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Twins Decline Mutual Option On Kyle Farmer

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The Twins declined their end of a $6.25MM mutual option on Kyle Farmer, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). The veteran infielder will collect a $250K buyout and becomes a free agent for the first time in his career. Minnesota also declined an option on outfielder Manuel Margot this morning.

Farmer, 34, spent two seasons in the Twin Cities. He had a solid .256/.317/.408 slash during his first year after being acquired from the Reds. Minnesota brought him back for his final season of arbitration. Farmer struggled this past season, though, hitting .214/.293/.353 over 242 trips to the plate. He missed around a month with a strain in his right shoulder.

That made it an easy call for Minnesota to move on. The $6MM net decision was too pricey for a utility player coming off a down year. Farmer could be able to find a major league contract this offseason. He can play anywhere on the infield and carries a career .283/.344/.468 slash versus left-handed pitching.

The Twins still have Willi Castro and Austin Martin on hand as utility options behind Brooks Lee, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis. Minnesota will need to address first base with Carlos Santana hitting free agency and Alex Kirilloff’s surprise retirement.

Twins To Decline Option On Manuel Margot

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The Twins have informed outfielder Manuel Margot that they will decline their end of his contract’s $12MM mutual option, reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and SKOR North Radio. He’ll receive a $2MM buyout — paid by the Rays, not the Twins — and become a free agent.

Margot, 30, was traded twice last winter, first going from Tampa Bay to Los Angeles and then from the Dodgers to the Twins. The Rays agreed to pay the buyout on his option as part of that first trade, and the Dodgers picked up all but $4MM of his salary in that second deal sending him to Minnesota. The Twins used Margot as an affordable fourth outfielder, replacing departed free agent Michael A. Taylor, but didn’t get the results for which they’d hoped.

The 2024 season was Margot’s worst as a big leaguer. He hit just .238/.299/.337 (79 wRC+), and his once-elite defensive grades in the outfield continued their decline in the wake of his notable 2022 knee injury. The Twins were down enough on Margot’s glove to only give him 136 innings in center field. Utilitymen Willi Castro and Austin Martin wound up logging more time in center than Margot, despite neither having anywhere near the same level of experience there. But Margot’s range and sprint speed have declined precipitously since he suffered that knee injury; Statcast credited him in the 88th percentile of big leaguers in sprint speed back in 2021 but just the 53rd percentile in 2024.

To Margot’s credit, he held his own against left-handed pitching, batting .269/.322/.391. That’s still a drop from his career marks, however, and his right-handed bat was completely overmatched by fellow righties on the mound — evidenced by a woeful .208/.257/.283 slash in right-on-right matchups.

As it stands, the Twins enter the offseason with Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton and Matt Wallner as their projected starting outfield. A right-handed hitter who can play center field if (or when) Buxton misses time and spell lefties Larnach and Wallner at other times could be on the front office’s to-do list. Had Margot performed better, re-signing him at a more affordable rate might’ve been more palatable. As it stands, it seems likely the Twins will instead look for an alternative option.

Both Castro and Martin will return in 2025 — barring a trade of Castro as he enters his final season of club control — but neither is considered an especially adept defender in center. Options on the free agent market could include Randal Grichuk, Austin Slater and the aforementioned Taylor, and the trade and waiver markets will feature myriad alternatives as well. As for Margot, he’ll head to the open market for the first time in his career but could very well be limited to minor league offers on heels of a down season.

Alex Kirilloff Announces Retirement

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Twins outfielder and first baseman Alex Kirilloff is retiring from his playing career, as he announced on his personal Instagram account this morning. The Twins subsequently confirmed his retirement in an announcement on X. The soon to be 27-year-old would have been slated for his second of four trips through arbitration with Minnesota this winter.

The surprising decision comes due to the numerous injuries Kirilloff has sustained throughout his career. The outfielder was plagued by a number of wrist, shoulder, and back injuries throughout his career that have caused him to make seven trips to the injured list during his four years in the majors, limiting him to just 249 games played at the big league level. That long list of injuries includes three surgeries: two on his wrist and one on his shoulder.

“In my nine professional seasons, I’ve encountered numerous injuries, which led me to search for new ways to overcome the pain. These challenges have taken a toll on me mentally and physically; over time, I’ve realized that my passion for playing the game has shifted,” Kirilloff said in his announcement. “Baseball demands an ‘all-in’ approach, something I’ve brought to every season. However, I can no longer give it the total commitment it requires. I’ve always believed that playing this game requires 110% effort, and anything less would not do justice to my teammates, coaches, fans, or the game itself.”

Kirilloff’s professional career began when he was selected 15th overall by the Twins in the 2016 draft. While he didn’t make his full-season pro debut until 2018, Kirilloff tore through the lower levels of the minors with a .348/.392/.578 slash line in 130 games at the Single-A and High-A levels in that first full season, which immediately catapulted him towards top prospect status. He entered 2019 as a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport, and even following a slight downturn in production in his first taste of Double-A action that year he remained a consensus top-30 prospect in the game when he made his big league debut in 2021.

Though hampered by a torn ligament in his wrist, Kirilloff’s first season in the majors was generally a solid one as he slashed a roughly league average .251/.299/.423 with eight home runs and 11 doubles in just 231 trips to the plate. Unfortunately, those wrist issues continued to plague Kirilloff in his second year as a big leaguer as well, limiting him to just 156 trips to the plate across 45 games and leading him to undergo wrist surgery for the second consecutive season.

After that second wrist surgery, things finally appeared to be looking up for the talented youngster last year. His season debut was delayed until early May by recovery from the aforementioned surgery, but he hit quite well out of the gate with a .314/.448/.486 slash line in that first month back in the majors. While his production tailed off a bit from there, he remained a regular fixture in the Twins lineup throughout the first half and was hitting a solid .270/.357/.442 through the end of July. Unfortunately, he promptly found himself sidelined by a strained right shoulder that would cause him to miss the entire month of August. Though he managed to return late in the year to play another 19 games in September, the ailment ultimately required yet another surgery that left him to spend his third consecutive offseason rehabbing.

When Kirilloff returned to the Twins lineup in 2024, he once again hit quite well early in the season with a .259/.323/.471 slash line through May 1. Unfortunately, the outfielder began to struggle even as his underlying metrics were solid, and he hit just .135/.207/.284 in what would ultimately be the final 30 games of his big league career. Once again hobbled by an injury, Kirilloff was placed on the injured list in mid-June due to a back injury he had been attempting to play through. The injury proved to be due to a nerve issue, and though he began a rehab assignment with the Twins in late August, that lasted just one game before he found himself sidelined once again. With a fourth consecutive offseason set to be dominated by the rehab process, that Kirilloff found himself in his own words unable to give the “110% effort” required to be a professional ballplayer is understandable.

In all, Kirilloff wraps up his big league career with 249 games played in the majors and a respectable .248/.309/.412 slash line across 884 trips to the plate. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Kirilloff on the hard work and perseverance he showed throughout his career and wish him all the best in retirement.

Phillies Sign Cody Stashak To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have signed right-hander Cody Stashak, according to a report from Ted Schwerzler. Per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, the arrangement is a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.

Stashak, 30, was a 13th-round pick by the Twins in the 2015 draft who first made his big league debut with the club back in 2019. It was generally an effective rookie season for the right-hander, who pitched out of the bullpen (barring one start as a two-inning opener) to solid results with a 3.24 ERA and 3.01 FIP in 25 innings. Stashak struck out 24% of opponents that year while walking just one batter all season. That impressive command over the strike zone showed up again during the shortened 2020 season, as Stashak turned in another strong season with Minnesota: across 15 innings of work, Stashak posted a 3.00 ERA with a 3.26 FIP, a 29.8% strikeout rate, and a 5.8% walk rate.

Unfortunately for the right-hander, his performance would take a nosedive during the 2021 season. Stashak saw his walk rate skyrocket to 13.3%, and while his strikeout rate was an excellent 34.7%, the additional traffic on the bases left the right-hander with awful results despite a solid enough 3.62 FIP. In 15 2/3 innings of work, Stashak surrendered 12 runs (all of them earned) for an ERA of 6.89. Despite those ugly run prevention numbers, Stashak’s strong track record and solid peripherals were enough to convince the Twins to keep him around for the 2022 season.

That proved to be a solid enough decision, as Stashak quickly bounced back to his old form. While his 3.86 ERA was somewhat pedestrian and his 23.1% strikeout rate was the lowest of his career, he had clearly recaptured his excellent command as he did not walk a single batter that season. Unfortunately, the righty’s season was cut short in early June when he went under the knife to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. The Twins designated him for assignment the following offseason rather than keep him on the roster while he rehabbed, and he elected free agency rather than remain with the club in the minor leagues.

Since recovering from that surgery, Stashak had a brief stint in the Atlantic League with the Lancaster Barnstormers before signing with the Giants on a minor league deal. He struggled badly in his first outings following his return to affiliated ball late in the 2023 season, but the Giants nonetheless retained him on a minor league deal this past year. Stashak posted mediocre numbers at Triple-A for the club this past year with a 5.45 ERA in 36 1/3 innings of work, though that figure is a bit inflated thanks to the extreme offensive environment in the Pacific Coast League. Stashak’s trademark control was on display this year as he walked just 7.4% of opponents against a 27.2% strikeout rate, however.

Those solid peripherals were evidently enough for the Phillies to be intrigued by Stashak. He’ll join the club for Spring Training and look to show he’s returned to the excellent form he posted early in his career with the Twins in hopes of landing a spot in the Philly bullpen next year. There should be a handful of spots available, as leverage arms Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez are both ticketed for free agency along with swingman Spencer Turnbull.

Offseason Outlook: Minnesota Twins

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The Twins enraged fans by slashing roughly $30MM of payroll after finally breaking their postseason losing streak last year, only to eventually endure one of the worst collapses of any team in recent history. As fans reeled from seeing a club that was a 95% playoff favorite late in the year somehow miss the postseason entirely, ownership announced its intent to explore a sale of the team. It's going to be quite the offseason in Minnesota.

Guaranteed Contracts

Guaranteed salary for the 2025 season: $93MM
Total long-term guaranteed money: $274MM

Option Decisions

  • Manuel Margot, OF: $12MM mutual option with $2MM buyout (Rays responsible for buyout)
  • Kyle Farmer, INF: $6.25MM mutual option with $250K buyout
  • Jorge Alcala, RHP: $1.5MM club option with $55K buyout (would remain arb-eligible if declined)

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; salary projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Free Agents

It's been less than two years since the Twins installed Joe Pohlad as their executive chair and control person of the club. The grandson of Carl Pohlad, who purchased the club in 1984, and nephew of his successor Jim Pohlad, Joe took over control of the club not long after turning 40 years old. His first offseason instilled hope of a changing tide in Minnesota. The Twins handed out a franchise-record $200MM contract to keep Carlos Correa in Minnesota. By 2023, they trotted out a club-record payroll approaching $160MM and, for the first time since 2002, won a playoff series.

The good vibes didn't last. As soon as last offseason began, talk of reducing payroll amid uncertainty surrounding the team's television deal emerged. The Twins were one of several teams impacted, but few clubs pulled back spending to the extent of Minnesota. Payroll was slashed by about $30MM -- roughly 20% of the team's total spending the year prior -- leaving the front office to operate on the margins and bring in a series of budget-driven, short-term pickups to address a sweeping slate of needs, most notably the departure of 2023 AL Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray.

Nearly all of the bargain pickups the Twins put together fell short. Carlos Santana proved a successful move, hitting .238/.328/.420 with 23 homers and Gold Glove-caliber defense at first base. The others flopped.

Free agent relievers Jay Jackson and Josh Staumont struggled and were released midseason. Anthony DeSclafani, who'd missed most of '23 with injury, had season-ending surgery before the season began. Justin Topa, acquired alongside DeSclafani in the trade sending Jorge Polanco to the Mariners, missed almost all season with a knee injury suffered in spring training. Steven Okert, acquired for Nick Gordon, was dropped from the 40-man roster in August. The Twins got a couple prospects of note in that Polanco trade (Gabriel Gonzalez, Darren Bowen), so maybe it'll pan out in the long run, but insofar as the 2024 campaign is concerned, every addition fell short.

Despite those offseason whiffs, the Twins were in contention for much of the season. A good portion of that was spent chasing an upstart Guardians club, but for most of the summer the Twins were given overwhelming odds to reach the postseason. Even on Sept. 5, FanGraphs gave them a 95.4% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Twins faceplanted as the Tigers surged past them. Joe Pohlad opened the offseason by sidestepping payroll questions but pledging to put a better product on the field (X link via Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic).

Within the next two weeks, major changes had seized headlines in Minnesota. The Twins saw general manager Thad Levine -- No. 2 on their baseball operations hierarchy behind president Derek Falvey -- step down and leave the club. Days later, the Twins sent a press release announcing the Pohlad family's intent to explore a sale of the team.

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Could The Twins Deal From Their Positional Depth This Winter?

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Despite a lackluster 82-80 record in 2024 fueled by a September collapse that saw the club go just 9-18 during the season’s final month, the Twins are nonetheless poised to enter the coming offseason with one of the deepest groups of position players in the majors. Veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, utility man Kyle Farmer, and outfielders Max Kepler and Manuel Margot all appear ticketed for free agency, but even after those departures Minnesota figures to have more potentially starting-caliber position players than it can fit in the lineup.

Of course, an excess of talent is never a bad thing. That’s particularly true for a Twins club that relies on Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, and Royce Lewis as key players despite their substantial injury histories. With that being said, strong showings from players like Jose Miranda, Trevor Larnach, and Matt Wallner in 2024 figure to open the door to more regular playing time while the likes of Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff, and Austin Martin remain bench options.

In addition, 2022 first-round pick Brooks Lee has nothing left to prove at Triple-A even after struggling through his first taste of big league action, while top outfield prospects Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins both reached the upper levels of the minors with late-season call-ups to Triple-A and Double-A respectively. While it’s unlikely that Jenkins cracks the big league roster in 2025, Lee should be expected to be part of the major league positional group after appearing in 50 games this year and it’s not hard to imagine Rodriguez finding himself in the majors sometime next year either.

While the club’s positional group certainly has its flaws, they nonetheless came together to post a 107 wRC+ that ranked ninth in the majors and placed them right in line with other playoff-caliber offenses like those in Philadelphia (108 wRC+) and Queens (109 wRC+). That could suggest the Twins would be best served leaving their hitting corps largely in tact this winter, but doing so would pose a major problem; the club is expected to have virtually no money to spend this winter, and the pitching staff is in desperate need of improvements.

RosterResource projects the club for a $139MM payroll as things stand headed into next year, and while The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman notes that club officials have suggested payroll won’t be cut in 2025 relative to the already-diminished levels it landed at in 2024, this past season’s payroll stood at just $130MM. That means the Twins likely need to trim payroll by nearly $10MM even before factoring in the needs of the club’s pitching staff. While Gleeman floats trades of relatively pricey veterans such as right-hander Chris Paddack and catcher Christian Vazquez, who are due a combined $17.5MM in 2025, but Gleeman suggests that convincing a team to take on either of those salaries in full could require the club to attach some amount of prospect capital in order to get a deal done.

Given those considerable restrictions, the Twins may need to get creative to make significant additions to their pitching staff. Perhaps that could mean parting ways with versatile utility man Willi Castro, who has impressed with 5.6 fWAR and a 108 wRC+ during his two years with Minnesota while playing every position on the diamond except catcher and first base. Valuable as Castro has been for the club, he’s set to become a free agent following the 2025 season and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Schwartz to make $6.2MM in his final trip through arbitration this winter. That price tag combined with a lack of long-term club control could make Castro expendable for the Twins, and his better-than-average bat in conjunction with the ability to play capable defense all over the diamond (including shortstop and center field) should make him an attractive piece to virtually any club looking to add to its positional corps.

Of course, another option would be to deal a controllable player who offers less in salary relief but could either bring back a larger return or be parted with fairly painlessly. Dealing away Kirilloff would undoubtedly be selling low on a former first-round pick, but would save the club his projected $1.8MM salary and could theoretically bring back an arm to deepen a lackluster bullpen that ranked just 19th in the majors by ERA despite solid work from the club’s back-end duo of Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax.

Alternatively, it’s possible to imagine the club parting ways with an aforementioned breakout piece such as Larnach or Miranda if they believe this winter to be an opportunity to sell high on a player who has been inconsistent to this point in their major league career, with such a move being particularly palatable if the club believes a rebound season is coming for a hitter who struggled in 2024 like Kirilloff or Julien. It’s possible that parting ways with one of the club’s more promising young players could allow them to bring in a capable rotation piece, bolstering a starting staff that ranked just 22nd in the majors last year despite respectable rookie performances from youngsters like Simeon Woods Richardson and David Festa.

Stadium Notes: Rays, Twins

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As the Rays assess the damage to Tropicana Field following Hurricane Milton last week, the club’s ability to get the Trop back in working order in time for Opening Day 2025 has been thrown into serious doubt. Given that the club was already planning to relocate to a new ballpark nearby in in time for Opening Day 2028, questions linger about whether or not the Rays will look to return to their current stadium at all or instead look for an interim home while their newest ballpark is being constructed.

While it will likely be a few weeks before the Rays are able to fully assess the damage to the Trop and hash out a plan of action, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes that they’re expected to at least begin the 2025 season playing their home games elsewhere. That reality has led to a rash of speculation about where those home games may end up being played, with Topkin noting a push by local media in North Carolina to put the city of Durham, where the club’s Triple-A affiliate plays. Said coverage of a hypothetical temporary move to the area by the Rays includes a piece by Dallas Woodhouse of the Carolina Journal about the possibility that includes comments from a handful of local politicians supporting the possibility.

Whatever hopes North Carolina residents had of MLB games being played in Durham appear to have been dashed for the time being, however, as the Durham Bulls released a statement this afternoon emphasizing that not only have there been no discussions about the Bulls hosting the Rays in Durham, but that the Bulls “do not anticipate” hosting them for the full 2025 season due to “overlapping scheduled and other logistical challenges.” That statement seemingly rules out the possibility of the Rays playing a full slate of 81 home games in Durham next year, though the Bulls statement also notes that they are “always ready to help [their] parent club” and does seemingly leave the door open for the Rays playing part of the season in Durham if necessary.

That could be a useful option for Rays brass if they intend to fix the Trop up in time for the club to play games there later in the 2025 season, or if the club takes another route to filling out its regular season calendar such as sharing time with other minor league clubs or even one of the more extreme possible solutions floated by Topkin such as sharing loanDepot Park with the Marlins. Any of those options would likely come with some scheduling conflicts not unlike the ones that would face the Rays and Bulls in Durham, and a speculative solution to that dilemma could be spreading the Rays’ 2025 home games across multiple sites.

In other stadium news, a recent report from Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press noted that the Twins are only halfway through their 30-year lease at Target Field in Minneapolis. While that wouldn’t be especially noteworthy in most circumstances, the Pohlad family’s recent announcement that they intend to explore selling the franchise has prompted concern among Twins fans that prospective buyers may look to move the club out of Minnesota. If a buyer planned to do that, however, they’d have to wait quite some time in order to do so as the Twins’ lease stipulates that “shall not vacate or abandon the ballpark at any time” during the lease’s term.

In other words, any prospective buyer of the Twins would likely have to wait more than a decade before they could seriously consider relocation, a reality that could lead any potentially interested parties who hope to purchase and subsequently relocate a team to seek out other options that could lead them to their intended destination faster. That’s surely a relief for Twins fans who have in previous decades endured relocation and contraction attempts while the Pohlad family has owned the club.

MLBTR Podcast: Changes In Minnesota, Cubs’ Prospect Depth, And Possibilities For The O’s

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • With Jed Hoyer in the last year of his contract, how aggressive will the Cubs be this offseason? Also, with so many top 100 prospects nearing the majors, how will that impact their offseason decisions? (10:10)
  • What is the feeling about the Orioles possible spending this offseason? Is there a sense of what could happen or is more wait-and-see in the inside baseball world? (26:55)
  • What do the Rangers need to do in this offseason in order to be competitive next year.  Any specific players they need to target? (32:45)
  • Willson Contreras seems like a logical fit for the Blue Jays if the Cardinals decide to move him. Only problem might be the return since the Cardinals want to shed money. Would this be likely? (34:55)
  • The Padres have spent significant resources to build its current roster, but the World Series title continues to elude them. With potential payroll issues looming, how do they maintain their success for 2025 and beyond? They have a good lineup and great bullpen, but how do they avoid being worse in 2025? (39:50)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Previewing FA Starting Pitchers, TV Deals, And Potential Spending Teams – listen here
  • Buster Posey Takes Over In SF And The Cardinals’ Succession Plan – listen here
  • Final Days In Oakland, The Surging Tigers, And If The Nats Will Pursue Juan Soto – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Eight Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com or MLB.com logs.

Catchers

Infielders

Pitchers

Twins To Name Matt Borgschulte Hitting Coach

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The Twins are hiring Orioles co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte as their new hitting coach, replacing the recently dismissed David Popkins, as first reported by Brandon Warne. It’s a return to his first professional organization, as Borgschulte was a hitting coach in the Twins’ minor league ranks from 2018-21 before being hired to Baltimore’s big league staff for the 2022 season. Prior to his days as a coach in the Twins system, Borgschulte had been coaching at Southeast Missouri State University.

Borgschulte’s departure is the latest in a shakeup of the Orioles’ coaching staff on the heels of a second-half decline for the club, during which many of the team’s hitters struggled to produce at prior levels. His co-hitting coach, Ryan Fuller, was one of three coaches from whom the club moved on last week. Baltimore still has former big leaguer Cody Asche on manager Brandon Hyde’s staff as the “offensive strategy coordinator,” but it seems there’ll be a change of note in the organization’s messaging to a young core of hitters.

The Twins are plenty familiar with Borgschulte, of course, and will now install him on the club’s big league staff after declining to do so heading into the 2022 campaign. Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets that Borgschulte was a finalist for what was then a vacant hitting coach position that ultimately went to Popkins.

Minnesota is undergoing a similar overhaul to its organizational hitting strategy. Popkins was one of four coaches the Twins cut loose. They also moved on from assistant hitting coaches Rudy Hernandez and Derek Shomon. Hernandez had been at his post as assistant hitting coach for nine years.

Though the second half of the season didn’t go well in Baltimore, Borgschulte clearly had a role in working with the Orioles’ impressive core of young hitters in recent years. It’s impossible to pin an entire organization’s successes or failures on one singular coach, but the O’s have churned out quality hitters like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser in recent seasons while seeing veterans like Anthony Santander and Ryan O’Hearn take their offensive games to new levels. Minnesota will hope for similar strides among its own impressive core of young hitters, including Matt Wallner, Royce Lewis, Edouard Julien and Brooks Lee (among others).

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