Twins starter Joe Ryan joined Buck on the AL squad a couple days after original rosters were announced. But because they were selected as backups, nobody was sure how much either would play. As it turned out, however, both guys would make their presence well-known.

Minnesota Twins leave mark on MLB All-Star Game

Joe Ryan pitched the fourth inning for the American League, and made his work look easy. The 29-year-old threw just 10 pitches. He struck out Manny Machado and Justin Tucker. Dodgers catcher Will Smith flew out to the second baseman.

Twins starter Joe Ryan faced the NL's 5-6-7 hitters during his one inning of ASG duty tonight.

— 10 pitches, 0 hits, 2 strikeouts —

Machado: K (4 pitches)
Smith: F4 (1 pitch)
Tucker: ꓘ (5 pitches) pic.twitter.com/OE04DvAeOh

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) July 16, 2025

Related: Byron Buxton Advances in MLB Home Run Derby, but Can’t Hang

In the end, the 2025 MLB All-Star Game came down to a “swing-off”, after the American League surged back from an early 6-0 deficit, to tie the game 6-6 in the 9th. Byron Buxton took over in centerfield for Baez (who went 0-for-2) earlier in the game.

But in the 9th inning, with the AL down two runs, Buck started the comeback with a one-out, nobody on, hustle double. Buxton then scored on a Bobby Witt Jr. double, before Steven Kwan tied the game at six with an infield single.

We've got another Buck Truck sighting in Atlanta!!! pic.twitter.com/4fRa6mLSA5

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 16, 2025

Brent Rooker trade continues to haunt Twins

No longer does the All-Star Game dictate home field advantage in the World Series, thankfully. But nobody wants to finish a baseball game tied. It’s unnatural. To avoid going into extra innings and running out of pitchers/players, the MLB turned this year to a HR Derby-style swing off to decide a winner, in the event of a tie after nine innings.

Enter Minnesota Twins former first round pick, Brent Rooker, who had just hit a 7th inning 3-run bomb that put the American League on the board and made Tuesday a game, at 6-3. After Rooker popped out on his first swing of the swing-off, he launched the next two baseballs into the Truist Park seats.

Unfortunately, Rooker’s American League teammates couldn’t carry his initial lead into the next couple rounds. After Randy Arozarena and Jonathan Aranda flopped, Phillies’ slugger Kyle Schwarber went 3-for-3 to seal the National League’s victory.

#AllStarGame Swing-off
AL – 2
NL – 0

Brent Rooker HOMERS TWICE! pic.twitter.com/MLAzVNaw2e

— MLB (@MLB) July 16, 2025

#AllStarGame Swing-off
AL – 3
NL – 4

Kyle Schwarber GIVES THE NL THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/NPZJciVTYn

— MLB (@MLB) July 16, 2025

It would have been fun for Aaron Boone to use Byron Buxton in the swing off, just one night removed from his second round exit in the Home Run Derby. Unfortunately, the Yankees manager went a different route, and it likely cost the American League a win.

Minnesota Twins first round pick Brent Rooker has a long term home

Last season may have been Brent Rooker’s best in the majors. The former Minnesota Twins first round pick has bounced around after being traded, but the Athletics are now set to be his home for the future.

Designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker in agreement with A’s on five-year, $60M extension, source tells @TheAthletic. Vesting option can take the deal to six years, $90M.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 7, 2025

Prior to his extension, Rooker had three years of team control left and was not set to become a free agent until 2028. That makes the deal seem a bit light, even if he is a positionless 30-year old.

Last season Rooker won his first Silver Slugger and finished 10th in American League MVP voting. He slashed .293/.365/.562 with 26 doubles and 39 home runs. Over the past two seasons, Rooker has launched 69 dingers.

Brent Rooker ties a career high with home run No. 30! pic.twitter.com/wOMJnnGAeu

— MLB (@MLB) August 24, 2024

Brent Rooker after leaving the Twins

Minnesota traded Rooker to the San Diego Padres just days prior to the 2022 regular season. The return was Emilio Pagan and Chris Paddack. The Twins sought an opportunity to add a controllable starting pitcher with upside, but Paddack hasn’t exactly worked out, and now he’s likely to be dealt for salary relief.

Related: MLB Execs Love Minnesota Twins Top Prospects, Past and Present

It took Rooker time to find his footing. He played in just two games for the Padres before seeing 14 games of big league action with the Kansas City Royals that year. The Mississippi State product surfaced with Oakland in 2023 and became an All-Star for the first time.

109.3 MPH off the bat for Brent Rooker's 39th home run of the season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/48XzUz9gcb

— MLB (@MLB) September 29, 2024

This past season was entirely different for Rooker. Not only did he hit for average, but he maintained the same level of power that has always been his calling card. With the Athletics moving to Sacramento on their way to Las Vegas, Rooker can become a mainstay for the fanbase.

Related: Minnesota Twins Hire Former Player to Front Office Role

Of course it’s unfortunate that it didn’t work out with the Twins. Rooker didn’t work in two stops after that either. He has certainly settled in at this point, and the payday is more than deserved.

If this was the end of Chris Paddack's season, his final stats will include 135 2/3 innings, a 3.38 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Since 1986, José Fernández and Walker Buehler are the only rookie pitchers to finish with equal or better numbers in those three categories.

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) September 12, 2019

Later in the night, Taylor Rogers was reported as part of the package heading back to San Diego. Then Thursday morning, it broke that the Padres were also including right-handed relief pitcher, Emilio Pagan. The final piece to the puzzle came a few minutes later. The Twins were parting with 27-year-old power-hitting corner outfielder, Brent Rooker, an MLB-ready prospect coming off injury.

Rooker or Larnach

Brent Rooker was the worst of three young corner outfield prospects in Minnesota, all of which are much better with the bat then they are chasing down fly balls. Now, they have more at-bats for Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach. Kirilloff will get some time at 1st base too. Larnach projects as a DH down the road and is starting his year in St. Paul. It was Larnach who was rumored to be in this trade last night. That was after he was surprisingly scratched from the Saints lineup just before their second game of the season.

Trevor Larnach is no longer in the starting lineup for tonight, the @StPaulSaints announced. Was originally batting 3rd and playing left.

— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) April 6, 2022

So when driving my kids to school this morning, I was happy to hear it was Brent Rooker heading West and not Trevor Larnach. Settling on Rooker, instead of Larnach, could be why the Twins had to eat a large chunk of Taylor Rogers’ salary, to get the deal done. If so, it was worth it.

Classic Twins move

Make no doubt about it, this is a classic Minnesota Twins move. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good one. Taylor Rogers is scheduled to be a free agent after this season. Clearly, the Twins weren’t going to bring him back. He would’ve been dealt at last year’s deadline had he not been injured. Now, they get an additional year of control in a legitimate bullpen arm, with Emilio Pagan.

The Twins have the young high-powered arms in the Minnesota bullpen, that we shouldn’t miss Taylor Rogers that much. Chris Paddack is more in return than anything they’d get for Rogers at the deadline. Paddack is another back-end starting pitcher — this one with three years of control — who has the upside of a top rotation arm.

If Derek Falvey and Thad Levine couldn’t find a front-end fix to their rotation, this deal with the Padres is as good of a consolation prize as I could have imagined. And still, the Twins roster and payroll is primed for a bigger blockbuster move before the deadline. Hopefully for a playoff-grizzled, still high-end starting pitcher.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Twins are going to announce some pretty big moves today. According to Aaron Gleeman (The Athletic), Max Kepler and Kyle Garlick are being activated off of the COVID-19 list. Being sent to St. Paul in return, will be (C) Ryan Jeffers and (OF) Brent Rooker.

#MNTwins roster moves coming:

– Max Kepler (COVID-19) activated
– Kyle Garlick (COVID-19) activated

– Ryan Jeffers optioned to minors
– Brent Rooker optioned to minors

Twins moving away from the timeshare at catcher, which means Mitch Garver is now the clear-cut starter again.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) April 30, 2021

Garver vs Jeffers

It’s great to have Max back and nobody loves anything as much as the Minnesota Twins love Kyle Garlick vs left handed pitching. But no Ryan Jeffers means Mitch Garver is about to be our full-time catcher, with Willians Astudillo as an emergency backup. That’s bold, especially given Garver’s depressing .172 BA, .644 OPS and -0.67 offensive win probability added.

Then again, Jeffers didn’t push Garver like Falvine had hoped. He hit a sad .147 with a .393 OPS while with the big league club to start this 2021 season. In his defense, Jeffers faced a lot more right handed pitchers than what Garver did. Jeffers has taken just six plate appearances all season vs lefties (31 vs RHP). Garver’s has taken to the batter’s box 31 times vs LHP and RHP, respectively.

Both Twins’ catchers bat right-handed and both have been worse in their careers vs right-handed pitchers, just like most righty vs righty splits in baseball history. In fact, Jeffers has been far worse (.280 vs LHP / .203 vs RHP) vs lefties than Garver (.268 vs LHP / .240 vs RHP), over the course of their careers.

Good news?

But hey, there’s some good news. Mitch may have gone hitless in the 14 at-bats (5 games) prior to Monday, but he is coming off of a 2/5 game vs Cleveland where he dropped two homers and drove in three runs. The decision to activate Garlick, the (vs) lefty specialist, and kick Rooker down to AAA was made easy by Brent’s .106 batting average and .375 OPS.

Gleeman is reporting a few other moves that will be made official this afternoon as well.

These moves aren't official yet, but will be announced this afternoon, per source.

Twins have also designated for assignment J.T. Riddle and Tzu-Wei Lin, both of whom had been added to the roster as fill-ins for players on the COVID-19 injured list.https://t.co/tLkk2hbH50

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) April 30, 2021

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Twins placed Eddie Rosario on outright waivers Tuesday night and, while it’s still possible he returns, it’s no longer plausible. Eddie is young and he’s a good baseball player so we’ll be seeing him around the MLB for awhile. Hopefully he lands somewhere he can flourish.

The Twins’ front office waived their left fielder because he isn’t worth $10M next season, but they’re also very well-equipped to handle such a middle-of-the-lineup loss.

Their farm system is stocked with power-hitting corner outfielders, who are ready to contribute in the big leagues now. On top of that, the free agent market could be saturated with outfielders by the end of the day, Wednesday. That’s the deadline for arbitration players to be offered contracts or be non-tendered.

Ian Happ believes the salary arbitration process needs to be moved up from January to earlier in the offseason because MLB teams want cost certainty and don’t get aggressive in free agency until they have that certainty.

“It makes the offseason pretty boring,” Happ says.

— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) November 24, 2020

In-House Options

Alex Kirilloff | Age: 23 | Highest Level: MLB

Out of these three guys, Kirilloff was the most recent call up for the Twins. He played in the 2nd of two playoff games vs the Houston Astros and Fans got excited off of just that one appearance. It’d be a big surprise if any in-house option was chosen over Kirilloff to start 2021.

Brent Rooker | Age: 26 | Highest Level: MLB

Kirilloff may have gotten the last call up of 2020, but Rooker got the first. Brent was called up in September and was impressive in that 7-game stint, posting a .316 BA and a HR. He was hit by a wild Zach Plesac changeup September 14 and was ruled out for the season days later. After surgery, Rooker is back to full-health (according to The Athletic) and ready to compete for this newly-opened outfield position.

Trevor Larnach | Age: 24 | Highest Level: AA

Larnach is the dark-horse candidate in this race but some evaluators have him ranked highest out of all three prospects. Larnach has dominated his competition going back to his College World Series run with Oregon State. He would have played AAA ball last season, had it not been canceled for minor leaguers. He was part of the 60-man taxi squad that trained and stayed ready in St. Paul all season.

Free Agent Options

The more research I do on free agent corner outfielders, the more I hate this option. Guys who might be better than the in-house options listed above, are going to be more expensive than what the Twins want to pay at that position. Here’s what I mean:

Marcell Ozuna | Formerly: Atlanta Braves | Age: 30 — Spotrac.com says Ozuna will cost his new team approximately $20 million per year… Nobody on the Minnesota Twins roster makes that kind of money, outside of Josh Donaldson. Ozuna’s stats (.276 AVG, .801 OPS) are pretty good… but not $20M good. He’s coming off of a smoking hot 60-game season in 2020, where he hit over .330 and had an OPS that ballooned to 1.067. Whoever gets him will pay top dollar.

Jackie Bradley Jr | Formerly: Boston Red Sox | Age: 31 — Bradley Jr. is they type of talent that is currently available in the second tier of free agent corner outfielders. He’s past 30 and hasn’t been that impressive through his first 7 MLB seasons, posting a career .238 AVG and .732 OPS. He’s a reliable, seasoned veteran but his price tag is estimated at $11.2M for 2021. Forget the cost, I’d take Kirilloff, Rooker or Larnach over Bradley Jr, period.

Waiting for Wednesday Evening

After arbitration contracts are all offered by Wednesday evening, we’ll know more about who will be available to the Twins in free agency. But as you can see from the type of talent and price tags available now, their in-house options seem like the no-brainer choices.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

As Minnesota Twins fans, we didn’t want to see Brent Rooker make his MLB debut in 2020. With an already deep outfield and plenty of guys who can move around, debuts from the likes of Rooker, Lewis, Kirilloff or Larnach could only mean something negative was playing out.

While the Twins season isn’t in the dumps, by any means (they still have a 96% chance of making the playoffs), the Rooker call up isn’t under positive circumstances. Max Kepler is heading to the injured list with a leg/groin injury.

#MNTwins placed outfielder Max Kepler (groin) on the injured list and called up first baseman/outfielder Brent Rooker.

Rooker, the 35th overall pick in the 2017 draft, will be making his major-league debut.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 4, 2020

Many Twins fans already know who Rooker is — for those that don't, he's a 25-year-old 1B/OF selected No. 35 overall in the 2017 Draft.

Massive power, lots of strikeouts, some defensive limitations. @MLBPipeline has him ranked the No. 12 prospect in the organization.

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) September 4, 2020

Not Here For Defense

Brent Rooker is a power-hitting outfielder who projects just as well as a DH, if you look into a crystal ball. He isn’t in the outfield trying to wow you with his defensive skills. The youngster out of Mississippi State just wants to drop bombs and that’s exactly what the Minnesota Twins drafted him to do.

Now, he will get his chance. Cooper Carlson, who writes for MSF, has some of Rooker’s cumulative minor league statistics. He’s a guy who will be hoping to avoid the minor leagues next season, when things get back to normal.

In 259 minor league games, Brent Rooker hit 267/.357/.505 (.861) with 54 homers.

He played just 67 games in 2019 but had a .928 OPS with 14 homers. #MnTwins

— Cooper (@CoopCarlson) September 4, 2020

We don’t yet know the significance of Max Kepler’s injury or how long he will be on the IL. We’ll update this piece when that information comes to light.

Some other roster moves were completed, along with the Kepler/Rooker news. That includes Willians Astudillo in the Twins dugout tonight! Chalk tonight’s game vs the Detroit Tigers, in the W column!

Rounding out the roster moves:

– Willians Astudillo is today's 29th man
– Juan Minaya has cleared waivers and is back in St. Paul

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) September 4, 2020

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Labor negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are a mess. Look no further than when I bitched about it in my previous post. Owners and players keep bickering about money instead of making it. Had they gotten their shit together early, they could be getting back to play right now. I could be writing about the start of the Minnesota Twins season right now…

There will be no ranting today, though! Instead of putting out another post about where negotiations are at, let us look at the positive side of things.

The two parties haven’t been able to agree on much, but have solidified the need for expanded rosters if play does return. And with that, a potential minor league taxi-squad that aims to aid teams with their depth, as the season wears on. 

Game day rosters will expand from 26 (which was agreed upon this year prior to the pandemic) to 30. The taxi-squads would hold up to 20 additional players, for a total of 50.

So, what is a taxi-squad you may ask?

Well, we don’t know exactly. There won’t be minor league baseball in 2020 (until Fall League) so the taxi-squad, in this situation, is the crop of players that you can draw from if you experience injuries or COVID-19 on your 30-man roster. These squads will likely change from team to team, with some valuing MLB-ready players vs developing prospects and vice versa. How it would all work is still a somewhat of a mystery…

Will the new 50-man roster have to include everyone on a team’s current 40-man roster? That could present some major issues… but that’s just the beginning of questions that are being asked. I thought Lindsey Adler of The Athletic said it best a couple of days ago:

Requiring teams to use their standard 40-man rosters would put many teams in a tough spot. Some of those spots are used to protect players in the lower levels of the minor leagues from eligibility for the Rule 5 draft. Tearing up the script to give teams more players to work with while also requiring them to have players who haven’t even seen Triple A on their taxi squad would be short-sighted, as would requiring them to take those less experienced players off the 40-man to accommodate a strange situation that should only be applicable to this season. What happens if someone gets injured and a player needs to be added to the taxi squad? Will there be a taxi squad for the taxi squad?

Lindsey Adler – The Athletic

What do the Minnesota Twins do?

The Twins have a roster that is versatile and deep, from top to bottom. We can expect Levine, Falvey and Baldelli to value players that can play multiple positions and contribute at the plate. They will also have to weigh player development vs a “win now” mentality. But that’s ok… because we have Derek and Thad. 

MY President (of baseball operations) pic.twitter.com/olQzlRrveC

— Carl (@PrimeKirilloff) May 29, 2020

Time to assemble the squad!

The 30-man roster is the easy part, for the Twins. You just throw all the guys who were on the 26-man roster bubble, during Spring Training, onto the expanded 30-man. Those bubble players include Lamonte Wade, Jr., Lewis Thorpe, Devin Smeltzer, and Jake Cave. 

The one wild card could be Rich Hill, who was initially doubtful to start the year, but has nearly recovered from his injury.

The Minnesota Twins are aided in this process by the strength of their farm system, which ranked 7^th earlier this year according to MLB.com. There are plenty of players the club could utilize for a unique 2020 season. Let’s look at who the members of this new taxi-squad could be:  

Catcher:

• Tomas Telis
• Ryan Jeffers

The two most solid options for depth and potential contributions at Catcher, come from Telis and Jeffers. Tomas is first in line for a callup, if something were to happen to Avila, Garver, or Astudillo.

Telis has yet to pan out as a legitimate major league backup option, behind the plate, and is approaching 30 years old. But he put together a solid 2019 with Rochester, batting .330 with an .854 OPS… 

Infield:

• Nick Gordon
• Travis Blankenhorn
• Wilfredo Tovar
• Zander Wiel

I don’t think there will be too much dissent on the Minnesota Twins taxi-squad infielders. The most likely call-ups, would be Gordon and Wiel. It’s been a long road for Gordon, who is yet to get any play in the majors, after being the Twins’ top draft choice in 2014. Tovar does have major league experience, however, so the Twins could use him instead, depending on the situation.

After a solid 2019 in Rochester, now might be the time to test whether Gordon can sink or swim in the big leagues, though. The same goes for Wiel, because he provides additional stability at first base, that I’m not sure Blankenhorn does.

I would have loved to put Royce Lewis in here, but after a choppy 2019, he still needs some time to develop and hone his game. Rumors are already swirling about an extended Minor League fall season, which might be the better option for Lewis.

Outfield:

• Brent Rooker
• Alex Kirilloff
• Trevor Larnach

Look at the young power in the Twins’ taxi squad outfield… Rooker, Kirilloff and Larnach have totalled 108 HR and 447 RBI in a combined 5~ish seasons (not including time injured).

The call-up order would go as it’s listed. Some might be surprised that Kirilloff is ahead of Larnach, but when looking at the totality of both players’ careers, Kiriloff takes the slight edge.

While Larnach had the bigger year in 2019 as Kirilloff battled injuries, (even at his best) he’s not Alex Kirilloff. Remember, Alex is just one season removed from posting 101 RBI, 20 HR and a .970 OPS in 2018. Both guys rake, though.

>>> https://t.co/TLPzWFGs1V pic.twitter.com/NdQdzMeXCG

— Carl (@PrimeKirilloff) May 30, 2020

Pitchers:

• Jhoulys Chacin
• Sean Poppen
• Fernando Romero
• Cory Gearrin
• Jake Reed
• Griffin Jax
• Jorge Alcala
• Sam Clay
• Bailey Ober
• Caleb Thielbar
• Danny Coulombe

This is where things get both interesting and difficult. The likes of Chacin, Poppen, Romero, and Gearrin are near locks to make this expanded Minnesota Twins roster. After that, it becomes a fine line between players who can stay sharp (despite minimal appearances) and players who need consistent time to continue developing.

I would have loved to place Jordan Balazovic on this list. He is the fifth-ranked minor league starter across the MiLB, according to MLB The Show 20 (video games are the real world, right?). Even with his real-life potential, I can’t see the Twins fiddling with his development or service time this year. 

Although unlikely, this could provide opportunity for Alcala and Jax to rise to the occasion. They could be emergency starters and/or help bolster a bullpen. The Twins will need both players on the 40-man and 26-man roster in 2020.

Looking Ahead:

While this is far from finalized (and completely hypothetical), the Twins have done an excellent job developing their young talent. This puts them in a great spot if we ever do get baseball this year. 

This mix of 50 players would give Baldelli plenty of options, especially at pitcher where top-end talent is lacking. It should also create minimal disparities between current players and those called up.

Let’s just get baseball started again! Assemble your own 50-man roster and let me know what you’d do differently.

via GIPHY

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan