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During the offseason, the Twins were quite active in the free agent market. They signed Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke, Addison Reed, Lance Lynn and Logan Morrison to major league deals. In addition, they signed the likes of Ryan LaMarre, Gregorio Petit, Bobby Wilson, Jordan Pacheco, Myles Jaye, Nick Buss and Erick Aybar to minor league contracts with spring training invitations.
And then they also signed several minor leaguers to minor league contracts without an official MLB spring training invitation. That group included LHP Casey Crosby, RHPs Omar Bencomo and Ryne Harper, OF James Ramsey, IF Jermaine Curtis, and catcher Wynston Sawyer (who was later given an official invite).
Such is the nature of free agency, and as you can see, it is impossible to guarantee which move will be deemed successful as the season progresses.
As you can assume from the first paragraphs and this article’s title, we’ll spend a little time talking about another free agent the Twins signed this past offseason, RHP Matt Magill.
Matt Magill was drafted out of high school in the 31st round of the 2008 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. In late April of 2013, Magill made his MLB debut for the Dodgers and recorded a quality start. He made six starts for Los Angeles and went 0-2 with a 6.51 ERA before being sent to the minor leagues.
He made a return to the big leagues for five games in 2016 with the Cincinnati Reds. He spent the entire 2017 season in the San Diego Padres minor leagues.
Magill was again a free agent, and he decided that signing with the Twins was the right thing for him to do. When Magill was asked about what went into the decision for him to sign with the Twins, he provided a couple of good reasons before acknowledging the biggest reason.
“I knew that they had a good foundation intact, and I knew they really liked bringing guys up from within their organization. They really like to bring those guys up. I felt like they were going to be contending this year for sure too, and honestly, this was my only option this year too.” Magill continued, “This offseason, they were the only team that called me. So this was my option. That was the main reason. It made it more easy going into the situation knowing that they were contending for a playoff spot going into it. Also, I’ve heard only good things about this organization.”
Magill is a great example of a lot of journeymen players who love the game and want to play until the uniform gets ripped off of their back, or until all options have been exhausted.
Magill notes, “Honestly, they offered me the minor league spring training. I told them I would love to go just because I wanted a job. I wanted to pitch. I wanted to play. So when they gave me that opportunity, I was just excited. I wasn’t really worried about getting a big league camp invite. I just wanted to pitch. I wanted to play baseball, wherever that meant I was going to go play. They told me I would have some opportunities to go over and pitch on the big league side, so I was very excited for that. I just tried to make the most of the opportunity I was given.”
The Twins kept their word. He pitched five innings over six games for the Twins in spring training. He gave up just one earned run. Most of his spring work came on the back fields of the Twins spring facilities. However, he was impressive, flashing a big fastball to go with a sharp slider.
He began the 2018 season in Rochester, but he quickly impressed. Reports indicated that he was consistently hitting 96 and touched 98 at times.
As we all recall, the Twins bullpen struggled early this season and with weather affecting so many games, the Twins had to make several moves. After just five outings (and 8 2/3 innings) in Rochester, Matt Magill was added to the 40-man roster and called up to the Twins in late April. Even he admits to being surprised.
“I was very, very, very surprised. Honestly. Knowing that I wasn’t on the roster, I kind of came out of nowhere. I knew that it was going to be hard for me to get up to the big leagues. I would have to do everything I could. Not saying I don’t believe in my ability, but I know the business side of baseball sometimes prevents some guys who are really good at playing baseball to get to the big leagues.”
In addition, he looked around during spring training and it added to his thoughts that it would be difficult for him to get a shot in the big leagues.
“When I went to spring training, I saw the arms we had in our bullpen in Rochester. I thought it was going to be triple as hard because we have so many talented guys down there still. The future of the Twins, I just, it’s only going to look up because the arms they have down there are unbelievable.”
Tyler Duffey, Alan Busenitz, Gabriel Moya, and John Curtiss have had some time in the big leagues this year. Nick Anderson and Jake Reed still have not had a big league opportunity (but should after Labor Day).
Through the majority of his career, Magill has been a starter. He feels that experience has helped him in his time in the bullpen.
“It helped me when I was doing the long role. It helped me set up hitters and feel like I could go length. I was very comfortable throwing multiple innings. I also was very comfortable coming in early in the game. That made it easier for me. I think it also helped me appreciate both sides of the game and both sides of the pitching aspect of it.”
However, he has become much more comfortable coming out of the bullpen and gained confidence along the way.
“Out of the bullpen is nice. You just go in and attack hitters. There is game plan, but you’re going in to get that one guy out at a time. Starting is a whole different mindset for me. I thought it was trying to build up to getting as many innings as you can for your team. (In the bullpen), it’s just about getting outs.”
And for the most part, Matt Magill has done a real nice job of getting outs for the Twins. (Again, I’m accepting the blame for Sunday!) The Twins will certainly continue to evaluate Magill, along with those Rochester pitchers, over the final month to see determine potential roles for 2019
But when you consider that Magill didn’t have offers from other organizations and didn’t even get an invitation to big league camp, it has been a great story. And not just a feel-good story, but a story about a journeyman who throws 95-97 mph and has helped the Twins bullpen. Still just 28, he has a chance to stick around for a while.
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