Division Rival Claims Discarded MN Twins Outfielder

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James Outman, Minnesota Twins
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There has been plenty of shuffling of the Minnesota Twins pitching staff this season, including the starting rotation, which was supposed to be this team’s biggest strength. Instead, the Twins’ success (or lack thereof) this season has gone as the bats have.

That type of roster construction has proven volatile, at best. We’ve seen supposed fixtures in the everyday lineup hit so poorly that they had to be sent down. Matt Wallner was sent down over a month ago, and still remains at Triple A.

Royce Lewis got the same treatment, after he started the big league season with a .163 batting average and a sub-.600 OPS, but made his way back within a couple of weeks, after he absolutely crushed minor league pitching, immediately upon being sent down.

Since his recall — Lewis is hitting .316 with a .907 OPS in five games (21 PA) back in the Minnesota Twins lineup. When they brought Lewis back up, it was outfielder James Outman who was designated for assignment, in order to make room on the 26-man roster for the former No. 1 overall draft pick.

Detroit Tigers grab James Outman from Minnesota Twins

Some (me) would say Outman’s DFA was overdue. Since coming over in a trade for Brock Stewart, the 29-year-old outfielder did little to prove he was worth the roster spot he was gifted out of Spring Training.

In the end, Outman played 49 games in a Twins uniform, despite being one of the worst hitters in baseball. He hit the waiver wire batting a putrid .156, with a .479 OPS in 70 plate appearances on the 2026 season.

However, as has been the case for the past few years, James found yet another team intrigued enough to claim him… and it’s the same division rival Tigers that just took two out of three from the Twins in Detroit earlier this week.

Outman’s claim was music to Pohlad ears on Thursday night. The Minnesota Twins would have been on the hook to pay the rest of his 2026 (league minimum) salary, but whatever’s still left on that contract is now the Tigers’ responsibility.

He will mix in with a Tigers outfield that already deploys Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Wenceel Perez, and Matt Vierling.

Despite being division favorites, the Tigers are 29-40 (worse than the 31-39 Twins) while Vierling (-0.3) and Perez (-0.5) have both managed a worse fWAR than Outman (-0.2). With Carpenter struggling too (0.0), it’s worth seeing if they can try to find the guy who disappeared after his stellar 3.9 fWAR rookie season (2023).

Royce Lewis continues to thrive after taking Outman’s roster spot for MN Twins

While there are rarely any positives in an 11-0 loss, Minnesota Twins new utility man(?) Royce Lewis has brought his Triple A hot streak back up with him to the majors.

In his fifth game since returning from demotion, Lewis has played exclusively on the right side of the infield, where he has played pretty well defensively.

But it’s his production at the plate, since coming back up, that must have the organization filled with hope that the 27-year-old has finally figured it out for good, after yet another swing change. In Thursday’s shutout loss, Royce was one of the few offensive bright spots, delivering two hits.

While the sample size is just five games, his 6-for-16 output is is about as good as a start as anyone could have asked for. Just like he was in St. Paul, Royce Lewis is driving the baseball again. His 444-foot tank earlier this week in Detroit was the second-longest dinger of his career.

Now, all eyes turn to top prospect Kaelen Culpepper, who’s hitting .355 with a 1.040 OPS with the Saints in June, has been banging on the door of his first big league promotion for weeks now and who Aaron Gleeman (AaronGleeman.com) called for the Minnesota Twins to promote earlier this week.

If they need more outfield depth, now that Outman is gone, the Twins can look to call up Kyler Fedko, who should have been up weeks, if not months ago. Young prospects, Gabriel Gonzalez, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins are all options Minnesota is expected to explore at some point this summer, as well.

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