Waiver Mania: Minnesota Twins Come Up Empty, Again

[Nick Nelson]

After striking out at the trade deadline, the Minnesota Twins received a surprising second chance to add key pieces, with non-contenders unloading contracts on waivers and making them available to the highest-priority bidder.

The Twins were unable to take advantage of this opportunity, but the team trailing them in the Central did.

Image courtesy of © Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Reynaldo Lopez)

The Los Angeles Angels initiated the talent dump earlier this week, with word coming out that they were placing Lucas Giolito, relievers Reynaldo Rodriguez and Matt Moore, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on irrevocable waivers. 

Among other players who ended up joining this out-of-nowhere collection of quality veterans suddenly hitting the open market: Yankees OF Harrison Bader, Mets RHP Carlos Carrasco and White Sox RHP Mike Clevinger.

The Twins found themselves in a favorable position as a first-place team with a record barely holding above the .500 mark. Since waiver priority is based on team record (from worst to best), Minnesota was ahead of most other contending teams who might have interest in acquiring these players for nothing but salary.

Most, but certainly not all.

 

It seems their position wasn't quite favorable enough. While the Twins reportedly placed claims on multiple players, apparently none of their targets made it to them in the waiver process, with fringe contenders readily scooping up these essentially free assets. Among those contenders, the Cleveland Guardians, trailing the Twins by five games in the AL Central with a month to go. Cleveland added Giolito to the rotation as well as Lopez and Moore to their bullpen, quickly bringing a pair of familiar foes back to the division while upgrading their small postseason chances a bit.

 

While it's hard to blame the Twins for this particular instance, given their limited ability to influence the outcome, this really does underscore the front office's lack of action at the deadline, when they had full control over their ability to add talent.

Jordan Luplow has been horrendous in the RH outfielder role and the bullpen is springing constant leaks. The Twins could've desperately used several of the players that went through waivers today, and while that's not necessarily at fault, they did put themselves in this position of desperation to begin with.

Instead, they'll have to hope Byron Buxton and a handful of relievers on the comeback trail will be enough to offset their current depth weaknesses and keep Cleveland at bay. There's no more external help coming.

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[Vanimal46]

Whelp. No one is coming from the outside to save the season. Gotta roll with the same guys and hope it’s enough to win a playoff game. 

[LastOnePicked]

Good for Cleveland. The last two games proved that there's still a little blood in the water left by the self-injuring Twins. Still a chance to sneak away with the division. Twins will have to step it up a bit.

[Mike Sixel]

If only there was a guy in AAA ready to be better than Luplow right now (or two of them).

Sucks big time that Cleveland is MUCH better today than they were yesterday. Yikes.

[Azviking101]

I literally mentioned multiple times here and twitter that Cleveland winning the series would give them the confidence to go out and claim everyone and look what happened. 
 

multiple twins daily writers said that Cleveland would never spend the money 

[jorgenswest]

They head into the last month with a five game lead on the Guardians. Buxton, Castro and Kirilloff will return. They will be an upgrade over Gallo and Luplow. A player like Martin could infuse some energy. On the pitching side they could see the return of Ober, Stewart, Paddock and Alcala. They didn’t get a waiver claim but the front office still has moves they can make.

[nicksaviking]

Surprising. Cleveland pinches pennies every chance they get. The three moves they made almost look like they were intentionally designed to block the Twins. Not sure they needed both relievers.

After yesterday's loss, it seemed possible the loss may have had a silver lining and actually helped the Twins so they'd be higher in the waiver pecking order. But I wonder if Cleveland makes these claims if they hadn't won the game.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

What  a header :  certainly know how to bring out the negative vibes.   I wasn't sure any of the players would make it to the Twins and this clearly underscored that.  I am slightly surprised Cleveland was aggressive, I thought they would be throwing in the towel, but apparently not.  I can't see this as negative on anything the Twins could have done in this situation.  

[ashbury]

Guardians and Reds, LOL.

[CoastiePilot08]

#falvineout

[CRF]

Cleve getting Giolito, Lopez, and Moore sure isn't helping the situation. That could be a huge factor down the stretch. There's plenty of time for Cleve to catch us...especially if we lay down on this road trip. If we somehow go 0-6 with Tex and Cleve...all bets are off. Don't forget the Mets and TB are the next 6 games after that, but those are here. I think we have to at least go 6-6 in those 12 games. There's no choice but to roll with what we've got and hope they produce. It's put up or shut up time. 

[Woof Bronzer]

I am confused as to what exactly the Guardians FO is doing this season.  

[Jocko87]

Looks like they weren't interested in Grichuk or Leone.

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

5 minutes ago, CRF said:

Cleve getting Giolito, Lopez, and Moore sure isn't helping the situation. 

Yep - the latest report added Moore to the Guardians' waiver claims too. Definitely starts to sting a little bit when the 2nd-place team chasing the Twins adds THREE of these freely available players.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

2 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

I am confused as to what exactly the Guardians FO is doing this season.  

Guardians want to compete and continue to build for the future.  They received some decent prospects and now have a pretty decent pitching staff to try to make a run.  

[Alex Wilde]

12 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Surprising. Cleveland pinches pennies every chance they get. The three moves they made almost look like they were intentionally designed to block the Twins. Not sure they needed both relievers.

After yesterday's loss, it seemed possible the loss may have had a silver lining and actually helped the Twins so they'd be higher in the waiver pecking order. But I wonder if Cleveland makes these claims if they hadn't won the game.

Was this you yesterday? I guess I should have added the Guardians to my list...

Uh me? If the Twins are out of the playoff hunt, I'd rather them audition the young guys and angle for draft position. Fans are way more petty about rivalries than the teams are.

Some fans apparently, not most fans.

[Alex Wilde]

19 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

If only there was a guy in AAA ready to be better than Luplow right now (or two of them).

Sucks big time that Cleveland is MUCH better today than they were yesterday. Yikes.

Replace Yankees with Guardians and see what you get.

Why would the Yankees waste money and lose a 40 man spot just to spite someone? That's silly.

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, Alex Wilde said:

Replace Yankees with Guardians and see what you get.

Why would the Yankees waste money and lose a 40 man spot just to spite someone? That's silly.

I have no idea what you're talking about......the Guardians are trying to win the division. 

[Alex Wilde]

Just now, Mike Sixel said:

I have no idea what you're talking about......the Guardians are trying to win the division. 

With a 5% chance to win the division? This is just as much as them spiting the Twins as it is them thinking they have a chance of winning the division. They sold at the trade deadline for a reason.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Alex Wilde said:

With a 5% chance to win the division? This is just as much as them spiting the Twins as it is them thinking they have a chance of winning the division. They sold at the trade deadline for a reason.

to get better in the future and save money.......do you really think they'd spend money just to spite the Twins, based on years of watching CLE not spend money? They did this to try to win. Nothing more or less. Owners and GMs aren't petty children.

[Parfigliano]

21 minutes ago, CRF said:

Cleve getting Giolito, Lopez, and Moore sure isn't helping the situation. That could be a huge factor down the stretch. There's plenty of time for Cleve to catch us...especially if we lay down on this road trip. If we somehow go 0-6 with Tex and Cleve...all bets are off. Don't forget the Mets and TB are the next 6 games after that, but those are here. I think we have to at least go 6-6 in those 12 games. There's no choice but to roll with what we've got and hope they produce. It's put up or shut up time. 

Mets stink.  

[mickster]

27 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

Good for Cleveland. The last two games proved that there's still a little blood in the water left by the self-injuring Twins. Still a chance to sneak away with the division. Twins will have to step it up a bit.

The Twins could have buried Cleveland by simply taking two of the games and left them 7 out.   Instead it is 5 games and they have life.   If the Twins would have taken this past series I think Cleveland passes on the relievers and one gets to the Twins.    Here's hoping Buxton comes back to CF and Kiriloff to 1B.   Luplow will go, and so should Gallo

[nicksaviking]

11 minutes ago, Alex Wilde said:

Was this you yesterday? I guess I should have added the Guardians to my list...

Uh me? If the Twins are out of the playoff hunt, I'd rather them audition the young guys and angle for draft position. Fans are way more petty about rivalries than the teams are.

Some fans apparently, not most fans.

What list? Weren't you advocating for the Yankees to claim players simply out of spite? Spite which you bafflingly advocated as being positive trait?

That's not what Cleveland did. They're still trying to win the division.

[Riverbrian]

No matter how this turns out this year. No matter what happens in future August's. 

Today in 2023... For the first time in history.  One team out of 30 had the opportunity to upgrade as many spots as they wanted to upgrade over all the other squads to improve their club for a playoff chase. 

Turns out... this unprecedented advantage to one team was a team in the AL Central when we are the team being chased. 

Lucky us.   

[Riverbrian]

6 minutes ago, Alex Wilde said:

With a 5% chance to win the division? This is just as much as them spiting the Twins as it is them thinking they have a chance of winning the division. They sold at the trade deadline for a reason.

Reports are that the Marlins submitted waiver claims and didn't get anyone. So... The Twins wouldn't have gotten Giolito, Moore or Lopez anyway.

So... now who is Cleveland spiting?

 

[Riverbrian]

How does Grichuk slide through?

What am I missing? 

[nicksaviking]

3 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

How does Grichuk slide through?

What am I missing? 

I wanted nothing to do with the outfielders.

But hard to see why a team would want Jordan Luplow but not Grichuk. If Buxton promptly returns and Martin or another young OF gets called up, it'd be a better move than Grichuk.

[JesusisLord7]

Bummer today. I’d still DFA Luplow and Gallo in favor of Austin Martin and Andrew Stevenson. Let’s at least add speed and athleticism to our lineup.

[Twins GFP]

46 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

What  a header :  certainly know how to bring out the negative vibes.    

Status quo around here...

[wavedog]

Well, looks like they got the players we wanted.  Hope it kills their clubhouse chemistry and these 3 players stink for the rest of this season.  If we had claimed them that is what probably would have happened.   Guess they also need to make room on their 40 man roster for these guys unless they have a lot of injured players to put on the 60-day DL.