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Sam Dyson

Major League Baseball Suspends Sam Dyson For 2021 Season

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Major League Baseball announced this afternoon that free agent reliever Sam Dyson has accepted a suspension covering the entire 2021 season under the league’s domestic violence policy.

The soon-to-be 33-year-old Dyson hasn’t pitched since 2019, which he divided between San Francisco and Minnesota. Dyson underwent shoulder surgery that September, and two months later, the league began investigating him after ex-girlfriend Alexis Blackburn accused him of abuse. Details of those allegations became public this past October.

Dyson has been an effective reliever with a handful of teams since his career started in 2012. However, his off-field conduct could prevent him from pitching in the bigs again.

Details Of Domestic Violence Allegations Surface Against Sam Dyson

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Troubling allegations of domestic abuse have emerged surrounding free agent reliever Sam Dyson. In a piece from Katie Strang and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (subscription required), Dyson’s ex-girlfriend Alexis Blackburn reveals the details of her relationship with Dyson, whom Major League Baseball began investigating last November.

Blackburn’s path to seeking and finding help is particularly striking as she explains her experiences with law enforcement, MLB’s investigation, and her own uncertainties about how to best find resolution. Dyson’s status as an athlete made that process all the more difficult as the emotional toll of their tumultuous relationship was compounded by the weight of Dyson’s public profile.

Blackburn initially went public via two Instagram posts in November. At that point, MLB started looking into the case, though Dyson did not sit down with league investigators until last month. After an incident that resulted in police intervention in November, Blackburn and Dyson were both interviewed by police in Jupiter, Fla. Per Strang and Rosenthal, Dyson was quoted as saying that he and Blackburn were involved in a “verbally violent and toxic relationship.” Despite their statements and some physical evidence of abuse included in Blackburn’s account, the police investigators found no probable cause at that time. MLB has not yet reached a resolution in its investigation.

Dyson last appeared in the majors in 2019 when he split the season between the Giants and Twins. Over an eight-year career, Dyson played for the Blue Jays, Marlins, Rangers, Giants and Twins, totaling a 3.40 ERA/3.75 FIP in 376 appearances across 386 2/3 innings with 7.2 K/9 to 3.0 BB/9. Dyson is currently without a team, and it is not clear if he hopes to find a job in the league this winter. It’s difficult to imagine a team taking a chance on Dyson at this stage.

MLB Investigating Sam Dyson Under Domestic Violence Policy

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Major League Baseball has launched an investigation into free-agent reliever Sam Dyson after a pair of Instagram posts made by his ex-girlfriend alluded to abuse, Ken Rosenthal and Katie Strang of The Athletic report (subscription required). NBC Sports’ Craig Calcaterra also covered the topic earlier this morning.

Specific incidents aren’t detailed, though the posts do make reference to objects being thrown at the alleged victim. Dyson is not mentioned by name, but Rosenthal and Strang have confirmed that he is indeed the person being referenced within. Additionally, there are broader references to the alleged victim’s physical and emotional well-being.

“I’ve allowed my physical health, my emotional health and my mental health to diminish to nothing. I’ve allowed more things to happen than I want to admit,” one post reads. Another concludes by stating: “No one deserves to be intimidated, scared, worthless and hopeless.”

As with the early stages of nearly all investigations under MLB’s  joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, details are rather scarce, and the potential for punitive action against Dyson at this juncture can’t be known. Dyson is currently a free agent, so he needn’t be placed on administrative leave. And given that he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery that is expected to keep him out for most, if not all of the 2020 season, the specifics of how the league would handle a potential suspension are also difficult to forecast. For now, the league has arranged to interview the alleged victim in the “near future,” per The Athletic report.

This wouldn’t be the first instance of social media posts leading to league-issued punishment under the domestic violence policy. Allegations against Addison Russell first surfaced when a friend of his ex-wife spoke out on Instagram, and while that didn’t lead to an immediate ban for the Cubs infielder, Russell’s ex-wife herself came forward a year later and offered more detailed accounts that culminated in a 40-game suspension. Back in 2017, free-agent catcher Derek Norris was suspended for the final month of the season under similar circumstances, when his ex-fiancee alleged both physical and emotional abuse in an Instagram post that also declined to mention him by name.

Major League Baseball is also still in the process of investigating Yankees right-hander Domingo German under the same policy. German was placed on administrative leave late in the season and barred from appearing in the postseason with the Yankees.

Sam Dyson Elects Free Agency

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The Minnesota Twins outrighted injured reliever Sam Dyson from their major league roster, and the 31-year-old reliever rejected a minor-league assignment to become a free agent, per La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune.

The move was largely expected, as the native Floridian was set to make around $6.4MM through the arbitration process if the Twins tendered him a contract. Dyson had shoulder surgery in late September and is expected to miss all of the 2020 season.

Dyson was one of the Giants’ many sought-after relievers at the trade deadline, and the Twins surrendered a trio of prospects to get him. It wasn’t the most successful of deadline moves, unfortunately, as the sinkerballer managed just a 7.15 ERA over 12 outings for the Twinkies. The gaudy ERA is a little misleading, as it’s largely due to a disastrous first pair of outings, which nonetheless colored the rest of his Minnesota tenure. After a short stint on the injured list, he returned to post a 2.53 ERA over his final 10 appearances as a Twin.

Considering the injury, Dyson doesn’t figure to latch on with a big-league club until 2021, though given the difficulties contenders had building bullpens this season, it remains a possibility some team could look at Dyson for a rehab contract such as the Cubs have done with Kendall Graveman and Drew Smyly in each of the past two offseasons.

Sam Dyson Out Up To 12 Months Following Shoulder Surgery

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Twins right-hander Sam Dyson underwent capsule repair surgery on his right shoulder yesterday, manager Rocco Baldelli revealed to reporters Wednesday (Twitter link via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). It’s a brutal development for both Dyson and the organization, as the recovery period associated with that procedure could span a full 12 months. It’s not clear whether Dyson will be able to take the ball at all in 2020, which seemingly makes an offseason non-tender of the righty a necessity.

At the time of the trade that sent Dyson from San Francisco to Minnesota, the Twins looked to be acquiring one of the more effective relievers who’d been made available. Dyson posted a 2.69 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.64 HR/9 and a 61.3 percent ground-ball rate in 70 1/3 innings with the 2018 Giants and had followed that up with 51 innings of 2.47 ERA ball to open the 2019 campaign. He’d improved both his strikeout and walk rates while continuing to allow fewer than one homer per nine innings pitched.

Minnesota sent three prospects — Jaylin Davis, Prelander Berroa and Kai-Wei Teng — to the Giants in order to acquire Dyson for this season and for 2020, which would be his final arbitration-eligible season. However, Dyson was shelled in his first outing as a Twin and quickly landed on the injured list. He returned and actually pitched fairly well (2.53 ERA in 10 2/3 innings) before again being shut down due to ongoing discomfort in his biceps/shoulder.

More troubling than the quick IL placement, for the Twins, was the fact that Dyson revealed to the club that he’d been dealing with some discomfort since mid-July — before he was ever traded to the Twins. Medical records at the time of the swap checked out, as Dyson had not even divulged the pain he was feeling to the Giants (and, thus, the Giants had no way of documenting said red flags).

The Twins reportedly investigated whether there was any possibility that the Giants might’ve had some inkling of Dyson’s shoulder troubles — as any team would — but there’s no evidence of any efforts to withhold information. In the end, it appears to be a simple case of miserable luck for the Twins, who almost certainly won’t commit to a raise on Dyson’s $5MM salary for the 2020 season and now seem likely to cut him loose for nothing.

If there’s any silver lining for Minnesota, it’s that the need for Dyson is less acute than it was at the time of the trade to acquire him. Tyler Duffey hasn’t allowed a run since the trade and has a 38-to-5 K/BB ratio over his past 22 2/3 scoreless innings. Closer Taylor Rogers remains an excellent weapon, and hard-throwing righty Trevor May has been largely excellent over the past two months as well. The Twins’ other deadline pickup, Sergio Romo, has been terrific since his acquisition as well. Rookies Zack Littell, Cody Stashak and Ryne Harper have emerged as solid options, and flamethrowing top prospect Brusdar Graterol is making a push for a spot on the postseason roster as well.

That’s not to downplay the loss of Dyson, of course. A healthy Dyson would give the Twins an even more formidable back of the bullpen, which has become a necessity for postseason play given the evolution of pitcher usage (particularly in short series). But the overall state of Baldelli’s relief corps is much stronger than it was even two months ago, with more questions now seemingly focused on the Twins’ sputtering rotation.

Latest On Sam Dyson

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Twins reliever Sam Dyson has a consequential medical appointment today, with the expectation being that he’ll require a significant procedure to his ailing shoulder. It’s not clear whether the Minnesota organization has any way of salvaging the transaction that brought Dyson into town, but LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports that the team has begun exploring its options.

Dyson’s troubles cropped up not long after he changed hands, which made for inopportune timing. Eyebrows were no doubt raised when the veteran righty informed his new organization that he had experienced problems since mid-July. After all, the Twins had found no reason to fear this sort of situation when they checked over the medicals at the time of the deal.

Unsurprisingly, Neal reports, the Twins have “investigated” the situation since it arose. That has included “discussions” with the Giants’ front office. To this point, as Neal puts it, “The Twins have been unable to find any evidence that the Giants had knowledge of an injury.”

It isn’t clear whether Dyson has spoken directly on the subject. But there’s no public indication that he had informed his prior organization of the health issue before the deadline. And he has made clear through prior comments that he simply believed he was dealing with typical soreness that wasn’t a major concern.

Assuming that the Twins don’t end up coming across any evidence that anything untoward occurred, it seems they’ll have no recourse vis-a-vis the Giants. In that case, the question becomes one of dealing with an unfortunate medical situation as with any other player.

The trouble for the Twins is that Dyson’s anticipated procedure comes with a lengthy rehab process. Per the report, the 31-year-old wouldn’t be expected to return until some time in the middle of next season. If that’s the best-case scenario, it’d be awfully difficult to tender Dyson a contract for his final year of arbitration eligibility. He’ll be due a raise on his $5MM salary. Given all the uncertainties inherent in a shoulder procedure, that seems like a hefty bill.

It’s certainly possible the Twins could attempt to work out some kind of multi-year arrangement, as we’ve seen with other injured players who sign during the recovery process. Otherwise, it is possible that the organization has already received the entire return for its investment of three young players (Prelander Berroa, Jaylin Davis and Kai-Wei Teng).

Sam Dyson’s Season In Jeopardy

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SEPT. 20: Dyson indicated Friday that he’s likely to undergo surgery next week, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.

SEPT. 14, 4:10pm: Indeed, Miller reported that season-ending shoulder surgery is on the table for Dyson, who felt pain in his shoulder just two pitches into a bullpen session on Friday. Per Miller, the Twins’ midseason acquisition underwent a procedure that pointed to a joint capsule sprain in Dyson’s right shoulder, which may call for Dyson to go under the knife.

11:20am: More bad news today from the suddenly snakebitten Minnesota Twins. Trade deadline acquisition Sam Dyson is unavailable this weekend, and he may not return at all this season, per Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (via Twitter).

Dyson spent a short stint on the injured list at the beginning of August with right bicep tendinitis. He cut a throwing session short yesterday after feeling discomfort early in the session. He has scheduled a visit with Dr. Neal ElAttrache next week, tweets MLB.com’s Dan Hayes.

It certainly doesn’t look good for Dyson, who has struggled since joining the Twins. After notching a 2.47 ERA/2.72 FIP across 49 appearances in San Francisco, Dyson’s Minnesota tenure began with a thud as he surrendered 6 earned runs while recording just two outs across his first two appearances. His overall numbers as a Twin remain ugly, but he’s straightened out since making an early impression. Dyson penned a 2.53 ERA over his next ten appearances, last pitching on September 3rd in Boston.

Injury Notes: Dyson, Cueto, Polanco, Dominguez, Morejon

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The Twins are waiting to see how reliever Sam Dyson responds to some time off to deal with recurring biceps soreness. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey discussed the matter with reporters including Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). It’s an effort to “get out ahead” of things, says Falvey. The Twins need their most significant trade deadline acquisition at top form with a major postseason clash beckoning. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been himself since coming over. Dyson owns a 7.15 ERA in a dozen appearances in Minnesota.

More injury updates from around the game …

  • Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto, on the mend from 2018 Tommy John surgery, experienced a setback in his most recent rehab outing, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. He’ll be reevaluated in the next few days but won’t be an option for the team as soon as originally hoped. Manager Bruce Bochy had previously put a tentative date of Sept. 8 on a return for Cueto, but that no longer appears to be a plausible timeline. Back tightness, rather than arm issues, has caused the revised timeline. While there’s still hope that Cueto will make it back to the big-league bump this season, the organization will surely avoid any unnecessary risks.
  • A few Pirates outfielders won’t return to action this year, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links). Gregory Polanco will receive platelet-rich plasma injections in a bid to spur healing in his troublesome shoulder. That’ll be a key situation to monitor in the offseason for the Pittsburgh organization. Jason Martin now has his own shoulder malady to deal with: a separation suffered yesterday. He’s expected to miss the rest of the year. Infielder Kevin Kramer will come up to the active roster due in part to Martin’s absence. Though Bucs righty Mitch Keller was hit in the wrist with a batted ball yesterday, he was able to play catch today. his timeline isn’t clear, but that certainly seems like promising news.
  • The Phillies got some promising news on righty reliever Seranthony Dominguez, who has at times seemed destined to miss the rest of the season. Despite a recent scare, he has shown enough progress in his elbow health to resume throwing, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters including Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via tweet). It’s still not clear that Dominguez will have enough time to ramp up and return to active duty, though perhaps there’s still an outside shot.
  • Padres southpaw Adrian Morejon will not make it back to the bigs in 2019, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. That’s not to say that the widely hailed 20-year-old isn’t making progress. His injured shoulder is in good enough shape to allow Morejon to resume throwing. Though he struggled quite a bit in limited MLB action, Morejon has generally shown all the skills that made him a consensus top-100 leaguewide prospect. He’ll likely again factor into the San Diego plans next season, though he’ll do so without much of an innings base to work from. Morejon has not yet thrown more than 65 1/3 frames in a given campaign and fell shy of that mark this year.

AL Injury Notes: Dyson, Rangers, Luzardo, Zimmermann

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Newly acquired Twins reliever Sam Dyson went to the injured list Sunday with right biceps tendinitis. It turns out the issue has been bothering him since mid-July, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com tweets. Dyson let Twins general manager Thad Levine know about the discomfort “a few days ago,” per Park, who reports the club decided to shut him down thereafter. It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Dyson, who had been enjoying a great year before Minnesota acquired him from San Francisco at the trade deadline, and for a Twins team that made him its headlining July pickup. Dyson pitched twice for the Twins before going on the IL and put up calamitous numbers in both outings, yielding six earned runs on six hits and retiring just two hitters.

  • The Rangers have shut left-handed prospect Taylor Hearn down for the season because of renewed irritation in his pitching elbow, though doctors don’t believe it’s related to his ulnar collateral ligament, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. Hearn originally suffered the injury during a nightmare of a major league debut against the Mariners on April 25. The 24-year-old Hearn started the game, but he ultimately recorded only one out and gave up five runs (four earned) on four walks and three hits. MLB.com ranked Hearn as the Rangers’ 11th-best prospect the day of his first promotion. He’s now 26th on the list.
  • Better news from Grant, who reports injured Rangers righties Edinson Volquez and Shawn Kelley are progressing toward returns. Volquez, who’s set to retire after the season, will start a rehab assignment Wednesday as he works back from an elbow strain that has shelved him for almost the whole year. Biceps soreness has kept Kelley out since July 12, though the Rangers could activate him Tuesday. The 35-year-old has served as the Rangers’ closer at times this season, saving 11 of 15 chances, and has posted an effective 3.00 ERA/4.10 FIP with 8.73 K/9, 1.36 BB/9 and a 30.1 percent groundball rate in 33 innings.
  • Athletics lefty Jesus Luzardo got through a two-inning rehab appearance unscathed Monday, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. Luzardo will now move from the rookie level to Single-A ball, where he’ll make a three-inning start Saturday. The prized 21-year-old hasn’t been able to make his much-anticipated major league debut this season on account of shoulder and lat injuries. Luzardo could, however, serve as a late-season reinforcement for the wild card hopefuls.
  • The Tigers placed righty Jordan Zimmermann on the IL on Monday with a right cervical spasm, the team announced. It’s the latest setback in an ugly Detroit tenure for Zimmermann, whose five-year, $110MM contract has been a bad investment for the club from the get-go. This season, Year 4 of the deal, Zimmermann has logged a 7.13 ERA (with a better, albeit unspectacular, 4.80 FIP) in 72 innings.

Twins Place Sam Dyson On IL

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The Twins announced they have placed reliever Sam Dyson on the 10-day injured list with right biceps tendinitis. In his place, they’ve recalled prospect Devin Smeltzer, who will start this afternoon’s game against Kansas City.

Dyson has pitched just twice since Minnesota acquired him from the Giants at the trade deadline. He’s continued to ride a fastball-heavy approach to great success, working to a 3.48 ERA with a strong combination of strikeouts (23.3%), walks (4.4%), and groundballs (54.3%) in 2019. He’s not quite the groundball machine he was in his best days with the Rangers, but he’s still an integral part of the Twins’ bullpen. Fortunately, manager Rocco Baldelli told Dan Hayes of the Athletic that Dyson’s rest period will be measured in “days instead of weeks.” That’s welcome news for a club hanging onto a three-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central.

Smeltzer, a low-slot lefty acquired at the 2018 deadline from the Dodgers for Brian Dozier, will start his third game of the season for Minnesota. He’s been quite good in 16 starts in the high minors this year and ranks as the #23 prospect in a strong Twins’ farm system, per Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs.

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