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Many fans of the Minnesota Twins were confused last week when the team claimed reliever Trevor Megill off of waivers from the Chicago Cubs only for them to non-tender him hours later. However, clarity for the decision came this past Sunday when SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reported that Megill had re-signed with the team on a minor league deal. Megill and all 6-foot-8-inches, 250 pounds of him made his major league debut for the Chicago Cubs this past summer, where he appeared in 28 games out of the bullpen. He owns a four-pitch mix, but primarily relies on his four-seam fastball, which can touch 100 mph, and curveball. The fastball has the raw attributes to be an above average pitch, ranking in the 88th percentile in spin rate and possessing good carry; however, big league opponents mashed it for five home runs and three doubles in 71 plate appearances. (It should be noted, though, that Megill likely suffered from a small sample size and a touch of bad luck. The fireballer allowed seven home runs in 23 ⅔ innings, five of which came at Wrigley Field. According to Baseball Savant, had he pitched the majority of his innings at Target Field, he would have only surrendered two. His 24.1% HR/FB ratio at the MLB level was the second largest of his career by far, trailing only the 26.7% rate he posted in 20 innings at Low-A in 2015.) However, the pitch that likely caught the Twins front office’s eye the most is, you guessed it, his slider. Megill threw his slider only 44 times last summer (26 times to right-handed batters and 18 to lefties), but did so with great success. Nine of his 30 strikeouts came via the slider — it had an absurd, and unsustainable, 56.5% Whiff% — with opponents posting an xSLG of .273. Based on previous evidence provided from their approach with other pitchers, it would not be surprising to see the Twins’ pitching staff adjust Megill’s pitch mix by upping the usage of his slider and cutting down on his fastball and curve. (Of note: The pitching staff is allowed to communicate and work with Megill directly as minor league players are not covered by the now-expired CBA. This would not have been the case had they not non-tendered him and kept him on the 40-man roster.) Much like the signing of fellow minor league bullpen arm Jake Faria, the acquisition of Megill is representative of the front office’s approach to filling out their bullpen. Megill has one pitch that could be elite (the slider) and some statistical evidence suggesting that he’s better than what his performance to date suggests. However, what potentially separates Megill from Faria is his high velocity fastball in combination with a positive track record in the minor leagues. (Megill consistently posted K-BB% rates above 22% while in the San Diego Padres and Cubs’ systems.) Megill is unlikely to be the savior of the Twins’ bullpen woes, but he is an intriguing arm that is more than worth a flier, particularly on a minor league deal. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article

The Twins announced that they have claimed right-handed relief pitcher Trevor Megill. In news that will make too many Twins fans happy, outfielder Jake Cave has been outrighted to St. Paul. Later, the Twins announced that Megill had be non-tendered off of the 40-man roster. Dustin Morse tweeted that the Twins have claimed 27-year-old right-handed pitcher Trevor Megill off of waivers from the Cubs. To make room on the 40-man roster, outfielder Jake Cave was outrighted to St. Paul. Megill turns 28 next week. In 2021, he pitched in 28 games for the Cubs. He went 1-2 with an 8.37 ERA in 23 2/3 innings. He walked eight and struck out 30 batters. Megill stands 6-8 and 250 pounds. He was originally drafted by the Padres in the seventh-round of the 2015 draft out of Loyola Marymount. A year earlier, the Padres drafted him in the third round but he didn't sign. He was the Cubs Rule 5 pick in December of 2019. He didn't pitch at all in 2020. Megill is blessed with a 96.4 mph average fastball. He also throws a slider in the mid-80s and a curveball in the low-80s. His two breaking balls were each thrown about 16-18% of the time. It wouldn't be surprising if Wes Johnson worked with him and got him to eliminate one of the breaking balls and use the other a lot. The other half of the transaction should relieve some Twins fans angst. Last week, the Twins signed Cave to a non-guaranteed contract. Today, he was removed from the 40-man roster, went unclaimed and was outrighted to St. Paul. According to Darren Wolfson, he had a split contract in which he would make $800,000 in the big leagues and $300,000 at Triple-A. Over his first two seasons with the Twins (2018-19), he played in 163 games and hit .262/.329/.466 (.795) with 27 doubles, four triples, 21 homers and 70 RBI. Unfortunately over the past two seasons, he has played in 118 games and hit .202/.263/.332 (.595) with nine doubles, three triples and seven home runs. UPDATE - Trevor Megill was non-tendered by the Twins on Tuesday night. However, according to Kiley McDaniel, there is a once-a-year loophole that makes it make a little bit more sense. Feel free to share your thoughts on Megill or Cave. View full article