The Minnesota Twins announced on Tuesday that they granted 39-year-old starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong his release. According to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Vogelsong had met with manager Paul Molitor to discuss his future, weighed his options and ultimately decided he didn’t want to wait until the opt-out date (March 28) when ultimately he didn’t look likely to grab the No. 5 starter job.
Departing now gives Vogelsong the leg up to find work elsewhere. Vogelsong, who’ll turn 40 in July, has won two World Series rings with the San Francisco Giants in his career, has not pitched all that well over the last four years since his solid 2012 season. That year, Vogelsong posted a 3.37 ERA in 189.2 innings — one season after finishing 11th in the NL Cy Young balloting in making his first, and only, All-Star appearance.
In the four seasons since, Vogelsong has posted a 4.66 ERA (4.44 FIP) over 505.2 innings with 6.9 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a pedestrian 1.42 WHIP. Vogelsong has thrown all 1,190 of his MLB innings in the National League, so it’s worth wondering/monitoring if he may catch back on with a team on that side of things. Not many teams have obvious needs, but with a little over a week to go in Spring Training, all it takes is one injury for an opportunity to come up.
Vogelsong also finds himself back in a crowded free-agent veteran pitcher bin with the likes of Colby Lewis, Tim Lincecum, Doug Fister, Justin Masterson, Jake Peavy and the recently released John Danks.
Vogelsong’s tenure with the Twins wraps up with a 7.27 ERA in five appearances (7 ER in 8.2 IP) with a 1.96 WHIP and a .316 BAA.
The Twins also reassigned two pitchers to minor-league camp: righties Raul Fernandez and Jake Reed.
Fernandez allowed six earned runs on 10 hits in just 3.2 innings of work (14.73 ERA) as opposing batters hit a stunning .526 against him this spring. The 26-year-old Fernandez threw 65 innings in relief between High-A Fort Myers and Double-A Chattanooga last season, posting a 3.05 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and a WHIP of 1.26. He should factor into one of the bullpens either with the Lookouts or at Rochester.
Reed was only marginally better in his 4.0 spring innings, allowing four earned runs while opposing batters hit .353 off him. Reed threw 70.2 innings between Chattanooga and Rochester last season with a 3.57 ERA, more than a strikeout per inning and a walk rate of 3.1 batters per nine. With a strong start at Rochester, he could figure into the MLB team’s bullpen plans sooner rather than later.
The cuts left the Twins with 45 players in camp, including 32 players on the 40-man roster.
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