Phil Hughes Designated for Assignment; Twins Likely to Write Him $22M Exit Check

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Minnesota Twins' Phil Hughes during the first game of a baseball doubleheader agains Kansas City Royals Sunday, May 21, 2017, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

Unlike most businesses, the Minnesota Twins had themselves a productive Monday.

The professional baseball organization kicked off the work week by (literally) welcoming the Detroit Tigers to Target Field. Apparently, some Land of 10K Lakes-residents are familiar with the division rival’s new manager:

Sidebar: Small world, am I right?

Once the nostalgic chitchat eventually ceased, the two teams took to the diamond.

After trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth, a two-out/two-run Max Kepler double tied it up at deuces. That’s where the score would remain until the bottom of the eighth, when Logan Morrison watched ball 4 to earn a rare RBI walk that gave the Twins the lead. One batter later, some slick Eddie Rosario baserunning provided the always-appreciated insurance run.

Speaking of appreciated, a light needs to be shined on Rosario’s walk-off catch:

In the aftermath of another José Berríos’ gem (8 IP, 3 H, 2 ER), Minnesota kept their Monday grind going by announcing a roster move. The noteworthy transaction immediately diverted attention away from the team’s 4-2 victory.

The designation for assignment means that Minnesota has a week’s time to either trade or send Phil Hughes through waivers. Due to the aggressive amount of money ($22.57M through 2019) remaining on the RHP’s contract, he will most certainly be hitting the wire. Once the other 29 teams pass on that raw deal, the 31 year-old will officially be released.

After spending his first seven MLB seasons with the Yankees Evil Empire, Hughes agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal with the Twins, during the 2013-14 offseason. Upon completion of an impressive 16-10 (3.52 ERA, 209.2 IP) 2014 campaign, Minnesota restructured and extended the starting pitcher’s contract.

Unfortunately, since then, the California native has been unable to return to that 7th place Cy Young voting form.

When you look at how much he got bit by the damn injury bug, that would seem to make sense:

To address all the money remaining on Hughes’ deal, the Pohlad owned franchise is going to end up footing that ($22.57 million) bill. While that’s a tough proverbial pill to swallow, the right-handed hurler’s plethora of bad breaks make it equally difficult to hold anything against him.

Paul Molitor summed up the situation as follows:

Due to the imminent returns of Ervin Santana and Trevor May, the writing relating to this move was on covered the wall. In regards to Hughes’ immediate roster replacement, that information is expected to be announced on Tuesday.

In closing, once the veteran pitcher is officially released, he’ll be considered a free agent. As you can see, there’s a decent chance he remains in the AL Central:

Sidebar: Small world, am I right?

Johnny Minnesota (@TheJohnnyMN)
MinnesotaSportsFan.com

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