When the Minnesota Twins went scorched earth at the trade deadline and sent everyone packing, they obviously netted a significant haul of new players. The Pohlad’s want you to believe the moves were made for baseball reasons, and while that’s a blatant lie, it is up to Derek Falvey and the organization to work that into fruition.
Alan Roden was the only player acquired immediately added to the active roster. The rookie outfielder from the Toronto Blue Jays played left field and factored into multiple spots in Minnesota’s lineup.
Unfortunately Roden initially hurt his thumb on a catch up against the wall. He then further injured it on a sliding out at home plate. Now he’s headed to the injured list and Minnesota has a vacancy.
James Outman joins Minnesota Twins
An MRI revealed that Alan Roden has a thumb sprain. The MN Twins are going to be without his services for a while, and if prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez’s history is anything to glean on, it may be season-ending. Enter James Outman.
Minnesota acquired Outman from the Los Angeles Dodgers as the return for reliever Brock Stewart. Stewart, while under team control, was treated as more of a rental due to his injury history. Good thing the Dodgers built themselves insurance because their new reliever is already on the injured list.
Outman is a post-hype prospect that has spent parts of the last four seasons in the big leagues. Across 230 career games he owns a .224/.330/.401 line with 30 homers. He’s also carrying a 261/90 K/BB.
Those numbers are a far-cry from the .882 OPS he has in the minors. Last season he batted .279/.390/.543 in 69 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Pacific Coast League is a hitter’s paradise, but Minnesota needs to see more of that at the big league level.
Outman will presumably be given all of Roden’s playing time. Minnesota has him in left field and batting 9th against the Tigers on Saturday. He’s a plus-defender and will work in left field as well as immediately becoming the best centerfielder not-named Byron Buxton on the roster.
MN Twins open tryouts continue
Roden was being worked around different spots in the lineup, and was allowed to show his ability in a new organization. Obviously that gets cut short due to an injury, but he’ll look to work back before the end of the season or parlay the experience into a 26-man roster role next season.
The Twins have slow-played their deadline acquisitions and kept a good amount of them at Triple-A thus far. Outman beats both Mick Abel and Taj Bradley to the big leagues for the MN Twins.
In recent seasons the Twins have employed insurance plans for Buxton in the form of Michael A. Taylor and Harrison Bader. They could opt to do that again next season, but Outman could also just fill that role. He doesn’t hit arbitration until 2027, and the Pohlad’s are always interested in a minimum salary.
Both on the mound, and the fringes or the lineup, Minnesota will need to use their remaining games to evaluate potential to stick around next season. At 57-65, they have 40 more games this year to develop opinions.
