Feb. 23: Chargois was actually placed on waivers on Wednesday, Berardino tweets, meaning the outcome should be known this afternoon.
Feb. 22: The Twins have placed righty J.T. Chargois on outright waivers, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). It seems the hope is that the injured Chargois will clear waivers while leaving the organization a 40-man spot to work with.
Chargois, a second-round pick in the 2012 draft, steadily moved up the Minnesota system as he worked to harness a big heater. In 2016, he impressed in his first attempt at Triple-A, posting a 1.29 ERA with 10.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 over 35 innings. And while he struggled overall in a first attempt at the majors, Chargois did finish his debut effort with a strong final month.
The arrow pointed up heading into 2017, but Chargois stalled out. He took the mound only twice in competitive situations while dealing with an elbow problem that was ultimately diagnosed as a stress reaction. While he did not require surgery, there’s obviously some uncertainty as to how his career will progress from this point.
Given that Chargois held onto his 40-man spot throughout the winter, it seems the Twins have maintained at least some cause for optimism. On the other hand, the club is obviously now willing to take a chance at losing a pitcher who not long ago seemed a future closer possibility. Whether his early showing in camp impacted the decision is not clear, but it’s somewhat notable that Minnesota did not place Chargois on the 60-day DL, suggesting that he’s healthy enough that such a placement would not be warranted.
Wonder if they have a move on the way. Logan Morrison?
Hope not. Only thing Twins need is tons of pitching
Pirates
They have Mauer at 1B.
You called it SimplyAmazing1! I’ll be paying attention to your posts from now on 😉 Still wish they hadn’t waived/lost J.T. though.
Starting pitcher on the way?
Arrieta!??!
you can have him
If Mauricio Cabrera cleared waivers, Chargois should.
If Cobb’s value has continued to drop, I could see the front office making him an offer.
They’ve been connected to Lynce Lynn recently
Lynce Lann
I’d hate to lose Chargois but there’s several similar guys in the system without the injury question marks.
Yeah same. There must be something brewing for the twins to do this. Chargois is solid.
They’ve successfully passed him through waivers before. Let’s hope they get as lucky
I hope no one signs Arrieta
This doesn’t make sense w/o a move
Bet the Stearns and the Crew grab him. He loves those moves
Let’s hope a division rival doesn’t snake him. He still has a lot of upside.
There has to be something else behind this. Chargois would be the second elite power arm (when healthy) that they’ve exposed to other teams. He had nasty power w/movement late in ‘16. Still do not understand protecting Buddy Boshers instead of Nick Burdi in the Rule 5. Then they let Boshers go soon after. Pirates have Burdi now, and if they can be believed, intend to hold him on their 25-man even though he won’t pitch till late this season if at all. So much for Terry Ryan stocking up on power relievers between ‘12-‘15. Only Hildenberger, Curtiss and Jay seem valued by the new regime. Yet we still see Ryan Presley and his massive potential 6 seasons later. Oh well, we’ll see how it plays out.
Much to his chagrin
Honestly, this one seems like a unnecessary risk. The Twins have long had issues with their staff correctly diagnosing and treating injuries and it’s led to multiple players having their value damaged or moving to different teams without any compensation to the Twins’ organization.
J.T. Chargois showed utter and complete dominance in MiLB across every level. Other than a rough adjustment to the different balls used in MLB than MiLB, Chargois showed a lot of promise in 2016 with a 2.33 FIP and a 9.20 K/9 over his final 17 appearances.
In 2017, Chargois was misdiagnosed and mishandled by the medical staff. Who knows what the problem really was or how long it should have taken to heal. He didn’t pitch, and nobody seems to really know why.
Chargois has potential closer stuff. Fastball averaging 97mph. Wipeout slider and a change up. I see people expect Chargois may clear because Mauricio Cabrera cleared. Let’s look at their AA stats
A – 4.31 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 8.1 BB/9, 5.6 H/9
B – 2.42 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 5.0 BB/9, 6.9 H/9
Chargois is B. On top of that, Chargois has also dominated AAA while Cabrera got annihilated
A – 7.86 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, 6.92 K/9, 8.7 BB/9, 8.9 H/9
B – 1.19 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 10.3 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 6.7 H/9
After a quick adjustment, Chargois’ results at the MLB level were superior to Cabrera as well with Cabrera’s xFIP sitting at 4.61 due to the sheer luck he allowed no home runs in 38 innings. A feat which is impossible to replicate.
I’d take Chargois over Caberera any time. Cabrera can’t hit the broad side of a barn and lacks any really solid off speed offering.