Twins ink three players to minor-league deals

The Minnesota Twins got some light off season work in this morning as they signed three players to minor-league deals. J.J. Blaine Hardy, Juan Graterol, and Ryan Garton will join the Twins minor league organisation.

Hardy, a lefty pitcher, has spent his entire major-league career - portions of six seasons - with the rival Detroit Tigers. His 2019 numbers amounted to a 4.47 ERA in 39 games and 44.1 innings out of the bullpen. His other stats are nothing to really write home about besides his K/BB ratio (2.23); he’s struck out 29 batters against walking 13 opponents. The 32-year-old is also invited to major-league spring training and has a June opt-out date. Another intersting thing to note is that Hardy can also can request release at any time or be put on the big-league roster within two days. The lefty will be an interesting player to keep an eye on during spring training as a complimentary lefty out of the bullpen, depending on what magic Wes Johnson can conjure up.

If Graterol is a familiar name, it’s because 1) he’s not Brusdar Graterol and 2) he’s been with Minnesota before. The catcher has spent time in the minor leagues with the Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Minnesota, and the Cincinnati Reds. He has seen big-league action in a total of 67 games between the past four years, most recently with the Reds this past campaign. He played in six games, and went 4-for-18 with an RBI and four strikeouts. He was with Minnesota for three games in 2018, going 1-for-7 with a walk. Graterol will most likely serve as organizational depth for the catchers.

If Garton’s name is familiar, you know your baseball players. The right-handed pitcher has appeared in 59 games out of the bullpen for the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners. He has a career ERA of 4.90 (4.66 FIP) over 64.1 innings of work. He’s spent time in the minors since 2017, only getting 20 appearances in 2017, no appearances in 2018, and pitching in two games this last season.

Being these are minor-league signings, none of these three additions take up space on the 40-man roster unless they make the major-league club out of spring training.