Michael Pineda

Tigers Interested In Zack Greinke, Michael Pineda

By Mark Polishuk | March 16, 2022 at 2:34pm CDT

The Tigers are “still in the mix” for free agent starters Zack Greinke and Michael Pineda, The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky reports (Twitter link). While the Tigers also re-signed Wily Peralta on a minor league deal earlier today, the club is clearly still interested in adding further reinforcements to its rotation, and using Peralta in his old swingman role.

Eduardo Rodriguez was signed to a five-year, $77MM deal back in November, thus giving Detroit a veteran arm to augment the promising young rotation trio of Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Matt Manning. Even with Peralta now in the fold as well, adding yet another full-time starter would give the Tigers more depth in the event of injury, or if any of the younger hurlers aren’t quite yet ready to deliver at the Major League level. Neither Greinke or Pineda are exactly sure things themselves, of course, but they do bring plenty of experience to a Tigers team that plans to return to contention.

Greinke’s 17.2% strikeout rate last season was his lowest since 2006, while his 17.4% home run rate was the highest of his 18-year career. The veteran righty also missed time due to both neck soreness and the COVID-related injury list during the last two months of the season, and thus the Astros only used Greinke on a sparing and limited basis during their postseason run.

This said, Greinke was still an effective pitcher overall, posting an elite 5.2% walk rate and solid hard-contact numbers en route to a 4.16 ERA over 171 innings for Houston. Even as Greinke enters his age-38 season, there is plenty of indication that he can still be a strong contributor to a big league rotation, though his days of being an All-Star caliber starter are probably over.

Pineda is only 33, but carries more durability questions than Greinke. Three separate IL stints limited Pineda to 109 1/3 innings with the Twins last season, and he also missed all of 2018 recovering from a Tommy John surgery. When Pineda did pitch last year, he performed well via the bottom-line number of a 3.62 ERA, though his Statcast metrics were much less flattering, apart from an outstanding 4.6% walk rate. Pineda had some of the worst hard-contact numbers of any pitcher in baseball, and his 19.2% strikeout rate was both well below the league average and the worst K% of Pineda’s eight big league seasons.

It would certainly seem likely that either Greinke or Pineda would be available on a one-year contract, which would fit a Detroit club that could be looking for more supplementary pieces after already spending big on E-Rod and Javier Baez. MLBTR ranked Greinke 40th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents and projected him for a one-year, $15MM deal. Pineda signed two-year deals with the Twins in each of his last two visits to the open market, though both of those contracts (worth $10MM and $20MM, respectively) were impacted by his Tommy John recovery and the 60-game PED suspension that cost him parts of the 2019 and 2020 season.

AL Central Notes: Twins, IKF, Tigers, Anderson, Boyd, White Sox

By Mark Polishuk | March 12, 2022 at 5:44pm CDT

The Twins and Rangers combined on one of the most interesting early moves of the post-lockout period, agreeing to a trade earlier today that will see Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pitching prospect Ronny Henriquez head to Minnesota, while catcher Mitch Garver was dealt to Texas. Speaking with reporters (including MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park) about the deal, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said the Twins were first in touch about Kiner-Falefa before the lockout, and Garver wasn’t initially part of trade talks until it became that such a notable price was necessary to pry Kiner-Falefa away from the Rangers.

While the presence of Ryan Jeffers ultimately made Garver expendable, Minnesota now has a new everyday shortstop, and a player who has generally looked like one of the league’s better defensive players no matter where Texas lined him up on the diamond. Kiner-Falefa said he is happy to be getting an opportunity to start at what he considers his natural position of shortstop, and his addition means that the Twins can now keep Jorge Polanco at second base.

Pineda, Baldelli Voice Interest In Reunion

By Steve Adams | September 30, 2021 at 11:06am CDT

Twins righty Michael Pineda is set to hit free agency this winter, but he again made clear that he hopes to re-sign with the team following last night’s victory. Pineda stressed to Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and others that he “loves” Minnesota and would be happy to return — echoing previous comments about his hope to continue calling Target Field his home. Manager Rocco Baldelli also voiced his own hope that the front office will be able to come to terms on a reunion with Pineda, calling the big righty a “pillar in our clubhouse” and extolling Pineda’s leadership qualities.

There’s no indication the Twins and Pineda have begun extension talks, but Minnesota has already re-signed Pineda once. He’s spent the past four seasons in the Twins organization, playing on a pair of two-year deals ($10MM and $20MM, respectively). It’s been a mixed bag of a season for Pineda, who sports a 3.62 ERA through 109 1/3 innings. He’s missed time due to both an elbow injury and an oblique strain, the former of which surely curbed interest in him at the trade deadline.

Pineda’s average fastball is down to a career-low 90.9 mph, and his 19.2 percent strikeout rate is also a career-low. He’s allowing more hard contact than ever before, both in terms of average exit velocity (91.2 mph) and hard-hit rate (46.1 percent). That said, Pineda is also sporting one of the best walk rates of his career (4.6 percent), the best first-pitch strike rate of his career (69.7 percent) and continues to be one of the best in the game at inducing swings on pitches outside the strike zone.

The Twins have an obvious need for rotation help next season. They traded away Jose Berrios for a pair of high-end prospects at the deadline and lost righty Kenta Maeda to Tommy John surgery. Rookie Bailey Ober has stepped up and laid claim to a 2021 spot with a quietly solid debut campaign. Right-hander Joe Ryan, whom they acquired from the Rays in exchange for Nelson Cruz, has been excellent through the first four starts of his own career. Minnesota has plenty of near-MLB prospects as well — Jordan Balazovic, Jhoan Duran, Josh Winder and Matt Canterino among them — but there’s no experienced starter returning to next year’s staff with Maeda likely to miss the 2022 season.

Minnesota figures to pursue multiple veterans in free agency and via the trade market this winter, as owner Jim Pohlad has already emphatically declared that even after trading Berrios, his club isn’t planning on embarking on a rebuilding effort. A Pineda reunion wouldn’t be the marquee addition for their staff this offseason, but he’d give the team some continuity from a leadership standpoint and some innings at the back of the rotation behind whichever higher-profile arms the Twins ultimately pursue.

Of course, Pineda voicing his own desire to return in no way guarantees the interest will be reciprocated, but Baldelli’s comments at least indicate that he’ll be making his own pitch to the front office to keep Pineda in the fold. Given the injuries Pineda has battled and the drop in fastball velocity, it’s possible the Twins’ front office will simply decide it’s best to move on. At the same time, however, those factors will limit Pineda’s appeal on the market and could force him into an affordable one-year pact, which could pique the club’s interest.

Twins Place Michael Pineda On 10-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | August 14, 2021 at 7:32pm CDT

The Twins placed right-hander Michael Pineda on the 10-day injured list due to a mild left oblique strain. Right-hander Ralph Garza Jr. was called up from Triple-A to take Pineda’s spot on the active roster.

The injury developed during Pineda’s start against the Rays last night, as Pineda allowed four runs over 2 2/3 innings before leaving the game after a visit on the mound from the team trainer. Speaking with reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) today, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said the injury isn’t expected to be serious enough to prevent Pineda from returning to the mound before the season is through.

That’s good news in both the short term and the longer term for Pineda, who can use his remaining starts to further bolster his free agent case for the offseason. The subject of several rumors leading up to the July 30 trade deadline, Pineda ended up staying in Minnesota, which counted as a surprise considering his rental player status and the fact that as of July 26, the Twins had yet to engage the righty’s representatives in negotiations about a contract extension.

It’s been a mixed bag for Pineda in 2021, making him an interesting entry for teams to evaluate on the open market this winter. Pineda has a solid 4.13/4.24 ERA over 85 innings, and he has continued his career-long ability to limit free passes by delivering another excellent (4.8%) walk rate. However, Pineda has also allowed a lot of hard contact and his 20.6% strikeout rate is well below the league average.

Durability is also still a question mark, as Pineda has now made three trips to the injured list this season. (He had a 10-day absence in May after undergoing a procedure to have an abscess removed from his thigh, and he also missed three weeks due to elbow inflammation.) Pineda has missed two full seasons of his pro career due to a shoulder surgery and a Tommy John surgery, and he also missed 60 games spanning the 2019-20 seasons due to a PED suspension. Heading into his age 33 season, Pineda has tossed 354 innings since the start of the 2017 campaign.

Rays, Blue Jays, Red Sox Reportedly Most Active Teams In Jose Berrios Market

By Steve Adams | July 29, 2021 at 5:44pm CDT

5:44 pm: The Rays, Blue Jays and Red Sox are the most active teams in the Berrios market, reports Heyman, who adds that the division’s other contender, the Yankees, have also checked in. It doesn’t seem likely that the Mets — who have long been interested in Berrios but deterred by the Twins’ asking price — will wind up landing him. The Mets continue to be put off by Minnesota’s demand, hears Andy Martino of SNY, and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com suggests that’s also the case in discussions between the two clubs regarding Pineda.

2:39pm: The Twins have numerous offers in hand for Berrios, per Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes of The Athletic, who add that the market has exceeded the Twins’ initial expectations (Twitter link). A trade is seen as increasingly likely. TSN’s Scott Mitchell tweets that the Blue Jays are “definitely” in the mix for Berrios.

2:34pm: The Twins are getting “bombarded” with offers for Berrios, Nightengale tweets, adding that the Padres in particular are being aggressive in their efforts.

1:58pm: Some teams who’ve spoken to the Twins about Berrios get the sense that they’re more willing to move him now than they were earlier in the summer, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman lists the Dodgers as a team with interest, and, like myriad other recent reports, also indicates the Padres have interest. Dan Hayes of The Athletic recently wrote that the Padres had interest in Berrios, Michael Pineda and Kenta Maeda. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote this morning that San Diego is more focused on Berrios than on Max Scherzer.

8:11am: The Twins have already traded away Nelson Cruz, and with an off-day Thursday, today’s focus figures to be entirely on their deadline efforts to reload the club for 2022 and beyond. Jose Berrios is Minnesota’s most coveted trade candidate, and Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that offers for Berrios “have spiked” with the trade deadline now less than 48 hours away.

MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Mariners have been pursuing a Berrios acquisition this week, with the Twins focusing on one of Seattle’s top pitching prospects (Emerson Hancock or George Kirby) as part of a multi-player return. The two sides aren’t close to a deal, Morosi adds. Both Hancock (2020) and Kirby (2019) were first-round picks in recent Mariners drafts and have pitched at Class-A Advanced this year. Both players have missed time with shoulder fatigue this year, but Hancock returned this week and Kirby is expected back within the next couple of weeks, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweeted a couple days ago.

The Mets, too, have been linked to Berrios throughout the month of July, but all indications to this point have been that they consider the asking price too steep. Indeed, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Mets are “very” interested but also had “sticker shock” when the Twins initially asked for a combination of two top-100 prospects and a young big leaguer. Beyond that, the Mets’ lack of premium pitching prospects may be a problem. Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Mets would perhaps need to involve a third team if they hoped to actually land Berrios. They’ve recently been more connected to rental pitchers.

Of course, virtually every contender or pseudo-contender has checked in with the Twins on Berrios’ asking price, given his affordable $6.1MM salary for the 2021 season as well as his remaining year of arbitration eligibility before free agency. The 27-year-old Berrios is enjoying the best season of an already impressive career, having pitched to a 3.48 ERA with career-best marks in strikeout percentage (25.7) and ground-ball percentage (43.6). His 6.5 percent walk rate is the second-lowest of his career, and the durable right-hander’s current pace would put him in line to land somewhere in the 195 to 200 range in terms of total innings pitched.

Twins’ Owner: Team “Absolutely Not” Going Into Rebuild

By Steve Adams | July 27, 2021 at 12:25am CDT

Anyone who’s even loosely followed the 2021 MLB season knows it’s been a disaster year for the Twins. The American League Central’s last-place club, Minnesota has already traded Nelson Cruz, will likely trade Michael Pineda in the coming days and will surely have interest in several other key pieces. That said, given the team’s payroll space, cost-controlled group of young hitters, solid farm system and other factors, it’s long seemed likely they’ll aim to reload and be competitive again in 2022. Owner Jim Pohlad effectively confirmed that this week in an interview with Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Asked by Hayes whether this nightmarish season could “change your direction to rebuilding,” Pohlad replied emphatically: “Absolutely not. We want to be in the win window all the time. We expected that to be the case this year.”

Obviously, that didn’t happen for the Twins, who have weathered absences for Byron Buxton, Mitch Garver, Luis Arraez, Max Kepler, Kenta Maeda, Pineda and others. More problematic has been that nearly all of Minnesota’s offseason free-agent expenditures (the since-traded Cruz being a notable exception) have failed to live up to expectations.

The subsequent 43-58 record has positioned the Twins as a clear deadline seller, but Pohlad’s comments today reinforce what was already widely expected: this isn’t likely to be an “everything must go” fire sale. The team is receiving interest in players controlled beyond 2021, most notably top starter Jose Berrios, but the asking price on him has reportedly been high and focused on near-MLB assets. Given Pohlad’s comments and the fact that the Twins zeroed in on Triple-A pitchers in last week’s Cruz trade — both Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman could be options in Minnesota this year — that focus on big-league-ready talent is to be expected.

All of this is particularly worth considering as the clock ticks toward Friday’s 4pm ET trade deadline. For instance, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweeted this morning that the Twins have had some early talks on Kepler. That was already known after multiple reports linked Kepler to the Yankees last week, but the broader question of Kepler’s general “availability” (or lack thereof) should be considered in conjunction with ownership’s comments. Were the Twins looking to completely start over, players like Kepler, Berrios, Taylor Rogers (prior to his finger injury) and others would be strong trade candidates. As it stands, they’re more long shots with weighty asking prices.

It’s also possible that some of the impending free agents who do seem like locks to move could be flipped and then again pursued in free agency. Pineda, who pitched well tonight in what could be his final start with the Twins, told reporters after the game that Minnesota has come to feel like home and he hopes to remain (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park). A trade still seems overwhelmingly likely, but Hayes tweets that Pineda would have interest in returning for 2022 and beyond even if (or when) he is ultimately traded this week.

Michael Pineda Drawing Trade Interest

By Tim Dierkes | July 26, 2021 at 9:01am CDT

Twins righty Michael Pineda is drawing trade interest, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The 32-year-old takes the bump tonight at Target Field against Matt Manning and the Tigers, in what figures to be a well-scouted affair. According to Darren Wolfson of KSTP TV, the Twins have not held extension talks with Pineda, who’s due for free agency after the season. Wolfson notes that the Padres have scouted Pineda this month.

The cellar-dwelling Twins dealt one impending free agent last week as they shipped Nelson Cruz to the Rays. In addition to Pineda, Andrelton Simmons, J.A. Happ, Alex Colome, and Hansel Robles are set for free agency after the season and may be sent packing by Friday’s deadline. More desirable, but perhaps less likely to be dealt, are a trio of quality Twins players who are controlled through 2022: Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios, and Taylor Rogers. The Twins figure to be central to this year’s trade deadline action.

The Twins re-signed Pineda to a two-year, $20MM deal back in December 2019, despite the knowledge that he’d miss the first 39 games of 2020 due to a PED suspension. Assuming Pineda is making $10MM this year, more than $3MM will remain at the deadline. Pineda sports a 3.93 through 13 starts this year, missing time with thigh and forearm injuries. Pineda’s average fastball velocity is down to a career-worst 90.8 miles per hour this year. On a related note, he’s punched out only 21% of batters faced, his worst mark since 2014. Pineda’s strong control remains intact, with a walk rate south of 6%. As a flyball-heavy hurler, he’s always been prone to the longball.

Despite adding Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove in the offseason, the Padres continue to seek starting pitching depth. Dinelson Lamet, working his way back from forearm inflammation, will make a temporary move to the bullpen once he returns. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune previously linked the club to Kenta Maeda, Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles, Danny Duffy, and Jon Gray.

As Jon Heyman of MLB Network sees it, almost all contenders aside from perhaps the White Sox and Astros are prioritizing starting pitching. Morosi sees at least seven contenders as active in the starting pitching market at present: the Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, Dodgers, Padres, Astros, and Phillies. Though Morosi did not mention the Mets, SNY’s Andy Martino says they’re in the market for help in both the rotation and bullpen, with a focus on rentals.

Twins Reinstate Michael Pineda From Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | July 7, 2021 at 10:42am CDT

The Twins have reinstated Michael Pineda from the 10-day injured list, and the right-hander is scheduled to start this afternoon’s game with the White Sox. Righty Griffin Jax was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Right elbow inflammation sidelined Pineda back on June 14, though fortunately his elbow issue ended up being relatively minor enough for him to get back to action prior to the All-Star break. (Pineda also had a minimal IL stint in May after a minor procedure to remove an abscess from his thigh.) It also provides time for Pineda to essentially audition for other teams, since the Twins are going to be selling at the trade deadline and Pineda is a free agent after the season.

In terms of bottom-line numbers, Pineda has a solid 3.70 ERA/4.23 SIERA over 56 innings for Minnesota. Pineda has always been good at limiting walks through his career, and his 6.5% walk rate in 2021 is comfortably above the league average. Beyond that, however, there isn’t much to like about Pineda’s Statcast metrics, and his .343 xwOBA is much higher than his .299 xOBA. There are enough teams looking for starting pitchers, however, that Pineda will surely draw interest, and likely some teams will suspect that his overall performance might turn around with a change of scenery.

Twins Place Michael Pineda On Injured List

By Steve Adams | June 14, 2021 at 7:10pm CDT

The Twins announced Monday that they’ve placed righty Michael Pineda (right elbow inflammation) and infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder (hamstring strain) on the 10-day injured list. In a pair of corresponding moves, they’ve reinstated Kenta Maeda and Luis Arraez from the injured list. Center fielder Byron Buxton has not yet been activated, though Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that he traveled with the team to Seattle, which suggests a return is near.

The loss of Pineda is notable on multiple levels. The big righty has been one of the Twins’ few effective starters so far in 2021. He also stands out as one of the more obvious trade candidates on the roster for a disappointing Minnesota club that looks more and more likely to sell veteran pieces as the summer wears on.

Pineda, 32, was terrific for the first two months of the season, pitching to a 2.62 ERA with a 26.7 percent strikeout rate and a 6.8 percent strikeout rate. However, Pineda had one start pushed back this month, and he exited another — his most recent outing — with elbow discomfort after just four innings. He’s followed up that terrific April/May run with a three-start stretch that has seen him total just 11 1/3 innings while yielding 10 runs.

On the whole, Pineda still has plenty respectable numbers. He’s accumulated 56 innings on the year and posted a 3.70 earned run average with a 22.1 percent strikeout rate, a 6.5 percent walk rate and a 38.1 percent ground-ball rate. That type of production would help to bolster just about any rotation in baseball, and given that Pineda is playing out the second season of a two-year, $20MM contract, his salary is manageable enough for the majority of contenders. The Twins may not want to commit to selling just yet, but at 26-39 and 15 games back of the division lead, that’s the likeliest outcome.

Refsnyder, 30, was a pleasant surprise for an injury-ravaged Twins club. The journeyman utilityman signed a minor league deal over the winter but unexpectedly gave the Twins a .321/.371/.500 batting line in 62 trips to the plate before going down with his own injury. He’s taken on a good bit of the workload in center field while Buxton has recovered from a hip flexor strain.

In Maeda and Arraez, the Twins will be getting back a pair who were expected to play significant roles on a division contender. Maeda finished runner-up to Shane Bieber in last summer’s Cy Young voting, but he hasn’t looked right at all this season.

In nine starts before landing on the injured list with a groin injury, he pitched to a 5.27 ERA that was nearly double last season’s 2.70 mark. Maeda’s strikeout rate plummeted from 32.3 percent last year to 20.5 percent in 2021, while his walk rate has jumped from four percent to 5.8 percent. Most problematically, he’s given up home runs at the highest rate of his career (1.90 HR/9). Time will tell whether the stay on the IL can get the righty back on track.

Arraez, meanwhile, got out to a blistering start but saw his bat go ice-cold for several weeks before injuring his shoulder on a slide into second base. The versatile Arraez hit .331/.390/.429 with more walks than strikeouts in 487 plate appearances from 2019-20, but that output has slipped to .278/.358/.333 so far in 2021.

Twins Notes: Maeda, Pineda, Buxton, Arraez, Kepler

By Anthony Franco | June 13, 2021 at 4:52pm CDT

The Twins have been plagued by injuries in recent weeks, but they’re on the verge of getting several key players back. Right-hander Kenta Maeda will be activated from the injured list to start tomorrow night’s game against the Mariners, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Dan Hayes of the Athletic). He hasn’t pitched since May 22, when he went on the IL due to a groin strain.

It’s been a difficult season for Maeda, last year’s AL Cy Young award runner-up. The 33-year-old has managed just a 5.27 ERA over his first nine starts. Maeda’s strikeout rate has fallen from an elite 32.3% in 2020 to a below-average 20.5% this season. He’s also seen rather significant drops in his swinging strike and groundball rates, with opposing hitters making much harder contact off him.

Those struggles aside, the Twins will assuredly be happy to get their Opening Day starter back on the mound. Minnesota’s assortment of back-end starters (Matt Shoemaker, J.A. Happ, Randy Dobnak, Bailey Ober) have struggled to varying degrees, perhaps the biggest reason for the team’s horrible 26-39 start. Making matters worse, righty Michael Pineda is day-to-day after leaving this afternoon’s start with right forearm tightness (notes Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). Baldelli suggested Pineda could require an IL stint of his own (via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com).

While the rotation has been a massive disappointment, the Twins also haven’t been helped by a series of injuries to some of their top position players. Byron Buxton was off to an MVP-level start, but he went down with a right hip strain on May 7. Buxton has been on the IL for the past five weeks, but Baldelli said the star center fielder will accompany the team to Seattle (via Park). The same is true of utilityman Luis Arráez, who’s been out since May 26 with a right shoulder strain.

Buxton and Arráez have been on rehab assignments at Triple-A St. Paul, but they’re evidently nearing a return to the majors. They should be followed in relatively short order by Max Kepler. The 28-year-old outfielder began a rehab assignment of his own today, serving as the designated hitter in St. Paul. Kepler put up a .212/.303/.424 line in 152 plate appearances this season before straining his left hamstring.

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