Twins Claim Versatile Ryan Kreidler, Make More Minor Moves

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins announced that they had claimed utilityman Ryan Kreidler off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 27-year-old became available on the waiver wire on Monday when the Pirates DFAd him in favor of outfielder Will Robertson. 

A native of northern California, Kreidler went to UCLA. In 2019, he was the fourth-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers. He moved fairly quickly up the organizational ladder and was called up in September of 2022 to make his debut. In 26 games that year, he hit .178 which, unfortunately is easily the best batting average he has put up in short big-league stints in 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 89 games over four years with the Tigers, he hit a combined .138/.208/.176 (.383) with one double and two home runs. 

In the big leagues, he has played 42 games at shortstop, 24 games at third base, 19 games in center field, five games at second base, and one game in left field. 

In 2023, he missed time with a knee injury and then later had surgery for a core-muscle injury. In 2024, he had surgery on the index finger of his throwing hand and missed significant time. 

In late August this season, the Tigers DFAd Kreidler, and he was claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He spent a week on the Pirates big-league roster but didn't get into a game. 

Will he remain on the Twins 40-man roster throughout the offseason? We shall see. However, he is were to be DFAd and cleared waivers, he will become a free agent. He is also out of options after this season. 

MORE TRANSACTIONS
Minor league transactions just kind of happen here and there throughout the offseason as needed. The Twins recently made a couple of moves. 

First, Erasmo Ramirez was able to elect free agency and did just that. Previously, Noah Davis, Darren McCaughan and Brooks Kriske elected free agency as well. 

RHP Sebastian Pulido was released. The 19-year-old pitched in just six games for the FCL Twins in 2025. In 9 1/3 innings, he had a 5.79 ERA, had five walks and struck out 11 batters. 

22-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Anthony Narvaez was also released. In 2025, he pitched in five games for the FCL Twins and seven games for Fort Myers. Combined, he worked 16 2/3 innings and had a 2.70 ERA, eight walks and 14 strikeouts. He signed with the Twins in March of 2022. He spent significant time on the injured lists each of the past three seasons. 

Tyler Stasiowski signed with the Twins in August of 2024 as a non-drafted free agent out of the University of California. He pitched in just three games late in the 2024 season. He spent the 2025 season with the Mussels. In 35 games and 47 innings, the 24-year-old posted a 6.70 ERA and had 22 walks and 45 strikeouts. He was released last week. 

Peyton Carr was the Twins 10th round pick in 2024 out of High Point University. He played in 84 games this season for Fort Myers and hit .226/.332/.322 (.654) with nine doubles, two homers and four homers. He moved up to Cedar Rapids late in the year and went 1-for-8 (.125) over three games. The hit was a double. The 23-year-old Fort Myers native was released as well. 

And finally, what will certainly be a surprise to no one, the Twins released LHP Matt Mikulski as well. In 2021, the Giants made him their second-round pick. That season at Fordham (his fourth season there), he went 9-0 and had 124 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings. In 2022, he went 4-5 with a 6.95 ERA in 18 starts (22 games). Then in 2023 at High-A, he posted a 6.75 ERA and had 54 walks and 71 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings. He made the move to the bullpen early that season. He repeated the level in 2024 and posted a 5.58 ERA with 41 walks and 55 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings. At the end of spring training in 2025, the Giants released him. In late May, the Astros signed him. He posted a 16.88 ERA in three outings in the FCL. He moved up to High-A and posted a 5.68 ERA in 12 2/3 innings over nine appearances. 

And then the Twins and Astros began talking about Carlos Correa. On deadline day, the Twins sent Correa back to the Astros in exchange for the southpaw Mikulski. The Twins knew what they were getting, and that was a whole bunch of cost savings to Correa over the coming years. He posted a 10.13 ERA in six games with the Kernels and had 13 walks, two hit batters and seven strikeouts in his 5 1/3 innings in Cedar Rapids. Again, no surprised he was released. 

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[thelanges5]

Correa salary dump is complete. 

[Reptevia]

Injury history-check. Batting average under .200-check. Multiple DFA’s-check. Add in a few Rule 5 picks of similar stature and they will probably be done. 

[IndyTwinsFan]

Yawn!

[NYCTK]

He's the type of player that has value with options, and very little when they're exhausted.

But, at the same time Kike Hernandez has stayed on the most stacked roster in the majors for a while now, despite being a 640 OPS guy. That's basically his best case scenario. 

[LewFordLives]

13 minutes ago, Reptevia said:

Injury history-check. Batting average under .200-check. Multiple DFA’s-check. Add in a few Rule 5 picks of similar stature and they will probably be done. 

Yeah, it would be fun to be a fly on the wall in some of those meetings. Someone in the front office must see something in him. I gotta think that someone DFA'd by the Pirates is not gonna have many more opportunities.

[LyleCole]

YOu can never have enough sub .400 OPS hitters on your roster.  The Twins certainly do seem to love them.  It is almost as if they prefer giving these types of waiver wire pickups more opportunities than their own internal prospects.

[chpettit19]

He wasn't even all that good in AAA this year. At 27. I'm generally the "every team makes these little moves, it's no big deal" guy, but I can't even say that for a guy with no options who isn't even an elite AAA guy at 27. I don't see how this even helps the floor of this team in 2026.

[Patzky]

43 minutes ago, LewFordLives said:

Yeah, it would be fun to be a fly on the wall in some of those meetings. Someone in the front office must see something in him. I gotta think that someone DFA'd by the Pirates is not gonna have many more opportunities.

He's Jonah Bride without the pitching bonus.

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, Reptevia said:

Injury history-check. Batting average under .200-check. Multiple DFA’s-check. Add in a few Rule 5 picks of similar stature and they will probably be done. 

Geez, under .200 is one thing but a career .138 hitter in the majors? The next Willi Castro he is not.

[Maybe Next Year]

Once again Falvey shows his brilliance! What an incredible move. 

[Blyleven2011]

Nothing changes  , waiver claims for depth , will the front office ever start believing in our own prospects  ...

If they are a mid market team , I wish they would act like one instead of acting like a small market  ...

People say money talks , with falvey in charge of spending foolishly and over paying , all the pohlads money says is good bye ...

Fire falvey , I'll sign the petition  ...

[sweetmusicviola16]

If this don't light your fire then your wood must be wet. Fire Falvey.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

World Series, 2026...Here come the Twins!

[SteveLV]

WTF do they see in this guy?  Seriously, what is the point?  He can't hit.  

[LewFordLives]

Seems a little early in the off-season to be playing the waiver wire merry-go-round. Couldn't they just wait until he cleared waivers and then signed him to a minor league deal?

[CRF]

Dumpster diving 101. 

[Mike Sixel]

57 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

He wasn't even all that good in AAA this year. At 27. I'm generally the "every team makes these little moves, it's no big deal" guy, but I can't even say that for a guy with no options who isn't even an elite AAA guy at 27. I don't see how this even helps the floor of this team in 2026.

Truly. Mind. Boggy..

[Mike Sixel]

26 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Nothing changes  , waiver claims for depth , will the front office ever start believing in our own prospects  ...

If they are a mid market team , I wish they would act like one instead of acting like a small market  ...

People say money talks , with falvey in charge of spending foolishly and over paying , all the pohlads money says is good bye ...

Fire falvey , I'll sign the petition  ...

I'm in. 

[stringer bell]

Competition for Fitzgerald for a utility spot (at this point). He's younger, faster and he can play in the outfield. It looks like he can't hit as much as Mickey Gasper. 

[mikelink45]

Wow - the early question on TD was if we were becoming the Pirates - considering we just picked up a DFA from the Pirates I guess we just sunk below them.  Way to get the fan based excited!

[Doc Lenz]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

Geez, under .200 is one thing but a career .138 hitter in the majors? The next Willi Castro he is not.

5 points better than Gasper. Shoe in for roster.

[Doc Lenz]

15 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Competition for Fitzgerald for a utility spot (at this point). He's younger, faster and he can play in the outfield. It looks like he can't hit as much as Mickey Gasper. 

Better than Gasper 

[DocBauer]

I get how the system works. Kreidler is a MILB fill in at AA, maybe AAA. So you claim him and then later release him and probably sign him again as a MILB for orientation depth. Period. The move is only to put the Twins in 1st place for a MILB depth option. It's just like a MILB rule 5 option early.

I don't blame McCaughen from trying the FA market. He's not good, but he's good enought to be a depth piece for someone. And I wouldn't be shocked if he came back to the Twins considering the 2026 pen will be in flux.

I am, however, really surprised by the dropping of Peyton Carr. A 10th round pick with ONE professional season, even mediocre, being cut loose is rare. Did he simply not want to play any longer? Or is there something else going on we don't know about?

The rest, all due respect, are MILB fodder considering the talent on hand for 2026. 

Again, Kriedler is nothing more than a hope nobody else claims him as we want him for some MILB depth. Every team does that.

What's of interest to me is the pitching depth from AAA downward even with these obvious deletions. Of course there will be some fliers brought on, and possible depth pieces, but I'm not certain I've seen this kind of pitching depth in the system for YEARS.

 

[USAFChief]

They're just trolling us now.

[DocBauer]

Just relax folks. He's nothing more than a AA or AAA depth piece we snagged pre rule 5. Even as stupid as ownership is, even as stubborn minded as the FO is, this is ONLY a simple BS move made in regard to hopefull MILB depth. This is only "get in the front of the line" for a Disney Small World ride. 

We'll probably never hear about him again, save some MILB reports. If even then.

[IndianaTwin]

Um, this is one move. A largely administrative one to fill a spot.

Are we that concerned that they picked up a guy with a minor league wRC+ of 106, including a 109 this year, and with experience at five defensive positions? Don't be surprised when they waive him this winter in hopes he'll clear and give them St. Paul roster filler. 

[stringer bell]

Honestly, I won't like it, but he will probably get major league service time next year and if he stays in the organization, he might get some run as the 26th man.

[High heat]

I would guess he gets DFA by Twins in hopes of keeping as minor league depth

[tony&rodney]

We all have ptsd from the past season combined with the last several years of roster builds. Kreidler might be a real gentleman but we see this move and have real thoughts ..... Is this the big offseason move?

Something is rotten in the state of Minnesota Twins fandom. What is our limit?