Twins Outright Anthony Swarzak

We learned earlier today that the Twins have chosen to outright Anthony Swarzak instead of paying him around $1.5 million next season, making him a free agent in the process. Jesse listed Swarzak as a candidate to be bounced from the roster earlier this offseason in the Swarzak Stock Market report, though interestingly he was mentioned as someone that would stay on the roster in the 40-man roster cut post. Since he was outrighted, it means that Swarzak already passed through waivers and went unclaimed, showing that no team felt he was worth a million and a half dollars, either.

Swarzak has been with the Twins since 2009, constantly moving back and forth between the rotation and bullpen. In only one season (2013) did he stay entirely in the bullpen and he did an adequate, though unspectacular job as the long reliever and swingman. He's has a career 4.48 ERA, 5.47 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and .275 batting average allowed, and that's the type of production that could be found in plenty of other ways. His departure likely means that either Trevor May or Alex Meyer now have a spot on the Opening Day roster, or the Twins may admit they have a sunk cost in Mike Pelfrey and let him soak up some low-leverage innings instead.

With the removal of Swarzak, the Twins now have 39 players on their 40-man roster which brings some intrigue of a possible acquisition from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft in December.