Minnesota Twins Outright Five Players from 40-Man Roster, Including Some Surprising Names

[gman]

Every year there are players who have been on the farm for 5 or 6 years that get cut. If you look at the age of 3A players you will see guys who are often 28-33 still hoping for a shot. The Twins will probably add some guys in the this age bracket with 6-8 years on the farm to fill out rosters. The odds are one of them will spend some time on the Twins roster next year for a few innings. Several relief pitchers who have played for a half dozen teams will make the team for a while.

[RpR]

I was looking up long term AAA players two days ago and found , at least the longest term ones listed, there are a fair numer who were/are best of best in AAA but when they hit the Bigs, either have one great year and that is it , or who just never can fully adjust to the Bigs.

The Twins , Seem, to have had a few of those, to one degree or another, but right now their Minor League boys are just that boys who are, for the most part, a crap-shoot at what the Bigs will do to them or they will do in the Bigs.

[Danchat]

I thought they’d hold onto Winder and work on him as a reliever. He’ll definitely be back in the majors sooner than later for someone.

Not shocked by Severino, they clearly don’t believe in him as they never called him up despite being on the 40 man. Probably is a AAAA hitter with no defensive home.

[djm24]

4 hours ago, Fatbat said:

There are better prospects than Severino.  Do you really want Dobnak and Duarte et al on the 40 man? I don’t. 

If you don't want Duarte and Dobnak on the 40 man, you're entitled to your opinion.

There might be better prospects than Severino. But it's a known fact that a lot of prospects impress in the minors and go on to disappoint in the big league. So, it's anyone's guess how these other prospects will turn out. Just IMO, Matthews needs to spend time in 2025 in St. Paul to further his development. Perhaps he can be recalled later in the season. And I was not impressed with Festa's performance with the Twins.

I'm requesting help from one of you people here. There was a comment (or two) made suggesting other names which could have been added to this 5-man roster dropped list. I'm wondering about Varland and Thielbar. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why they feel the FO did not drop them from the roster. Is it because Varland is a St. Paul native? Is he a manager or FO favorite? Do they feel he is tradable in spite of his lower value? How many times will they continue to bounce him back and forth between St. Paul and the Twins? How many options does he have left? How much time are they giving him to "figure things out" while in St. Paul?

And, as for Thielbar, is he still on the roster only because they need a lefty reliever? It seems like Baldelli takes a chance on him every time he's called to pitch! Is he also a *favorite"? I'm not convinced that there are not "favorites".

So, just wondering about these two players and any possible reason why the FO hangs onto them.

 

 

[Fatbat]

1 hour ago, djm24 said:

If you don't want Duarte and Dobnak on the 40 man, you're entitled to your opinion.

There might be better prospects than Severino. But it's a known fact that a lot of prospects impress in the minors and go on to disappoint in the big league. So, it's anyone's guess how these other prospects will turn out. Just IMO, Matthews needs to spend time in 2025 in St. Paul to further his development. Perhaps he can be recalled later in the season. And I was not impressed with Festa's performance with the Twins.

I'm requesting help from one of you people here. There was a comment (or two) made suggesting other names which could have been added to this 5-man roster dropped list. I'm wondering about Varland and Thielbar. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why they feel the FO did not drop them from the roster. Is it because Varland is a St. Paul native? Is he a manager or FO favorite? Do they feel he is tradable in spite of his lower value? How many times will they continue to bounce him back and forth between St. Paul and the Twins? How many options does he have left? How much time are they giving him to "figure things out" while in St. Paul?

And, as for Thielbar, is he still on the roster only because they need a lefty reliever? It seems like Baldelli takes a chance on him every time he's called to pitch! Is he also a *favorite"? I'm not convinced that there are not "favorites".

So, just wondering about these two players and any possible reason why the FO hangs onto them.

 

 

Varland is still around because he is young, cheap, controllable and may end up in the pen. 
Thielbar is a free agent and will likely retire. Don’t count on him coming back. 
looking at the 40 man on MLB.com today, their isn’t many more to cut unless they would jettison Helman and they decided to keep Alcala by picking up his option year. 
Right now it looks like they have plenty of room to add Raya and 2-3 more young guys and sign a FA or 2 but I seriously doubt they will be signing anyone as soon as FA lights the green light.  

[Riverbrian]

3 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Your FO will a always keep you scratching your head , yes he could have been packaged with a trade , ( kinda of got the feeling we might not have any trades coming this off season ) ...

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe in order to remove Severino from the 40 man roster... he was exposed to the other 29 teams and is returning to the Twins because nobody claimed him for basically no cost at all. 

Therefore his trade value is pretty low if not none at all. Unless not having to keep him on the 40 man increased his value. Even if that is the case... Still can't see him as a needle mover.   

[Riverbrian]

The outrighted don't interest me much. 

The players that remain on the 40 man are the ones that interest me. 

Jair Camargo is still on the 40 man. Helman and Kiersay are still on the 40 man. 

Of course... those 3 players could easily be off the 40 man as the team starts filling in the available space as the off-season progresses.

At least for the moment... The Twins seem to feel those three have some value. They didn't have much value last year when we needed some players to step up.   

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, twinzcynic said:

Ah yes, I remember when people around here were excited by Winder. Yet another pipeline "success".

He was on a similar track to sands, who people were also excited about. Winder struggled to stay healthy and never really developed. Sands got healthy and showed he could handle the role as a reliever. That's kind of the way it goes: some that look good flame out, never stay healthy, never find success in a role. Sands has worked out, Winder didn't.

Someone might give Winder a chance to make it as a reliever somewhere else, but I doubt anyone will be breaking down the door to give him a MLB contract. He could slide through waivers and give it one more shot in saint Paul. Not all that surprised he got dropped: he's 28, he's frequently injured, he's frequently very hittable, and has never been able to turn it up.

I'm a little surprised at Severino, but he was just ok in Saint Paul at the plate and doesn't add much defensively. his ability to switch hit is intriguing, but he would need to really hit to have value since he adds little defensively and is really a 1B/DH at this point. Looks like the Twins think of him as a fringe player.

All seems fine to me.

[jmlease1]

8 hours ago, djm24 said:

There are other "head scratcher" contracts that are and were worse than Dobnak 's. And there is not as much mention about those contracts like there is about Dobnak's on this board. Think Joey Gallo. And the two current players who are earning mega bucks and spending a lot of time on the IL. You know who they are!!

Huge Dobnak fan here! And I, for one, will be glad when he no longer has to "stick around" to earn his money, as the author of this article has insulted and Randy can thankfully leave  the Twins organization to either continue his career with another team or a career outside of baseball. 

When that happens there will be many Dobnak naysayers doing more ",head scratching" as they attempt to find another "punching bag" to attack.

I'm baffled by the idea that the Twins have somehow disrespected Randy Dobnak. he wasn't healthy for multiple seasons, and the last 2 when he has been healthy, he hasn't been impressive in AAA and given anyone much of a reason to promote him.

seems like a good dude, but the injuries really derailed his career. He was wise to sign the long-term contract he was offered, and hopefully he's made good investment and savings choices.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, djm24 said:

If you don't want Duarte and Dobnak on the 40 man, you're entitled to your opinion.

If nobody else in MLB wants to give a player a 40-man roster spot then there is no reason for the Twins to give them a 40-man roster spot. Players are kept on the roster to make sure they can't go elsewhere.

31 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

I'm wondering about Varland and Thielbar. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why they feel the FO did not drop them from the roster.

Thielbar is off the roster. He's a free agent.

Varland still has one option remaining (Winder was out of options) and showed potential as a reliever in 2023.

[djm24]

3 hours ago, arby58 said:

Newsflash: Dobnak can leave now - and he could have left last year. Why does he stick around? There are three million reasons, and he's not getting that contract elsewhere.

FYI. Dobnak has own reasons for continuing to want to keep playing. And I'm sure he doesn't want his reasons broadcasted, like other players have done. Sure, he is being paid well. But that is due to the decision of the FO. So, if the frugal FO or ANY alleged  Twins fan is going to moan and complain about Randy's contract, then those fans have a real problem!! 😡 I, for one, would LOVE to have signed a contract for $9M+ but it didn't happen and life marches on! In fact, I'm sure there are MANY people, many players included, who would love to have signed the type of contract like Randy did, given the opportunity. But ",opportunity did not knock" for those people. And, again, as it does for me, life marches on.

What about the greedy players throughout the ML whose mega deal contracts make Dobnak's contract pale in comparison? Obviously, not all of those players, including some current Twins players, are earning or have earned that money based on their performances. And do the jealous naysayers complain a lot about the contracts of those players? Those players could find a legal way to terminate their contracts if they really wanted to do so. And I'm sure many of those players have or are considering doing that due to their unhappiness with their entire team's performance. So, I wonder who will be the next player to be frequently criticized about their contract once the 2025 season has ended. I imagine Dobnak will be thrilled to exit the Twins organization and continue his career either with another team or with another occupation. And the Twins fan naysayers will just have to select another unfortunate player to target. I'm sure the cycle will never end.

Enough rambling here. I'm off my soap box -, for now.

[Fatbat]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I was surprised they didn't outright Canterino.

He has zero MLB experience and 26 yo. Coming back from an injury and has a chance to make the MLB roster out of spring training. His stuff plays in the high minors and his mlb salary will be minimum.  I can’t think of a single reason to dump Canterino in NOV.

[Fatbat]

37 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe in order to remove Severino from the 40 man roster... he was exposed to the other 29 teams and is returning to the Twins because nobody claimed him for basically no cost at all. 

Therefore his trade value is pretty low if not none at all. Unless not having to keep him on the 40 man increased his value. Even if that is the case... Still can't see him as a needle mover.   

Carmargo has options and is a young controllable catcher that can mash. He has value, even if its low because of almost no MLB experience. 

[Riverbrian]

1 minute ago, Fatbat said:

Carmargo has options and is a young controllable catcher that can mash. He has value, even if its low because of almost no MLB experience. 

I have no idea who or what Camargo is. I can only take my clues based upon actions. 

He was kept on the 40 man... That indicates value. 

He was on the 26 man roster for 20 games last season and was given 7 trips to the plate even though Vazquez was setting a pretty low bar to clear for playing time. That indicates very little value. 

As I watch the actions on Camargo. The actions are conflicted and therefore... So am I. 

[djm24]

19 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

If nobody else in MLB wants to give a player a 40-man roster spot then there is no reason for the Twins to give them a 40-man roster spot. Players are kept on the roster to make sure they can't go elsewhere.

Thielbar is off the roster. He's a free agent.

Varland still has one option remaining (Winder was out of options) and showed potential as a reliever in 2023.

Good luck to Thielbar. It will be interesting to see if another team signs him at his age.

As for Varland if he has only one option left, what it means is if that option is exercised next year, he can be a free agent at the end of the season unless the Twins keep him on the roster? Sorry but I'm "green" at understanding a lot of the rules.

[DJL44]

26 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

He has zero MLB experience and 26 yo. Coming back from an injury and has a chance to make the MLB roster out of spring training. His stuff plays in the high minors and his mlb salary will be minimum.  I can’t think of a single reason to dump Canterino in NOV.

I can think of one: He's always injured and unavailable to pitch. At some point you cut bait on that.

[Fatbat]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

I can think of one: He's always injured and unavailable to pitch. At some point you cut bait on that.

Down the road if he tanks but there isn’t a 40 man squeeze in November.  Im sure we scoured the waiver wire and signed exactly zero other cast offs from 31 other teams.  He will be around for awhile.

[DJL44]

1 minute ago, Fatbat said:

Down the road if he tanks but there isn’t a 40 man squeeze in November.  Im sure we scoured the waiver wire and signed exactly zero other cast offs from 31 other teams.  He will be around for awhile.

How many years in a row of not pitching does it take to "tank"? He's pitched 60 innings over the last 5 seasons.

[Trov]

Just because they were DFA does not mean they are out of the organization.  Some will be claimed I am sure and who knows they may be back as teams DFA them as well. Relief guys get DFA all the time and bounce around.  Servirino has way to high a K rate, with too low of output.  His numbers regressed in a full year at AAA which does not help him. 

[Fatbat]

6 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

How many years in a row of not pitching does it take to "tank"? He's pitched 60 innings over the last 5 seasons.

More than that.  At 26 yo, a fully recovered TJ arm and the talent to get outs. There is-no risk to the twins and no roster crunch. 

[Fatbat]

3 minutes ago, Trov said:

Just because they were DFA does not mean they are out of the organization.  Some will be claimed I am sure and who knows they may be back as teams DFA them as well. Relief guys get DFA all the time and bounce around.  Servirino has way to high a K rate, with too low of output.  His numbers regressed in a full year at AAA which does not help him. 

None were claimed and all were sent to the saints.  

[stringer bell]

28 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

None were claimed and all were sent to the saints.  

It’s my understanding that all five of these guys are eligible to be minor league free agents, which would mean they’ll come back to the Twins only if they believe it is best for them.

To address earlier topics in this thread, Varland has shown enough promise to be hung on to, despite the bad numbers. He might be a bullpen guy going forward. Thielbar might retire or try again, but he probably won’t get any major league offers. I could see him signing a minor league deal with the Twins and competing for a spot in the 2025 BP. 

[Fatbat]

5 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

It’s my understanding that all five of these guys are eligible to be minor league free agents, which would mean they’ll come back to the Twins only if they believe it is best for them.

To address earlier topics in this thread, Varland has shown enough promise to be hung on to, despite the bad numbers. He might be a bullpen guy going forward. Thielbar might retire or try again, but he probably won’t get any major league offers. I could see him signing a minor league deal with the Twins and competing for a spot in the 2025 BP. 

Yes, any MiLB player that has 6 seasons completed can elect to become a free agent.  Dobnak obviously won't choose free agency. I would be surprised if Winder and Severino do not explore free agency. 

[DJL44]

46 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

More than that.  At 26 yo, a fully recovered TJ arm and the talent to get outs. There is-no risk to the twins and no roster crunch. 

He was supposedly fully recovered last April from the ligament replacement surgery and didn't pitch the entire season. His average innings pitched over the last 5 seasons is 12.

Most likely scenario: He'll start the season in the minors and be injured before he can put up enough innings to evaluate whether he's worth keeping.

[twinstalker]

Surprising names?  I think not.  As expected.  How can Dobnak be unexpected?  They won't lose him.  Severino?  He's no good.  How are people not aware of what makes a prospect good or bad?  Yes, he can hit pitches down the middle sometimes for a long ways.  It doesn't matter in MLB, everybody can.  Winder might be, though he hardly seems like a loss and likely will return.  Chances are (without looking) his shoulder prevents him from throwing the stuff he was throwing three years ago.  I know he hasn't had it with the Twins.

I'd have kept Blewett before any of them, though no issue there, either.