The Twins have claimed outfielder Sam Fuld off waivers, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Fuld was designated for assignment by the Athletics on April 12th.
Fuld, 32, appeared in just seven games for the A’s, hitting .200/.273/.433 in 33 plate appearances. He has a career .233/.312/.334 line in 841 career plate appearances, most of them with the Rays and Cubs. He signed a minor league deal with Oakland in February and made the team out of Spring Training when fellow defensively-savvy outfielder Craig Gentry was injured. Fuld became expendable with a healthy Gentry, who returned to the A’s lineup last week, and Coco Crisp, but he’ll be joining a Twins squad which badly needs outfield depth.
“He can steal a base. He’s a good defender. Puts together pretty good at-bats,” Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said of Fuld (as quoted by Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press). “He’s not a power guy. He is a gamer, a guy who comes to play everyday. Hopefully he can add a little life to the offense and (Twins manager Ron Gardenhire) can use him in different spots in the outfield as well.”
To make room for Fuld on the 40-man and 25-man roster, the Twins announced they have designated outfielder Darin Mastroianni for assignment. Mastroianni has gone 0-for-11 with five strikeouts in seven games since having his contract selected from Rochester on April 10th. The Twins now have 10 days to either trade, release, or outright the 28-year-old, who can opt for free agency instead of accepting a minor league assignment since he has been outrighted previously (per a Berardino tweet). Berardino notes this move may not have been necessary had Jason Bartlett’s retirement been finalized one day sooner with the Easter weekend also working against the Twins.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Fuld can’t hit, but he’s a good defensive replacement. Still probably would have had Alex Presley…
Alex Presley is batting .146 for Houston this year. Give me Fuld.
But he has more HR’s than Joe Mauer.
Yes, because 3 weeks is enough to judge the guy. Fuld has NEVER hit. Ever. Presley hit over .280 last year for the Twins, oh and is younger.
Doesn’t really matter. There’s no excuse for the Twins cutting Presley in favor of Jason Bartlett. Inexcusable. Even more so with how it ended up working out.