Pair of Former Minnesota Twins Cut Loose by Division Rival

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Manuel Margot
Credit: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Despite being the AL Central preseason favorite, and in the midst of a four-game winning streak, the Minnesota Twins are still more than a spitter’s distance (6.5 games) behind the Detroit Tigers, who have sat atop the division for most of the season.

Prior to Wednesday’s sweep clinching victory over the Baltimore Orioles, the Twins’ postseason chances sat at 36.9%, nearly 50% lower than the Tigers, at 84.4%.

The Minnesota Twins weren’t very active last offseason, but no matter how cheap they decided to be, one player they weren’t going to bring back was Manuel Margot, who was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2024 season, as insurance for Byron Buxton.

Detroit Tigers release Kenta Maeda, outright Manuel Margot

But on Wednesday night, Detroit cut loose two former Minnesota Twins from their 40-man roster, outrighting Margot and unconditionally releasing RHP Kenta Maeda.

Manuel Margot had been out of the Tigers’ lineup since mid-April with a knee tendon issue. After he went 4-for-16 during his five game rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo, instead of activating him back to the big leagues, the Tigers told him to stay where he is, and outrighted him off the 40-man roster.

Manuel Margot was not good for the MN Twins

Unfortunately, Margot posted a terrible .238/.289/.337 slash line across 129 games, and became most well-known for his pinch-hitting ineptitude, going an unbelievable 0-for-32 in pinch hitting appearances in 2024..

That’s why it was somewhat surprising Manuel Margot found a job at all for 2025. In the end, however, he played in just six games for the Tigers, going an impressive 6-for-19, before Detroit expunged him from their 40-man roster. Don’t feel too bad for Margot. He’ll make $200K down on the Tigers’ farm.

Related: Former MLB GM Urges MN Twins to Sell Now, Starting with Shocking Trade

Given the service time Margot has, it is possible he could reject his assignment to Triple-A and elect free agency instead. A minimum major league salary pays over $700,000. Would Margot be able to find a big league suitor, though? That’s the question.

Kenta Maeda hits free agency

On the flip side, Kenta Maeda was simply set packing. The former Minnesota Twins starter was in the final year of a two-year contract paying him a total of $24 million. He was someone the Twins had a relative amount of interest in retaining prior to 2024, but they had no intentions of giving him a two year deal like what he got in Detroit.

It quickly proved wise for Minnesota to move on. Maeda made just 17 starts (29 appearances) last season and was pushed to the bullpen while owning a 6.09 ERA (4.96 FIP). This season all seven of his games came out of the bullpen and he owned an even worse 7.88 ERA (6.08 FIP).

There were indicators that Maeda’s stuff was tailing off as he aged. He also missed the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery. Now 37 years old and without an uptick out of the bullpen, he could be facing the end of the line.

Minnesota Twins still chasing Detroit Tigers

Through one series the Twins are 1-2 against Detroit but the two teams were separated by just a single run. Minnesota has seen the Tigers develop under the watch of World Series winning manager A.J. Hinch.

The two teams don’t face each other for quite some time as their next scheduled game comes on June 27th in Detroit. Minnesota will hope to be in a substantially better position than their current 16-20 record by then.

If the Twins haven’t closed the gap by the next time they see Detroit, then they’ll likely be looking a month ahead as to how they can move assets as deadline sellers.

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