandemic in 2020. That was followed by a lost season in 2021 as he was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in February, requiring season-ending surgery. He got things back on track nicely in 2022, hitting .313/.405/.534 in 34 Triple-A games and .300/.317/.550 in his first 12 major league games. Unfortunately, he tore the ACL in his right knee a second time in June, wiping out what remained of that season.

There were times this season that it seemed Carlos Correa would sign with the Giants and then Mets, leaving the future shortstop job open for Lewis to retake once healthy. However, Correa’s deals ended up getting scuttled by disagreements with those clubs about his physical and he wound up back with the Twins. His new deal comes with six guaranteed seasons and he could stick around for four more years via vesting options. While he might eventually move off shortstop at some point, it seems Lewis is blocked from that position for the foreseeable future. To help get into the lineup more last year, he played a little bit of outfield and third base in the minors, as well as some outfield in the majors. He tells Hayes that he would prefer to play on the infield but is open to time in the outfield again.

It likely won’t be an issue for a while, since his surgery was initially estimated to require a 12-month recovery period, meaning he likely won’t return until midway through the upcoming season. Though Lewis doesn’t have an update on his timeline, he did start hitting three weeks ago. Whenever he does return, he will be looking to crack an infield that should consist of Correa at short, Jorge Polanco at second, José Miranda at third and Alex Kirilloff at first.

There are some injury concerns elsewhere in that mix. Correa, of course, has a checkered injury past and the issues with the Giants and Mets raise questions about how his health will develop in the future. Polanco, meanwhile, was limited to 104 games last year by a pesky knee issue that eventually put him on the injured list for good in early September. He has declared himself to be healthy for the upcoming campaign, telling Hayes “I’m trying to really be out there playing, playing hard, letting the young guys know that I’m here to play hard. I want to set an example for them. I just want to be part of it.” Despite the nagging issue last year, he still hit 16 home runs and walked in 14.4% of his plate appearances for a batting line of .235/.346/.405 and a wRC+ of 119.

As for Kirilloff, the former first round draft pick has been dealing with persistent wrist issues, with each of his past two seasons ended by surgery. He’s back to swinging a bat now but is still sore. “They cut my bone so there’s definitely some aches and stuff to go along with that, but from a pain standpoint it feels good,” he says. “I think they’re expected to go away. I think anytime you break your bone it can take a lot longer than expected to heal. From my understanding, it gets to that certain point where it’s healed enough to do whatever you need to do and then it keeps healing for a while after that.”

He’s produced monster numbers in the minor leagues but the wrist issues have seemingly hampered him in the big leagues so far. Since starting 2019 in Double-A, Kirilloff has hit .305/.378/.484 in 574 minor league plate appearances for a wRC+ of 143. But in 387 major league appearances thus far, he’s slashed just .251/.295/.398 for a 91 wRC+. The club declined an option on Miguel Sanó and traded Luis Arraez to the Marlins, leaving the first base job wide open for Kirilloff if he’s healthy enough to take it.

Another player who could be in the mix at first is Miranda, though he seems to be ticketed for the third base job after Gio Urshela was traded to the Angels. Miranda made his debut last year and spent more time at first with Urshela across the diamond, but he can now go back to third, where he spent more time in the minors. His first season in the show went quite well, as he hit 15 home runs and batted .268/.325/.426 for a wRC+ of 117. He apparently felt worn down late last year and has been on a new workout program and diet, trying to eat more chicken and vegetables in lieu of sweets. “He looks sexy,” Correa said about Miranda. “You see that body? He looks sexy. He looks really good. He looks in shape, he looks ready to work.”

Nick Gordon and Kyle Farmer will be on hand to give the club some infield depth, though Lewis will also be trying to get back on the field and into the mix. His odds of helping the team here are probably better than their crowded outfield mix of Byron Buxton, Joey Gallo, Max Kepler, Michael A. Taylor, Trevor Larnach, Gilberto Celestino and Matt Wallner, with Gordon and Kirilloff potentially in the mix there as well. It’s possible that a trade thins out the outfield depth chart a bit, but it remains packed for now, with just two weeks to go until Spring Training.

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Minnesota Twins Notes

The Twins’ Third Base Decision

By | at October 17, 2022 9:13am CDT

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.

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MLBTR Originals Minnesota Twins

Twins Place Royce Lewis On IL, Recall Jose Miranda

By | at May 30, 2022 11:24am CDT

11:24 AM: Less than 24 hours after replacing him on the major league roster with Royce Lewis, the Twins have recalled infielder Jose Miranda to take Lewis’ place, the team announced. The move gives Miranda another chance to establish himself in the bigs, though his path to playing time is much less clear.

First promoted in early May, Miranda has gotten off to a slow start in the majors, logging a .164/.200/.284 triple-slash in 70 trips to the plate. He’s posted a stronger .256/.295/.442 line in 95 plate appearances at Triple-A St. Paul, though he’s not yet come close to matching the combined .344/.401/.572 he posted between St. Paul and Double-A Wichita in 2021.

9:15 AM: Just one day after being recalled from the minors, Royce Lewis is going to be placed on the injured list due to a bone bruise on his right knee. The corresponding move appears to be a recall of Jose Miranda, as Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press relays that he is starting today’s game. Miranda was just optioned yesterday when Lewis was recalled. Position players normally cannot return until 10 days after being optioned, though exceptions are made for IL placements and doubleheaders. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune relays word from manager Rocco Baldelli that Lewis’s injury doesn’t appear to be overly serious, it’s just that the team needs every position on the roster for schedule reasons.

On May 20, the Twins began a stretch of playing 18 games in 17 days, thanks to tomorrow’s doubleheader in Detroit. Given that grind and a number of injuries to the pitching staff, the club is currently carrying just 12 position players on the active roster. With that short three-man bench, they can’t afford to use a spot on a player that’s going to be unavailable, even if it’s just for a few days.

Dan Hayes of The Athletic confirms the imminent IL placement, noting that the upcoming trip to Toronto is playing a factor as well. It was reported yesterday that the club expects “a few” players won’t be able to cross the border into Canada due to their unvaccinated status, which could further handcuff the team in the coming days.

Lewis started out his MLB career on a good note, but got demoted once Carlos Correa returned from injury to retake the regular shortstop duties. After his demotion, he got a bit of practice in the outfield and started in center field for the Twins yesterday before his injury. In 12 big league games so far, he’s hitting .300/.317/.550 for a wRC+ of 150.

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Minnesota Twins Transactions

Twins Call Up Royce Lewis, Option Jose Miranda

By | at May 29, 2022 2:28pm CDT

2:28PM: In an unfortunate turn of events for Lewis, he had to leave today’s game with what the Twins described as right knee soreness.  Lewis made a tremendous catch of an Emmanuel Rivera fly ball in the third inning but awkwardly collided with the outfield wall in the process.  The Twins removed Lewis from the game an inning later, and he is currently undergoing more tests.  A right knee injury is particularly ominous, as Lewis missed the entire 2021 season due to a torn ACL.

11:51AM: The Twins announced that star prospect Royce Lewis has been called up from Triple-A St. Paul for another taste of the big leagues.  Infielder Jose Miranda was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

When Carlos Correa was on the 10-day injured list earlier this season, Lewis received his first MLB promotion and started 11 games at shortstop in Correa’s absence.  Lewis made the most of his opportunity, hitting .308/.325/.564 with two home runs over 40 plate appearances, and flashing some of the potential that made him the first overall pick of the 2017 draft.

With Correa holding down everyday shortstop duty, Lewis told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and other reporters today that he has four different gloves with him, indicating the 22-year-old’s readiness to play all over the diamond.  At St. Paul this season, Lewis has seen action at third base, left field, and center field in addition to his usual shortstop duties, and Lewis also played a little second base earlier in his minor league career.

Lewis is in today’s starting lineup as a center fielder, with Byron Buxton getting a partial rest day as the DH.  Having Lewis occasionally fill in center field would be a logical way to keep the oft-injured Buxton fresh, and the right-handed hitting Lewis could also complement left-handed hitting left fielder Trevor Larnach.  There figures to be enough playing time available for Lewis in the majors, since obviously the Twins wouldn’t have interrupted his development at Triple-A just to park Lewis on the bench.

Miranda is a notable prospect in his own right, as his breakout 2021 minor league season earned him some top-100 prospect attention heading into 2022.  Minnesota promoted Miranda for his debut in the Show earlier this month, though he hit only .164/.200/.284 in 70 PA.

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Minnesota Twins Transactions

Twins Promote Jose Miranda

By | at May 2, 2022 11:56am CDT

The Twins announced this morning they’ve recalled infield prospect Jose Miranda and left-hander Jovani Moran from Triple-A St. Paul. In corresponding moves, first baseman Miguel Sanó and outfielder Kyle Garlick were placed on the 10-day injured list. Righty Cole Sands and catcher José Godoy were optioned to St. Paul as part of the culling of active rosters from 28 to 26.

The most notable move in the sequence is the promotion of Miranda, who is headed to the big leagues for the first time. Minnesota selected the 23-year-old onto their 40-man roster last offseason, but he began the year on optional assignment back to St. Paul. The right-handed hitter is off to a bit of a slow start, posting a .256/.295/.442 showing through his first 90 plate appearances.

That’s likely not of huge concern to the Twins, as Miranda tore the cover off the ball in the minors last season. The Puerto Rico native began the year with Double-A Wichita. Miranda hit .345/.408/.588 through 47 games with the Wind Surge, earning a bump to St. Paul by the end of June. He picked up right where he left off at the minors’ highest level, closing out the year with a .343/.397/.563 showing in 373 plate appearances for the Saints.

That high minors domination positioned Miranda as a near-term MLB option for the Twins while elevating his prospect status. Over the offseason, each of Baseball America, FanGraphs, Keith Law of the Athletic and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN slotted Miranda among the back half of their Top 100 prospects. Reports unanimously praised his combination of bat-to-ball skills and raw power, although all four outlets suggested he’s a fringy defender at best at the hot corner. Miranda has also posted low walk rates throughout his time in the minors, although that’s in large part due to the bat control for which he’s lauded. Given his ability to put the bat on the ball, he’s not one to work many deep counts, keeping both his walk and strikeout totals down.

With Sanó headed to the IL, Miranda looks likely to play a multi-positional infield role for the time being. All 14 of his defensive outings this season have come at third base, but he also had a fair bit of run at second and first base last year (in addition to briefer stops at shortstop and in left field). Carlos Correa and Jorge Polanco are locked in up the middle in Minnesota, with Gio Urshela and bat-first utilityman Luis Arraez the top options at the corners. Miranda could work his way into the corner infield/DH mix, at least until Sanó returns.

It’s unclear how long Sanó will be sidelined after he hit the IL due to left knee soreness last night. The team announced it today as a sprain, with the placement retroactive to May 1. Garlick, meanwhile, suffered a right calf strain.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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Minnesota Twins Newsstand Top Prospect Promotions

Twins Notes: Larnach, Miranda, Rotation, Winder

By | at March 30, 2022 6:55pm CDT

The Twins announced this afternoon they’ve optioned corner outfielder Trevor Larnach and infield prospect Jose Miranda to Triple-A St. Paul. Neither player will break camp with the big league club.

Larnach played in just under half of Minnesota’s games as a rookie last season. The former first-rounder and top prospect only managed a .223/.322/.350 line in 301 plate appearances, striking out at a 34.6% clip. Those swing-and-miss concerns resulted in the Twins optioning Larnach back to Triple-A in August, and he’ll start this season in the minors as well.

With a projected regular outfield of Alex Kirilloff, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler, there weren’t everyday at-bats to afford to Larnach early on. The 25-year-old is still a valuable long-term piece for the organization, and they’d evidently prefer to get him regular run in the minors as opposed to having him start the year as a part-time player.

That’s also the case for Miranda, a 23-year-old who broke out with a huge .344/.401/.572 line between the minors’ top two levels. That earned him a place on the back half of Baseball America’s and FanGraphs’ Top 100 Prospects lists this winter, but he’ll head back to St. Paul to start the year. Minnesota has offseason acquisition Gio Urshela at third base, with Jorge Polanco and Luis Arraez options at the keystone and designated hitter. Miranda, added to the 40-man roster in November, figures to get his first big league look at some point this year. That’ll be put on hold by the Twins enviable collection of infield depth.

Strong as Minnesota’s position player group looks, the team’s rotation is still a major question mark. The Twins entered the offseason likely needing to add three starters from outside the organization. They’ve done so, acquiring Sonny Gray from the Reds and signing free agents Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer. Each of Bundy and Archer comes with durability and performance questions related to tough 2021 seasons, though.

The Twins were recently connected to A’s starters Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea, both of whom would still be marked upgrades to the starting staff. The latest reports suggest Oakland could elect to keep both of those hurlers, and Montas in particular now seems unlikely to be moved before Opening Day. The Twins were linked to Montas/Manaea before they signed Archer on Monday, and it now appears they’ll break camp with a rotation of Gray, Bailey Ober, Archer, Bundy and rookie Joe Ryan.

In an appearance on SKOR North’s Mackey & Judd podcast this week, Darren Wolfson noted the Twins talks with the A’s had “stagnated.” Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press hears the A’s never made a formal ask for anyone from Minnesota in Montas and Manaea discussions. Wolfson suggests the Twins could be willing to revisit discussions on Montas and Manaea at some point, but Minnesota chief baseball officer Derek Falvey indicated this week the team is content with their existing rotation options. “We’ll always stay open-minded to everything,” Falvey said about the possibility of acquiring another starter (via Helfand). “I know I always say that, but that’s true. It’s just at this late stage as we approach Opening Day, it feels like the group is probably in this room.”

Like every team, the Twins will need to rely on more than five starters throughout the course of a 162-game season. Righty Josh Winder, Baseball America’s #6 prospect in the organization, would appear to be the top depth option out of the gate. Winder has yet to make his MLB debut, but he pitched to a 1.98 ERA with excellent strikeout and walk rates (31.3% and 4.8%, respectively) in 10 Double-A starts last season. The Twins could start him in the St. Paul rotation, but manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) today they’re open to carrying him with the big league club as a long relief option.

The organization no doubt views Winder as a starting pitcher long-term, but keeping him in the MLB bullpen could allow him to stay stretched out and get his feet wet in the big leagues. Given the rather thin rotation, the VMI product figures to be starting games before long.

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Athletics Minnesota Twins Notes

Twins Designate Willians Astudillo, Charlie Barnes For Assignment

By | at November 19, 2021 4:31pm CDT

The Twins are designating utilityman Willians Astudillo and left-hander Charlie Barnes for assignment, the club announced. Additionally, left-hander Devin Smeltzer and outfielder Kyle Garlick have cleared outright waivers. Minnesota added six prospects to the 40-man roster in advance of tonight’s deadline for Rule 5 draft protection: Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Blayne Enlow, Cole Sands, Chris Vallimont and Josh Winder.

Minnesota also announced that they’ve agreed to terms on a deal with outfielder Jake Cave on a major league contract. He’ll make $800K, reports Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (Twitter link). Cave had been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $1.1MM salary via arbitration. It’s not uncommon to see players on the non-tender bubble (as Cave appeared to be) agree to salaries for a bit lower than projected in advance of the non-tender deadline, however.

Amidst this large flurry of Twins transactions it’s the one jettisoning Astudillo that may grab the most attention. While the 30-year old didn’t quite get it done at the plate this past season, producing a .236/.259/.375 slash, his Twins tenure has often left fans looking past his offensive contributions. Dating back to his 2018 debut with the Twins, Astudillo has lined up at every position except for shortstop, providing adequate defense and pitching as admirably as one can expect in mop-up duty (including a 2.25 ERA in four 2021 innings). The multi-talented Astudillo is now all but certainly headed for free agency, though a reunion with the Twins later in the offseason isn’t yet out of the question.

Barnes, 26, is a soft-tossing lefty and former fourth-rounder who made his big league debut out of necessity to help soak up some innings in an injury-ruined season for the Twins’ rotation. He was clobbered for a 5.92 ERA while striking out just 20 of the 175 batters he faced. The Twins now have a week to trade Barnes or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Also gone from the roster are Smeltzer, a former Dodger prospect who came to the Twins in the Brian Dozier trade, and Garlick, an offseason waiver claim last winter who played a platoon role in Minnesota early this season. Smeltzer logged a 3.86 ERA through 49 innings during the 2019 season, his debut campaign, but has battled injuries and seen his performance dip in the two years since. He missed nearly the entire 2021 season due to elbow troubles.

Garlick, meanwhile, hit .232/.280/.465 with five homers and eight doubles in just 107 plate appearances. He hit 10 extra-base hits (four homers, six doubles) in just 63 plate appearances against lefties but spent the majority of the season on the injured list himself.

Most of the Twins’ additions are wholly unsurprising. Lewis was the No. 1 overall pick in 2017 and, despite missing the season due to an ACL tear, was never going to be exposed to the Ryle 5 Draft. Miranda was the Twins’ minor league player of the year and posted video-game numbers in the minors, hitting his way into Top 100 consideration. Winder has battled injuries but might be Minnesota’s top pitching prospect based on stuff alone. Enlow was an overslot third-rounder who has had his own injury troubles but is still held in high regard. Sands and Vallimont both rank among the Twins’ more promising arms themselves, even though Vallimont had a down year in 2021. The former Marlins righty, acquired in the trade that brought Sergio Romo to Minnesota and sent first baseman Lewin Diaz to Miami, is a potential fourth/fifth starter who’s reasonably close to MLB readiness.

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