No Country for Old Men: Andrew Chafin and Gio Urshela Released

[Peter Labuza]

Image courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

As the Twins close in on the end of spring camp, it seems a few more of the veterans brought in on minor league deals won’t find their way onto the team.

First reported by Dan Hayes of The Athletic, left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin and former Twin infielder Gio Urshela were released from their contracts after learning they would not make the team. This follows on the release of Liam Hendricks this morning.

March 20th is the final day for some minor league invites to make the team as per the Collective Bargaining Agreement for players with six years of service time. The Twins can either add the player to the 40 man or release into free agency. Though they have 48 hours to decide, it seems that Jeremy Zoll and the rest of the front office have other ideas and are ready to move on them.

Though the bullpen options for the Twins still seem murky, releasing Chafin makes sense for a team with three other left-handed options in Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda, and Kody Funderburk. Chafin struggled to reach even the high 80s on his fastball while in camp. While the top-line stats looked okay, Chafin’s spring appearances included a 35% hard hit rate, which one would only expect to rise through the season. Veteran presence is always welcomed, but there seemed little reason to have a third, much less a fourth, lefty in the pen.

Urshela’s appearance in camp may have made sense a year or two ago, but his lack of defensive prowess as he enters his age 34 season left little space in the infield. While the Twins likely did not need to look at any offensive numbers, Urshela managed five hits in 26 plate appearances and only one for more than a single.

With Royce Lewis’s improved role at third base, a defensive back up seemed less necessary than the other options who could also play shortstop—which still includes Ryan Kreidler and Orlanda Arcia, both of whom remain in camp as of publication time. We'll always remember the walk up song.

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[ashbury]

Has he tried throwing with his right hand?  I'm no pitching coach, but most people do better throwing from that side.

[Vanimal46]

Really surprised Chafin didn't make the opening day roster here based on his track record. And bummed that a character like him won't be around. 

[RaoulDuke]

Hendriks and Chafin gone so they are not rolling with the oldies.

Rogers

Sands

Banda

Orze

Funderburk

Topa? despite getting shelled

Altavilla

Kent? Lawyerson? Pickup the best arm that gets cut?

 

[Pat]

Wow!  What a bullpen!  The odds against this collection working are astronomical.

 

[LambchoP]

May be the worst pen in baseball:(

[High heat]

I don’t mind any of these move individually but what other options are there?  
 

Are we trying to win less the 60 games this season?

[Eris]

“Lewis’s improved role at 3B”  I am trying to figure out exactly what has been improved.

Lewis is hitting just .091 (3-for-33) with two home runs this spring. He has two walks and 11 strikeouts. 

Cutting Urshela is the correct move. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Play ball.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

The Twins have the worst record in the spring training grapefruit league and second worst in the entire major leagues. Uh...not that  it matters. Yea...nothing to worry about here. I propose 3 preseason exhibition games between the Twins final 26 man roster and the St. Paul Saints final roster and the winner gets to play the major league schedule and the loser gets to play the AAA schedule. 

[terrydactyls]

1 hour ago, Eris said:

“Lewis’s improved role at 3B”  I am trying to figure out exactly what has been improved.

Lewis is hitting just .091 (3-for-33) with two home runs this spring. He has two walks and 11 strikeouts. 

Cutting Urshela is the correct move. 

They're talking defense!

[jmlease1]

I don't mind the team taking a flyer on vets like Urshela and Chafin to see if they have anything left. I just get worried when their "veteran-ness" gets them extra credit that their performance doesn't merit. Seems like the right decisions here: Chafin didn't have the velo and we have plenty of LHP options for the bullpen. Urshela wasn't hitting, is limited on defense, and is unlikely to find the fountain of youth during the season. If his bat was back, he might have been an interesting replacement for Clemens as a RH hitter, but if he's not hitting, he doesn't fit.

I'm a little more surprised that Hendriks didn't stick, but the Twins were clearly looking at more than just his velo in making a call on him, and I'm fine with that.

I'd much rather the Twins roll with the younger players at this point, so no complaints in letting these vets go. Maybe they'll catch on elsewhere, but all of them look a bit washed.

[D.C Twins]

Right decisions but Good Lord this roster construction is horrible. 

[Cody Schoenmann]

Alright then. Two of 'em. Both had Andrew Chafin in 'em. It's peculiar. I'm older now than he ever was by twenty years. So in a sense he's the younger man. Anyway, first one I don't remember too well but it was about meeting him in town somewhere, he's gonna give me some money. I think I lost it. The second one, it was like we was both back in older times and I was on horseback goin' through the mountains of a night. Goin' through this pass in the mountains. It was cold and there was snow on the ground and he rode past me and kept on goin'. Never said nothin' goin' by. He just rode on past... and he had his blanket wrapped around him and his head down and when he rode past I seen he was carryin' fire in a horn the way people used to do and I could see the horn from the light inside of it. 'Bout the color of the moon. And in the dream I knew that he was goin' on ahead and he was fixin' to make a fire somewhere out there in all that dark and all that cold, and I knew that whenever I got there he would be there. And then I woke up...

[dxpavelka]

16 hours ago, ashbury said:

Has he tried throwing with his right hand?  I'm no pitching coach, but most people do better throwing from that side.

But it seems like the ones who throw from the port side can seem to find work well in to their 40s.

 

[dxpavelka]

13 hours ago, Pat said:

Wow!  What a bullpen!  The odds against this collection working are astronomical.

 

Unless it does.  Guess that's why they will play the baseball games

 

[Seth Stohs]

I guess I never really thought that Urshela was brought in as anything other than a favor, to get him some ABs and time at 3B in preparation for the WBC... and then for the "just in case" scenario. 

Chafin? I just didn't see them with four lefties. Rogers and Banda were givens and Funderburk is certainly way better than Chafin. 

As @Vanimal46pointed out above, he would have been a fun character to have around. 

[USAFChief]

20 hours ago, ashbury said:

Has he tried throwing with his right hand?  I'm no pitching coach, but most people do better throwing from that side.

 

[DocBauer]

In a very non-insultibg way, I'm kinda glad about Chaffin being let go to pursue other opportunities. I really thought they'd keep him and send Funderburk down. And I didn't like that idea at all. While Kody is no spring chicken, he's a younger arm with the potential to help this club another 3 or maybe even 4 years. 

I agree with Seth that Urshela was probably brought in as much as a favor to him as much as a possible fill-in if someone got hurt. I don't think he was ever a fit.

But I'm a little surprised about Hendricks. I really thought they'd stick with for a few weeks, a good month, to see if hus velocity would crank up another couple MPH to go along with his secondaries and experience to at least be OK. Obviously, they just didn't see that happening.

So I guess the pen is mostly set for now? Rogers, Banda and Funderburk from the LH side. Sands, Topa, Orze, Kent, and Altavilla from the RH side.  Does that sound about right? 

Why do I have this feeling that an 11th hour trade is still going to happen?

[ashbury]

On 3/21/2026 at 8:48 AM, dxpavelka said:

But it seems like the ones who throw from the port side can seem to find work well in to their 40s.

 

That's fair.  But at this writing, it's no longer working for him.

I can't tell him what to do, but can only report my own experience.  My time in slo-pitch would have been cut short* had I tried it his way.

 

* Er, uh, even shorter.