Twins Designate Ralph Garza Jr. For Assignment

The Twins announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Ralph Garza Jr. for  assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to shortstop Carlos Correa, whose three-year, $105.3MM contract with Minnesota has now been formally announced by the team.

Garza, 28 next month, will cede his spot on the 40-man roster to his former Astros teammate. The 6’2″, 220-pound right-hander was drafted by the Astros in the 26th round back in 2015 and made his Major League debut with the ’Stros in 2021 before joining the Twins via an August waiver claim. He tallied 30 1/3 innings between the two clubs and pitched to a solid 3.56 ERA, albeit it with strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates (22.8%, 11% and 37.3%, respectively) that all checked in worse than those of the league-average reliever.

Garza throws both a sinker and a four-seamer and works with a pair of different arm angles that offer some deception to opponents. He sports a career 3.82 ERA in parts of four seasons in Triple-A, where he’s whiffed 25.9% of his opponents against an 11.3% walk rate. A pure reliever, Garza has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so it’s possible another club will be intrigued by his blend of four pitches, his respectable upper-minors track record and the flexibility of those option years. The Twins will have a week to trade him or place him on outright waivers, at which point any of the other 29 clubs could place a claim.