The Minnesota Twins announced on Monday their first wave of clean up on the 40-man roster, as they outrighted five players off in anticipation of offseason moves.
The players affected included:
- Left-handed pitcher Tommy Milone
- Left-handed pitcher Pat Dean
- Left-handed pitcher Andrew Albers
- Infielder James Beresford
- Outfielder Logan Schafer
The Twins’ 40-man roster now stands at 35, though that number will technically swell to 38 once the team activates Danny Santana, Phil Hughes and Glen Perkins from the 60-day DL. At this point, it’s unclear if any of those three are candidates to open next season on the 60-day DL, with Perkins probably the most likely case and it being a virtual certainty that Santana will not. Still, procedurally the team has to remove the players from the 60 over the offseason.
More moves are likely coming, as the Twins not only have to make room on the 40-man roster for anyone they might acquire in the offseason, but also to make room for minor leaguers they want to protect from the Rule 5 draft, which takes place on the final day of the Winter Meetings each year.
All five players will have the ability to declare free agency. Milone, Schafer and Albers would have had that ability in season due to this not being their first outright, while Dean and Beresford are technically eligible for “minor league” free agency due to their service time down on the farm. That does not preclude them from signing big-league deals, though it would seem to be unlikely.
Milone made 49 appearances for the Twins (40 starts) since coming over from Oakland in the Sam Fuld trade, and posted a 4.79 ERA (4.85 FIP), 1.45 WHIP and 6.3 K/9 in 219.2 innings. He and Ricky Nolasco were the somewhat surprising inclusions to the Opening Day rotation at the expense of Tyler Duffey, who had a tough season. Milone turns 30 during spring training next year.
Dean spent less than a year on the 40-man roster, as his contract was purchased on Nov. 20 of last year. After a solid year at Triple-A in 2015 (2.82 ERA in 179 innings), he was absolutely pounded at both levels this year, as he posted a 5.56 ERA with the Red Wings in two stints and a 6.28 mark in two stints with the big club. He’ll turn 28 next May.
The 31-year-old Albers was added to the 40-man roster during the season when the Twins were in a roster pinch, and he gave the big club 17 innings with a 5.82 ERA and 16 strikeouts. It would not be stunning to see him and/or Dean return on a minor-league deal as rotation depth at Rochester.
After 10 years and more than 1,000 minor-league games, Beresford got a 10-game stint with the Twins as a September call-up, playing first and third base and an inning at second while hitting .227/.261/.273 in 24 plate appearances. The Twins are the only organization Beresford has known as a professional, though he did admit he considered signing elsewhere after a .307/.341/.359 line with the Red Wings in 2015 didn’t get him promoted. He was markedly worse — .269/.330/.312 — at Rochester this year, and as a result may not have much choice but to re-sign with the Twins if they make an offer. He’ll be 28 just after the new year.
Schafer turned 30 while with the Twins this year, and hit .238/.342/.317 while filling in all over the outfield for the Twins — first in center in the absence of Byron Buxton, then shutting between left and right as Max Kepler struggled and Eddie Rosario got injured. He signed a minor-league deal with the Twins on June 2 after being released in spring training by the Washington Nationals. In 318 career games and 720 plate appearances, Schafer has hit just .214/.292/.318.
