Friend of Zone Coverage Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that right-handed reliever J.T. Chargois has been put on waivers for the purpose of taking him off the 40-man roster.
The Twins have not confirmed the move or the report, and likely won’t until anything is completely final (i.e. Chargois is claimed/clears waivers). Chargois, who turned 27 in December, was the team’s second-round pick out of Rice — where he was teammates with Tyler Duffey — in the 2012 draft.
UPDATE: The Dodgers have claimed Chargois.
The Twins have confirmed the move.
Chargois didn’t appear at all with the Twins in 2017 after a promising end to the 2016 season due to elbow issues, and his current health is unclear at this point.
This likely means one of two things for Chargois:
- The Twins are hoping he sneaks through waivers because he’s been hurt and thus doesn’t give much for opposing teams to grade him on as far as whether/not to acquire him.
- He still may not be fully healthy.
Obviously, neither scenario would be ideal for Chargois, a promising relief prospect with big-time stuff who posted a 2.82 ERA in 22.1 innings after a disastrous first outing in the big leagues back in 2016. September of that season was especially good for Chargois that year, as he not only posted a 2.84 ERA but also had a 0.95 WHIP and more strikeouts (13) than innings pitched (12.2).
The lack of health angle doesn’t make too much sense given the fact that the Twins could simply put him back on the 60-day DL — where he spent most of last season, and as they have already with Michael Pineda and Trevor May — but what this ultimately leads one to conclude is the team probably has another move coming not far into the future.
They’ve already added six arms to the 40-man roster — including Pineda, who was on it but is now off on a technicality — could a seventh one be on the way? Or perhaps a hitter from this depressed free-agent market?
Teams don’t open up spots on the 40-man roster for no reason, after all.
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