Twins Sign Reliever Josh Staumont

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Minnesota Twins have finally kickstarted their offseason with the first agreement to a major league deal. Right-handed pitcher Josh Staumont is headed to the bullpen, and represents a flier in relief.

Image courtesy of © William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports

Since Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took over the Minnesota Twins front office, spending on relievers isn’t something that has been part of the plan. Addison Reed represented the only significant financial commitment, and no other reliever had ever earned a multi-year deal. In signing Josh Staumont, they don’t deviate from that process, and his one-year deal won’t represent a significant splash on the bottom line coming in at just under $1 million.

Staumont is a familiar name for Minnesota as he has spent the entirety of his five year career with the Kansas City Royals. A former 2nd round pick in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft, he has thrown more than 38 innings just once in a single season. The standout year for the righty came back in 2021, and that is certainly what the Twins hope to unlock.

Last season Staumont underwent surgery to repair his thoracic outlet syndrome issue. That may sound familiar as it is the same procedure former Minnesota start Phil Hughes underwent. Matt Harvey would be another high profile arm to have dealt with the same issue. Staumont is younger at just 30-years-old, but the track record for players bouncing back can vary wildly. The Washington Post's Jesse Dougherty wrote about thoracic outlet surgery and how the cases can be substantially different depending on the procedure. Vascular surgery, which is what Merrill Kelly underwent, has a much higher success rate than the neurogenic procedure, which is what all but ended Stephen Strasburg.

Looking at Staumont’s production, there is certainly something to dream on here. He has a career strikeout rate in the double-digits, and when right, the stuff sits in the upper-90’s. At his best in 2021, he owned a manageable 3.7 BB/9. Over the past two seasons though, he owns a 6.09 ERA and a 6.6 BB/9 to water down the 10.5 K/9. The Twins are clearly dreaming on the 4.08 FIP and avoidance of homers as a reason to believe they can turn him around.

The back end of Minnesota’s bullpen is largely set. Jhoan Duran isn’t going anywhere as their closer, and Griffin Jax pairs with Brock Stewart and Caleb Thielbar as high-leverage arms. But there is plenty of uncertainty at the bottom end of the group, and Minnesota needs to replace the production that departed in the form of Emilio Pagan going to Cincinnati.

It remains to be seen if Louie Varland will transition back to the starting rotation, but Staumont could represent a final arm to round out the group, allowing someone like Cole Sands a bit more time at Triple-A. Betting on a pitcher to come back smoothly from thoracic outlet surgery isn’t a great proposition, but Minnesota was able to reclaim Stewart’s stuff after he had dealt with arm issues for the entirety of his career.

Upside is what the Twins are banking on in signing Staumont, and with a depressed payroll, finding players that can outperform their deals is important. This is the type of deal Minnesota has typically done at the back end of their offseason to round out the shopping list, but it’s a good starting point to head into 2024. Relief help wasn’t necessarily at the top of the list, but you can never have enough arms to reach the finish line.

Last season the Twins only acquired Dylan Floro at the trade deadline, and Jorge Lopez wound up being a train wreck. Planning some early depth in relief is a much better option. Expect for there to be some minor league deals with invites to spring training completed as well, and the hope would be that the next Stewart can be unearthed. They already reunited with A.J. Alexy on that front. If the Twins get it right, they’ll hang onto whoever the 2024 versions of Danny Coulombe and Jeff Hoffman are as well.

Maybe this first move will be the one that springs Minnesota into a flurry of moves to start the new year.

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[UK Twin]

Very astute move. He's got great stuff so could be a real bargain. The worst case scenario here is that he struggles or gets injured and we release him for little cost. But if he can find his best form again we've got a formidable set up option in front of Duran.

[Patzky]

2 minutes ago, UK Twin said:

Very astute move. He's got great stuff so could be a real bargain. The worst case scenario here is that he struggles or gets injured and we release him for little cost. But if he can find his best form again we've got a formidable set up option in front of Duran.

I suspect Rocco knows who this guy is at least. But signing a guy who wears a 63 on a Royals uniform.. well .

[sweetmusicviola16]

TOS. Recovery from it is pretty poor. 

[Drtwins]

Should have waited until Spring Training and brought him in on a minor league deal. Now when he's injured or deserves to be let go by June the Twins will hang on to him for an extra couple of months.

[UK Twin]

3 minutes ago, Drtwins said:

Should have waited until Spring Training and brought him in on a minor league deal. Now when he's injured or deserves to be let go by June the Twins will hang on to him for an extra couple of months.

By which time another team may well have taken a chance on him. I don't see the downside of signing him now for less than $1 million. 

[Ted Schwerzler]

27 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

TOS. Recovery from it is pretty poor. 

It’s wildly different depending on the surgery though.

[sweetmusicviola16]

2 minutes ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

It’s wildly different depending on the surgery though.

I've dealt with it for 2-3 years and I'm not pitching a baseball. It sucks. I haven't had surgery. I'm a non million dollar arm LOL

[Cory Engelhardt]

Oh man, just saw this now. His stuff was VERY good not that long ago. It's interesting he got a major league deal with his injury issues last year. IF he can get back to anything close to 2021 levels we have something. Certainly worth a look.

[Riverbrian]

I hope he comes back solid from his shoulder issue. 

I used to watch him pitch against us and remember thinking that I wish we had one of those. 

He blew me away watching him blow our hitters away. 

[Parfigliano]

37 minutes ago, UK Twin said:

By which time another team may well have taken a chance on him. I don't see the downside of signing him now for less than $1 million. 

Couch cushion money in todays MLB.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

3 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Couch cushion money in todays MLB.

Beautiful imagery!

It accidentally slipped out of a few folks' pockets along the 3rd base line of Target Field?

[sweetmusicviola16]

6 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Couch cushion money in todays MLB.

At least the Twins did NOT give Kiner-Falefa 15 million dollars. What are the Blue Jays dreaming?

[Patzky]

17 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Oh man, just saw this now. His stuff was VERY good not that long ago. It's interesting he got a major league deal with his injury issues last year. IF he can get back to anything close to 2021 levels we have something. Certainly worth a look.

Apparently the Twins couldn't hit him at all. .090 avg . So he won't be on the mound against us opening day.

[jmlease1]

interesting pitcher. I just hope that things aren't so tight on the payroll scale that if he's not able to get it done the $1M salary won't deter the Twins from moving on.

Considering how fungible so many middle relievers are, I'm ok with trying to find one this way.

[rv78]

LOL!

[Doctor Gast]

Thoracic outlet syndrome is not like TJ surgery. The process is a much slower process for pitchers to come back 100%  if they come back at all. In his case IMO he can come back but he's only started that process now. I have little expectation of him for more than 1 inning of low-leverage situations.  

[h2oface]

TOS muah bye bye

[Karbo]

Looks like it's going to be a long off-season.

[sweetmusicviola16]

3 minutes ago, Karbo said:

Looks like it's going to be a long off-season.

And I sure as heck hope we don't trade Polanco and or Kepler for prospects just for the sake of lowering the payroll. If a #2 TOR SP is part of the package fine. But lets not make our team worse for 2024 just to save money.

[DJL44]

Is Terry Ryan consulting for the front office? This is exactly the kind of low-risk, low-reward move he loved to make. At best they get a back end reliever for $1M. At worst they spent a roster spot on someone who can't even contribute. The opportunity cost may be higher than the salary cost.

[JesusisLord7]

I really like this pitcher. If he is healthy the stuff was nasty. I like this signing. 1M with huge upside. Contrast that with Buxton's 100 Million Army Reserve contract where he plays 1 weekend per month. The Staumont signing seems like a reasonable risk. I'd also like them to offer 2 years to Brandon Woodruff and use year 1 as rehab and hope he would be ready for the playoffs. 2 years 20 million type of signing. 

[JesusisLord7]

It seems to me we should should trade Kepler and Polanco for some high upside 16-18 year olds and then reinvest that money via free agency for pitching. I'd be swift and shrewd about doing it sooner than later. 

 

[Dave The Dastardly]

The Twins have scouts at all major hospitals.

[DocBauer]

Potentially good arm. Used to have good stuff. The contract is great. I just would have like this better if it were  milb deal with a split contract.

Two bad years and coming off surgery I'm just not sure ibsee the 40 man need at this point. 

[HerbieFan]

5 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

It’s wildly different depending on the surgery though.

Do we know which version of the surgery he had?

[Shaitan]

5 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Is Terry Ryan consulting for the front office? This is exactly the kind of low-risk, low-reward move he loved to make. At best they get a back end reliever for $1M. At worst they spent a roster spot on someone who can't even contribute. The opportunity cost may be higher than the salary cost.

Um, what level of [uncontrolled] player do you expect for $1M? A back end reliever at $1M is as cheap as it gets.

And if he can't contribute, they aren't spending a roster spot on him. He'll be waived or on the 60-day IL.

[DJL44]

33 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

Um, what level of [uncontrolled] player do you expect for $1M? A back end reliever at $1M is as cheap as it gets.

And if he can't contribute, they aren't spending a roster spot on him. He'll be waived or on the 60-day IL.

They signed him to a major league contract and gave him roster spot. They only get 40 of them in the offseason. 3 spots left before they need to put players on waivers. 3 spots left that they can use for players received in trades.

[DocBauer]

To be clear, I ABSOLUTELY believe the smart thing for ANY club is to look for diamonds in the rough every year. Especially when you are a mid market team. So while I would have preferred Staumont on a milb deal, it wasn't a bad signing. Nor was Alexy on his milb deal. And there will be a couple more, same with other teams.

Once again, that's how you find 1yr wonders like Wissler, and better options like Thielbar and Stewart. And while he wasn't outstanding, it sure looked, briefly, that they found a potentially viable option in DeLeon last year before his arm fell apart. And over the years, there have been others, under this FO, and the previous one as well. 

My only issue with our current FO is making smart choices. And IMO, they haven't always made those smart decisions. Last year, both Coulombe and Hoffman had great springs. It would have cost next to nothing to part with them if they proved to be poor choices ultimately. But they let Coulombe walk for nothing to Baltimore where he had a solid year. And Hoffman was simply let go and signed with the Phillies only to have probably the best year of his career.

So YES, keep brining in talented arms that have potential and have had injuries or never put it together yet. Find as many Thielbar and Stewart finds as you can! But for goodness sake, when you seem to have found one, KEEP HIM.

You can always move on later.

While the pen was still generally solid last year, for the most part, it could have been better if they just held on to what they already had, a pair of solid middle innings veterans who might have helped, especially Hoffman.

FWIW. Alcala continues to perform well in winter ball. He finally allowed a run and took a loss, but 4 saves and 14K and 5 hits in 8.2 IP is impressive. 4 BB is not great.

I believe Winder and Sands have at least 1 option remaining. Balazovic has none. So in an 8 man pen, there MIGHT be room to keep Balazovic if he SHOWS UP and raises his game. Otherwise, he could end up a waiver wire DFA in one of the hardest falls we've seen for a Twins prospect. Honestly, if he doesn't do enough, show enough, to warrant a 26 man spot, he might just unclaimed at that point. 

My point is, to the FO, if you bring in Alexy and Staumont, and anyone else they might bring in...and I'm of the belief a deal MIGHT happen for an arm...if a guy looks really good, and you think he could carry over his ST to the season, keep him and don't fall in love with an arm you still "hope" might turn out.

 

[Boswell]

Ted, you left out the name “Chris Archer” and an analysis of his success with the Twins!