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Jhoan Duran, Caleb Thielbar, Anthony DeSclafani To Begin Season On Injured List

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1:39pm: There’s concern that DeSclafani could require season-ending surgery, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey tells Nightengale and others.

1:00pm: Twins closer Jhoan Duran, lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar, and rotation hopeful Anthony DeSclafani will open the season on the 15-day injured list, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Duran is dealing with a “moderate” oblique strain, while Thielbar will head to the IL with a strained hamstring. DeSclafani has a more ominous forearm strain and is slated to meet with Dr. Keith Meister for further evaluation.

Beyond that trio of surefire big leaguers, the Twins will also see prospect Matt Canterino and roster hopeful Zack Weiss start on the injured list, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Canterino, long one of the organization’s most promising arms, will be on the Triple-A injured list after suffering a subscapular strain in his shoulder. Weiss, a waiver claim out of the Red Sox organization, has been rehabbing a teres major strain and will be on the major league injured list.

Losing Duran even for a short spell is painful for the Twins, given the flamethrower’s emergence as one of MLB’s premier relievers. Since making his big league debut on Opening Day 2022, Duran has pitched 130 innings of 2.15 ERA ball with 35 saves, 19 holds, a 33.2% strikeout rate, a 7.9% walk rate and a massive 63.4% ground-ball rate. He averaged a ludicrous 101.8 mph on his heater last season and 98.4 mph with his splitter/sinker hybrid (“splinker”). The good news for the Twins is that a moderate strain shouldn’t result in excessively lengthy absence, but even Grade 1 strains have been known to sideline players for upwards of a month. The team hasn’t formally announced a timetable for Duran’s expected return just yet.

Wit Duran sidelined, it’ll likely fall to Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart to handle save situations early in the season. Jax has become one of Duran’s top setup men in recent years and offers an above-average strikeout rate and strong command of a slider-heavy arsenal. Stewart returned from a yearslong MLB absence and multiple arm surgeries brandishing an upper-90s cutter that helped him punch out nearly 36% of his opponents while pitching to a 0.65 ERA in 27 2/3 innings for the Twins last saeson.

The 37-year-old Thielbar has flown under the radar since returning to affiliated ball following a five-year absence in 2020, but he’s quietly been one of the team’s most important relievers in that time. Over the past four seasons, the Minnesota native has given his hometown club 174 innings of 3.21 ERA ball, piling up 45 holds while punching out 30.2% of his opponents against a 7.4% walk rate. He struggled against right-handers last season, yielding a .258/.319/.621 batting line, but Thielbar didn’t have glaring struggles against righties from 2020-22. As with Duran, they’ll hope for a relatively brief absence, but the team hasn’t given any specifics on how long he’s expected to miss just yet.

Word of DeSclafani’s injury is the most concerning of the three. Acquired from the Mariners (who’d picked him up from the Giants previously) as part of the trade sending Jorge Polanco to Seattle, DeSclafani had been in the running to open the season as the Twins’ fifth starter. He was slowed early in camp by some discomfort and is now headed for evaluation with one of the sport’s more notable surgeons.

DeSclafani has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career. He missed the entire 2017 season with a UCL sprain that never required surgery, pitched a mostly healthy year in 2018 and enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career with the Reds in 2019. A teres major strain hobbled him in 2020 and limited him to 33 2/3 innings of 7.22 ERA ball, however. DeSclafani bounced back with a bit 2021 season in San Francisco, working 167 2/3 frames of 3.17 ERA ball over a mostly full slate of 31 starts.

DeSclafani re-signed in San Francisco on a three-year, $36MM deal that hasn’t at all gone according to plan. An ankle injury that eventually required surgery limited him to 19 frames in 2022. Shoulder fatigue and a pair of flexor strains capped him at 99 2/3 frames in 2023. He’ll now be slowed to begin the 2024 season, though a timeline won’t be known until that appointment with Dr. Meister has taken place.

The Twins are only the hook for $4MM of DeSclafani’s $12MM salary. The Giants sent $6MM to the Mariners in their original trade involving DeSclafani, and the M’s sent that plus another $2MM to Minnesota in the Polanco swap. With DeSclafani headed to the injured list, right-hander Louie Varland should have the fifth spot in the rotation all but locked up. He’ll follow Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack and Bailey Ober in what should be a solid Twins staff if everyone can remain healthy. However, the Twins will undoubtedly feel the losses of Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda, particularly now with their top depth option shelved. In the event of additional pitching injuries, Minnesota would likely turn to one of Simeon Woods Richardson, Brent Headrick or yet-to-debut top prospect David Festa.

As for the others, Canterino is still working his way back from 2022 Tommy John surgery. Injuries have regularly slowed him since being selected in the second round of the 2019 draft. Between shaky health and the scrapped 2020 minor league season, he’s still pitched only 85 professional innings. They’ve been excellent — 1.48 ERA, 39.2% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate — but his persistent injury troubles have undercut his considerable upside. As for Weiss, he’s pitched just 27 1/3 MLB frames but has a history of strong strikeout totals in the minors. He could be a bullpen option for the Twins at some point, but for now he’ll collect MLB service and pay while rehabbing. For a 32-year-old with just 91 days of big league service to this point in his career, that’s not insignificant.

It seems unlikely that the Twins will go outside the organization to boost their depth — at least in term of significant salary additions. Owner Joe Pohlad all but declared his team out on top names like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery earlier in camp when stating that his team was not going to “go out and spend $30MM on a player right now.” The Twins shocked baseball with a pair of Carlos Correa signings that came together under similar circumstances, but it doesn’t seem there’s another splash of that magnitude up their sleeves. Minnesota was reportedly interested in Michael Lorenzen earlier in the offseason, so it’s possible they could still circle back on that front. More likely is that they’ll just ride things out with internal options, perhaps adding a veteran on a minor league deal. A particularly lengthy absence for DeSclafani could create some extra urgency, so the results of his evaluation are worth tracking with a close eye for Twins fans.

Twins Notes: Gray, Maeda, Keuchel, Larnach, Kirilloff, Thielbar

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A five-game losing streak has dropped the Twins’ record to 54-53, and their AL Central lead has shrunk to a half-game advantage over the Guardians.  Caught in an unusual position of both trying to win the division and perhaps reload the roster for a better shot at contending in 2024, the Twins appear to be flexible with their plans heading into the trade deadline, as The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reports that the club is at least listening to offers about starters Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda.  However, “they’d need to be blown away to make a deal that potentially harms their own postseason chances,” Hayes writes, since starting pitching has been such a key plank of the Twins’ success this year.

Reports from earlier this week suggested that Minnesota had at least considered moving Maeda, and that the Twins were getting interest in general about their rotation depth.  Since it would count as a major shock if any of Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez, and Bailey Ober were traded, pending free agents Gray and Maeda seem like far more viable trade candidates, even if the odds of either moving don’t seem too high.

As Hayes notes, there’s no harm for Minnesota in testing the market for Gray or Maeda, just in case a team desperate for starting pitching is willing to overpay as other options are removed from the board as the deadline approaches.  Re-signing both Gray and Maeda this winter doesn’t seem likely whatsoever, and it seems quite possible that the Twins might let both veteran pitchers walk in free agency.  Ergo, exploring trade opportunities now is a logical tactic, especially if another team is willing to offer the right-handed hitting or bullpen help that the Twins are currently looking to obtain.

Dallas Keuchel has looked great for Triple-A Saint Paul since signing a minor league deal with the Twins back in June, as the former AL Cy Young Award winner has a 1.13 ERA over 32 innings.  Since Keuchel has an opt-out clause in his contract on August 1 (trade deadline day), some kind of decision is coming soon, and Keuchel could be the logical replacement if Minnesota did move Gray or Maeda.  In terms of Keuchel himself as a trade chip, Hayes writes that there is only “minimal interest” from other clubs, which isn’t surprising given how Keuchel’s MLB results have so badly tailed off in the last two seasons.  The southpaw has a 6.35 ERA over 222 2/3 Major League innings since the start of the 2021 campaign, and he has yet to see any big league action in 2023.

Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said earlier this week that the club’s left-handed hitting outfielders were drawing interest, and Hayes reports that Trevor Larnach in particular has been on the radar of the Mets and Padres.  Larnach is only a couple of years removed from being a top-100 prospect, though he has a modest .223/.315/.380 slash line over 669 career plate appearances.  This lack of performance and a season-ending core muscle surgery in 2022 have kept Larnach from really establishing himself in the majors, not to mention how the Twins’ outfield depth has led to Larnach spending a lot of extra time at Triple-A.

Since Larnach is only 26 and has a limited sample size of MLB experience, it makes sense why the Padres, Mets, and probably several other teams would want to bet on a post-hype breakout.  It’s worth noting that Larnach hadn’t hit very much in Triple-A prior to this season, and even his .234/.363/.431 slash line over 157 PA for Saint Paul in 2023 is only decent, rather than a clear sign that Larnach has nothing more to prove in the minors.

With the Mets already looking ahead to 2024, a hypothetical New York/Minnesota trade package could include a right-handed hitting outfielder like Tommy Pham or Mark Canha, or reliever Brooks Raley.  All would essentially be rental pickups, though Canha and Raley are controllable through club options for the 2024 season.  Raley has pitched well enough that his $6.5MM club option ($1MM buyout) looks like a good bet to be exercise by the Mets, Twins, or whatever team might own his rights after the deadline.

Of course, injuries can always change the equation for any team as the deadline approaches, and the Twins placed Alex Kirilloff on the 10-day injured list today due to a right shoulder strain.  Caleb Thielbar was activated from the 15-day IL in the corresponding move, with the left-hander returning after missing close to two months with an oblique strain.  This came on the heels of a previous IL stint due to another oblique problem, resulting in Thielbar making only one big league appearance since May 6.

Kirilloff has been trying to play through the injury for several days, as manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune) that Kirilloff was hurt diving for a ball.  Kirilloff is “just not able to swing the bat right now because he’s feeling some weakness in his shoulder,” Baldelli said, so the decision was made to put the first baseman on the IL for a full rest.

Wrist problems have plagued Kirilloff in the past, and his recovery from a wrist surgery last year delayed his 2023 debut until May 6.  Finally healthy and given an extended chance to play, Kirilloff looked to be having a bit of a breakout season, with a very solid 124 wRC+ to show from his .270/.357/.442 slash line over 258 plate appearances while mostly playing as Minnesota’s regular first baseman.  Donovan Solano and Joey Gallo are likely to be platooned at first base while Kirilloff is out, and if the Twins get any indication over the next two days that Kirilloff might be facing an extended absence, first base help might be added to the club’s deadline checklist.

AL Central Notes: Twins, Jimenez, Pasquantino

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The Twins are sending a pair of their players for further examination this weekend, as noted by Betsy Helfand of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. According to Helfand, second baseman Jorge Polanco went for an MRI yesterday in Toronto after leaving Thursday’s game with hamstring tightness while left-hander Caleb Thielbar is set to return to Minnesota for an MRI of his own this weekend after the club placed him on the injured list with an oblique strain earlier this week.

Both players have been key pieces for the Twins when healthy but have struggled to stay on the field this season. Polanco has been limited to just 30 games, but has slashed .250/.291/.450 with a 105 wRC+ during that time. Thielbar, on the other hand, posted a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings prior to going on the injured list at the beginning of May. The veteran lefty was activated earlier this week but recorded just one out on a major league mound before returning to the injured list with his current oblique issue.

With Thielbar on the shelf, the Twins are relying on Jovani Moran as the sole left-handed reliever in their bullpen, though the 26-year-old has posted a solid 3.86 ERA and 3.67 FIP in 25 2/3 innings of work this season. Meanwhile, Kyle Farmer filled in for Polanco at the keystone yesterday, though if the switch-hitting second baseman requires a stint on the injured list, it seems likely the Twins would turn to Edouard Julien, who has posted a .226/.310/.452 slash line in 72 major league plate appearances while shuttling between the majors and Triple-A this season.

More from around the AL Central…

  • White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told reporters, including Rob Schaefer of the Chicago Sun Times, that slugger Eloy Jimenez would be out for the next few days after he sustained a lower left leg injury during Thursday’s doubleheader against the Yankees. While Grifol notes that the injury is more significant than its initial day-to-day designation indicated, the club is still optimistic that Jimenez will be able to avoid a stint on the injured list, which would be his third this season. Jimenez, who has slashed .257/.315/.434 in 35 games with the White Sox this season, figures to be filled in for at DH by Jake Burger.
  • Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star notes that Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, who left yesterday’s game against the Orioles with right shoulder discomfort, is still being evaluated by the team’s medical staff. Any time missed by Pasquantino would be a significant blow to the Royals, as the 25-year-old slugger has been one of the club’s few consistent offensive performers, though his .247/.324/.437 slash line (107 wRC+) hasn’t quite lived up to his phenomenal rookie season, when he posted a wRC+ of 137. Nick Pratto figures to take over at first base if Pasquantino were to miss significant time.

Quick Hits: Stroman, Maeda, Orioles, Barreto

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Cubs starter Marcus Stroman remains hopeful of finding a long term contract extension with the Cubs, with the veteran telling Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that a trade away from Wrigley would “bother” him.

“At this point in my career, I’m so open to anything. But it would bother me a bit, just because I feel like I do love it here, as far as the city, the organization from the top down, the fans,” Stroman said.

Stroman is the middle of another quality campaign, posting a 2.95 ERA through 11 starts. That mark comes with a 9.1% walk rate and a 21.3% strikeout rate.

It’s already been reported that Stroman and the Cubs had preliminary extension talks in the spring, and while Rosenthal adds that the Cubs are open to a new deal, it does not appear that anything is imminent. The Cubs, in the midst of an 8-19 run, would seem to be trending towards selling at the deadline and Stroman may well be a valuable trade chip for them.

Stroman holds a $21MM player option for 2024 but would appear to be on track to opt out of that and test the open market. It’s also worth noting that the Cubs can’t tender a qualifying offer to Stroman, as he already took one (and accepted it) from the Mets.

Here’s some more bits and pieces from around the sport:

  • The Orioles are one team that certainly are not trending towards being sellers, and Orioles general manager Mike Elias says they’re “preparing to be buyers”, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun. While there’s quite a bit of time before trade season really heats up, it should come as no surprise that the 33-19 Orioles will be adding. Despite having a hugely promising young roster, the O’s have resisted pushing the chips in, opting to sell at last year’s deadline before making only modest additions this past winter. The team has made a notable step forward this year though, and perhaps that’ll be enough to encourage Elias to be a bit more aggressive on the trade market.
  • Some help is on the way for the Twins, with Kenta Maeda and Caleb Thielbar to start rehab assignments this week, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Maeda made just four ugly starts for the Twins this season before hitting the shelf with a triceps strain, giving up 16 earned runs in as many innings. The Twins rotation has done well in Maeda and Tyler Mahle’s (Tommy John surgery) absence, and it’s possible the team could use him in relief at least to begin with. Thielbar has been out since early May with an oblique strain, and his return will give the team another left handed option in the bullpen. Thielbar was off to a nice start to the season, working to a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings.
  • The Nationals have released Franklin Barreto, per the Talk Nats podcast. The former A’s and Angels infielder joined Washington on a minor league deal but hit just .202/.282/.455 in 111 plate appearances at Triple-A. A former top-100 prospect, Barreto never hit in the big leagues, compiling a .175/.207/.342 line over parts of four seasons in the big leagues.

Twins Select Dereck Rodríguez, Recall Alex Kirilloff

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The Twins announced a series of roster moves today, selecting right-hander Dereck Rodríguez and recalling infielder/outfielder Alex Kirilloff from Triple-A St. Paul. In corresponding moves, outfielder Trevor Larnach was optioned to Triple-A while left-hander Caleb Thielbar has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right oblique strain. To open a 40-man spot for Rodríguez, righty Tyler Mahle was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Rodríguez, 31 next month, arrived in the big leagues as a starter in 2018, posting a 2.81 ERA in 118 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, his ERA jumped to 5.64 the next year and he’s largely been in a depth/swingman role since then. He made just two appearances in the big leagues in 2020 and none in 2021. Last year, he was with the Twins on a minor league deal and was twice selected to the big league club, once in April and once in September. In each case, he made one multi-inning relief stint and was promptly designated for assignment.

He and the organization seem to have have a good relationship, as he re-signed on another minor league deal this past winter even after all of that roster shuffling. He has a 4.66 ERA in 19 1/3 Triple-A innings this year and will give the club a fresh arm. They used five relievers yesterday, not including Thielbar, in their 12-inning game against the White Sox.

As for Kirilloff, he’s a former first round draft pick and was one of the top prospects in baseball not too long ago. Persistent wrist problems have frequently put him out of action and also diminished his production, but he seems to be on a tear right now. He began the year on the injured list and was optioned after returning to health, but is hitting .300/.426/.580 through 14 minor league games. He’ll get a chance to see if he can bring any of that up to the majors, hopefully staying healthy in the process.

As for Mahle, it was reported on the weekend that he would be shut down for four weeks due to a posterior impingement and a flexor pronator strain in his throwing arm. Even if he’s healthy after that shutdown period, he would then have to ramp back up to a full starter’s workload. It would have been difficult for him to return within 60 days but this move now makes that officially off the table.

Twins Designate Joe Smith For Assignment, Select Sandy Leon

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The Twins on Wednesday selected the contract of veteran catcher Sandy Leon — acquired in a minor league swap with Cleveland yesterday — and designated veteran right-handed reliever Joe Smith for assignment (Twitter link via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). Minnesota also reinstated lefty Caleb Thielbar from the 15-day injured list and optioned catcher Caleb Hamilton to Triple-A St. Paul.

Smith, 38, signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Twins late in the offseason. He’s currently sporting a lackluster 4.61 ERA through 27 1/3 frames, though that number is disproportionately skewed by a nightmarish appearance on July 17, when Smith took a six-run drubbing at the hands of the White Sox in an 11-0 blowout loss. Setting aside that one awful outing, he’s otherwise pitched to a 2.67 ERA.

The Twins, however, rarely gave Smith eighth-inning work and often relied on him in innings five through seven, often entrusting higher-leverage innings to Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and (with far less success) Emilio Pagan and Tyler Duffey. Smith has been homer-prone this year even if one is willing to charitably overlook that White Sox implosion, and lefties have absolutely torched him, posting a .303/.410/.606 batting line in 39 plate appearances.

In the past, the sidearming Smith has excelled in terms of limiting hard contact. After a brief hiccup in that regard in 2020, he bounced back in 2021 — not to his prior peak, granted, but an 87.9 mph average exit velocity and 35.2% hard-hit rate were both solid enough marks. This season, Smith has yielded an average exit velocity of 89.2 mph, however, and a hefty 42.1% of batted balls against him have left the bat at 95 mph or greater.

Smith is still owed about $879K of this year’s $2.5MM salary, and any team that claims him will be responsible for the remainder of that sum. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he can reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency while still retaining the entirety of that remaining salary. A new team would only be responsible for the prorated portion of the league minimum upon signing Smith and adding him to the big league roster. The Twins, of course, can no longer trade Smith now that yesterday’s deadline has passed, so he’ll be on either outright waivers or release waivers within the next few days.

As for Leon, he’ll give the Twins a defensive-minded backup who’s long drawn praise for his receiving skills and defense — even as they’ve been coupled with anemic offense. At this juncture of his career, the 33-year-old switch-hitter is the consummate veteran backup. He went 2-for-15 with a pair of singles but six walks earlier this season with the Guardians and has a .226/.340/.333 slash in 100 Triple-A plate appearances between Cincinnati and Cleveland on the year. He’ll give the Twins a solid glove and veteran game-caller while they await the return of 25-year-old Ryan Jeffers, who’s out several more weeks with a broken thumb.

It’s possible that the Twins will continue to roster Leon even after Jeffers returns, as Leon would still be a better defensive backup behind the plate than Gary Sanchez, who could revert back to a primary designated hitter role. Beyond that, Major League teams will get a couple of extra roster spots in September, making it easier to roster both Leon and Sanchez. The Twins have regularly carried three catching options in previous seasons.

Injury Updates: Trout, Rodriguez, Buxton, Thielbar, Meyer

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Mike Trout hasn’t played since July 12 due to back spasms, and that absence morphed into a stint on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his left ribcage.  The Angels placed the superstar on the IL on July 18, but head trainer Mike Frostad told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group) that Trout will miss more than the minimum 10 days.  Trout received a cortisone shot in his back “a few days ago.”

It isn’t yet known when Trout could return, and any sort of lingering problem is obviously bad news for the Angels and their fans — especially after last season, when Trout played in only 36 games due to a seemingly minor calf injury that simply never healed.  Trout returned in 2022 to deliver another outstanding set of numbers, though it isn’t helped an Angels team that has fallen apart after an impressive first five weeks of play.

More injury updates from around baseball…

  • Julio Rodriguez has missed both of the Mariners’ games in the second half, as the rookie star is day-to-day with left wrist soreness.  Rodriguez first suffered the injury while sliding during a stolen-base attempt last Sunday, and he told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer and other reporters) that he felt more soreness after participating in the Home Run Derby on during Monday’s All-Star week festivities.  However, the injury is “feeling better already,” and Rodriguez doesn’t think he’ll miss much time.  Rodriguez has exploded onto the scene in his first season, hitting .275/.337/.477 with 15 homers and 21 steals over his first 380 plate appearances in the majors.
  • Byron Buxton will miss the Twins’ weekend series in Detroit, as the outfielder received a PRP injection in his right knee on Wednesday.  (Megan Ryan of The Minneapolis Star Tribune was among those to report the news.)  Buxton has been plagued by tendinitis in his right knee for much of the season, though he opted to play in the All-Star Game for the first time rather than sit out the entire break.  Since Minnesota has off-days sandwiched around this two-game series against the Tigers, Buxton will receive five days off anyway, and the hope is that he’ll be ready to play when the Twins face the Brewers on Tuesday.
  • In other Twins injury news, Minnesota placed left-hander Caleb Thielbar on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 19) due to a left hamstring strain.  Right-hander Yennier Cano was called up to take Thielbar’s spot on the active roster.  Thielbar has a rather misleading 4.84 ERA over 35 1/3 relief innings this season, as he has outstanding hard-contact and strikeout numbers, plus only a 3.00 SIERA.
  • Max Meyer made only 10 pitches before exiting tonight’s game due to what the Marlins described as right elbow discomfort.  The ominous diagnosis comes on the heels of some ulnar nerve irritation that sidelined Meyer while he was pitching in the minors earlier this season.  One of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Meyer was making his second career start after allowing five runs over 5 1/3 frames in his July 16 debut.

Twins Sign Aaron Sanchez, Tyler Thornburg To Minors Deals

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The Twins have agreed to a minor league contract with starter Aaron Sanchez, reports Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). Minnesota also signed reliever Tyler Thornburg to a non-roster deal over the weekend, assigning him to Triple-A St. Paul.

Sanchez began the season in the Nationals’ organization after signing a minor league deal in March. He opened the year in Triple-A but was selected to the majors in mid-April. The 29-year-old made seven starts with the Nats but was tagged for an 8.33 ERA as he struck out a career-low 11.3% of opposing hitters. Sanchez threw a fair amount of strikes and induced grounders on over the half the batted balls against him, but he surrendered six home runs in 31 1/3 innings while struggling to miss bats.

Washington designated Sanchez for assignment and outrighted him off their roster late last month, at which point he elected free agency. The Southern California native once looked like a potential rotation building block for the Blue Jays, making an All-Star appearance and leading American League qualifiers in ERA in 2016. Sanchez has assumed more of a journeyman role in the last few seasons, though, particularly since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2019. After working in the mid-upper 90s at peak, he averaged just north of 90 MPH on his fastball with the Giants last year and a pedestrian 92 MPH for Washington this season.

Thornburg has also spent time in the NL East this year, as he began the season with the Braves. Atlanta had signed the veteran reliever to a $900K contract during Spring Training, and he opened the season in the big league bullpen. Thornburg allowed six runs (four earned) in 9 1/3 frames, striking out ten while issuing five walks. His early-season velocity was right in line with career norms, but Thornburg’s swing-and-miss rate was underwhelming and the Braves had consigned him to lower-leverage work. Atlanta designated him for assignment and released him in late May.

The 33-year-old has appeared in parts of nine MLB seasons, suiting up with the Brewers, Red Sox, Reds and Braves. Thornburg was quietly one of the league’s more effective late-game weapons in Milwaukee between 2013-16, but he’s struggled with injuries and underperformance in the years since then. Thornburg, who made his organizational debut with St. Paul yesterday, will try to pitch his way into a Minnesota bullpen that has been middle-of-the-pack thus far.

The rotation was generally expected to be a weakness, but Twins’ starters enter play Monday with the 7th-lowest collective ERA (3.54). That’s a big reason the club is currently sitting 32-24 and four and a half games clear of the competition in the AL Central, but they’ve been hit by a series of injuries over the past month.

Minnesota lost another rotation member this evening, announcing that right-hander Bailey Ober has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 3, due to a right groin strain. That’s the same issue that already resulted in an IL stint earlier in the season, as he was on the shelf for the first three weeks of May.

Ober made it back to the mound on May 22, and he’s made three starts since returning. The 26-year-old has allowed nine runs in 14 innings over that time, and he’ll apparently need some more time to recover. Ober earned himself a season-opening rotation spot with a solid 4.19 ERA showing across 20 starts as a rookie last year. He’d allowed only eight runs in 19 2/3 innings through four April outings prior to his first IL stint.

Minnesota is also without Joe Ryan — currently on the COVID-19 IL — and Sonny Gray, who hit the IL late last week due to a pectoral strain. Josh Winder has been out since mid-May dealing with a shoulder impingement, and the team lost Chris Paddack to Tommy John surgery last month. Dylan Bundy, Devin Smeltzer and Chris Archer are rotation locks, with Cole Sands probably the top depth option on the 40-man roster. Prospects Jordan Balazovic and Ronny Henriquez are already on the 40-man and starting games with St. Paul, but both have struggled mightily this year. Sanchez joins Chi Chi González as experienced, non-roster depth options with the Saints.

In additional procedural moves, the Twins reinstated four players — Max Kepler, Emilio Pagán, Trevor Megill and Caleb Thielbar — from the restricted list. Jharel Cotton and Ian Hamilton, both of whom had been selected to the roster as designated COVID-19 substitutes before the club’s weekend series in Toronto, have been removed from the 40-man and returned to St. Paul. That’s also true of González, who started Friday’s game but was returned over the weekend.

Twins Select Jharel Cotton, Ian Hamilton

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The Twins announced a series of roster moves ahead of this weekend’s series in Toronto. Minnesota selected the contracts of right-handers Chi Chi González, Jharel Cotton and Ian Hamilton while recalling outfielder Mark Contreras from Triple-A St. Paul. González will start this evening’s game, as had been reported yesterday.

In corresponding moves, four players — Max Kepler, Emilio Pagán, Trevor Megill and Caleb Thielbar — have been placed on the restricted list. That’s typical procedure for players who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 on teams heading to Toronto. The Canadian government prohibits unvaccinated athletes from crossing the border, so that quartet will be out of action until next week.

Cotton has bounced on and off the roster a couple times this season. Claimed off waivers from the Rangers last winter, he’s made four appearances in relief for the Twins. Over 6 2/3 innings, Cotton has allowed just two runs but issued six walks. He’s impressed in St. Paul, allowing four runs in 11 2/3 frames while striking out 18 batters against three walks.

Hamilton is in line for his team debut, nearly a year and a half after Minnesota claimed him off waivers from the Phillies. The Twins outrighted the Washington State product off their 40-man roster a few weeks later, and he spent the entire 2021 campaign in St. Paul. He posted a 4.12 ERA across 59 innings last year, striking out an excellent 33.5% of opponents but walking a sky-high 15.2% of batters faced. The 26-year-old maintained that strikeout prowess while getting his walk rate to a more manageable 9.6% this year, allowing only one run in 12 2/3 frames. Hamilton has 14 games of MLB experience under his belt, with the 2018-20 White Sox.

While the Twins didn’t specify that González, Cotton and Hamilton were coming up as designated COVID substitutes, that appears to be the case. Dan Hayes of the Athletic tweets the trio won’t have to pass through waivers when the others are able to return to the roster. That’s unique to COVID substitutes, who won’t occupy a permanent 40-man roster spot.

The commissioner’s office has the unilateral authority to grant teams permission to designate players as substitutes, which it does when it determines a club has been particularly affected by virus protocols. In all likelihood, each of González, Cotton and Hamilton will come off the 40-man roster on Monday.

Tender Deadline Signings: 11/30/21

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With the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming tonight at 8pm ET — the MLBPA and MLB jointly agreed to move the deadline up a couple days due to the looming expiration of the collective bargaining agreement — we’ll likely see a slew of arbitration-eligible players signing one-year deals.

It’s commonplace for a large batch of players to sign deals in the hours leading up to the tender deadline. “Pre-tender” deals of this nature often fall shy of projections due to the fact that teams use the looming threat of a non-tender to enhance their leverage. Arbitration contracts at this juncture are often take-it-or-leave-it propositions, with the “leave it” end of that arrangement resulting in the player being cut loose. Given the widely expected lockout, there could be more incentive than usual for borderline non-tender candidates to take those offers rather than being cast out into free agency just hours before a transaction freeze is implemented.

As a reminder, arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed. In a typical year, a team can cut a player on an arb contract at any point before the halfway point in Spring Training and only be responsible for 30 days’ termination pay (about one-sixth of the contract). Releasing a player in the second half of Spring Training bumps the termination pay to 45 days of his prorated salary.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for each team’s arbitration-eligible players last month, although for many of the players listed below, this isn’t so much avoiding arbitration as it is avoiding a non-tender. Here’s a look at today’s agreements…

  • The Yankees have agreed to deals with infielder Gio Urshela and right-hander Domingo German, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links). Urshela will make $6.55MM, while German has agreed to a $1.75MM deal. Urshela has two seasons of control remaining; German is controllable for three years. Urshela is coming off a .267/.301/.419 showing while playing third base and shortstop. German tossed 98 1/3 innings of 4.58 ERA ball.
  • The Twins have signed three arbitration-eligible pitchers, per reports from Feinsand and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (on Twitter). Right-hander Jharel Cotton signed for $700K, reliever Caleb Thielbar lands $1.3MM and reliever Tyler Duffey signs for $3.8MM. Thielbar and Duffey were both productive members of the Minnesota relief corps in 2021. Cotton was recently claimed off waivers from the Rangers.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with outfielder Austin Slater on a $1.85MM deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 28-year-old (29 next month) appeared at all three spots on the grass while hitting .241/.320/.423 over 306 plate appearances in 2021.
  • Reliever Emilio Pagan and the Padres have agreed on a $2.3MM deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 30-year-old worked 63 1/3 innings of 4.83 ERA/3.93 SIERA ball this past season.
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $2MM deal with left-hander Caleb Smith, reports Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (via Twitter). The 30-year-old posted a 4.83 ERA/4.68 SIERA across 113 2/3 innings in a swing capacity in 2021.

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