Twins Release Carson McCusker, Are Likely to Make Rule 5 Draft Pick Wednesday

[Danchat]

Susac being available to take given how well he hit at AAA there is suspicious, is he not a very good defensive catcher? Otherwise it seems like a no-brainer to take him, especially given the dearth of depth at catcher in our farm system (who knows if Tait sticks at C). Might as well take a shot to bolster that position for the future, I like the move.

[Chembry]

2 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Jackson is out of options, correct?

Yes

[Chembry]

2 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Bobby Nightengale is reporting the Twins are trading Susac to the Giants. More to come

Interesting...

[Chembry]

Just saw that the Twins are getting 17 year old DSL catcher Miguel Caraballo...

[DJL44]

Drew Romo is DFA by the Orioles if anyone wants to grab a different young catcher. Romo has options.

[Cory Engelhardt]

8 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Susac being available to take given how well he hit at AAA there is suspicious, is he not a very good defensive catcher? Otherwise it seems like a no-brainer to take him, especially given the dearth of depth at catcher in our farm system (who knows if Tait sticks at C). Might as well take a shot to bolster that position for the future, I like the move.

He wasn't great compared to the league he played in, but it is interesting. We'll see. 

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, Jacksson said:

Just ONE from the "LOADED" 40 man roster released??

In a pinch, easily a half dozen more openings on the 40 man roster could be made by DFA those certain players.  Doubtful, any would be claimed and if they were = NO BIG LOSS.  By the end of the 2026 season, just how many of these place keepers will remain on the 40?

 

Sadly probably 80% of them

[Danchat]

So they essentially passed on a Rule 5 draft pick to land a 17 year old catching prospect? Geez. So much for finding a guy who might help the big league team, even if the odds are small of hitting on one.

[weitz41]

Good luck to him. Hope he does well both in play and in pay, wherever he lands

[Hubie29]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I guess having 5 relievers with more than 20 IP each all with an ERA at 2.45 or better doesn't move your needle for "stacked" 

Not even close. You include Ramirez and Stewart? Laughable. In 2025, 25 blown saves, lost 36 games by 1 run, bullpen had a 52.8% save percentage, 26th in mlb. Yep, we were stacked alright. Can you imagine if we improve on those stats next year? It will be the greatest bullpen of all time. 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

9 hours ago, Hubie29 said:

"Stacked bullpen" last year. 

Reading that line made me a bit depressed. It's amazing how far we've fallen in 12 months.

[Riverbrian]

14 hours ago, Hubie29 said:

Not even close. You include Ramirez and Stewart? Laughable. In 2025, 25 blown saves, lost 36 games by 1 run, bullpen had a 52.8% save percentage, 26th in mlb. Yep, we were stacked alright. Can you imagine if we improve on those stats next year? It will be the greatest bullpen of all time. 

Save and Save Percentage are strictly end of game stats. If the Twins managed to deploy Duran in those save situations... the numbers would have changed pre trade deadline. Bullpens are deployed earlier than that and play a role in the number of SVO's. The number of SVO's is probably the most concerning thing. 

By total result... It was more of an average bullpen pre deadline and would still have to be considered a slight disappointment in consideration of preseason expectation of the unit at least in my opinion. It's that preseason expectation that the author referenced with "Stacked bullpen" in regards to not having room for last years rule 5. Eiberson Castellano. 

It was two different bullpens. By including August and September and limiting to save situations... your numbers probably don't imply fairly.

They had 20 Saves out of 35 Save Opportunities prior to the deadline in 108 games.

They had 8 Saves 18 Save Opportunities post deadline in 54 games.

The most shocking stat is that Duran only handled 18 of the pre deadline 35 save opportunities. That's lower use of your closer in what is already low closer opportunity. Duran had 16 saves out of those 18 SVO's so Duran wasn't really a problem. 

For comparison... A really stacked bullpen by performance belonged to the Padres. Saurez had 31 SVO's out of the team total of 45 in the same time frame. Estevez of the Royals had 30 SVO's. The Royals had 40 total. The Royals turned to someone other than Estevez 10 times and the Twins turned to someone other than Duran 17 times and had less opportunity to turn to anyone at all.  

Griffin Jax had 20 holds and not a single save... he blew all 5 of his save opportunities. Good Year? Bad Year? Mixed probably is the answer but he's Taj Bradley now. 

Bullpen numbers are a lot to unpack.

Myself... I'm looking more at the total number of SVO's and less at the result of those SVO's. We had a run differential of 95. We need to produce more runs so we have more save chances. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hubie29]

34 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Save and Save Percentage are strictly end of game stats. If the Twins managed to deploy Duran in those save situations... the numbers would have changed pre trade deadline. Bullpens are deployed earlier than that and play a role in the number of SVO's. The number of SVO's is probably the most concerning thing. 

By total result... It was more of an average bullpen pre deadline and would still have to be considered a slight disappointment in consideration of preseason expectation of the unit at least in my opinion. It's that preseason expectation that the author referenced with "Stacked bullpen" in regards to not having room for last years rule 5. Eiberson Castellano. 

It was two different bullpens. By including August and September and limiting to save situations... your numbers probably don't imply fairly.

They had 20 Saves out of 35 Save Opportunities prior to the deadline in 108 games.

They had 8 Saves 18 Save Opportunities post deadline in 54 games.

The most shocking stat is that Duran only handled 18 of the pre deadline 35 save opportunities. That's lower use of your closer in what is already low closer opportunity. Duran had 16 saves out of those 18 SVO's so Duran wasn't really a problem. 

For comparison... A really stacked bullpen by performance belonged to the Padres. Saurez had 31 SVO's out of the team total of 45 in the same time frame. Estevez of the Royals had 30 SVO's. The Royals had 40 total. The Royals turned to someone other than Estevez 10 times and the Twins turned to someone other than Duran 17 times and had less opportunity to turn to anyone at all.  

Griffin Jax had 20 holds and not a single save... he blew all 5 of his save opportunities. Good Year? Bad Year? Mixed probably is the answer but he's Taj Bradley now. 

Bullpen numbers are a lot to unpack.

Myself... I'm looking more at the total number of SVO's and less at the result of those SVO's. We had a run differential of 95. We need to produce more runs so we have more save chances. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You went more in depth than I did which is great. I was just implying that a stacked bullpen is something we did not ever have last year. The preseason prognostication was wishful and foolish. 

[Riverbrian]

4 hours ago, Hubie29 said:

You went more in depth than I did which is great. I was just implying that a stacked bullpen is something we did not ever have last year. The preseason prognostication was wishful and foolish. 

I was just adding to your post and I found some of the additional numbers interesting without obvious explanation. Such as the Duran usage in save situations being less than what other teams were doing with their designated closer.  Was it a matter of save opportunity sequencing making him less available for the  save opportunities in comparison with other teams? On a team that had less opportunities in comparison with other teams. To me that's weird. I don't remember any IL stints to explain it. 

I don't know the answer to that but if you take Duran's mostly successful opportunities out of the mix. You are looking at the rest of the bullpen nailing down 4 out 17 SVO's which is much worse than even you expressed. Then of course after that. The trades took place and guys like Topa were the top dogs in the bullpen and now you have lesser closers handling the specific role that you are pointing out. That makes post deadline a separate consideration.         

"Stacked" was the adjective that the author attached. It's probably fair to question the selection of that adjective but... you pick a word and type it. I suspect it wasn't the stacked bullpen but Castallano's readiness that had a bigger factor on his being returned to the Phillies and he didn't have a real good year in the minors either.  

Myself personally... My feeling at that time. Coming out of spring training 2025. I was pretty comfortable with the bullpen as it was and I am often bullpen uncomfortable. I thought that 7 or the 8 slots were at least decent. Although I fully admit... I really expected Alcala to be much better than he was and I was a big believer in Duran, Jax, Varland and Stewart.  

Bullpens are volatile. Expectations are hard to meet. When I read your post... my immediate thought just turned to the number of opportunities. The number of SVO's goes hand in hand with Wins and Losses and in that regard... I reference the run differential and the lack of offense limiting SVO's. 

So... whenever I walk down these paths... I manage to find a way to point at the offense as the primary issue.    

 

[NYCTK]

18 hours ago, Hubie29 said:

Not even close. You include Ramirez and Stewart? Laughable. In 2025, 25 blown saves, lost 36 games by 1 run, bullpen had a 52.8% save percentage, 26th in mlb. Yep, we were stacked alright. Can you imagine if we improve on those stats next year? It will be the greatest bullpen of all time. 

The praise of the bullpen has become ridiculous after the sell off. Come the trade deadline, the Twins bullpen, as a unit, were near the bottom of the league in all of Win Percentage Added, WHIP, Left on base Percentage, and ERA. 

This after being very middle of the pack the previous year. 

The Twins bullpen was supposed to be a strength, on paper, but didn't play up their expectations.