REPORT: Twins Sign Veteran RP Joe Smith

[Seth Stohs]

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the Minnesota Twins have signed right-handed relief pitcher Joe Smith. 

Joe Smith. Plain in name, but not in game. The Minnesota Twins have signed veteran reliever Joe Smith to a contract for 2022. This will mark his 15th season in the big leagues. He debuted with the Mets way back in 2007, and he has pitched in 832 games since then with the Mets, Cleveland, the Angels, Cubs, Blue Jays, Cleveland again, the Astros and most recently, the Mariners. 

After pitching in Houston in 2018 and 2019, he opted out of the 2020 COVID-19 season. Through 27 games with the Astros, he struggled to a 7.48 ERA. In late July, he was traded to the Mariners and posted a 3-3 record with a 2.00 ERA in 23 games and 18 innings. 

Smith joins a Twins bullpen that has some talent but still some questions marks. 

Taylor Rogers is the best late-inning guy. He earned his first All Star appearance last year. However, a late-July finger injury ended his season prematurely. Tyler Duffey and Caleb Thielbar provide some veterans toward the back end of the bullpen. Jorge Alcala really came on strong late in the year and hopes to take a step forward in 2022. 

There are other options for the Twins bullpen: 

• Jharel Cotton is a veteran that the Twins claimed from the Rangers early in the offseason. He was a solid prospect with the A's, but he struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery. He found some success last year with the Rangers and has a chance to pitch in a middle inning role with the Twins. 
• Cody Stashak - He struggled last year and it was clear from watching him that his back was not right. When healthy, Stashak exhibits great control and command and experienced a lot of success his first two seasons. 
• Lewis Thorpe - He is officially out of options this year. So, he has to make the Twins roster and cannot be optioned without being put through waivers. The Twins have officially told him that they will be moving him to the bullpen. 
• Griffin Jax - He debuted in 2021 and found some struggles, and yet he held his own. He was also told that he will work out of the Twins bullpen from this point forward. He has two option years remaining. He can throw fairly hard out of the bullpen and has a very good slider. 
• Ralph Garza, Jr. - The Twins claimed him from the Astros last summer. He pitched pretty well for the Twins late in the season and has two options remaining. 
• Jovani Moran - another lefty, Moran has some of the best stuff in the bullpen. A good fastball. A sharp slider, and a changeup that many want to compare to Johan Santana's. He's got three options remaining after getting called up in September last year. 

Beyond this group, it's possible to see lefties Devin Smeltzer and Danny Coulombe who have both had good success at times in the big leagues. Juan Minaya really pitched well for the Twins the final two months of the season, and he came back to the Twins on a minor-league deal. Jake Faria has big-league time with some success. Trevor Megill was claimed, then DFAd and brought back on a minor league deal, but he has intriguing stuff. Last year, the Twins claimed Ian Hamilton off of waivers and were able to sneak him through waivers. He is out of options, but he is not on the 40-man roster. In addition, Ryan Mason and Yennier Cano are two arms in St. Paul that should be given an opportunity at some point. 

Joe Smith has had a lot of great moments in the game. The side-winding righty fits into the same type of category as the Tyler Clippard and Sergio Romo types signed in recent years. They can still get guys out, and hopefully they can work with the other bullpen arms. 

What are your thoughts on the Twins signing their first relief pitcher? 

(More to come)

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[RedBull34]

I'd imagine this is a pretty cheap deal.  He didn't pitch particularly well last year and is 37.  Basically a replacement for Robles?

[roger]

Lets hope like heck, Seth, that we get the Mariners version, eh?  Seems the front office likes to wait until the weekend for things to heat up and do deals.  The bigger question is where are the 40-man roster spots coming from as I believe it was full before the Correa signing?  Can they transfer players, Maeda and Enlow, to the 60-day IL?  Or can they not do that until later in spring?

[LastOnePicked]

My rose-colored glasses now tell me that this is Caleb Thielbar 2.0. Another puzzle piece in the championship season ahead.

[ashbury]

Low expectations here.  Hope he's worth the roster slot, because those are about to become scarce.

[DJL44]

49 minutes ago, roger said:

Can they transfer players, Maeda and Enlow, to the 60-day IL?  Or can they not do that until later in spring?

You can transfer players to the 60 day DL the first day of training camp.

[HerbieFan]

Richard Rodriquez is still out there....just sayin'

[roger]

16 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

You can transfer players to the 60 day DL the first day of training camp.

Thanks, DJL44.

[strumdatjag]

I hope signing Joe Smith works out better for the Twins than it did for the Timberwolves. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

17 minutes ago, strumdatjag said:

I hope signing Joe Smith works out better for the Twins than it did for the Timberwolves. 

Terms of the Twins deal with Joe Smith haven't yet been announced, but I think it's safe to assume we will be giving him a max contract in 3 years.

[twinstalker]

Most important piece of information is missing here.  Is this a major league or minor league contract?

[Otto von Ballpark]

11 minutes ago, twinstalker said:

Most important piece of information is missing here.  Is this a major league or minor league contract?

Major league deal, $2.5 mil.

Maeda to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man.

[RJA]

I like this signing, Seth--experienced guy who was much better after joining Seattle last year.  As he sat out a year, I think his performance with the Astros probably demonstrated some rust.  He is not a closer type but I think he is a useful piece at this price.  I think the bullpen may be a little better than people give it credit for--Rogers, Alcala, Duffey, Thielbar, Jax, Smith, Moran and possibly Duran, Stashak, and Cotton,  assuming of course that Rogers is ok.  Plus, picking up bullpen pieces at the trade deadline is not difficult, and there are some up and comers in the minors.  

[The Mad King]

Thanks Seth, thanks Otto for the roster move. Can't hurt to try him. May soon be another casualty of they trade for a starter.

[specialiststeve]

Weird how relief pitching is so "fickle" .. one year can be great and the next... not so much.. 

Saw last year in the playoffs Tampa's relief pitching article. Basically they have great arms but also they have different arm angles through out there pen... along with different "stuff" .. thus not allowing batters to get comfortable.. seems to work pretty well for them and usually cheap!!

Sounds like a plan... we shall see... 

[Jacksson]

Sidewinders are one trick ponies.  RHP no good against LHB because they have additional time and angle to watch..  They mystify initially due to their unique delivery BUT the more they are faced, the less effective they become.  If he actually makes the MLB roster out of camp, he'll be gone by Memorial Day.  Otherwise check him out at either St Paul or the next team that employs him.

[Doctor Gast]

I think they could have done much better with about the same price to take up a 40man spot.

[DocBauer]

I think it's an interesting flier based on past performance. I don't like it for the 40 man. But I suspect his 40 man status changes in the next couple of days, pending another trade.

I really, really wanted the Twins to grab  Carlos Martinez as a high upside arm coming off a bad year. The Giants pounced. Good for them. I think we blew a chance there. 

I don't feel the pen needs some $8M plus arm. But I felt there were enough good arms out there they could have made a solid a solid addition better than this to insure a quality back end. And I'd be willing to bet they still will. At least, hoping they will. He screams middle relief to me. Which is good. But I think we really need a viable, potential, 8-9 IP option. But I'm not certain what is left at this point.

Uncertain where the payroll is at, and certain a trade for a SP is coming. But have to wonder about Smith passing through waivers to be kept as a flier  considering future moves. I'd really like to believe there is someone better on the horizon plus MAYBE a surprise cheap 4th OF to provide some depth and balance.

 

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

Uncertain where the payroll is at, and certain a trade for a SP is coming. But have to wonder about Smith passing through waivers to be kept as a flier  considering future moves.

He has sufficient major league service to refuse a demotion to the minors, even if he passes through waivers I believe, so the choice would be to cut him and eat the salary in that case.

[mikelink45]

I appreciate the article, but have no opinion.  Last year his overall performance was 4 - 4 with a 4.99 era and a whip of 1.38.  His pre covid track record looks good, but that was 2019 and he is now 37.  It will be interesting. 

[roger]

Found it interesting, Seth, how Jax pitched 2 innings yesterday following Ober’s start.  Could see him doing that all year, Ober start and throw 5 with Jax coming in for the 6th thru 7th or 8th.   Could throw another inning a couple days later and neither would be stressing their arms with too many innings.  Would keep Ober around 150 innings and Jax at 100 plus.

[jmlease1]

I'm pretty good with this move. He's got a good track record of success, and has been deadly against righties over his career without getting smashed by lefties. I wouldn't expect him to be the same guy he was in Seattle, but if he lands near his career averages then he'll be a solid bullpen piece. At $2.5M he's easy enough to move on from if it turns out that he's cooked. I expect a lot of his problems at the start of last season were related to his long layoff?

I'm not a fan of dropping big money on most relievers (Atlanta is dropping almost $40M on three relievers; there's pretty decent odds that one of those is going to go bad for them) and the premium paid for a "proven closer" is usually a waste. I prefer the way the Twins seem to be doing it: limited multi-year deals, not overpaying, developing from within, and looking for guys who have some interesting peripherals and/or an elite pitch to work with.

Right now the bullpen looks like: Rogers, Duffey, Alcala, Thielbar, Smith, Cotton, and Garza Jr, with one spot to be fought over between Moran, Jax, Stashak, and Thorpe. Looks solid enough. Hopefully Duffey has a bit of a bounceback season, but Alcala looks like he's rising, and I'm a big fan of Moran's potential.

[Connor Gould]

A reliable but unspectacular veteran for a middle/end of the bullpen role, checks out, decent move.