Twins DFA Alex Wimmers and Mason Melotakis

New broke last night that the Twins were calling up right-handers Dillon Gee and Trevor Hildenberger today to help out their ailing pitching staff, but neither player was on the 40-man roster. We didn’t find out until today how room would be made, but now we know: both Alex Wimmers and Mason Melotakis have been DFAed.

It’s a little bit of a surprise, but also not—whatever the Twins did, it would be a little bit of a shock. That’s just the state of the 40-man right now. There aren’t many Danny Santanas and Michael Tonkins left on it.

I mentioned both Wimmers and Melotakis as candidates to be called up themselves, but instead things have gone the other way. If they go unclaimed, they can elect free agency, but I suspect both would accept assignment with the team.

Wimmers, 28 years old, has made 22 major-league appearances for the Twins in 2016 and 2017. He was actually drafted in the first round of the 2010 draft, but hasn’t quite developed as the Twins probably had hoped. His 4.38 ERA over his brief big league stints isn’t too far off from his career 4.23 ERA in the minors.

The Twins DFAing Melotakis is a little more surprising. Melotakis was a second round draft pick, is still only 25 years old, and has yet to make his major league debut. I’m not sure if the new front office sees something off with him, but he does have a career 2.92 ERA in the minors. In fact, he has yet to give up a run in Triple-A, where he was promoted to on June 17th. The only reason he didn’t start the year in Triple-A was because he was injured during spring training and got off to a slower start because of that. I guess the Twins are hoping he flies under the radar and goes unclaimed? OR maybe this is just how the cookie crumbles.

What do you think of these bold move by the new Derek Falvey and Thad Levine regime?