JULY 1: The Twins announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Juan Minaya from Triple-A St. Paul and designated righty Tyler Thornburg for assignment to clear spot on the active and 40-man rosters.

Thornburg, 33, turned in four scoreless outings to start his Twins tenure, combining for eight innings in that time. He walked three hitters and recorded just four strikeouts during that span, however, and he was the latest Twins reliever to fail to put away the Guardians over the past couple weeks. Tasked with protecting a two-run lead while the Twins dealt with a depleted bullpen, Thornburg served up four runs (three earned) on two hits, a hit batter and three walks yesterday. Thornburg allowed the game to be tied in the eighth before yielding a walk-off home run to Andres Gimenez in the ninth — an incredible fifth blown lead for the Twins against the Guardians in eight games over the past two weeks.

The veteran Thornburg has totaled 19 innings between the Twins and Braves this season, pitching to a sound-looking 3.32 ERA that doesn’t mesh with far more concerning secondary numbers. Thornburg has walked a hefty 12.6% of his opponents, hit another and notched just a 16.2% strikeout rate. He’s also allowed just one home run despite a huge 50.8% fly-ball rate, and the resulting 3.2% homer-to-flyball ratio clocks in way shy of his career 10% mark. ERA alternatives like FIP (4.24) and SIERA (5.26) are far more bearish on his work thus far.

The Twins will have a week to trade Thornburg, pass him through outright waivers or release him. With six-plus years of MLB service, he can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency in the event that he goes unclaimed.

Minaya, 31, will return for what will now be his fourth big league stint with the Twins in the past two seasons. He’s repeatedly ridden the DFA carousel in Minnesota, being selected to the roster, designated for assignment and accepting outright assignments on several occasions. Minaya posted a 2.48 ERA in 40 innings with the Twins in 2021, logging above-average strikeout and ground-ball rates along the way. He also walked 12% of his opponents, though, and he’s been torched both in the big leagues (six runs in 6 1/3 innings) and in Triple-A (5.91 ERA in 21 1/3 frames) so far in 2022.

The Twins are in obvious need of help to upgrade what has been an awful bullpen throughout the season, and that figures to be a key focus as the Aug. 2 trade deadline draws nearer. Rookie Jhoan Duran has been one of baseball’s best relievers, and converted starter Griffin Jax has emphatically secured a spot as well. The rest of the group has underwhelmed, to say the least, and the recent string of missed opportunities has kept the Twins from putting the Central largely out of reach. They currently hold a one-game lead over Cleveland.

Thornburg had a nice run of success pitching for the Brewers in his first five seasons. From 2012 to 2016, he threw 219 2/3 innings in 144 games with a 2.87 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 35.8% ground ball rate. However, he’s dealt with injuries and underperformance since then, only throwing 59 MLB frames since the end of the 2016 campaign.

This year, he started the season with Atlanta, throwing 9 1/3 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 25% ground ball rate. Despite that respectable showing, he got designated for assignment when the club needed a fresh arm. He landed with the Twins on a minor league deal and has had a pair of good outings, logging three innings with five Ks and no walks or earned runs.

He’ll provide a fresh arm to a pitching corps that has been fairly snakebit recently, with Cody Stashak, Danny Coulombe, Sonny Gray, Josh Winder, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack all land on the IL in the past month.

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.

Latest Moves

• The Yankees announced that catcher Rob Brantly was re-signed to a new minor league contract.  Brantly was designated for assignment earlier this week and cleared waivers, but then opted to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.  After two days of testing the market, Brantly is now back in the organization and has been assigned to Triple-A.  Originally joining the Yankees back in August 2020, the veteran backstop has appeared in seven games with New York at the MLB level, including one game this year to provide depth when Kyle Higashioka was on the COVID-IL.

Earlier Today

• The Braves announced that right-hander Tyler Thornburg has been released.  Thornburg was designated for assignment earlier this week, after posting a 3.86 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, and 10.6% walk rate over 9 1/3 relief innings.  After missing the entire 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery, Thornburg signed a $900K deal with Atlanta, and the injury-plagued righty will now return to the open market in search of another new contract. Atlanta also selected the contract of reliever Jesus Cruz.
• The Pirates outrighted left-hander Cam Alldred to Triple-A after Alldred cleared waivers.  Another recent DFA, Alldred made his Major League debut in cup-of-c0ffee fashion this season, tossing a scoreless inning for Pittsburgh on May 12.  Mostly working as a reliever over 178 1/3 innings in the Pirates’ farm system, Alldred has a 2.83 ERA, though with an underwhelming 23.56% strikeout rate.

Thornburg signed a $900K contract with Atlanta over the offseason. It was a bit surprising to see the righty command a guaranteed deal after he’d missed all of last season recovering from September 2020 Tommy John surgery. The Braves were confident enough in his ability to bounce back to devote him a big league roster spot, but he’ll lose that job after just nine appearances.

The 33-year-old worked 9 1/3 innings during his relatively brief stint, allowing six runs. He struck out ten batters against five walks, maintaining his pre-surgery fastball velocity but only generating whiffs on 8.5% of his offerings. It was far from a disastrous performance, but manager Brian Snitker had been deploying Thornburg in extremely low-leverage situations. After he threw 25 pitches in yesterday’s loss to the Marlins, Atlanta replaced him with a fresher arm in Lee.

Thornburg has more than five years of big league service, so he couldn’t be optioned to the minor leagues without his consent. Once the Braves determined to replace him on the active roster, they had to designate him for assignment even though Lee already occupies a spot on the 40-man roster. They’ll now have a week to trade Thornburg or place him on waivers.

That $900K guarantee isn’t much higher than this season’s $700K league minimum salary, so it’s not inconceivable another club could add Thornburg to the middle innings. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency while still collecting the remainder of his guaranteed salary.

Thornburg’s career has been a rollercoaster to this point, with the highs of excellent performance constantly giving way to lows brought about by injuries. In 2013, he threw 66 2/3 innings for the Brewers, logging a 2.03 ERA. However, elbow issues limited him to around 30 frames in each of the next two campaigns. 2016, he got back on track, logging 67 innings with a 2.15 ERA, excellent 34.2% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate.

It was after that tremendous campaign that the Brewers sent Thornburg to the Red Sox for Travis Shaw, Mauricio Dubon and Josh Pennington. Unfortunately, Thornburg required surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome, missing the entirety of the 2017 season. When he came back, he was much less effective, throwing 42 2/3 innings over 2018 and 2019 for the Red Sox, putting up an ERA of 6.54, strikeout rate of 22.3% and walk rate of 10.4%. In 2020, he logged seven innings for the Reds before hitting the IL, eventually undergoing Tommy John Surgery in September.

Now that about 18 months has passed since that surgery, Thornburg is presumably healthy again and ready for another kick at the can. For the Braves, this is a low-risk flier on a player who could be a bargain if he can stay healthy and resume his previous form. His $900K salary is just barely above the league minimum, which is $700K in the new CBA. Also, since the deal isn’t guaranteed, the club could even avoid that modest sum if Thornburg’s injury past catches up with him in spring.

As for Yates, the IL placement is merely a formality. The club signed him in November to a two-year deal, knowing that he would miss the first half of 2022.

For the defending World Series champion Braves, their bullpen took a hit at the end of the season, as Richard Rodriguez, Josh Tomlin, Jesse Chavez and Chris Martin hit free agency, with Chavez and Martin both signing with the Cubs in recent days. They’ve seemingly tried to compensate for those losses by taking fliers on talented hurlers who are relatively affordable because of their injury histories, such as Yates, Thornburg and Collin McHugh, whom they signed yesterday.

Given the usual 12-15 month recovery time associated with Tommy John procedures, Thornburg will almost certainly miss the entire 2021 season.  It is the latest in a series of tough injuries for the 31-year-old, who has been limited to 269 1/3 innings and 192 appearances in the big leagues since 2012.  Thornburg previously missed the entire 2017 season and much of 2018 due to thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.

These constant health woes kept Thornburg from realizing what seemed like a high ceiling as a relief pitcher.  Thornburg had two outstanding seasons with the Brewers in 2013 and 2016, though elbow problems limited him in 2014-15.  In the wake of that strong 2016 campaign, Milwaukee sent Thornburg to the Red Sox as part of a notable trade that brought Travis Shaw and Mauricio Dubon to the Brew Crew, though injuries limited Thornburg to just 42 2/3 innings in a Boston uniform before the Sox released him partway through the 2019 season.

A minor league deal with the Dodgers didn’t result in any MLB time in Los Angeles, though Thornburg resurfaced after inking a minors deal with Cincinnati over the winter.  Thornburg posted a 3.86 ERA, 12.9 K/9, and 2.00 K/BB rate over what might wind up as his only seven innings for the Reds, and his fastball still clocked at 93.1 mph.

Senzel, 25, was the No. 2 overall pick back in 2016 and was out to a .244/.327/.489 start through 14 games and 53 plate appearances in 2020. He hit .256/.315/.427 with a dozen homers and 14 steals as a rookie last year. He’ll add another option to an outfield mix that has seen seen Jesse Winker break out as one of the league’s more productive hitters. Nick Castellanos, meanwhile, has faded after a blistering start to the season, while rookie Shogo Akiyama has gone the opposite route — heating up in September after a slow start to his big league career.

The 31-year-old Thornburg went on the 10-day injured list late last week due to an elbow sprain — the latest in a mounting series ailments for the talented but oft-injured righty. Thornburg allowed three runs and punched out 10 hitters in seven innings with the Reds this year before the latest issue popped up.

Thornburg looked to be a breakout bullpen piece for the Brewers back in 2016 when he tossed 67 frames of 2.15 ERA ball with a 90-to-25 K/BB ratio, but he’s been derailed by injuries since being traded to the Red Sox in the Travis Shaw deal that winter. He battled shoulder troubles in early 2017 before undergoing thoracic outlet surgery that summer — a procedure that kept him out until July 2018. Thornburg returned to Boston in 2019 but was sidelined by a hip impingement for much of the season as well. Details on his current injury are still sparse, but the move to the 45-day IL formally brings his 2020 season to a close. He crossed six years of big league service in 2020, so he’ll be a free agent this winter.

The Reds designated Davidson for assignment on Sept. 8, which came after the two-time 20-home run hitter batted .163/.234/.295 with three homers in 47 plate appearances. He also saw a bit of time on the mound, throwing 3 1/3 innings of two-earned run ball.

The elbow problem represents yet another troubling injury for Thornburg, who was a premier reliever with the Brewers in 2016 but has fallen off since the Red Sox acquired him entering 2017. Thornburg missed all of that season, during which he underwent thoracic outlet surgery, and has only totaled 49 2/3 innings in the majors since. The 31-year-old has performed decently in his first season with the Reds, though, having struck out 10 and yielded three earned runs on six hits and five walks.

AUG. 14: The Reds announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Tyler Thornburg. Infielder Christian Colon was designated for assignment to create roster space.

This’ll be Thornburg’s first MLB action since wrapping up a disappointing and injury-riddled tenure with the Red Sox. The 31-year-old was a highly productive reliever with the Brewers before running into difficulties in Boston.

Colon saw sporadic action with the Reds this year, as has been typical over his six seasons in the majors. All told, he owns a .249/.312/.310 slash in 418 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

When it comes to bullpen arms, especially, this time of year can be like open season for cost-conscious GMs. Sure, there have been a few teams willing to spend at the top end of the market this offseason—with Will Smith, Drew Pomeranz and Will Harris all netting guarantees of at least $24MM in free agency—but many a good bullpen gets solidified this time of year through more low-key signings.

The Nationals, a team hamstrung in recent seasons by poor relief pitching, finally got over the hump in 2019 in part because their bullpen gelled down the stretch. Daniel Hudson, a guy the Angels signed to a minor-league deal in February last year, ultimately ended up on the mound for the Nats when they formed the celebratory dogpile. That trajectory from bargain-bin depth pickup to central cog in a World Series-winning unit is pretty good evidence as to why we should maintain a close eye on transactions in the run-up to camp.

So, which bullpen signing thus far has the best chance of being this coming year’s version of Hudson? An exhaustive list of all relief signings to this point in the offseason sounds, frankly, exhausting—for both author and reader. Perhaps a better format is to consider a few choice arms signed to relatively budget deals, with at least some proven track record of success in the majors.

Alex Wilson, signed only today by the Tigers to a minors deal, stands out as one arm that could deliver a solid return for a tiny investment. Though he’s not a strikeout artist by any means, with a 6.13 career K/9, Wilson still maintains a career 3.44 ERA—even after a dreadful sample of 11.1 innings with the Brewers last year.

San Diego’s minor league signing of Kyle Barraclough also promises to yield dividends—assuming manager Jayce Tingler’s staff can get him back to the form he showed from 2015-17 as a member of the Marlins when he logged a 2.87 ERA with 219 strikeouts in 163 IP. Last year represented a low point so far for Barraclough, as his brief stay in D.C. saw him post a 6.66 ERA across 25.2 innings; that ERA figure is not exactly a good omen, but the righty is still just 29 and has demonstrated an ability to strike out batters with consistency.

Like the Padres, the Reds are looking to wrap their rebuild this coming year and may do so with some cheap innings from Tyler Thornburg. Now 31, Thornburg has had a disastrous past few seasons after logging an impressive 1.9 fWAR as a reliever with the Brewers in 2016. Statcast indicates his raw stuff is still there, however, and part of his struggles can be tied to presumably fixable control issues.

Tyler Clippard is perhaps the most accomplished reliever on this list, having logged over 800 innings with a respectable 3.14 career ERA with nine separate big league teams. The Twins will now become his tenth team after a nearly decade-long courtship, providing him with a one-year, $2.75MM deal last month. Clippard was rather good in 2019, posting a 2.90 ERA in 62 innings with the Tribe, but less so from 2016-18, when he bounced between five teams while posting a 3.98 ERA across 192 innings. The now 34-year-old is probably the most stable option here, but it’s worth noting those quality results last year were undercut by a 4.94 xFIP.

Edinson Volquez was reportedly set on rejoining Texas’ staff after rehabbing himself back from injury with the Rangers last year. He’s never worked exclusively as a reliever, although his repertoire—and periodic inconsistency—has often caused observers to wonder what he would look like as a late-inning pen option. Last year, the Rangers got seven scoreless innings of relief work from the journeyman, so perhaps there’s a second chapter in Volquez’s career yet to be written.

Surely, there are still quite a few arms out there who could find themselves pitching October innings after signing frugal winter deals. Of this admittedly subjective selection of signings, which do you like best? Which other minor league or low-cost pickups do you like heading into 2020? (Poll link for app users)

DECEMBER 31, 2019: The Reds have agreed to a deal with righty Tyler Thornburg, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter). It’s a minors pact with an invitation to participate in MLB camp.

Thornburg, 31, is looking for a fresh start after finally wrapping up an injury-plagued tenure with the Red Sox in 2019. He ended up throwing just 42 2/3 innings of 6.54 ERA ball in Boston after arriving via trade in advance of the 2017 season.

Last year’s hoped-for rebound never came to pass, leading the Sox to cut Thornburg loose in the middle of the season. He landed with the Dodgers on a minors deal but didn’t make it back to the bigs as his struggles continued at Triple-A.

Despite the obvious issues in recent years, Thornburg has in the past been quite a good reliever. Some physical tools are there, as he still carries a mid-nineties heater and generates excellent spin rate on his pitches, though he managed just an 8.6% swinging-strike in the majors in 2019.

The 30-year-old Thornburg has gone through a sharp, injury-caused fall from grace since a brief run as one of the game’s top relievers. Thornburg debuted with the Brewers in 2012, but it took until 2016 for him to enjoy what looked like a breakout season. That year, Thornburg recorded a sparkling 2.15 ERA/2.83 FIP with 12.09 K/9 and 3.36 BB/9 in 67 innings. The Brewers sold high on Thornburg during the subsequent offseason, sending him to the Red Sox for a pair of infielders – Travis Shaw and Mauricio Dubon – as well as righty Josh Pennington.

Boston was expecting Thornburg to be an integral part of its bullpen in 2017, but he instead missed the entire season because of shoulder problems that led to thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. While Thornburg made it back last year, he stumbled to a 5.63 ERA/6.04 FIP with 7.88 K/9 and 3.75 BB/9 in 24 innings. Thornburg wasn’t part of the Red Sox’s World Series-winning roster during the fall, and a hip impingement this season limited him to 18 2/3 frames of 7.71 ERA/5.42 FIP pitching (with 10.61 K/9 against 4.62 BB/9) before the Sox cut the cord.

Thornburg will be now take to the open market in search of a bounceback opportunity elsewhere. He’s promised a $1.75MM salary from the Boston organization regardless. Other clubs can consider bringing him aboard for nothing more than the league-minimum rate of pay for whatever time he spends at the major-league level. While Thornburg hasn’t been a productive big league pitcher in quite some time, he’s still only 30 years of age and is sure to catch on with a rival team (likely on a minors pact).

The trade that brought Thornburg to the Red Sox stings quite a bit in retrospect. Travis Shaw ended up giving the Brewers two quality seasons; while he has struggled this year, the Milwaukee org also just called up the other key piece of the swap — infielder Mauricio Dubon. While he isn’t seen as a blue-chipper, the 24-year-old has handled the bat well at Triple-A and is generally viewed as a valuable prospect.

Thornburg, 30, has been on the shelf since late May due to a hip impingement. He’s pitched 18 2/3 innings out of the Boston ’pen this year, but despite picking up 22 strikeouts in that time, he’s scuffled to a 7.71 ERA thanks to the 10 walks and four homers he’s allowed.

Injuries have decimated Thornburg’s tenure with the Red Sox since Boston acquired him from the Brewers in the December 2016 trade that sent Travis Shaw to Milwaukee. At the time, Thornburg was coming off an excellent season, having given the Brewers 67 innings of 2.15 ERA ball with a gaudy 90-to-25 K/BB ratio. Controllable for another three seasons, Thornburg looked like a potential long-term late-inning option in the Boston relief corps.

Instead, he missed the entire 2017 season due to shoulder troubles that eventually culminated in surgery to alleviate the dreaded thoracic outlet syndrome. TOS surgery has proven considerably more problematic for pitchers than Tommy John surgery in recent years, and like many others before him, Thornburg has struggled in the wake of that procedure. He’s pitched just 42 2/3 innings with the Red Sox in total, working to a 6.54 ERA while yielding an average of 2.1 homers per nine innings pitched. Thornburg’s velocity actually bounced back a bit this season, albeit not quite to his pre-surgery levels (93.7 mph vs. 94.2 mph).

Assuming Thornburg does ultimately end up being cut loose, he’ll become a free agent who can sign with any club. Given the number of teams in search of bullpen help throughout the league, he should latch on elsewhere as he looks to reestablish himself as a viable bullpen piece.