Josh Staumont had fans in Minnesota Twins clubhouse

Given their positioning within the division and across baseball, it made sense for the Minnesota Twins to be buyers at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, ownership wasn’t willing to spend any money.

Trevor Richards was the lone acquisition, and his addition represents a participation trophy at best. Falvey paired that move with DFA’ing Josh Staumont, which also didn’t sit well with some, according to local insider Darren “Doogie” Wolfson (SKOR North, KSTP).

“To only end up with Trevor Richards, who had an ERA of 16.00 in July. There’s some people upset about the Josh Staumont move. Ok, maybe he wasn’t great his last few outings, but really is Richards that much of an upgrade over Josh Staumont? Probably enough, but I get it if you want to offer some resistance on that.”

Darren Wolfson on reactions to bullpen moves

The Twins signed Staumont to a major league deal this offseason just above the league minimum. He was coming back from Thoracic Outlet Surgery. It took a bit for him to ramp up, and he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. Staumont was DFA’d with a 3.70 ERA and a 3.53 FIP.

Through his first 19 outings, a period of 19 2/3 innings, he didn’t allow an earned run. The largest knock was an 18/14 K/BB, meaning the reliever was constantly dancing around traffic.

Related: Minnesota Twins Players Mostly Admit They Wanted Help at Trade Deadline

Does Trevor Richards do enough for Minnesota Twins bullpen?

Minnesota needed left-handed pitching help in the bullpen. Caleb Thielbar has struggled as has Steven Okert. Kody Funderburk is hurt. Trevor Richards is not left-handed but he has reverse splits and has allowed just a .506 OPS to lefties this season.

Richards has seen his strikeout numbers tumble from a 13.0 K/9 last season to just an 8.4 K/9 this year. Of course the Twins are hoping to turn that tide as well.

The #BlueJays just lost on this wild pitch from Trevor Richards, a walk-off loss to waste a career-high 13 strikeouts from Yusei Kikuchi.

Wow. pic.twitter.com/ozOs6i9kGa

— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) July 10, 2024

Rocco Baldelli didn’t get another starter for his rotation. The bullpen addition wouldn’t be considered a big boost either. As the Twins opted to shuffle some deck chairs in the Staumont move, it remains to be seen if the outcome is a net gain. Minnesota is still looking to chase down the Cleveland Guardians, and they will look to keep the Kansas City Royals at bay in the process.

Related: Breaking: Minnesota Twins Trade for RHP Trevor Richards

Minnesota Twins sign former Royals reliever Josh Staumont

Well, whether it’s an old story or not, that’s what happened on Wednesday, when the Twins finally made their first move of the 2023-24 offseason, signing 30-year-old former Kansas City Royals reliever, Josh Staumont, to a one-year contract worth just under $1 million.

The Twins signed righty reliever Josh Staumont to a one-year deal. He spent the last five seasons in the Royals bullpen and underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery last summer.

— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) December 27, 2023

Related: Minnesota Twins Starters Project Top-10 in MLB; Near Best in AL

Staumont made his debut with the Royals as a 25-year-old and immediately made an impact out of their bullpen. By his third season (2021), he had become one of the best bullpen arms in baseball, posting a 2.88 ERA, 159 ERA+ and 1.066 WHIP in 65.2 innings.

But, as mentioned earlier, he’s struggled with injuries since then and he’s trying to make his legendary comeback in a Minnesota Twins uniform. Derek Falvey & Co have had some hits and misses in situations like this. Let’s hope Staumont is a hit.

What can Twins fans expect from Josh Staumont?

Josh’s biggest weakness has been lack of control. He’s prone to walking dudes regularly and beaning some every once in awhile, too. But you’ll have that sometimes with a guy that throws as hard and has as much movement as Staumont does.

You can see his elite stuff, and why the Twins are interested in him (especially for under $1 million), in these two strikeout pitches dating back to last summer, when he started a game for Kansas City as their ‘opener’.

Josh Staumont's 2 1st Inning Ks. pic.twitter.com/Rg1EDz5hlR

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 29, 2023

With the first batter, he drops a pretty disgusting 86 MPH slider on the outside corner vs a righty. In the same inning, he shaves the other corner with a 98 MPH heater that leaves lefty Nolan Gorman (Cardinals) wishing he had never stepped into the box.

Josh Staumont’s fastball averaged 95.6 MPH in 2023, down 1 MPH from 2022 and down 2.4 MPH from his shortened 2020 season average of 98 MPH. To end this post, here is Josh throwing some 99 MPH high heat in April, 2021.

Mr. Steal Yo Girl Josh Staumont just obliterating grown men this year: pic.twitter.com/Fi7XqkSl0t

— Matt C (@MattfromKC) April 29, 2021

Read all of our offseason Minnesota Twins articles