Twins Sign RHP Austin Voth to Minor League Deal

DFAd by the Blue Jays last week, he cleared waivers and chose to become a free agent. He will report to the St. Paul Saints.

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The Jays have had their share of injuries and pitching issues. Jose Berrios recently had Tommy John surgery. Shane Bieber, Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer, and Bowden Francis are all on the Injured List. They have been in need of both starting and relief pitching.

In the last few days, Toronto has acquired Simeon Woods Richardson from the Twins for #OldFriend Cash Considerations. They also just signed Justin Topa who was released by the Twins last week.

Austin Voth had been pitching at Triple-A Buffalo most of this season. He recently came up to the big-league club and worked six innings over two games before they DFAd him and he chose free agency.

Voth, who will turn 34 at the end of the month, was a fifth-round pick of the Washington Nationals out of the University of Washington.

He worked his way up the organizational ladder, and in 2018, he pitched in four games (12 1/3 innings) in the big leagues. He made eight starts (nine appearances) in 2019. He made 11 starts during the Covid-shortened 2020 season. In 2021, he was moved to the bullpen and pitched in 49 games. Midway through the 2022 season, he was DFAd by the Nationals and claimed by the Orioles.

In 2024, he spent the season with his hometown Mariners and posted a 3.59 ERA.

In 2025, he spent a season pitching for Chiba Lotte in Japan.

The Twins front office continues to work the edges of their 40-man roster. Since spring training, they have been very busy on the waiver wire and continuing to add minor-league free agents with big-league time. Some have worked. Others did not. In the offseason, they signed veterans like Liam Hendriks, Dan Altavilla, and Matt Bowman. All three are now with other organizations. The Twins were able to sign veterans like Drew Smith, Jon Brebbia. Smith remains in St. Paul, but Brebbia was let go. Luis Garcia was claimed. Zak Kent and Christian Roa were too.

Clearly Anthony Banda was going to make the team with his track record, and the Twins stood by him through early-season struggles. They brought back Cody Laweryson right as spring training started, and he made the opening day roster. With his unique release point, 97 mph fastball and intriguing sweeper, Justin Lawrence sure looks the part of big-league reliever. Garrett Acton looked good after the Twins claimed him, but he only worked in four games before being injured.

And if we thought the Joe Ryan for two bad months of Nelson Cruz was a great trade for the Twins from the Rays, well, Yoendrys Gomez for Cash Considerations is looking pretty good so far too.

Back to Austin Voth. He'll likely be used in different roles and different situations. He could be a spot starter (like Thursday night), an opener, a three-to-four innings guy twice per week, a traditional one-inning guy. Will he eventually get a shot with the Twins? Who knows?

But the Twins absolutely should be frequently acquiring these types of players. If they can end the season with three of Banda, Laweryson, Lawrence, Acton and Gomez pitching well and in the plans for 2027, that's a Win.