Twins waive Trevor Plouffe, Adam Brett Walker claimed by Brewers

With tonight’s deadline for adding prospects to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, tons of roster moves are underway. The Twins have made two significant ones.

Twins Waive Trevor Plouffe

The Twins started their roster moves today by placing Trevor Plouffe on outright waivers. That means Plouffe was being removed from the 40-man roster, and could then accept a minor league assignment or free agency, and he’s obviously expected to do the latter.

In other words: Plouffe’s time as a Twin is over.

According to reports, the Twins tried to trade Plouffe, but the market was a ghost town.

Like the Twins, apparently no one was willing to pick up the $8.2 million price tag Plouffe was expected to receive in arbitration this year. He will most certainly find suitors in free agency (perhaps the Angels?), but won’t be getting $8.2 million.

The good news here? Miguel Sano is now officially and undoubtedly the Twins third baseman, making Thad Levine’s hints about potentially playing Sano in the outfield again a lot less scary.

Our friend Mike Bates wrote about why this was a good move by the Twins over at MLB Daily Dish.

Brewers claim Adam Brett Walker II

Soon after the news broke about Trevor Plouffe, the Star Tribune’s Phil Miller reported that John Ryan Murphy was also placed on outright waivers and was claimed by the Brewers. The problem was that he actually meant Adam Brett Walker II, not John Ryan Murphy.

This is the problem when you use too many names—the potential to get them all mixed up is too great.

So anyway, yes, Adam Brett Walker II is now a Brewer. The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as the Twins enthusiasm for Walker appeared to be waning. This was especially true with the emergence of Daniel Palka, who also plays outfield, is strikeout prone, but may have slightly more power. Despite already being on the 40-man roster, the Twins declined giving Walker a shot in the majors as a September call-up this year, which was a big red flag as for his future with the organization.

40-Man Roster?

By waiving Plouffe and Walker, the Twins cleared two more spots on the 40-man roster, giving the team six empty spots to protect prospects from the Rule 5 draft or acquire other players.

According to Mike Berardino, it looks like my predictions from yesterday were correct, and then some.

UPDATE (3:39 pm):

The Twins have officially added the following six prospects to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft:

1. RHPs Felix Jorge
2. RHP Fernando Romero
3. C Mitch Garver
4. SS Engelb Vielma
5. OF Zack Granite
6. OF Daniel Palka

the 40-man roster is now full of 40 men.

UPDATE UPDATE (3:41 pm):

Per Mike Berardino, the Twins out righted Juan Centeno back to AAA, so there are actually now 39 men on the 40-man roster.