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    Twins Roster Moves: Zack Weiss In, Jordan Balazovic Out, Santana and Jackson Official


    Matthew Trueblood

    In a flurry of essentially inessential moves Wednesday afternoon, the Twins made their two most recent free-agent signings official and said goodbye to three players at the fringe of their 40-man roster, including a former top prospect.

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    A few days after we learned that Carlos Santana would sign with the Twins to play first base and be an occasional designated hitter, the team made that move official, along with their other, smaller foray into free agency, reliever Jay Jackson. We finally found out the financial terms of Jackson's deal, too. He'll make $1.5 million, all told, with the chance to more than double that if the team picks up a club option on him for 2025.

    In order to make room for Santana and Jackson on the 40-man roster, the Twins designated both Daniel Duarte and Bubba Thompson for assignment, not long after claiming each on waivers. As teams' 40-man rosters gain some extra flexibility when the 60-day injured list opens for the year Thursday, it's likely one or both is claimed and goes elsewhere, but the team could look to keep either in the minors as a camp invite if they make it through the wire this time.

    Minnesota also claimed right-handed reliever Zack Weiss, 31, from the Red Sox, and designated former top pitching prospect Jordan Balazovic for assignment to create the space. Balazovic's career arc is a tale of bad luck, dubious decisions, and injuries, but he might yet get an opportunity to shine in someone's bullpen. Since he is out of minor-league options (and had no plausible path to winning a job in the junior circuit's best or second-best bullpen out of camp), this is no great loss in real terms, but it's a sad ending to the Twins chapter for a player on whom many fans once pinned pretty high hopes. 

    Weiss is interesting, though, to say the least. Primarily a slider-fastball guy, he sprinkles in a cutter against lefties, but the slider alone can do plenty of damage when he's commanding it. He ran a strikeout rate around 30 percent last year, though much of that time was spent in Triple-A for the Angels and Red Sox. His fastball sits in the 93-96 range, touching only a tick higher, but like several other recent favored Twins targets (including Jackson), it's a secondary offering for him.

    Last June, Weiss slid from the third-base to the first-base side of the rubber, trying to align himself better to hit the glove side of the plate with his fastball and attack lefties with the cutter on their hands. He did have modestly improved numbers after the move, but they were lies. In reality, he lost control of the slider, which is his bread and butter. If he sticks around, the Twins will look either to get him back to the third-base side of the rubber or to help him find a feel for the slider from his new angle that permits him to throw enough strikes with it.

    Screenshot 2024-02-07 133041.png

    Unlike Balazovic, Weiss has minor-league options left, despite his advanced age. He could stick around as an up-and-down pen option for the balance of the season, but optionability only keeps a player like this on the roster if they show enough to avoid being shoved out by some non-roster option (be it an external addition or a prospect promotion) who deserves it more.

    This brings some temporary clarity and stasis to the hovering Twins roster questions, but they still have an item or two on their winter shopping list. In the meantime, Balazovic's departure marks the subtle turning of a corner, from one era of Twins pitching prospects to a new one.  


    Are you disappointed to see the Twins give up on Balazovic at this early stage of the spring? What do you think of Weiss, and where should the team be looking to add next? Sound off below.

    Research assistance provided by TruMedia.

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    23 minutes ago, ashbury said:

    The Twins preferred Carlos Santana to Bubba. 

    The Reds preferred Bubba to Balazovic.  That's gotta sting a little, to our pitcher.

    The Reds preferred Bubba over myriads of others they could have put on the roster including Blake Snell and the recently claimed Jordan Groshans. They may simply have thought Bubba has a better chance of making it through or needed to try to get some organizational depth in the OF. The Reds have already DfA’d Thompson once this off-season.

    Getting DFA’d had to sting. Going unclaimed had to sting. That names of the players like Thompson and Groshans that were among those claimed while he was on waivers wouldn’t add to it. Would that mean he would somehow have less sting when they are DFA’d again before the season starts?

    This brings me to a more serious note. It can’t be helpful to a player’s career or family to be moved through so many waiver cycles. I have suggested the remedy is to limit the DFA’s. That probably wouldn’t go so I am going to put something in the waiver player’s pocketbook. As it stands I think the Twins paid a $50000 waiver fee to the Yankees and were paid back the $5000 by the Reds. Is that correct? I am not sure if the off-season or Thompson’s options status matters here.

    I assume there is money involved. Let’s give it to the player. Too much. Let’s give them at least half. Maybe the cycle of claiming a player with plan to DFA would lessen. That would benefit the player by landing him on a team that will really give him an opportunity.

    I had forgotten about the time Balazovic broke his jaw in a fight; it was really the only time I heard Baldelli talk about one of his players in a dismissive manner. 

    Maybe it was overblown or maybe he's a new person, but maybe he has a personality that wasn't worth the trouble.

    1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

    The Reds preferred Bubba over myriads of others they could have put on the roster including Blake Snell and the recently claimed Jordan Groshans. They may simply have thought Bubba has a better chance of making it through or needed to try to get some organizational depth in the OF. The Reds have already DfA’d Thompson once this off-season.

    Getting DFA’d had to sting. Going unclaimed had to sting. That names of the players like Thompson and Groshans that were among those claimed while he was on waivers wouldn’t add to it. Would that mean he would somehow have less sting when they are DFA’d again before the season starts?

    This brings me to a more serious note. It can’t be helpful to a player’s career or family to be moved through so many waiver cycles. I have suggested the remedy is to limit the DFA’s. That probably wouldn’t go so I am going to put something in the waiver player’s pocketbook. As it stands I think the Twins paid a $50000 waiver fee to the Yankees and were paid back the $5000 by the Reds. Is that correct? I am not sure if the off-season or Thompson’s options status matters here.

    I assume there is money involved. Let’s give it to the player. Too much. Let’s give them at least half. Maybe the cycle of claiming a player with plan to DFA would lessen. That would benefit the player by landing him on a team that will really give him an opportunity.

    No they didn't prefer Bubba over a Blake Snell (Only Balazovic and Duarte) not anyone else,  Bubba will likely again be waived and the process will only stop when no one else claims him.  The issue will be that unlike the Twins being able to pass through now 3 questionable players onto triple AAA because Rosters are full,  they all will open up with 60 day designations and it will be much more difficult to pass through a player in 2 days.    

    4 hours ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

    No they didn't prefer Bubba over a Blake Snell (Only Balazovic and Duarte) not anyone else,  Bubba will likely again be waived and the process will only stop when no one else claims him.  The issue will be that unlike the Twins being able to pass through now 3 questionable players onto triple AAA because Rosters are full,  they all will open up with 60 day designations and it will be much more difficult to pass through a player in 2 days.    

    Agree. I should have said this as clearly.




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