Ex Twins in 2021: Where Are They Now?

[bighat]

When David Ortiz gives Akil Baddoo's induction speech into the Hall of Fame, broadcasters will mention the Twins in a passing piece of trivia. Viewers will say "huh", nod their heads, shrug their shoulders, and raise their eyebrows. Then they'll quickly forget - just like that, poof, gone into the ether, much like the potential Twins careers of these two all-time great ballplayers.

[IndianaTwin]

 

Baseball players these days have very strange names...

What? Who? I don’t know.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

When David Ortiz gives Akil Baddoo's induction speech into the Hall of Fame, broadcasters will mention the Twins in a passing piece of trivia. Viewers will say "huh", nod their heads, shrug their shoulders, and raise their eyebrows. Then they'll quickly forget - just like that, poof, gone into the ether, much like the potential Twins careers of these two all-time great ballplayers.

They will say, “While everyone knows the Twins because of their 31-game losing streak in the playoffs, here’s another bit of interesting trivia you probably don’t know...”

[Danchat]

 

Looks like Raley had to be added to avoid being taken in the Rule 5 draft, and he's getting some ABs with the Dodgers now. For those who may not remember, we acquired him from the Dodgers in the Dozier trade, but sent him back in the Maeda trade.

[Twodogs]

Rosario would look pretty nice in LF right now, especially with Donaldson having been on the DL for the first two weeks and now Buxton going down. Rosario always seemed like he could show up and play everyday. Sure would be nice to see Eddie out there instead of Cave and Garlic.

[ScrapTheNickname]

I got a kick out of Joey Vatto's triple play today against Cleveland. Our old friend Eddie Rosario figures in it, how? You guessed it, a base runner blunder. Schadenfruede right down the middle of the plate for me!

 

ESPN. Scroll down to "Reds turn incredible triple play thanks to Votto's awareness."

[jkcarew]

Graterol activated and pitched Sunday. He struggled, but velo was not a problem.

[Aerodeliria]

Lest you forget:

 

Fernando Romero: DNA Baystars (Yet to play)

Austin Tyler: DNA Baystars (He hit well last year .286 and 20 HRs.)

Alan Busenitz: Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (2019: 1.86 / 2020: 2.86)

 

[Major League Ready]

 

Rosario would look pretty nice in LF right now, especially with Donaldson having been on the DL for the first two weeks and now Buxton going down. Rosario always seemed like he could show up and play everyday. Sure would be nice to see Eddie out there instead of Cave and Garlic.

 

The 2017 version of Rosario would be nice but currently Cave has the same wRC+ as Rosario (88). Garlick's wRC+ is 103. So, I will take that combo + Simmons with the savings and it's not remotely close. Cave and Garlick are also not as prone to base running and defensive mistakes.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

The 2017 version of Rosario would be nice but currently Cave has the same wRC+ as Rosario (88).

I think you are looking at the wrong row -- Cave's wRC+ is actually only 16 right now. (I notice Fangraphs lists Astudillo just before him on the Twins page and he's at 88, so I suspect that is what you were seeing.)

 

It's true that Rosario's not doing much at .224/.281/.397 (.678 OPS), but I shudder to think what kind of league offensive environment would make Cave's .136/.224/.159 (.384 OPS) into an 88 wRC+.

[Twodogs]

The 2017 version of Rosario would be nice but currently Cave has the same wRC+ as Rosario (88). Garlick's wRC+ is 103. So, I will take that combo + Simmons with the savings and it's not remotely close. Cave and Garlick are also not as prone to base running and defensive mistakes.

So far Cave hasn't really been prone to doing anything? A few mistakes are ok when you are actually doing other things like throwing people out hitting a few bombs and stuff like that. Plus Rosario was good to be out there every single day. Which was my original point was that you could count on him to show up and play everyday and many of these current Twins don't seem to be able to do that.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Jake Odorizzi left his start today after 1 batter with an apparent injury.

 

[Major League Ready]

 

I think you are looking at the wrong row -- Cave's wRC+ is actually only 16 right now. (I notice Fangraphs lists Astudillo just before him on the Twins page and he's at 88, so I suspect that is what you were seeing.)

 

It's true that Rosario's not doing much at .224/.281/.397 (.678 OPS), but I shudder to think what kind of league offensive environment would make Cave's .136/.224/.159 (.384 OPS) into an 88 wRC+.

 

Sorry, you are right. I was looking at the wrong line. Big picture ... continuing to trot Rosario out there is not the answer. Since my post his wRC+ is down to 72 and his WAR is .1. Keeping a corner OF with a below average wRC+ that is also a relatively poor defender who is also prone to base running mistakes is a recipe for mediocrity. I would rather they try to get better. That might not happen in April but the focus should be the year in aggregate and are we better by mid-season or even the end of the year. 

 

Plus, we keep failing to consider that had we kept Rosario one of Happ or Simmons would not be here.

[Danchat]

Not re-signing Odorizzi was the right move for the Twins to make. He really shouldn't have accepted the qualifying offer for the 2020 season...

[Rosterman]

 

Not re-signing Odorizzi was the right move for the Twins to make. He really shouldn't have accepted the qualifying offer for the 2020 season...

Thank goodness the Twins didn't have to pay him the full $19 million!

[stringer bell]

I haven't looked at Kyle Gibson's season since his Opening Day start, in which he allowed four hits, three walks and five earned runs in a third of an inning. Since then, he has pitched very well. In four starts, he's logged 27 innings, allowed 20 hits, three runs (two earned), five walks and 22 strikeouts. 

 

Gibson pitches today against another ex-Twin, Martín Pérez, as the Rangers entertain the Red Sox tonight.

 

Gibson was always a personal favorite of mine, stemming in large part from him taking extra time to talk to my brother and me six years ago in Fort Myers when he autographed a baseball. He was a new dad at the time and shared how his personal life had changed.

[jkcarew]

Dodgers shut Graterol down. He was behind to start the spring as he took some time off during the Winter with COVID. He pitched 1 inning over three (ineffective) appearances...now shut down with forearm soreness. The term ‘shut down’ has been a phrased used often with Graterol in his professional career.

[SwainZag]

 

I haven't looked at Kyle Gibson's season since his Opening Day start, in which he allowed four hits, three walks and five earned runs in a third of an inning. Since then, he has pitched very well. In four starts, he's logged 27 innings, allowed 20 hits, three runs (two earned), five walks and 22 strikeouts. 

 

Gibson pitches today against another ex-Twin, Martín Pérez, as the Rangers entertain the Red Sox tonight.

 

Gibson was always a personal favorite of mine, stemming in large part from him taking extra time to talk to my brother and me six years ago in Fort Myers when he autographed a baseball. He was a new dad at the time and shared how his personal life had changed.

 

Looks like we get to see Kyle up close and personal Tuesday night.  I imagine he gets a nice ovation from the Target Field fans.

[Rosterman]

Rene Rivera who caught for the Twins waaaay back in 2011 is back in the majors with the Indians.

 

[Rosterman]

Also noticed Zack Littell made it back to the majors with the Giants bullpen, briefly.

[Rosterman]

Oh, and Drew Butera who has been on the Rangers taxi squad was picked up by the Angels and added to the major league roster.

[Vanimal46]

Oh, and Drew Butera who has been on the Rangers taxi squad was picked up by the Angels and added to the major league roster.

Hold on a second, Drew Butera was the acquisition for Pujols? If so, that’s a hell of a Twins trivia question in the future.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Hold on a second, Drew Butera was the acquisition for Pujols? If so, that’s a hell of a Twins trivia question in the future.

Not quite. The Angels DFA'd another catcher today to make room for Butera on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters. They made a bunch of other moves yesterday along with Pujols too.

 

Edit to add: founding father / outfielder Jon Jay is really the guy who took Pujols spot. Makes sense as they need an outfielder a lot more than a backup DH. They also swapped pitchers and catchers yesterday. All of those moves were official before their Thursday evening game. The Butera move is most definitely separate, an additional catcher swap today.

[Vanimal46]

Not quite. The Angels DFA'd another catcher today to make room for Butera on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters. They made a bunch of other moves yesterday along with Pujols too.

 

Edit to add: founding father / outfielder Jon Jay is really the guy who took Pujols spot. Makes sense as they need an outfielder a lot more than a backup DH. They also swapped pitchers and catchers yesterday. All of those moves were official before their Thursday evening game. The Butera move is most definitely separate, an additional catcher swap today.

What a shame... The story would have been so much better if it was Pujols for Butera!

[lecroy24fan]

JT Chargois called up by the Mariners.

[stringer bell]

I noticed Butera was catching for the Angels last night. Talk about a survivor and a baseball lifer!

[lecroy24fan]

On 5/11/2021 at 8:33 AM, stringer bell said:

I noticed Butera was catching for the Angels last night. Talk about a survivor and a baseball lifer!

I think they last a couple of catchers so they traded with the Rangers to get him. Also think they guy they DFA'd to make room was claimed by the Rangers.

[Danchat]

Pirates DFA’d Sean Poppen. 

[stringer bell]

Ex-Twins Trevor Hildenberger and Ildemaro Vargas both DFAed today. 

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Ex-Twins Trevor Hildenberger and Ildemaro Vargas both DFAed today. 

Huh, I had no idea Hildenberger had resurfaced. He wasn't even on a 60 man roster last year, so I'm surprised he got a shot.

And I see Trevor May is now pitching way better for the Mets the last month...