Who Is Travis Adams? Meet Minnesota's New 40-Man Roster Addition

[Nick Nelson]

The Twins added right-handed pitching prospect Travis Adams to their 40-man roster on Tuesday, positioning him to play a role in their short-term plans. Here's what you should know about him.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

The Minnesota Twins added two prospects to their 40-man roster ahead of Tuesday's deadline to protect players from Rule 5 draft: Marco Raya and Travis Adams. In our article previewing this deadline, we had Raya at the top of the list in terms of likelihood, and Adams near the bottom. He's not considered one of the organization's best prospects (Adams is not in Twins Daily's top 20 or even MLB.com's top 30). As a mid-20s right-handed pitcher, his profile is robustly represented in the Twins system.

The addition of Adams to the 40-man roster above several other candidates serves as a good reminder that this decision is not so much about who your best prospects are, or even where your greatest organizational depth needs lie. It's all about who you actually expect other teams to target when the Rule 5 rolls around on December 11th.

Clearly there was a sense that Adams would be at real risk, despite a track record and rep that don't stand out at first blush. So let's take a closer look at what the Twins see in the righty, and what they feel other clubs might see.

Travis Adams: Background and Development
The Twins selected Adams in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB Draft as a college pitcher out of a Sacramento State. The first five players they drafted that year (Chase Petty, Noah Miller, Steve Hajjar, Cade Povich, Christian Encarnacion-Strand) have all been traded, leaving fifth-rounder Christian MacLeod and Adams the most highly-drafted remaining players from the class. 

 

"Adams fastball ranges from 90-95 mph and has touched 97 at its best," shared Baseball America in their draft report. "He goes right after hitters with his fastball and gets plenty of swings and misses on it ... Adams is a good athlete with a quick arm and still has some physical projection left to add strength and throw harder in the future."

That last part – projectability to add bulk and velocity – has been a common trait for mid-round college arms drafted by the Twins, and we've seen it come to fruition time and time again, including with David Festa, a 13th-rounder from the same draft. But relative to Festa and many other arms in Minnesota's pitching pipeline, Adams has not posted especially impressive numbers as a pro: 4.54 ERA, 23% K-rate in 75 appearances (70 starts).

What to Like About Travis Adams
What Adams has been able to do is establish a strong baseline of durability, throwing 100 innings in his first season (2022), 110 innings last year, and 127 innings this year. Relative to many pitching prospects – including in the Twins system – there is little question about Adams's ability to hold up as a starter. He leads all Twins minor-leaguers in innings pitched since 2022.

 

He also showed a lot of improvement this year after struggling mightily in 2023 as a 23-year-old at Double-A, improving from a 5.66 ERA to 3.67 in 2024 to earn a late-season promotion to Triple-A, where he made four appearances. Adams didn't post huge strikeout numbers over the course of the season but he threw strikes and got ground balls.

From a repertoire standpoint, Adams is pretty conventional: four-seam fastball, changeup, slider, and curveball. In a spotlight interview with Twins Daily's Seth Stohs last year, Adams said his fastball “will sometimes cut, sometimes run, just kind of do its own thing from time to time.” 

Turning 25 in January, he's ready-made MLB pitching depth, and while he doesn't seem to boast an especially high ceiling, that can change. 

For one example, look no further than current rotation stalwart Bailey Ober. He was barely on anyone's radar when the Twins added him to their 40-man roster following the 2020 season. Look where he is now, four years later. I'm not saying Adams will follow the same path but this move makes him one to watch.

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[Whitey333]

Good for him.  But who cares?  IMO this current Twins administration has done a poor job in player development.  Sure we have some prospects on the current roster but haven't proven much at the big league level.  Too many times players are brought up from minors only to be relegated to part time status due to the ridiculous platooning.  Also they are made to play multiple positions with little or no experience.  Why would any young player want to be in the Twins organization?

[Cory Engelhardt]

9 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Good for him.  But who cares?  IMO this current Twins administration has done a poor job in player development.  Sure we have some prospects on the current roster but haven't proven much at the big league level.  Too many times players are brought up from minors only to be relegated to part time status due to the ridiculous platooning.  Also they are made to play multiple positions with little or no experience.  Why would any young player want to be in the Twins organization?

Do you have a right side of the bed to get out of in the morning?

[ryan189]

34 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Good for him.  But who cares?  IMO this current Twins administration has done a poor job in player development.  Sure we have some prospects on the current roster but haven't proven much at the big league level.  Too many times players are brought up from minors only to be relegated to part time status due to the ridiculous platooning.  Also they are made to play multiple positions with little or no experience.  Why would any young player want to be in the Twins organization?

you really have know idea how baseball works these day maybe find a different sport to follow 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

58 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

 Why would any young player want to be in the Twins organization?

Maybe it’s because they want to play Major League Baseball someday.  Are you suggesting that these guys are just tanking their careers because they don’t like the Twins?  That seems pretty unlikely. 

Good grief. . . 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

More importantly than my earlier comment. . . 

The Twins have MUCH more information about these guys than we do, so I’m going to defer to their take on things.  You are right, he’s a big strong guy with a very lively arm, and that alone makes him interesting.  I can think of a certain closer whose strong peripherals never really translated in the minors either.  Some guys just take a little more time to develop than others, and it’s not really a straight line procedure.  Adams sounds to me like a guy who could be a little boom or bust with a range from #4 innings eater starter to absolute killer relief arm.  

[LambchoP]

Glad we added him. The fact that he's healthy and very durable and close to an MLB debut, makes me think at least one team would have taken a chance on him. You can never have too much pitching.

[DJL44]

Quote

Adams said his fastball “will sometimes cut, sometimes run, just kind of do its own thing from time to time.” 

That's a nice way to say he has inconsistent command of his fastball.

[jmlease1]

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to have added him to the 40-man. Pitchers at AAA with any kind of upside are vulnerable, and even if Adams might not be able to make it as a starter (and he's further down on the pecking order of Twins starting pitching prospects) he's absolutely going to get a shot, and if it doesn't work for him starting in MLB he'll get a chance to relieve. Having been durable and effective in the minors already most teams could find a spot for him in the bullpen this season even if they're not ready to have him start for them. Other teams (rebuilding ones) would take a chance on him as the 5th guy, have him be a swingman, etc to see if they can get some value off the Twins draft and development.

He's got value and probably would have been taken. Seems like a good idea to protect him, even if he's not as hot a prospect as Morris or Lewis.

It'll be interesting to see how the Rule 5 Draft goes. Those 26-man slots are precious. 

[ryan189]

8 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

That's a nice way to say he has inconsistent command of his fastball.

dosen't walk a lot of people so he must of figured it out

[DJL44]

40 minutes ago, ryan189 said:

dosen't walk a lot of people so he must of figured it out

If you throw it in a hittable location, you won't walk many players.

[tony&rodney]

Pitchers who gain command and control are able to keep the ball away from the sweet spot on the barrel, subsequently earning employment at the MLB level. Adams has a chance. He will need to earn the opportunity.

[Parfigliano]

49 minutes ago, ryan189 said:

dosen't walk a lot of people so he must of figured it out

At least figured out the part (walks bad) that prevents many from ever making MLB

[LA Vikes Fan]

In contrast to earlier comments, I think the Twins organization drafts well and has done a very good job with player development at the minor league level leading to MLB ready players. Just looking at the current roster you see a robust group of players developed in the system from Duran, Jax, Ober, and Sands on the pitching side with more on the way (Festa, Matthews, etc.) to Lewis, Miranda, Wallner, Larnach, and Jeffers, in the field, with Lee and hopefully Julien and others on the way. Not all of these guys are or will be stars but they are or soon should be quality MLB level players who deserve to be on the roster of a winning team.  We can argue about how they use these players once they get to the MLB level with the excessive platooning and emphasis on positional versatility over excellence at one position, but those are not development issues. They're how you use the guys once they get there issues.  

To me, the bigger issue is the penchant for signing replacement level veterans to fill out the roster and the multiple swings and misses there in 2024.  That's the weak spot in my opinion. Going into 2025 I would rather see them take a shot with "younger" guys in the org rather than sign placeholder vets to fill out the roster. Only sign free agents if they have an MLB track record of being better than average. Keirsey and Morgan as the 4th and 5th OFs (along with Castro), not another Margot type. If we can't re-sign Santana (or think he's done), go with Miranda and/or Julien at 1B, don't sign a retread. Only upgrade to Walker or someone like that, don't sign Ty France or even Anthony Rizzo. Either get higher end free agents, trade for good younger players, or lean into the organization. Don't fill the team with mediocre veteran guys. If that means taking some lumps in the first half of 2025, so be it. We'll be better for it in the long run. 

[PatPfund]

Adams was definitely a surprise for me, but the OP was right about people being protected; it is about their fairly immediate use to the team, and their chances of getting taken. (Some on other threads are posting as if the Twins released players who weren't protected; José Miranda wasn't protected the season before he lit up AA and AAA and paved his way to the majors. As a Twins prospect, because he wasn't picked.)

Definitely curious to see the plan for Adams come ST.

[bean5302]

Adams had a good enough run in AA to potentially generate some interest, and the promotion to AAA likely put him on the radar. He's incredibly inconsistent in terms of strikeouts (might be 13 K/9 for 5 games, then 5 K/9 for 5 games) but he is consistent in that he performed well at the end of the day. Really weird.

Perhaps the Twins think there's some serious upside in there somewhere?

[DocBauer]

He was a surprise to me initially before I really thought about it. While he's behind several other good arms in the system, a solid FB and good slider and the ability to not BB hitters could make him a likely target for someone to grab and stash as the 13th man in the pen for 2025. So his addition actually makes sense.

Guys do suddenly take steps forward in to legitimate ML arms. And Ober is a great example. He was a surprise add a few years ago when he adjusted his mechanics for better health, velocity and control. Might Adams be following a similar jump forward?

Just a hunch, but I think we'll see him in the Twins pen at some point in 2025, even if it's just a few innings.

[tony&rodney]

On 11/21/2024 at 10:19 AM, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

I had not heard of Adams until this action was taken.  That said, I had not heard of Zebby either at this time last year.  Sometimes pitchers come out of nowhere to become successful.

No problem with that. Some of us older retired guys who are increasingly less mobile and no longer busy 16 hours a day spend time watching milb.com, where we can watch any number of prospects in A, A+, AA, and AAA ball. I doubt if I would be as familiar with prospects other than reading Baseball America if I'm still  working. 

[tony&rodney]

31 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Thanks Tony or Rodney (not sure which one).  I am an old retired guy also and will definitely start checking this site out to follow our prospects more closely.

The picture makes you look six decades behind me.