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The Twins Opening Day roster is becoming more and more clear by the day, and could continue to change as we go forward. Lefty Danny Coulombe has made the roster. He was added to the 40-man roster this morning. Catcher Jose Godoy was DFAd to make room, but there is a new catcher in the organization. Two other players were assigned to minor-league camp. The Twins need their roster for Opening Day to be at 28. As of this moment, it is now down to 30 players following a flurry of roster moves on Monday morning. First, congratulations to lefty reliever Danny Coulombe. The 32-year-old veteran has worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings this spring. he's given up just two hits, walked two and struck out six. When he makes his first pitch in 2022, he will have pitched in eight major-league seasons. Over the past two seasons, he has worked in 31 games for the Twins including 29 games in 2021. From 2016-2018, he pitched in 134 games for the Oakland A's. He has also pitched for the Dodgers in his career. To make room for Coulombe on the 40-man roster, the team designated catcher Jose Godoy for assignment. The move seemed strange at the time as the Twins will only have two catchers on the 40-man roster, one of which is Gary Sanchez. The 27-year-old made his MLB debut a year ago for the Mariners, but this will be his third DFA since the end of last season. However, soon after, the team announced that they have signed catcher Chance Sisco to a minor-league deal. He will report to St. Paul shortly. The 27-year-old backstop was a Top 100 catching prospect in 2017 and 2018. He played in the 2016 and 2017 Futures Games. He debuted with the Orioles in 2017 and has since been a part-timer in the big leagues. In 196 career games, he has hit .197/.317/337 (.654) with 24 doubles and 16 homers. So, basically, he is Jose Godoy. But, he does provide depth behind the plate. In addition, RHP Jake Faria and infielder Daniel Robertson were also assigned to minor-league camp. They will head to the Saints as well, maybe in time for their season-opener on Tuesday in Louisville. That leaves the Twins with 30 players on their active camp roster. There are 17 pitchers. There are now just two catchers. They have six infielders and five outfielders. The lone non-roster player remaining in camp is outfielder Kyle Garlick. So, what does it all mean? Well, basically it means that the biggest decision remaining is whether to add Kyle Garlick to the 40-man roster or just roll with Brent Rooker. It isn't an easy decision. Garlick crushes left-handed pitching, and that is an important trait for a fourth-outfielder. While not great defensively, he can play both corners adequately. Rooker is on the 40-man roster, but he has been slowed by a shoulder injury. On Saturday, he returned to the Twins lineup. He is in the Twins spring lineup for Monday. It is very possible that the decision has been made and they will just wait until after today's game to announce it. The interesting piece will be who would get DFAd to make room for Garlick on the roster. In addition, the Twins will have to decide whether they want to start the season with 15 or 16 pitchers on the roster. if they want 16, they will need to option one pitcher to St. Paul. If they decide to take just 15 pitchers, that would leave possible the idea of keeping both Garlick and Rooker on the active roster, though a roster move would still be needed. How is this going to shape out over the next few days? Will the team make any trades before the season to add another pitcher, or a player from another position? What do you think? View full article

The Minnesota Twins announced on Sunday morning that three more players have been assigned to minor-league spring training. Outfielder Jake Cave and left-handed pitchers Devin Smeltzer and Jovani Moran will not be on the Twins Opening Day roster. UPDATE - following the game, Jake Faria was sent to minor-league camp, and it was announced that Cody Stashak will stay in Ft. Myers with some biceps tendinitis. The Twins open their season on Thursday, and their Opening Day roster is becoming more clear today after three players were sent to minor-league camp. After throwing 11 scoreless innings this spring, Devin Smeltzer was sent to minor-league camp. He missed most of the 2021 season with a herniated disk in his neck. Now healthy, he was very impressive this spring and it is likely he will pitch for the Twins during the 2022 season. Jovani Moran is the Twins' top relief pitcher prospect. He made his MLB debut in September 2021, but he will begin his 2022 season in St. Paul with the Saints. And Jake Cave was outrighted to minor league camp as well. He will travel to Louisville where the Saints season begins on Tuesday. The Twins spring training roster now stands at 33. They will need to get down to 28 on the active roster before Thursday's opener. There are four non-roster players. Right-hander Jake Faria and lefty Danny Coulombe remain. Infielder Daniel Robertson and outfielder Kyle Garlick are also still in big-league camp. Will any of those four players make the Opening Day roster? Garlick and his ability to mash left-handed pitching would seem to be competing with Brent Rooker for one spot. With the 28-man roster only available to teams through May 1, it is a huge decision to add a non-roster player to the 40-man roster. Will they risk losing a couple of depth pieces by adding them to the 40-man roster for three to four weeks? Will they risk losing a player or two on waivers to make room on the 40-man roster. We may know the answer to those questions by the end of today, certainly within the next 36 hours. UPDATE Following Sunday's game, the Twins announced that Jake Faria was being sent to minor-league camp and will join the Saints in Louisville for the Triple-A opener. Also, Cody Stashak will remain in Ft. Myers to work through some biceps tendinitis. How do you think the Opening Day roster will shape up? Leave your thoughts in the Comments below. View full article

The Twins have completed several rounds of roster cuts this spring with another handful to go. Still, several non-roster invitees remain in camp and have a legitimate shot at making the Opening Day roster. The Twins are down to just six non-roster players remaining on their spring roster. Several players were sent to minor-league camp so that they can head up to Minnesota this weekend. The Saints season starts on Tuesday in Louisville. The six non-roster players remaining in the big-league camp include left-handed pitchers Devin Smeltzer and Danny Coulombe, right-handed pitcher Jake Faria, infielder Daniel Robertson, and outfielders Kyle Garlick and Jake Cave. While there are certainly several good reasons to not add non-roster players to the 40-man roster knowing that the active roster will drop back to 26 players by May 1st. However, here are three players that I think do have a realistic opportunity to make the Twins Opening Day roster. Jake Faria Jake Faria had limited success in Tampa Bay’s rotation all the way back in 2017 when he posted a 3.43 ERA across just under 90 innings in his debut. After bouncing around for a while and not pitching in 2020, the right-hander finds himself as a realistic bullpen option for the Twins on Opening Day. With the lockout leading up to a short Spring Training ramp-up, the Twins are likely to employ some sort of “piggyback” method to start the season to allow the rotation to ramp up and remain healthy. Faria has been used in a multi-inning role this spring which could be a hint that the Twins may be taking a look at him to fill such a piggybacking role. He’s allowed just one run in his five spring innings and his mix of a split-finger and breaking ball could make him more prepared to navigate the entirety of a lineup than a traditional right-handed pitcher with just a fastball and slider. While no sure thing, Faria is a name to watch in the waning days of Spring Training. Kyle Garlick Kyle Garlick could make the 2022 roster again in the same role as 2021 as the backup right-handed masher in the outfield. Ideally the Twins would give him all of Max Kepler’s at bats against left-handers, against whom Garlick posted an incredible .878 OPS in 2021 before being shut down with a core muscle injury. The counter argument is it would come at the expense of Brent Rooker’s roster spot, who is a home--grown talent and some feel still has a ceiling higher than a platoon bat such as Garlick. That said, Rooker hasn't played in a game for a week with a shoulder soreness, so an IL stint is possible. Since the two right-handers are fairly equal on defense, the Twins could easily see Garlick as the obvious option. In addition to his 2021, Garlick has absolutely punished southpaws during his entire career, posting an incredible .865 OPS against them thus far. It may take giving up on Brent Rooker, but the immediate payoff of Garlick being the matchup role player in the outfield seems like a sure bet to provide some value. Jake Cave The Twins just can’t seem to quit Jake Cave. Thus far he’s outlasted Trevor Larnach and Gilberto Celestino in camp with only a few more cuts to make. It’s hard to imagine the squad heading north with the 29-year-old Cave who owns a paltry .202/.263/.332 (.595) slash line since the start of 2020, especially since Nick Gordon’s ability to fill in at center field from the left side of the plate makes him redundant. That being said, the fact that he’s still with the team is worth wondering whether Cave may just stick around. In Cave’s favor, he has logged 144 games in center field in his career, a resume that the Twins may value given Byron Buxton’s injury history. He’s also improved defensively over the years, performing around league average on defense in 2020 and 2021 at the position. Another left handed bat in the outfield may not make much sense on paper, especially one you would expect absolutely nothing from offensively. That being said, Cave’s ability to man center field may be seen as a worthy trade off compared to someone like Kyle Garlick who only fills a very specific role offensively and is confined to the corners. The cuts are likely coming in short order with only a few decisions left to be made. Are there any other remaining non roster invitees that could sneak their way into Target Field on Opening Day? Let us know below! View full article

The Minnesota Twins announced a couple of minor league signings Wednesday evening in addition to the signing of right-handed pitcher Dylan Bundy to a major league deal. Returning will be lefty reliever Danny Coulombe who appeared in 29 games for the Twins last summer and was recently non-tendered. But perhaps the more intriguing of the two is the arrival of right-hander Jake Faria. Jake Faria was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 10th round of the 2011 draft and spent the first 40 games of his big league career — spread across the 2017-19 seasons — in St. Petersburg. The Rays shipped him to Milwaukee in exchange for Jesus Aguilar at the 2019 trade deadline, and he proceeded to post an 11.42 ERA for the Brewers in 8 2/3 innings. Milwaukee designated him for assignment in January 2020 and ultimately released him in mid-September after passing through waivers unclaimed. (Faria did not appear in an MLB game during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.) He signed with Arizona this past June and appeared in 23 games, including three starts, for the hapless Diamondbacks striking out 32 batters in 32 2/3 innings. Faria boasts a four-pitch mix — four-seamer, splitter, curveball, and slider — though he leans heavily on his fastball, which sits around 92 mph. However, while his fastball is nothing to write home about, his splitter is, inarguably, an above average offering. His splitter helped propel him to a promising rookie campaign in 2017 when he produced 1.3 fWAR, an 81 ERA-, and a 3.43 ERA in 16 total games (14 starts). However, his iffy tertiary and quaternary stuff (i.e. his slider and curveball) have tanked an otherwise promising start to his career. Faria has never produced anything near what he did during his age-23 season. However, bringing him in on a minor league deal represents a zero risk, decent reward opportunity for the Twins. In a best-case scenario, he is added to the 40-man roster and functions in a similar role to that of Devin Smeltzer from past seasons; a serviceable long inning relief arm who has the ability to step up into a spot-starter role on occasion. In a worst-case scenario, he sticks around at Triple-A and provides organizational pitching depth, something that is always in dire need. In many respects, the signing of Faria is emblematic of the Twins front office’s approach to finding bullpen arms. They often look for pitchers who can be signed for cheap (i.e. short-term or minor league deals) and possess at least one offering that displays some signs of being elite. Matt Wisler rose to prominence after a middling career due his high-end slider. The Twins will likely hope to accomplish the same feat by relying on Faria’s splitter. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email — Read more from Lucas here View full article