Dobnak, 30, has spent his entire career in the Twins organization. He signed with the club as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and made his big league debut just two years later. The righty earned a regular role in the rotation the following season, making 10 starts with a 4.05 ERA and 4.56 SIERA during the shortened 2020 campaign. Although he failed to miss many bats (13.5% strikeout rate), Dobnak led all pitchers (min. 40 IP) with a 62.1% groundball rate. He faced 200 batters and allowed just three home runs.

That performance earned Dobnak a nice little extension ahead of 2021, a five-year, $9.25MM guarantee with escalators and club options that could increase the total value of the contract to $29.75MM over eight years. Yet, the Twins put him back in the bullpen to start the season, and while he ultimately made it back to the rotation for a handful of starts, he struggled in both roles. Across 14 games (six starts) and 50 2/3 innings, he pitched to a 7.64 ERA, though his 4.53 SIERA was almost identical to his SIERA from the year before.

Things continued trending downhill for Dobnak in 2022, and he ended up sitting out most of the season with a right middle finger strain, an injury that had also given him trouble in 2021. While he was healthy again in 2023, he did not make his way back to the big league roster, spending the season with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints. Dobnak finally returned to the majors in 2024, albeit briefly, tossing 9 2/3 innings in relief. He gave up six runs on 11 hits and five walks, while striking out seven. All told, he has a career 4.99 ERA and 4.43 SIERA over 135 1/3 innings, including 21 starts and 17 games out of the ’pen.

The Twins initially reassigned Dobnak to minor league camp two weeks ago, but evidently, he pitched well enough over there to change the team’s mind. Now in the final guaranteed year of his contract, Dobnak is a useful depth piece for Minnesota. He has experience as both a starter and a reliever, and he has thrown at least 125 innings in each of the past two seasons. What’s more, the Twins can add him to the 40-man and subsequently outright him as much as they would like with little risk of losing him. He does not have the necessary MLB service time to reject an outright assignment without forfeiting his remaining salary.

Today is a big roster churn day, as the 60-day injured list goes away and doesn’t come back until spring training. Since players on the 60-day IL don’t count against a club’s 40-man roster count, this leads to roster crunches around the league. As such, the Twins have removed five players from the roster and passed them through waivers.

Dobnak has been passed through waivers a couple of times before, a reflection of his contract and service time status. Going into 2021, he and the Twins agreed to a five-year, $9.25MM extension but his results failed to live up to that deal. Players need to have at least five years of service to both reject an outright assignment and keep all the remaining money on their contracts. Dobnak was and is well shy of that, meaning he has continually turned down chances to elect free agency, allowing him to keep collecting his paychecks on the deal. That is likely how this will play out. He got back to the big leagues this year for the first time since 2021 but posted a 5.59 earned run average over his five outings, bringing his career ERA up to 4.99.

Blewett, 29 in April, signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the winter and ultimately tossed 20 1/3 innings for them with a 1.77 ERA. However, he wasn’t going to continue stranding 90.5% of baserunners, which is why his FIP was 4.00 and his SIERA was 4.05 for the year. He has been outrighted before in his career so he has the right to elect free agency.

Winder, 28, was drafted by the Twins and has been on the roster since November of 2021. Since then, he has tossed 110 2/3 innings with a 4.39 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 37.2% ground ball rate.

Duarte, 28 next month, was claimed off waivers in the offseason and made two appearances for the Twins this season before requiring season-ending elbow surgery. His timeline for returning to play is not currently clear. He has a previous career outright and is therefore eligible to elect free agency.

Severino, 25, was added to the club’s 40-man roster a year ago to keep him out of the 2023 Rule 5 draft. He put up a solid line of .254/.342/.434 in Triple-A this year but the offensive environment was strong in the International League this year, leading that to translate to a roughly league average wRC+ of 101.

As for Alcalá, he and the Twins avoided arbitration last year by agreeing to a $790K salary with a $1.5MM club option for 2025 that came with a $55K buyout. He went on to toss 58 1/3 innings for the Twins this year with a 3.24 ERA, 24.7% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. Based on that performance, MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Alcalá to get a raise to $1.7MM through the abr process. The Twins have instead gone for the lower price of the club option to bring him back next year.

Dobnak, 29, signed an ill-fated extension with the Twins prior to the 2021 season on the heels of a 2020 campaign where he showed promise as a potential mid-rotation starter with a 4.05 ERA and 3.96 FIP through ten starts. After a strong rookie campaign in 2019, that gave Dobnak a career 3.12 ERA and 3.56 FIP across 75 innings of work in the majors at the time of the deal. Unfortunately, things quickly went off the rails for the right-hander as he surrendered a ghastly 7.64 ERA in 50 2/3 innings of work during the first year of his extension. Those lackluster results led to the club outrighting him off the 40-man roster in September of 2022.

Since then, Dobnak has remained in the Twins organization while primarily pitching at Triple-A. He’s done fairly well for himself in the minors this year, with a 4.25 ERA in 133 1/3 innings of work that earned him another look at the big league level. That stint back in the majors earlier this year didn’t go over very well, however, as Dobnak surrendered a 5.87 ERA in 7 2/3 frames before being shipped back to the minors. He’ll now finish the season in the Twins bullpen and on the 40-man roster. He remains under contract with the club through the end of the 2025 season, and does not yet have enough service time to reject an outright assignment without also forfeiting the remainder of his contract.

Making room for Dobnak on the club’s 40-man roster is Castillo, who signed with Minnesota on a minor league deal over the offseason and was first selected to the roster at the end of May. Since then, he’s posted a solid enough 2.70 ERA in 10 innings of work but hasn’t been able to stick on the Twins roster due to shaky peripherals, including more walks (eight) than strikeouts (six) in the majors. When at Triple-A with the Twins this year, Castillo has struggled badly with a 5.59 ERA in 40 appearances.

Despite those deep struggles, however, it’s not impossible to imagine the right-hander continuing to draw attention from clubs as a minor league depth option this winter. After all, Castillo excelled with the Rays and Mariners earlier in his career with a 3.12 ERA and 3.69 FIP in 250 appearances from 2018 to 2022. Any club that believes they can unlock that form in Castillo will surely have interest in bringing him into the fold and seeing what he has next spring. Of course, before Castillo can officially reach free agency he’ll need to clear waivers sometime in the next week.

Dobnak has been outrighted in the past and thus has the right to reject the assignment, but he’s a lock to accept. Because he has fewer than five years of service time, he’d need to forfeit the remainder of this season’s $2.25MM salary and the $4MM he’s still owed beyond the current campaign ($3MM salary in ’25, $1MM buyout on a ’26 option) in order to elect free agency. There’s obviously no chance he’d do so, meaning he’ll head back to the Saints and remain with the Twins organization as a depth arm both for the remainder of this season and at least the 2025 season as well.

The 29-year-old Dobnak was a remarkable story back in 2019, when in just over a year’s time he rose from indie-ball pitcher and Uber driver to the Twins’ big league roster, even pitching in the playoffs that season. From 2019-20, Dobnak logged 75 innings of 3.12 ERA ball with a 15.7% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and massive 58.8% ground-ball rate. On the back of that performance, Minnesota inked him a five-year, $9.25MM contract extension that contained a trio of club options. It was a low-cost move that provided the Twins ample contractual upside if Dobnak proved capable of sustaining anything close to that pace, but injuries and a decline in his performance have rendered the deal underwater.

Dobnak was clobbered for a 7.64 ERA in 2021 after signing that deal. He hit the 60-day injured list late that season with a strained pulley tendon in his right middle finger and missed much of the 2022 campaign with a similar issue. He pitched just 25 minor league innings that year and none in the majors. The Twins removed him from the 40-man roster and passed him through waivers that September. Dobnak was healthy again in 2023 but struggled to a 5.13 ERA in 126 1/3 Triple-A frames.

The 2024 season has been something of a rebound campaign, at least in the Triple-A ranks. Dobnak has made 23 starts and four relief appearances for the Saints, working to a 3.90 ERA with a 22.5% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate and 57.4% grounder rate in 129 1/3 innings. That performance earned him another look in the big leagues, but he was tagged for five runs nine hits and five walks in 7 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment once again.

Irvin, 30, will give the Twins some rotation depth for the final couple weeks of the season and can be controlled for two additional seasons via arbitration if the Twins choose. He’s had an up-and-down tenure with the Orioles after being acquired from the A’s in the 2022-23 offseason in a trade that sent infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to Oakland.

Irvin was initially acquired to help stabilize the O’s rotation. From 2021-22, he gave the A’s 62 starts (359 1/3 innings) of 4.11 ERA ball with a well below-average 16.8% strikeout rate but also a very strong 5.2% walk rate. As a homer-prone lefty who averaged 91 mph with his heater, Irvin had clearly benefited to an extent from the Athletics’ cavernous home park, but his Baltimore tenure got off to a far shakier start than anyone could’ve reasonably expected. Irvin was shelled for 15 runs in his first 12 2/3 innings, and the O’s optioned him to Triple-A after just three appearances. He spent much of the remainder of the ’23 season as an up-and-down swingman.

The 2024 season brought a slew of injuries to the Baltimore staff, and with it came a fresh opportunity for Irvin. He ran with it for a good portion of the season, as he’s rattled off 16 starts and another nine relief appearances — several of them covering three or four innings. In 107 1/3 frames this year, Irvin carries a 4.86 earned run average. He’s fanned 16.2% of his opponents against a 5.3% walk rate — marks that mirror his rate stats from his peak days in Oakland. Home runs have again been an issue (1.43 HR/9), but for an injury-ravaged Twins club that is currently relying on three rookies (Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, Zebby Matthews) behind Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober, Irvin could provide some veteran help to the staff, whether in the rotation or as a long reliever.

Irvin is earning $2MM this season after avoiding arbitration over the winter. He’s owed about $151K of that between now and season’s end, and the Twins will assume that in full. If he’s retained via arbitration, Irvin isn’t likely to be a particularly costly option; his modest workload and generally pedestrian results this season should keep next year’s salary in the rough vicinity of $3MM, assuming he’s tendered a contract. He’s out of minor league options, so Irvin will need to stick on the Twins’ roster this year and throughout the offseason or else once again be designated for assignment and likely exposed to outright waivers.

Irvin hasn’t started a game since Aug. 27, when he tossed 60 pitches over 4 1/3 innings. He did toss three innings and 43 pitches on Sept. 2, plus another one-inning relief outing on Sept. 9 (15 pitches). He may not be stretched out to jump into the rotation and throw 100 pitches, but if the Twins need, he should be an option to pitch as many as three to five innings, depending on pitch count. Whether that’ll happen or whether Irvin will simply head to the ’pen isn’t yet clear. Lopez will start tonight’s series opener in Cleveland, and he’s slated to be followed by Matthews, Ober and Woods Richardson, respectively. Of that group, Matthews has struggled the most. He’s lined up to start tomorrow. Irvin could piggyback with him or replace him outright, depending on how the Twins feel about the matchup.

In order to make room on the roster, Dobnak will be designated for assignment for a second time in his career. The right-hander was a sensational story in 2019, ascending from indie-ball hurler and part-time Uber driver to the Twins’ big league rotation. He pitched well enough in that debut showing and in the shortened 2020 season (combined 3.12 ERA, 15.7 K%, 5.7 BB%, 58.8 GB% in 75 innings) that the Twins signed him to a five-year, $9.25MM contract with a trio of club options.

Injuries and a downturn in performance have soured that modestly priced deal, however. Dobnak was torched for a 7.64 ERA in 2021, removed from the 40-man roster in 2022 and passed through waivers. He posted an ERA north of 5.00 in Triple-A from 2022-23 but has had a rebound in St. Paul this year, logging a 3.90 ERA in 23 starts and four relief appearances for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate. That prompted a fresh look in the majors, but Dobnak allowed five runs on nine hits and five walks with seven punchouts in 7 2/3 innings.

Dobnak is still owed a bit more than $170K of this year’s $2.25MM salary, plus a $3MM salary in 2025 and at least a $1MM buyout on the first of his three club options. That remaining $4.17MM on his contract will all but assure he clears waivers. He’s been outrighted before, so Dobnak will technically have the opportunity to reject the assignment, but doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of that salary. There’s no chance he’ll do that, so assuming he indeed goes unclaimed, he’ll remain with the organization in Triple-A but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.

• The Twins selected the contract of right-hander Randy Dobnak and designated Josh Staumont for assignment. Dobnak, 29, signed a five-year extension with Minnesota prior to the 2021 season following a strong start to his career where he posted a 3.12 ERA (142 ERA+) with a 3.56 FIP in 75 innings of work across 19 appearances (15 starts). Unfortunately, things haven’t gone well since he inked that deal as he struggled to a 7.64 ERA in 14 appearances in 2021 and hasn’t appeared in the majors since. He was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster in September of 2022 but has put up a decent 3.61 ERA in 99 2/3 innings of work at Triple-A this year. Staumont, meanwhile, signed a big league deal with the club over the winter and has posted decent numbers with a 3.70 ERA and 3.53 FIP this year but has struggled badly in recent weeks with 11 runs (10 earned) surrendered in his last 5 1/3 innings of work.
• The Athletics selected the contract of right-hander Gerardo Reyes. The 31-year-old made his big league debut with the Padres back in 2019 but struggled to a 7.62 ERA in 26 innings of work. More recently, he’s pitched for the Angels in each of the past two seasons with a 6.94 ERA in ten appearances. Despite those lackluster numbers, he’s struck out a solid 27% of batters faced during his big league career and has a solid 3.82 ERA in 33 innings of work at the Triple-A level this year. He’ll step into the Oakland bullpen after the club dealt Lucas Erceg to Kansas City earlier today.
• The Blue Jays selected the contract of infielder Luis De Los Santos today in order to replace Isiah Kiner-Falefa on the active roster following his trade to Pittsburgh. The 26-year-old initially signed with the club out of the Dominican Republic back in 2015. He’s bounced between the Double- and Triple-A levels in recent years with a career .217/.342/.375 slash line at the highest level of the minors, although this year he’s managed to flash a bit more offense with a solid .243/.393/.400 line and 16.7% walk rate in 28 games. The youngster has experience at all four infield spots and figures to step into the club’s bench mix.
• The Red Sox designated right-hander Trey Wingenter for assignment today. Wingenter was acquired by Boston earlier this month in a trade with the Tigers after he triggered an assignment clause in his contract, prompting the club to add him to their 40-man roster. Wingenter made just two appearances for the Red Sox and struggled badly in each of them, allowing a combined seven runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three in 2 1/3 innings of work. Prior to that rough tenure in Boston, Wingenter had a career 5.28 ERA and 3.82 FIP in 90 games with the Padres and Tigers. His career 31.9% strikeout rate stands out from his otherwise lackluster results and could garner him some interest from bullpen-needy clubs on the waiver wire.
• The White Sox selected the contract of left-hander Fraser Ellard today. Ellard, 26, was an 8th-round pick by the club back in 2021 and climbed the minor league ladder to reach the Triple-A level this year. In 40 2/3 innings of work this season, Ellard owns a 3.76 ERA with an eye-popping 33.5% strikeout rate against an elevated 11.6% walk rate. That big-time strikeout stuff should get Ellard plenty of opportunities in a Chicago bullpen that has been brutally bad this year with a collective 4.79 ERA, including a league-worst 6.22 ERA in the month of July. He’ll step into the lefty spot in the bullpen vacated by Tanner Banks earlier today, joining fellow southpaws Jared Shuster and Sammy Peralta.

Dobnak made his Major League debut in 2019, pitching 28 1/3 innings with a 1.59 ERA. He followed that up with a more modest 4.05 ERA in 46 2/3 innings in 2020 before signing a five-year, $9.25MM extension, which could increase to $29.75MM, with the Twins prior to the 2021 season.

Unfortunately, Dobnak then missed the majority of the 2021 season with injuries, pitching only 50 2/3 innings to a poor 7.82 ERA before being shut down with a right middle finger strain that lingered into Spring Training this year. Dobnak’s struggles continued into the 2022 season during his rehab process, giving up nine earned runs in 8 2/3 innings in Triple-A St. Paul, leading to his DFA.

With the Twins’ current core of Bailey Ober, Josh Winder, Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray, and Chris Archer (when healthy) there was no space for Dobnak. Even with a roughly average bullpen, 3.85 ERA and 24.7% strikeout rate, the front office decided that Dobnak would not be an addition to the team’s playoff push. Rather than reinstall him onto the 40-man roster after his time on the injured list was up, they moved to pass him through waivers. He’ll try to work his back onto the roster in Triple-A.

Dobnak, 27, made his MLB debut in 2019 and showed enough promise over that season and the shortened 2020 campaign that Twins made a long-term investment in him. He and the club agreed to a five-year, $9.25MM deal in March of 2021 that also came with three team options and various escalators that could bring the total outlay to $29.75MM. At the time, the Twins were hoping that they had locked up some extra control over a promising young arm that they saw potential in, while Dobnak got to lock in some guaranteed money by giving up future earning power.

Unfortunately, Dobnak has endured a very frustrating pair of seasons since then. A finger strain sent him to the IL multiple times in 2021, limiting him to just 14 big league appearances on the season. He also had diminished results while able to take the mound, registering a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings.

It seems that the offseason didn’t allow him to heal up, as another right middle finger strain sent him to the 60-day injured list in March of 2022. He’s been on the IL all year, having yet to appear for the big league club. He did recently start a rehab assignment, however, making his first appearance August 16 in the Florida Complex League. Since rehab assignments come with a 30-day limit for pitchers, Dobnak was nearing the time where he needed to be reinstated. Activating him from the 60-day IL would have meant opening up a spot on the 40-man roster, but it seems the Twins preferred not to do that, instead sending Dobnak out to the waiver wire. He threw 13 2/3 innings as part of that rehab assignment with a 5.93 ERA.

By placing Dobnak on waivers, the Twins are taking a risk that they may lose him to another organization. However, after two mostly lost seasons, the interest from other clubs may be limited. There’s also the financial aspect of a claim to consider. He’s making $800K here in 2022, which is just barely over the league minimum. However, he’ll go up to $1.5MM next year, $2.25MM in 2024 and $3MM in 2025. Then there’s a $1MM buyout on a $6MM option for 2026 and $100K buyouts on 2027 and 2028 options valued at $7MM and $8.5MM, respectively. Any team that claims Dobnak would be on the hook for those guarantees and buyouts, which would be a sizeable commitment for a pitcher who has been often injured and has yet to show quality results over a meaningful stretch of big league action.

What seems most likely to transpire is that Dobnak clears waivers, thus staying in the Twins’ organization without taking up a spot on the 40-man roster. Even if some team were intrigued enough to put in a claim, the Twins might be content with having the contract of their books. If that does indeed come to pass, Dobnak would be able to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency by virtue of having over three years of MLB service time. However, he lacks the five years of service time necessary to do so without forfeiting any salary. In the event he clears waivers, he would most likely accept an assignment to the minors and try to work his way back onto the roster.

Gore absolutely overpowered opponents through early June, pitching to a 1.50 ERA with a 30% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate across the first 48 innings of his career. He’s been tagged for 27 runs in 22 innings since that time, however, working with diminished velocity along the way. Gore only pitched 50 1/3 innings last year (plus some work at the team’s Spring Training complex while going through a mechanical reset), so workload was always expected to be something of an issue in 2022. The Nationals have not made clear the extent to which they’ll monitor his innings moving forward.

Some more health situations to monitor around the league…

• Rockies outfielder Kris Bryant is currently in a walking boot due to a case of plantar fasciitis, and there’s no timetable for his return to the field, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes within a broader look at another disappointing season for the Rockies. Colorado signed Bryant to a seven-year, $182MM contract over the winter but have thus far received just 42 games and 181 plate appearances from the former Rookie of the Year and NL MVP. Bryant’s power was MIA early in the year while playing through a back injury that required two IL stints, but he did bat .330/.398/.567 with 13 extra-base hits (five homers, eight doubles) in 108 plate appearances between his most recent trips to the injured list.
• Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty believes issues with his mechanics led to his latest trip to the injured list, per MLB.com. The starter spent most of the season on the injured list due shoulder problems, returning to make three starts in June before returning to the 60-day IL. That means he’s ineligible to return until late August, though he has started throwing this week, trying to iron out those mechanical issues and potentially starting a rehab assignment soon. “You start doing things incorrectly for a while and then you repeat it over and over again — eventually something is going to flare up,” Flaherty says. “The goal was to clean things up and sharpen things up so that that doesn’t happen. That’s what we’ve been working on, so hopefully things stay that way.” If he can return before the season is out, he could provide a boost to the rotation down the stretch, though the Cards added Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery at the deadline to proactively address the situation.
• The Twins expect righties Josh Winder and Bailey Ober to begin throwing bullpen sessions Tuesday, tweets Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Winder has been widely regarded as a top-100 prospect this year and has given Minnesota 45 1/3 frames of 3.77 ERA ball in his big league debut, but shoulder troubles have slowed him of late (as has been the case in past seasons as well). Ober has made 27 starts for the Twins dating back to 2021, pitching to a 4.14 ERA along the way and serving as a generally solid back-of-the-rotation arm. He’s been out since June 1 due to a groin strain that proved more severe than originally believed. The Twins remain hopeful that each of Winder, Ober, outfielder Trevor Larnach and right-hander Kenta Maeda (recovering from 2021 Tommy John surgery) will be able to return in September, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Meanwhile, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North tweets that right-hander Randy Dobnak will head out on a minor league rehab assignment Thursday, giving the Twins some additional depth on the horizon.

Knee surgery sidelined Lynn in early April, so the hurler has yet to make his 2022 debut.  Getting Lynn back in action would be a huge help to a Chicago team that has been bitten hard by the injury bug, but the White Sox are still treading water despite a shorthanded roster.  The White Sox improved to 25-27 after today’s 6-5 win over the Rays.

More from around the AL Central…

• Speaking of injury-riddled teams, the Tigers may have suffered another loss as Jeimer Candelario left today’s game in the second inning due to a left shoulder injury.  Candelario dove to try and snag a Josh Donaldson line drive, but was shaken up on the play, and had to be replaced mid-inning at third base by Harold Castro.  Since Detroit doesn’t have games on either Monday or Thursday, it’s possible the club could wait a few days to see if Candelario can avoid the IL, though the third baseman’s condition could be determined earlier based on tests.  Like many Tigers hitters, Candelario is suffering through a rough year at the plate, hitting only .181/.236/.319 over 195 plate appearances.
• Some reinforcements could be on the way for the Tigers, as manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen) that Austin Meadows is tentatively ready to be activated from the 10-day IL on Tuesday.  Meadows has been battling vertigo symptoms and was placed on the IL in mid-May.  As for other injured Tigers, both Eduardo Rodriguez and Robbie Grossman could be close to starting rehab assignments.
• Twins manager Rocco Baldelli provided Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter links) and other reporters with some updates on injured players, including the status of right-hander Joe Ryan.  After being placed on the COVID-related injured list on May 25, Ryan has tossed one bullpen session already and will throw another, more intense session today or Tuesday.  It isn’t yet known if Ryan will require a rehab start in the minors before returning to Minnesota’s rotation.
• While Ryan may be close to a return, the news isn’t good for Randy Dobnak, as Baldelli said the right-hander recently suffered a setback with his injured right middle finger.  It has been almost a full year since Dobnak initially sprained his finger, and he has pitched in only one MLB game since (on September 3, 2021).

Romero has five big league innings under his belt, all coming with Washington within the final couple weeks of last season. The 27-year-old showed a three-pitch mix, averaging 94.5 MPH on his four-seam with a slider and changeup that both checked in around 85 MPH. While his big league body of work was too limited on which to draw any meaningful conclusions, he did have an excellent season in the high minors.

The Colombia native split the year between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester, spending the bulk of the season at the lower level. He tossed 55 cumulative innings across 38 appearances, posting a 2.62 ERA with an excellent 30.5% strikeout percentage and a minuscule 4.9% walk rate. That earned him a late-season call with a Washington club that had a very thin relief corps by the end of the year. However, he didn’t stick on the Nats 40-man roster all winter, as they designated him for assignment last week upon finalizing their one-year deal with Nelson Cruz.

The Twins will take a low-risk dice roll on Romero on the heels of his strong minor league campaign. He still has all option years remaining, so Minnesota can stash him with Triple-A St. Paul for the foreseeable future so long as they keep him on their 40-man.

Dobnak posted quality numbers through his first two big league seasons, combining for a 3.12 ERA despite a subpar strikeout rate on account of excellent control and ground-ball numbers. Minnesota signed him to a five-year, $9.25MM extension last spring, but his 2021 season was a disaster. He was tagged for a 7.64 ERA in 50 2/3 innings. Dobnak spent most of the second half of the season on the injured list with the aforementioned finger strain, returning for one appearance in September before going back on the shelf.

The hope had been that Dobnak would bounce back this year, but the team shut him down over the weekend due to continued soreness in the area. There’s no clear timetable for his return, but he’ll miss at least the first two months of the season.

While it doesn’t seem like Urias is facing too long a layoff, the Brewers will probably have to turn to their bench depth early to fill in for their starting third baseman.  Milwaukee has multiple third base options but not really a true backup shortstop, as Urias was also seen as the top candidate to play short if Willy Adames needed a breather.  If not Pablo Reyes (who only has a few career games as a shortstop), top prospect Brice Turang hasn’t yet made his MLB debut, and the Brewers probably don’t want to start his service clock until such limited circumstances.

More on other injury situations from around the Show…

• Reds righty Lucas Sims won’t be on the team’s Opening Day roster since he more time to build up his arm, Sims and manager David Bell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon).  Sims is healthy now, but is behind schedule since illness and back spasms interrupted his usual offseason work.  “We can re-assess later but [first] make sure the build-up is done right and then we don’t rush into something and have a big deal,” Sims said.  The absence could allow for other pitchers to step up into the closer void, as Sims has been favored as Cincinnati’s top choice for the ninth inning this season, assuming the Reds indeed have a set closer.  The 27-year-old Sims moved to full-time relief work in 2019, and he has a 4.05 ERA and 35.2% strikeout rate in 115 2/3 innings over the last three seasons, though control and home runs have been issues.
• Tyler Glasnow won’t throw for 2-3 weeks after undergoing an arthroscopic ankle surgery on Friday, according to Rays broadcaster Neil Solondz (Twitter link).  The procedure removed some loose bodies from Glasnow’s right ankle.  While the procedure seems minor, the delay to Glasnow’s rehab from Tommy John surgery could end whatever hope the righty had of pitching in the 2022 season.  Glasnow underwent his Tommy John surgery last August, thus giving him a narrow window to return this season if he hit the low end of the usual 12-15 month TJ recovery timeline.
• The Twins have shut down Randy Dobnak due to continued soreness in the right-hander’s middle finger on his throwing hand, MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park writes.  It isn’t known how long Dobnak will be sidelined, though it appears as though he won’t be on the Opening Day roster.  Dobnak initially sprained his finger back in late June, and then pitched in only one game the rest of the season due to a pair of 60-day IL placements.  Even prior to the finger problems, Dobnak was already struggling through a rough year, and finished with a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings.

Moran was a seventh-round pick for the Twins in the 2015 draft, and the 24-year-old is now on the verge of his Major League debut.  Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 26th-best prospect in Minnesota’s farm system, Moran has pitched almost exclusively as a reliever since the start of the 2017 season, and emerged with strong performances at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2021.  Moran has a 2.41 ERA over 67 1/3 combined innings at the two levels, along with a very impressive 41.8% strikeout rate.  While recording strikeouts has never been a problem for Moran, though control has been a bit more an issue — his 12.26% walk rate this season roughly matches his career average.

Moran’s fastball sits in the 91-94mph range, though he is best known for his outstanding changeup.  According to Pipeline’s scouting report, “some see it as a double-plus pitch,” to the point that Moran doesn’t often use his third pitch (a somewhat medium-grade slider).  For a Twins team that will be looking for pitching in all forms this winter, Moran certainly has an opportunity in these final few weeks to get himself into the bullpen picture for 2022.

Dobnak was placed on the 10-day IL earlier this week due to a right middle finger sprain, the same injury that saw the right-hander miss over two months of the season in an earlier 60-day IL stint.  The injuries further exacerbated an already rough season for Dobnak, who posted a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings out of both the Twins’ rotation and bullpen.

Let’s check on a couple of roster moves made early on Saturday…

• • The Rockies have reinstated Robert Stephenson from the paternity list and optioned Ben Bowden to Triple-A, per the team. The 26-year-old Bowden has a 6.56 ERA/4.84 FIP in 35 2/3 innings. Stephenson has been a productive member of the Rockies’ bullpen, tossing 38 1/3 innings with a 3.76 ERA/4.02 FIP.
  • The Orioles have recalled Dean Kremer from Triple-A, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Kremer joins the club as their 29th man for today’s twin bill against the Blue Jays. Kremer will make his 13th start of the season and look to improve upon a 7.25 ERA/6.52 FIP.
  • The Yankees outrighted Jonathan Davis to Triple-A today, per the team. Davis has been an extra man in the Yankees outfield, appearing in just 12 games after being claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays.

What looked like an overpay in March now looks pretty close to what the market value would’ve been for Perez as a free agent this winter, as 2021 was the final year of Perez’s previous deal (a five-year, $52.5MM pact) with Kansas City.  Given Perez’s importance to the Royals organization, the team might have been willing to engage in some form of a bidding war to retain Perez in free agency, though that is a scenario the Royals are undoubtedly pleased to have avoided.

More from around the division…

• White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez has missed his team’s last two games due to a bone bruise on his right knee.  The injury is “significant,” manager Tony La Russa told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and other reporters, though there is some hope Jimenez can return to the lineup in relatively short order.  While sitting in the dugout on Tuesday, Jimenez suffered the injury after being hit by a line drive of an Andrew Vaughn foul ball, and eventually had to leave the game.  The increasingly banged-up White Sox are missing a few key players on the injured list already, though Chicago has plenty of cushion atop the all-but-decided AL Central.
• The Twins placed right-hander Randy Dobnak on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to September 8) due to a strain in his right middle finger.  Left-hander Andrew Albers was called up from Triple-A to take over Dobnak’s scheduled start in today’s game against the Indians.  Dobnak already missed over two months of the season with another strain involving the same finger, and given both the late date on the calendar and the apparent recurring nature of the injury, it is possible that Dobnak might not pitch again in 2021.  It’s been a tough season for the righty, who pitched so well in his 2020 rookie season that Minnesota inked Dobnak to a five-year extension worth at least $9.25MM in guaranteed money.  Working as both a starter and a reliever this year, Dobnak struggled in both roles, en route to a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings, with 11 home runs allowed.