The Twins announced a bunch of minor-league signings

The Minnesota Twins made a flurry of signings with pitchers yesterday, gaining some pitching depth in the organization. Minnesota agreed to minor-league deals with an infielder and six pitchers, one of who was with the team last year.

If the name Austin Adams is familiar, it’s because he was the one who made a couple of appearance with the team last season. He is not the same Austin Adams that is with the Seattle Mariners, but one of this two showings was against the Mariners. The righty got the call from the bullpen twice from Rocco Baldelli, both in blow-out games, where he went 2.2 IP total, allowing five earned runs on four hits, along with a strikeout, three walks, and two homers. Most of that came in a May 23 showing against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Twins promptly booted him and he was picked up off of waivers by the Ron Gardenhire and the Detroit tigers, where he pitched in 13 games: 5.14 ERA 14.0 IP, 8 ER, 10 BB, 9 K, 2 HR.

Alec Asher is another right-handed pitcher, but hasn’t seen time in the majors since 2018 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He pitched in 24 games with the Baltimore Orioles in 2017, the most action he had seen in one season, where he posted a 5.25 ERA (5.26 FIP) in 60 innings of work. A 9.2 H/9, 3.5 BB/9, and 7.1 K/9 were nothing to write home about, but I decided to write it here. He spent time in the Atlantic League with the Sugar Land Skeeters and Long Island Ducks, where he pitched to a 3.58 ERA in nine games (six starts). Over 37.2 innings, he allowed 15 runs, six homers, and 14 walks compared to 24 strikeouts. He relies on a sinker, four-seam fastball, and a cutter while mixing in a slider, curve, and a changeup.

Another righty, Parker Bridwell was among the signings. He has made a total of 28 appearances between 2016 and 2018 for Baltimore and the Angels. He spent 2019 with the AAA affiliate of Los Angeles and posted an 8.12 ERA in 22 games (12 starts) and 88.2 innings of work. His H/9 has been just below or north of 10.0 the past few seasons, but posted an 8.0 K/9 last year. He features a four-seam fastball and a curve while also mixing in a sinker, changeup, and cutter.

Joey Krehbiel is yet another right-hander and has seen only three innings of big-league time, all coming with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018, when he walked two batters and allowed a hit in two appearances. He was with the AAA affiliate of the D-backs all last season, where he pitched to a 7.69 ERA in 51 outings. Over 64.1 innings of work, he put up a 10.2 H/9, but a respectable 9.4 K/9. Across five other years in the minors, he’s kept his K/9 above 10.0. He throws a slider and a sinker and will also throw a four-seamer and a changeup.

Continuing with right-handed pitchers, Casey Lawrence saw parts of two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and Mariners in 2017 and 2018. Between those two years, he posted a 6.64 ERA in 38 appearances and 23.1 innings of work. He spent 2019 with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan, where in their Western League, he pitched to a 4.51 ERA across 105.2 innings of work and 21 appearances. He notched 73 strikeouts against 15 walks while allowing 12 homers.

The last righty to talk about is an interesting signing. Juan Minaya may ring a bell as he has pitched for the Chicago White Sox the past four seasons. He pitched in 22 games last season for the White Sox, posting a 3.90 ERA (4.66 FIP) and gave up 12 walks and four homers in 27.2 innings of work. If any pitcher on this list would have any chance to be called up during the year for depth, Minaya would probably be at the top.

Calten Daal is a middle infielder who has not seen any games above AA for the Cincinnati Reds. He elected free agency after spending six years in the minors. Last season, he was with the Chattanooga Lookouts and batted a decent slash line of .301/.322/.348 with no homers and 32 RBI. Is he the next Luis Arraez?

With Spring Training around the corner and many teams announcing their non-roster invitees, the Twins were bound to make some minors signings. Look to see a few of these names as NRIs in the Minnesota camp this season.