December 7

Denny Galehouse (1911)

Dick Donovan (1927)

Hal Smith (1930)

Don Cardwell (1935)

Bo Belinsky (1936)

Alex Johnson (1942)

Johnny Bench (1947)

Ozzie Virgil (1956)

Shane Mack (1963)

Tino Martinez (1967)

Eric Chavez (1977)

Saul Rivera (1977)

Kyle Hendricks (1989)

Yasiel Puig (1990)

Mark Payton (1991)

Pete Alonso (1994)

Spencer Steer (1997)

Mark Payton was drafted by the Twins in the thirty-first round in 2010 but did not sign.

Outfielder Shane Lee Mack played for Minnesota from 1990-1994, which were the best years of his career. Born in Los Angeles, he attended Gahr High School in Cerritos, California and then went to UCLA. He was drafted by San Diego with the 11th pick of the 1984 draft. He was off to a tremendous start at AAA Las Vegas in 1987, hitting .336, when the Padres called him up in late May. He struggled in a part-time role, however, and was back with Las Vegas in 1988. Again hitting very well, he was given a starting job with the Padres, but again had trouble at bat and was back in AAA by late July. After an injury-plagued 1989, all of which was spent in the minors, Mack was left unprotected by San Diego, and was selected by Minnesota in the rule 5 draft. It was a good move. Mack hit over .300 in four of his five years with the Twins, and also had an OPS over .850 in four of his five years. A free agent after 1994, the players' strike left Mack without a contract, and so he accepted a large contract to play for the Yomiuri Giants. After two years in Japan, Mack came back to the United States, but would never again be a starting outfielder. He signed with Boston in 1997 and hit .315 in a reserve role. A free agent again after the season, he signed with Oakland, but got only two at-bats with the Athletics before being traded in early April to Kansas City. He again hit well in a reserve role, but again became a free agent. He was signed by San Diego in December of 1998, but did not play again. As a Twin, Shane Mack hit .309/.375/.479, for an OPS+ of 130. He was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.  His son, Casey, played baseball for Florida Gulf Coast University.  No information about what Shane Mack is doing now was readily available.

Right-hander Rabell Saul Rivera did not play for the Twins, but was originally drafted by them. The right-hander was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and attended the University of Mobile. He was drafted by Minnesota in the ninth round in 1998. A reliever, he pitched pretty well in the Twins' minor-league system for three year, advancing as high as AA in that time. During the 2001-02 off-season, he was selected on waivers by the Mets. He did not stay there long, as he became the player to be named later in a deal with Montreal, going to the Expos organization in mid-July of 2002. He was apparently injured in 2003, as he did not play at all, and in July of 2004 Rivera was traded to Milwaukee. Still in AA, he became a minor-league free agent after the season and signed with Washington. The Nationals again placed him in AA; in all, he spent five seasons at AA. Despite the fact that he had an ERA of 3.22 in those seasons, teams were obviously hesitant to advance him any farther. Once they decided to move him up, however, it happened quickly; after only 12 games of AAA in 2006, Rivera was in the big leagues. He was a solid contributor to the Nationals bullpen from 2006-08, but stumbled in 2009, was sent down to AAA in early May, and spent most of the rest of the season there. He was released after the season, signed with Cleveland a couple of weeks later, was sold to Arizona in mid-May, was released in late July, and signed with Cleveland in late August. He made four appearances for the Diamondbacks in mid-to-late May of 2010.  He played briefly in the Mexican League in 2011 but was not very effective.  He moved on to the Atlantic League in 2012, having a fine season for Sugar Land. He does not appear to have played anywhere in the summer 2013.  He signed with Long Island in the Atlantic League for 2014 but does not appear to have actually pitched for them.  He continued to play winter ball through 2015, then his playing career ended.  He was an instructor with Quinco Sports Academy in Winter Park, Florida for a while but again, it does not appear that he is still working there.  Thus, no information about what Saul Rivera is doing now was readily available.

Infielder/outfielder Spencer Gordon Steer did not play for the Twins, but came up through their farm system.  He was born and raised in Long Beach, California, attended the University of Oregon, and was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 2019.  He did not hit for power in college, but posted good batting averages and drew walks.  He quickly proved he was too good for the Appalachian League in 2019 and did okay when promoted to Cedar Rapids.  He did not play in the COVID season of 2020, but when he came back in 2021 he hit twenty-four homers in a season split between Cedar Rapids and Wichita.  He started 2022 in Wichita, was promoted to St. Paul, and then was traded to Cincinnati with Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Steve Hajjar for Tyler Mahle in early August.  It's a trade that will not go down as one of Derek Falvey's best.  Steer continued to hit in AAA Louisville and was promoted to the Reds as a September call-up.  He drew walks, but otherwise did not do particularly well, batting .211/.306/.326 in 95 at-bats.  He had a strong 2023, however, he batting .273, hitting 23 homers, posting an OPS of .820, and finishing sixth in Rookie of the Year voting.  He did not match those numbers in 2024, but still hit 20 homers and had an OPS of .721.   His 2025 was similar to 2024--decent, but nothing more.  So far, he has batted .243/.329/.411 with 66 homers in 1760 at-bats.  Respectable numbers, but that's all.  He mostly played left field in 2024 but was mostly at first base in 2025.  He will presumably be in the Reds' starting lineup someplace in 2026.

December 6

Jocko Conlan (1899)

Tony Lazzeri (1903)

Stan Hack (1909)

Dan Dobbek (1934)

Tony Horton (1944)

Larry Bowa (1945)

Tim Foli (1950)

Chuck Baker (1952)

Gary Ward (1953)

Juan Carlos Oliva (1954)

Steve Bedrosian (1957)

Larry Sheets (1959)

Kevin Campbell (1964)

Kevin Appier (1967)

Jose Contreras (1971)

Kevin Cash (1977)

Chris Basak (1978)

Jason Bulger (1978)

Adam Eaton (1988)

Jocko Conlan played two seasons of major league baseball, but is best known as a National League umpire from 1941-1965.

The younger brother of Tony Oliva, Juan Carlos Oliva was a star pitcher in Cuba and later became a successful pitching coach there.

Outfielder Daniel John Dobbek was a Washington player who came to the Twins when they moved in 1961. Born in Ontonagon, Michigan, he attended Western Michigan University and was signed as a free agent by Washington in 1955. He had a tremendous year for Class B Hobbs in 1956, hitting .340 with 23 home runs. He missed the next two seasons due to military service. When he came back in 1959, he hit 23 homers for AA Chattanooga. He got a September call-up that year and became a reserve outfielder for Washington in 1960. He hit 10 home runs in 248 at-bats, but hit only .218. Despite that, he tied a major league record by receiving three intentional walks in one game. Dobbek came to Minnesota with the club in 1961, and stayed there about 3/4 of the year, but batted only .168. He spent the rest of the year in the minors, and before the 1962 season was traded to Cincinnati for Jerry Zimmerman. He hit poorly in the minors for the Reds, and was released after the 1963 season, ending his career. Somewhere along the way (when is unclear), he suffered a serious shoulder injury, which clearly hampered his batting. His major league line is .208/.297/.363 in 433 at-bats. After baseball, Dan Dobbek lived in Portland, Oregon.  He passed away from congestive heart failure and complications of dementia on November 28, 2023,

Infielder Charles Joseph Baker finished his brief major league career with Minnesota in 1981. Born in Seattle, he attended Garden Grove High School in Orange, California. He then attended Loyola Marymount, and was drafted four times before signing with San Diego, who took him in the second round of the secondary phase of the January draft in 1975. He apparently was considered a superior fielder, because there is nothing in his minor-league record to suggest he would be a good major league batter. Despite hitting only .243 at AAA Hawaii in 1977, Baker was with San Diego all of 1978 as a defensive replacement, pinch runner, and pinch hitter, hitting .207 in only 58 at-bats. He went back to Hawaii for 1979 and most of 1980. The latter was his best minor-league season, as Baker hit .273. He got 22 more at-bats in the majors that year, and was traded after the year was over to Minnesota for Dave Edwards. He as a reserve shortstop for the Twins in 1981, getting 66 at-bats and hitting .185. The Twins released Baker after the season, and his career was over. There are, of course, any number of Chuck Bakers in this world; there was no way to know which, if any, of the ones found might be our Chuck Baker.

Outfielder Gary Lamell Ward was with Minnesota from 1979-1983, the early years of a pretty substantial major league career. A native of Los Angeles, he went to high school in Compton, California and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1972. He advanced slowly through the Twins' system, but finally got people's attention in his second year at AAA, when he hit .294 with an OPS of .828. Still, he only got September callups (he hit for the cycle in his 14th major league game, the earliest in a career a player has done so) until 1981, when a desperate Twins team finally gave him a chance. He did well, hitting .264 and finishing ninth in the Rookie of the Year voting. He had perhaps his best year in the majors in 1982, batting .289 with 28 homers and 91 RBIs. He had another strong season in 1983, making his first all-star team, but was traded in the off-season with Sam Sorce to Texas for John Butcher and Mike Smithson. As a Twin, Ward hit .284/.333/.461, for an OPS+ of 115. He had three more solid seasons for the Rangers, making another all-star team in 1985 and hitting over .300 for the only time in his career in 1986, although he hit only five home runs that season. He became a free agent after the 1986 season and signed with the Yankees, but perhaps due to the pressure of playing in New York, or perhaps due to his age, he did not play particularly well for them. Released in April of 1989, he was signed by Detroit, where he played for two years to finish out his career. He went into coaching after his playing career ended, serving on the staff of the Chicago White Sox from 2001-2008. Gary Ward was the batting coach for the Charlotte Knights for a few years after that, in 2012 was the batting coach for the Class A Winston-Salem Dash, in 2013 was the batting coach of the Birmingham Barons, in 2014 returned to Winston-Salem, all in the White Sox organization.  He was the batting coach of the AZL White Sox from 2015-2019.  No information about what he has done since that time was readily available.  He is the father of Daryle Ward, major league player from 1998 through 2008.

Right-hander Stephen Wayne Bedrosian came to the Twins in 1991, near the end of his career. Nicknamed "Bedrock", Bedrosian was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, and attended Methuen High School. He then went to the University of New Haven, and was drafted by Atlanta in the third round in 1978. A starting pitcher in the minors, he had good ERAs at every stop, although his WHIP was relatively high his first couple of years. After a solid 1981 campaign in AAA Richmond, he was called up to the Braves in mid-August, placed in the bullpen, and never returned to the minors (other than a rehab assignment). He did a solid job for the Braves for four years, although he did less well the fourth year, when Bedrosian was switched back to starting. After the 1985 season, he was traded to Philadelphia and returned to the bullpen, where he once again flourished. His best year was 1987, when he led the league with 40 saves, won the Cy Young Award, and finished 16th in MVP voting. He was still pitching well for the Phillies in 1989 when he was traded to San Francisco. Bedrosian had a poor year in 1990, however, and was traded to Minnesota after the season for Johnny Ard and Jimmy Williams. He did a decent job for the Twins as a right-handed setup man, going 5-3 with a 4.42 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP, and six saves in 56 appearances. A free agent after the season, Bedrosian was out of baseball in 1992, but then gave it a last shot with his old team, the Braves. He did not go back to closing, but pitched extremely well in 1993 and pretty well in 1994. He had a poor year in 1995, however, and was again out of baseball after the season, this time for good. He remained in Georgia after his career ended and was elected to the Coweta County Board of Education, serving for ten years.  He was also an assistant baseball coach at East Coweta High School for a while before retiring. Steve Bedrosian is a member of the Coweta Sports Hall of Fame and the University of New Haven Hall of Fame. His son, Cam, was a first-round draft choice of the Angels in 2010 and pitched in the majors from 2014-2021.

Right-hander Kevin Wayne Campbell made 20 appearances with the Twins in 1994-95. A right-hander, Campbell was born in Marianna, Arkansas, went to Des Arc High School in Des Arc, Arkansas, and then attended the University of Arkansas. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round in 1986. He did fairly well in the low minors, but did not get out of Class A until 1989, when he was coverted from starting to relieving, and did not leave Class A behind for good until 1990. He got his break when he was traded to Oakland before the 1991 season. He split the next three seasons between Oakland and AAA Tacoma, pitching well at AAA every season but doing progressively worse in the big leagues. He became a free agent after the 1993 campaign, and signed with Minnesota. He spent most of his time in AAA in 1994, and did well there. He also did well in about a month and a half with the Twins, going 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. He did less well in 1995, however, and was released in mid-May. Seattle signed him, and Campbell again pitched well in AAA, but was not brought back to the majors, and his career ended after that season. As a Twin, Kevin Campbell posted a 3.41 ERA in 34.1 innings, with a WHIP of 1.11. There was no quick way to determine which of the numerous Kevin Campbells one can find might be the one who played for the Twins.

Infielder Christopher Joseph Basak never played for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for a time in 2007-2008. Born in North Platte, Nebraska, he attended Minooka High School in Minooka, Illinois, then went to the University of Illinois. Basak was drafted by the Mets in the sixth round in 2000. He advanced through the Mets system fairly quickly, reaching AAA for the first time in 2002, but stalled out there, spending parts of 2002 and 2003 and all of 2004-2008 there except for about a week in 2007. In those AAA seasons, Basak hit .255/.314/.397. He became a minor league free agent after the 2006 campaign and signed with the Yankees, who gave him his only big league time in 2007: three appearances as a defensive replacement, one as a pinch runner, and one as a pinch hitter, his only big-league at-bat (he lined out to deep left). Placed on waivers in August of 2007, the Twins selected him and sent him to Rochester. He remained there until mid-June of 2008, when he was sent back to the Yankees in a conditional deal. Basak became a free agent after the season, and his career came to an end. Chris Basak then became the Director of Player Development for Elite Sports Performance of Oswego, Illinois.  At last report, he was a partner at American Beverage, LLC in the Urbana-Champaign area.  He was also the owner of PreGame Sports, a training facility in Champaign.

Right-hander Jason Patrick Bulger did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 2012.  He was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia, went to high school in Snellville, Georgia, went to Valdosta State University (the third major leaguer that school has produced), and was drafted by Arizona in the first round in 2001.  He was a starter early in his career and struggled in that role, but did much better when switched to the bullpen in 2004.  He reached AAA in 2005 and made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks in late August of that season.  In late February of 2006, however, he was traded to the Angels.  He saw some major league time each season with the Angels, but did not get significant time until 2009, his first (and so far only) full season in the big leagues.  He did well that year, going 6-1, 3.56, 1.16 WHIP in 65.2 innings (64 appearances).  He started 2010 in Los Angeles, but despite the fact that he does not appear to have been pitching that badly was sent to the minors in mid-June.  He began 2011 in the majors as well and went 0-1, 0.96 in five appearances, but the fact that he walked ten in 9.1 innings caused him to spend the rest of the year in AAA.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota for 2012 but was released in late March.  He signed with the Yankees and pitched well in AAA but still walked too many batters.  Control was an issue much of his career; he walked 4.3 batters per nine innings in the minors and 5.1 in the majors.   His playing career came to an end after the 2012 season.  At last report, Jason Bulger was living in Alpharetta, Georgia, and was the Southeast Regional Sales Director for Crete United.

December 5

Billy Shindle (1860)

Patsy Tebeau (1864)

Frank Bowerman (1868)

Pink Hawley (1872)

Gus Mancuso (1905)

Bobby Mattick (1915)

Chico Ruiz (1938)

Yoshiharu Wakana (1953)

Gary Roenicke (1954)

Luis Casanova (1956)

Alan Cockrell (1962)

Cliff Floyd (1972)

Hanley Frias (1973)

Justin Smoak (1986)

A. J. Pollock (1987)

Christian Yelich (1991)

Trevor Megill (1993)

Yoshiharu Wakana was a six-time all-star in Japan, playing from 1974-1991.

Luis Casanova was a star slugger in Cuba, playing from 1978-1994.

Outfielder Atlee Alan Cockrell did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system from 1988-1990. He was born in Kansas City, went to high school in Joplin, Missouri, attended the University of Tennessee (where he was the football team’s starting quarterback in 1982 and 1983), and was drafted by San Francisco with the ninth pick of the 1984 draft. He hit in the .250s with homers in the low teens each season from 1985-1987, years spent in AA and AAA. He improved in 1988, hitting .293 with 10 homers in a year spent mostly with AAA Phoenix. In mid-August of that 1988 season, Cockrell was traded to Minnesota for Karl Best. He finished 1988 in Portland, then was there for all of 1989, hitting .268/.351/.393. He began 1990 in Portland as well, but was traded in mid-April to Cleveland for minor league pitcher Charlie Scott. He had an outstanding season in AAA for the Indians, hitting .330 with 17 homers. For his trouble, he not only did not get a call to the majors, he was placed on waivers the following March. Seattle chose him, and he got another year in AAA. A free agent after the 1991 season, he signed back with Cleveland and had a couple of disappointing years in AAA for them. He moved on to Colorado in 1994 and played in Colorado Springs for three years, hitting .300 or better with double-digit home runs each season. He got a September call-up in 1996, playing in nine games and going 2-for-8 with a double. That was his swan song, as his playing career ended after the 1998 season. He then became a coach and manager in the Rockies’ organization, serving as the major league team’s batting coach in 2002 and 2007. He moved on to the Seattle organization as the Mariners’ batting coach in 2009, but was fired in early May of 2010.  He then joined the Arizona Diamondbacks, for whom he was the batting coordinator from 2011-2012.  He was with the Yankees after that, serving as minor league batting coordinator from 2013-2014, as assistant batting coach in 2015, and as the batting coach for the Yankees in 2016-2017.  He was an assistant baseball coach for Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is currently a coach with the Stampede Baseball Club, a youth baseball organization in Charlotte.  He is a member of the Joplin Area Sports Hall of Fame, the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame, and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Infielder Hanley (Acevedo) Frias did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for half of 2001. Born and raised in Villa Altagracia, Dominican Republic, he signed with Texas as a free agent in 1990. He rose through the minor leagues slowly, due in part to his youth. He had two-plus years in Class A and nearly two years in AA. He never hit for power, but began posting decent averages in 1995. He made his AAA debut in 1997 and his major league debut the same year, getting a September call-up after hitting .264 in Tucson. He was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was chosen by Arizona with the fifty-first pick. He got two months in the majors in 1998 and was in the majors almost all of 1999. He had a good season as a reserve, hitting .270 in 150 at-bats. He got his only full season in the majors in 2000 but did not hit this time, batting just .205 in 112 at-bats. In late March of 2001, the Diamondbacks traded Frias to Minnesota for Chad Moeller. He was in AAA Edmonton for three months, hitting .183/.237/.225 in 142 at-bats. The Twins then traded him to St. Louis for Larry Sutton. He finished 2001 in AAA for St. Louis, was in AAA for Arizona and Baltimore in 2002, then his playing career came to an end. At last report, Hanley Frias had returned to the Dominican Republic.

Right-handed reliever Trevor J. Megill was with the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Long Beach, California, attended Loyola Marymount University, and was drafted by San Diego in the seventh round in 2015.  A starter in college, he has never started a game as a professional.  He missed all of 2016, presumably due to injury, and so did not reach AA until 2018.  He pitched well there in seventeen innings, but had a poor year for AAA El Paso in 2019.  He was chosen by the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft that off-season.  He did not play in the COVID year of 2020 and did not pitch particularly well in AAA in 2021, but still spent about half the season in the majors.  He appeared in twenty-eight major league games, pitched 23.2 innings, and compiled a record of 1-2, 8.37, 1.86 WHIP.  He did strike out thirty.  He was waived by the Cubs after the 2021 season and was claimed by the Twins.  They non-tendered him, but then signed him as a free agent the next day.  He appeared in thirty-nine games for the Twins, pitching forty-five innings.  He went 4-3, but with a 4.80 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP.   He began 2023 in AAA with the Twins but was traded to Milwaukee in late April for a player to be named later (Taylor Floyd) and cash.  The Twins apparently gave up on him too soon, or he figured something out after he left, because he has been a fine reliever for the Brewers ever since, saving fifty-one games over the last two seasons.  He will presumably be an important part of the Milwaukee bullpen again in 2026.

December 4

Jesse Burkett (1868)

Shano Collins (1885)

Bob Shawkey (1890)

Harvey Kuenn (1930)

Mike Couchee (1957)

Lee Smith (1957)

Stan Jefferson (1962)

Bernardo Brito (1963)

Jerome Williams (1981)

Matt Fox (1982)

Carlos Gomez (1985)

Jake Cave (1992)

Blake Snell (1992)

Mike Couchee was drafted by Minnesota in the second round of the January Secondary draft in 1978, but did not sign.

Outfielder Bernardo (Perez) Brito played for the Twins in 1992, 1993, and 1995. He hit 295 home runs in the minors, but only five in the big leagues. Born in San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic, Brito was signed by Cleveland as a free agent in 1980. He was young, and it showed, as he struggled his first few seasons. In 1984, however, he hit .300 with 19 home runs for short-season Class A Batavia. It would be several years before he batted .300 again, but Brito continued to show power, hitting over 20 homers in nine of the next ten minor league seasons, seven of them at AAA.  He won six home run titles in the minors, two in Class A, two in AA, and two in AAA.  When he did top .300 again, he did it three times in a row, from 1993 to 1995. Despite his minor-league success, he never really got a chance in the majors, batting 14 times for the Twins in 1992, 54 times in 1993, and five times in 1995. His major league line was .219/.237/.466. Brito was released by the Twins in late June of 1995. He then signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters, finishing 1995 and playing 1996 there. Brito played briefly for Sioux Falls in the Northern League in 1998. While there's no way to know whether he could have done anything in the majors, it seems odd, given his success at AAA, that he was never given any kind of a chance in the big leagues. At last report, Bernardo Brito was the head coach of the Dominican Baseball Academy in San Cristobal, but that last report is several years old now.

Right-hander Jerome Lee Williams did not play for the Twins, but he was in their minor league system for about a month in 2007. He was born in Honolulu, and according to Wikipedia is of Hawaiian-Chinese-Portuguese-Spanish-Japanese-Norwegian-African-Filipino-American ancestry. He went to high school in Page, Australia, attended Southeast Louisiana University, and was drafted by San Francisco in the first round in 1999. He pitched very well throughout his minor league career, spending a full year at each level. He made ten starts in a second season at AAA in 2003 when he was called up to the Giants. He pitched pretty well for them for two seasons, going 17-12, 3.77, 1.28 WHIP from 2003-2004. He got off to a slow start in 2005 and was traded to the Cubs in late May in a trade that involved LaTroy Hawkins. He did pretty well for the Cubs the rest of 2005. He started 2006 in Chicago and did pretty well in four outings, but had a disastrous fifth outing and was abruptly sent to the minors. He never really got it going again after that. He remained in AAA for the rest of 2006, was chosen off waivers by Oakland after the season, but released a few months later. He signed with Washington for 2007 and started the season in their rotation, but after pitching poorly in five out of six starts he was sent to AAA, never to return to the majors. The Nationals released Williams in early August and the Twins picked him up. They sent him to Rochester, where he went 0-1, 9.00 in eight appearances (eleven innings). He moved on to the Dodgers’ organization for 2008 and to Oakland for 2009, then moved to Taiwan for the 2010 season. Injury may have played a part in how suddenly he fell apart; he was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff in 2007, but given how quickly he declined, one wonders if there may have been a problem before that. He came back to the United States in June of 2011, playing in AAA for the Angels.  He did quite well there, going 7-2, 3.91, 1.26 WHIP in ten starts.  After that season, we wrote "If he can stay healthy, it’s not impossible that he might still help some major league team."  Well, he stayed healthy, mostly, and he did help a couple of teams.  He was decent for the Angels in 2012 and 2013, became a free agent, signed with Houston, was released in July, signed with Texas, was waived in August, and was chosen by Philadelphia, for whom he made nine pretty good starts.  He went back to the Phillies in 2015 but was not good at all, going 4-12, 5.80.  He became a free agent after the season and did not sign until June, when St. Louis picked him up.  His numbers don't look good for 2016, but all eleven of the earned runs he gave up came in two of his eleven relief appearances.  That fact didn't help him any, though, as he went unsigned and pitched in the Atlantic League in 2017, not doing very well there.  He pitched four times in the Mexican League in 2018, but then was done.  Jerome Williams was the pitching coach for the Kingsport Mets in the Appalachian League in 2019, was scheduled to be the pitching coach for the Columbia Fireflies in the South Atlantic League in 2020, was the pitching coach for the St. Lucie Mets in 2021, and was the pitching coach for the Binghamton Mets in 2022.  He became the pitching coach of the State College Spikes in the MLB Draft League in 2023 and has been the pitching coach of the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers in the Pioneer League since 2024.

Right-hander Matthew Jacob Fox made one start for the Twins in 2010. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, went to high school in Coral Springs, Florida and Parkland, Florida, attended the University of Central Florida, and was drafted in the first round by Minnesota in 2004. He made a steady rise through the minors, advancing one level at a time (excluding 2005, which he missed due to injury), and putting up pretty solid numbers at every stop. He was not outstanding at Rochester in 2010, but he was not terrible by any means, either: he went 6-9, 3.95, 1.42 WHIP. He came up to Minnesota on September 3 of that year for an emergency start, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk in 5.2 innings for an ERA of 3.18. Those are his career statistics for the Twins, because he was placed on waivers and chosen by Boston on September 9. He made three appearances for the Red Sox, giving up four hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He was back in AAA in 2011 with Boston and did fairly well, going 10-4, 3.96, 1.20 WHIP.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Seattle.  He was injured most of the season, making only eight minor league stars at various points in the Seattle organization.  He started 2013 with York of the Atlantic League, signed with the Mets in mid-May, and spent the rest of the season in AAA Las Vegas, where he was pretty average.  He was a free agent after the season and went unsigned, apparently ending his playing career.  At last report, Matt Fox was an outside sales representative for ABC Supply in Orlando, Florida.

Outfielder Carlos Argelis (Pena) Gomez played for the Twins from 2008-2009. Born in Santiago in the Dominican Republic, he signed with the Mets in 2002. It is unclear what he did for the next couple of years, because he does not show up in the minor league stats until 2004, but he presumably was playing ball someplace, probably in a foreign rookie league. Gomez was remarkably consistent in the minors, hitting around .270-.280 at each level. He was with the Mets for about half of the 2007 season, then was traded to the Twins with Deolis Guerra, Philip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey for Johan Santana. A colorful, fast, exciting player, he did not perform particularly well at the plate, hitting .248/.292/.352 in nearly 900 at-bats with the Twins, for an OPS+ of 72. In early November of 2009, the Twins traded Gomez to Milwaukee for J. J. Hardy. He was the Brewers’ regular centerfielder much of the season, but lost time due to injury and the failure to hit when he was healthy.  He began 2011 as the starter again, but again failed to hit and lost the job.  He also again lost time due to injury. He regained the starting center field job in 2012 and had his first good offensive season, hitting .260/.305/.463 with 19 home runs, more than double his previous career high. He also stole a career-high 37 bases.  In 2013 he was even better, hitting .284/.338/.506 with twenty-four home runs and forty stolen bases, making the all-star team, and winning the Gold Glove.  He essentially repeated that season in 2014, although he did not get the Gold Glove again.  He was having a lesser, though still decent, year in 2015 when he was traded to Houston in late July.  He did little for the Astros the rest of the season and did even less for them in 2016, getting released by them in mid-August.  He signed with Texas two days later, played well for them the rest of the season, and had a solid year for them in 2017 as well.  He moved on to Tampa Bay for 2018 and had a poor season for them.  He signed with the Mets for 2019, did even worse, and was released in early July.  He announced his retirement in January of 2020.  He was inducted into the Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor in 2021.  At last report, Carlos Gomez was a special assistant to MLBPA president Tony Clark.

Outfielder Andrew Jacob Cave played for the Twins from 2018-2022.  Born and raised in Hampton, Virginia, he was drafted by the Yankees in the sixth round in 2011.  He had only one minor league at-bat in 2011 and missed all of the 2012 season due to a fractured kneecap.  He really didn't get his career going until 2013.  He was decent, but didn't really do a lot to make you sit up and take notice until 2017.  In a year split between AA and AAA (about two-thirds in AAA) he batted .305/.351/.542, and actually did substantially better in AAA than he had in AA.  The Yankees didn't have room for him, though, and traded him to the Twins for Luis Gil, a trade which did not turn out to be a great one for the Twins.  He started the year in Rochester, doing okay but nothing special, when the Twins called him up in late May.  He took over the regular center field job in late June when injuries and ineffectiveness sidelined Byron Buxton.  He did fairly well, really.  He was a reserve outfielder for the Twins in 2019 and continued to do fairly well.  In 2020 he had to play more, again due to outfield injuries, and he had a down season, batting just .221 with an OPS of .674.  He was worse in 2021 and in the middle of 2020 and 2021 in 2022.  In five seasons with the Twins he batted .235/.297/.411 in 922 at-bats.  The Twins put him on waivers after the 2022 season and he was claimed by Baltimore, who waived him in December of 2022.  He was claimed by Philadelphia and split the season between AAA in the majors, dominating at AAA but struggling at the major league level.  He was sold to Colorado in spring training of 2024 and did a little better, but not a lot.  A free agent after the season, he spent 2025 playing in Korea for the Doosan Bears, which is cool, and had a good year.  He turns thirty-three today.  It's doubtful that we'll see him in the majors again, but he can probably play in Korea for a few more years if he wants to.

December 3

Billy McLean (1835)

Clarence Smith (1896)

Bennie Tate (1901)

Joe Collins (1922)

Suitcase Simpson (1925)

Ray Bellino (1932)

Minnie Mendoza (1934)

Clay Dalrymple (1936)

Chico Salmon (1940)

Jerry Johnson (1943)

Wayne Garrett (1947)

Pat Putnam (1953)

Gene Nelson (1960)

Damon Berryhill (1963)

Darryl Hamilton (1964)

Paul Byrd (1970)

Chad Durbin (1977)

Andy Oliver (1987)

J. T. Chargois (1990)

Billy McLean was the umpire in the first National League game ever, April 22, 1876.  He umpired in the National League through 1890.

Shortstop Ray Bellino played and managed in the Twins minor league system and also was a scout for them.

Andy Oliver was drafted by Minnesota in the seventeenth round in 2006, but did not sign.

Infielder Cristobal Rigoberto (Carreras) Mendoza played 2,240 games in the minor leagues and 16 games in the majors, all with the Twins in 1970. He was born in Cieba Del Agua, Cuba, went to high school in Havana, and was signed by Cincinnati as a free agent in 1954. Five of his first six years were spent in Class C and B leagues. He was released by Cincinnati before the 1958 season, and signed with the Washington Senators. In 1959, he hit .357 with Class C Missoula, which finally got him promoted to Class A. He spent two years with Charlotte, posting solid averages, although with little power. Promoted to AAA Vancouver in 1962, his first full year of AAA at age 28, he hit .260, but with few walks and again little power. He then went back to Charlotte, which was by then a AA city. He stayed there for six years. He hit .291 over that stretch, but never even got another cup of coffee at AAA until he was promoted there in 1969, at age 35. He hit .333 that year, and in 1970, at age 36, Minnie Mendoza made his major league debut with the Twins. He stayed for about two months, being used strictly as a pinch-hitter/pinch runner/defensive replacement. He played in 16 games, got 16 at-bats, and hit .188. Mendoza spent the rest of the season with AAA Evansville, went back to Charlotte for two years, and then retired at age 38. He then became a long-time coach and manager. Most recently, Minnie Mendoza was the Latin American field coordinator for the Cleveland Indians and then became an advisor to the Cleveland Guardians.  Minnie Mendoza passed away September 9, 2024 in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

First baseman Patrick Edward Putnam played briefly with the Twins in 1984, at the end of his major league career. Born in Bethel, Vermont, he attended high school in Ft. Myers, Florida, where his family had moved when he was eight. He went to Miami Dade North Community College, then transferred to the University of South Alabama, and was drafted by Texas in the first round of the secondary phase of the 1975 draft. He had a big year in 1976 at Class A Asheville, hitting .361 with 24 homers and 33 doubles. After the season, his manager, Wayne Terwilliger, said Putnam was the best hitter he had ever seen. He was then jumped to AAA, where he hit over .300 each of the next two seasons, with a total of 36 home runs and 56 doubles. He played briefly in the majors each of those two years, but made the majors to stay in 1979. While he was not terrible, he never really became the major league player it looked like he would be. In fact, in his four years with the Rangers, he seemed to get a little worse every year. He went from hitting .277 with 18 homers in 1979 (finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting) to .266 with 8 homers in 1981. In 1982, Putnam was hitting only .210 with two home runs when he was sent to AAA in late May. He again hit well in AAA, but when he returned in September he did not hit particularly better for the Rangers. Texas gave up on him after that season, trading him to Seattle. Putnam was decent in 1983, hitting .269 with 19 homers, but slumped in 1984. The Twins picked him up in late August for their pennant drive, sending Carson Carroll to Seattle. Putnam failed to contribute, however, going 3-for-38 (.079) as a Twin with no home runs and four RBIs before tearing a ligament in his finger. A free agent after the season, Putnam signed with Kansas City, but after a mediocre 1985 in AAA Omaha he signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. He played two seasons there, played in 1989 in the Seniors league, and then retired from baseball for good. After his playing career ended, Pat Putnam returned to Ft. Myers, where he owned the Home Environment Center, a business which specialized in air and water purification.

Right-hander Jon Thomas Chargois appeared in twenty-five games for the Twins in 2016.  Born and raised in Sulphur, Louisiana, he attended Rice University and was drafted by Minnesota in 2012.  He pitched well for Elizabethton in 2012, but missed all of 2013 and 2014 due to Tommy John surgery.  He had a fine 2015 season split between Fort Myers and Chattanooga.  He started 2016 in Chattanooga, went up to Rochester, made one terrible appearance in Minnesota in June, and came up to the Twins for the remainder of the season in mid-August.  His numbers don't look very good:  1-1, 4.70, 1.61 WHIP.  But if you throw out that one outing in June, his numbers are 1-1, 2.82, 1.43 WHIP.  He made two appearances for Rochester in 2017 and then missed the rest of the season due to an elbow injury.  The Twins gave up on him and waived him in February of 2018.  The Dodgers claimed him and he was in the majors for about two-thirds of the season, going 2-4, 3.34, 1.27 WHIP in 39 appearances (32.1 innings).  He started the 2019 season in the majors but he wasn't there long, sent back to AAA after two appearances.  He pitched well in AAA and came back to the Dodgers in late June, but continued to struggle at the major league level and went back down in mid-August.  He was released after the 2019 season and played in Japan in 2020.  He came back to the United States in 2021, signing with Seattle, and was doing quite well for them when he was traded to Tampa Bay at the July deadline.  He had a fine season and a half with the Rays, then was traded to Miami after the 2022 season.  He had another good season with them in 2023.   He was injured at the start of 2024, but was having another good season with the Marlins when he was traded to Seattle at the July deadline, for whom he continued to pitch well.  He signed with Texas for 2025, but pitched poorly in five AAA games and was released in mid-April.  We assume he was injured again, but could find no confirmation of that.  In any event, he did not sign with anyone else.  Since 2021, he has appeared in 159 games.  In those games, he has posted an ERA of 2.73 and a WHIP of 1.03.  He turns thirty-five today.  His playing career may be over, but if he's healthy there's no reason to think he couldn't still pitch in the major leagues.

December 2

Deacon White (1847)

Andre Rodgers (1934)

Pedro Borbon (1946)

Wayne Simpson (1948)

Julio Cruz (1954)

Chip Hale (1964)

Darryl Kile (1968)

Mark Kotsay (1975)

Peter Moylan (1978)

Gary Sanchez (1992)

Nearly all of infielder Walter William "Chip" Hale's major league playing career came with the Twins. He was born in San Jose, attended the University of Arizona, and was drafted by the Twins in the 17th round in 1987. A left-handed batter, he posted solid batting averages in the minors and showed the ability to draw walks. He was with the Twins for about a month in 1989 and played one game in 1990, but did not really reach the majors until 1993. Hale came to the Twins in June of that year, and with the exception of a couple of weeks in 1995 he stayed with the big club through 1996. Hale was used as a bench player throughout that time: he played a little second, a little third, a little DH, and was used as a pinch-hitter from time to time. He was actually pretty good in that role. He had neither power nor speed, and was not considered particularly good defensively, but he provided a decent batting average and a decent OBP off the bench. As a Twin, Chip Hale hit .281/.349/.369 in 563 at-bats, with 7 homers and 78 RBIs. Hale became a free agent after the 1996 season and signed with the Dodgers. He started the season in Los Angeles, but was used exclusively as a pinch-hitter, going 1-for-12 with two walks in that role over the first month of the season. Hale was demoted to AAA Albuquerque after that, and never played in the majors again. He was released by the Dodgers after the 1997 campaign and signed with the Angels, but was traded to St. Louis at the end of spring training. He was with AAA Memphis for the entire season, and then his playing career came to an end. Hale then went into managing and coaching. He was a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2007-2009, then became the third base coach for the New York Mets in 2010. He was in the running for the manager’s job for 2011, but when it went to Terry Collins, Hale was retained as third-base coach.  After the season, however, Hale left the Mets to take a job as bench coach for the Oakland Athletics for 2013-2014.  Chip Hale was been the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2015-16.  He was let go after the season and was the third base coach for Oakland in 2017.  He was the bench coach for the Washington Nationals in 2018-2020.  He was the Detroit Tigers' third base coach at the start of 2021, but in July he became the head baseball coach at the University of Arizona, a position he continues to hold.

Right-hander Peter Michael Moylan never played for the Twins, but he was originally signed by them. A native of Attadale, Australia, Moylan signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1996. He was in rookie ball for two years, posting ERAs right around four, and then was released in April of 1998. He returned to Australia and worked as a pharmaceutical salesman while playing ball for Blackburn. He was a member of the Australian WBC team in 2006 and pitched well. Back problems had resulted in conversion to a sidearm delivery, and with this motion, his fastball became ten miles per hour faster. Impressed by his WBC work, Atlanta signed Moylan in March of 2006. He did not pitch well at AAA Richmond, nor did he pitch well in 15 games in the majors, but Atlanta obviously saw something in him. The Braves were rewarded, as Moylan was a solid member of their bullpen three of the next six seasons (he was injured much of 2008 with Tommy John surgery and 2011 with a torn rotator cuff).  He was still injured much of the 2012 season, but did very well in eight major league appearances. In 295 appearances for Atlanta, Moylan posted an ERA of 2.59 and a WHIP of 1.29.  A free agent, after the season, he signed with the Dodgers for 2013.  He spent most of the season in AAA Albuquerque and did very well there.  His spent about two months in the majors and his numbers don't look good, but eight of the eleven runs he allowed came in two appearances.  If you throw those out, his ERA is 2.25.  Including them, it goes to 6.46.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Houston for 2014 but tore a ligament and was released during spring training.  He missed all of that season, but signed back with the Braves in 2015.  He was in AAA most of the season but came up in mid-August and pitched very well.  He was apparently used as a ROOGY, making 22 appearances but pitching only 10.1 innings and in twelve of his appearances he faced only one batter.  He signed with Kansas City for 2016, came up to the majors in mid-May, and had a fine season, appearing in fifty games and going 2-0, 3.43, 1.30 WHIP.  He remained with Kansas City in 2017, remained healthy, and again had a fine season.  He led the league in appearances with seventy-nine and went 0-0, 3.49, 1.10 WHIP in 59.1 innings.  He signed with Atlanta in  2018 but it did not go nearly as well, as he posted an ERA of 4.45 and a WHIP of 1.77.  He pitched briefly in the Czech Republic in 2019, but then became a pre- and post-game analyst for the Atlanta Braves on Fox Sports South.  He was named manager of the Melbourne Aces for the 2021-2022 season, but it was cancelled, so he managed his first game for the Aces in the 2022-2023.  He became their pitching coach in 2023/2024, but does not appear to currently hold that position.  He was inducted in the Baseball Western Australia Hall of Fame in 2024.

Catcher Gary Sanchez Herrera played for the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and signed with the Yankees as a free agent in July of 2009.  His minor league numbers are good, not great, but he was always quite young for his league.  He reached AA in 2013 at age twenty and AAA in 2015 at age twenty-two.  He made his major league debut at the end of 2015 and came up to stay in early August of 2016, batting .299 with an OPS of 1.032 the rest of the way.  He had a solid 2017 batting .278 with thirty-three homers, but then injuries slowed him down and poor defense cut his playing time.  His best year since has been 2019, when he batted just .232 but hit thirty-four home runs.  He batted only .204 in 2021, although with twenty-three home runs.  After that season, the Yankees traded him to Minnesota with Gio Urshela for Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Ben Rortvedt.  He started the 2022 season sharing time with Ryan Jeffers, but when Jeffers was injured he became the regular.  He batted .205 with an OPS of .659, hitting sixteen home runs, and became a free agent after the season.  He did not sign until April 1, when the Giants signed him.  He was released after a poor month in AAA, signed with the Mets in early May, was waived in late May, and signed with San Diego.  He played better than one might have expected for them, batting .218 but hitting nineteen home runs in 234 at-bats for an OPS of .792.  A free agent again, he signed with Milwaukee for 2024 and had a pretty typical Gary Sanchez season as a part-time catcher.  He moved on to Baltimore for 2025 and pretty much duplicated his 2024 season.  He is once again a free agent.  It seems like he's been around forever, but he's only thirty-three today.  One suspects Gary Sanchez will sign with someone for 2026.

December 1

Ed Reulbach (1882)

Willie Mitchell (1889)

Walter Alston (1911)

Calvin Griffith (1911)

Cookie Lavagetto (1912)

Marty Marion (1917)

Cal McLish (1925)

George Foster (1948)

Dan Schatzeder (1954)

Greg Harris (1963)

Larry Walker (1966)

Reggie Sanders (1967)

Kirk Rueter (1970)

Javier Baez (1992)

Kai-Wei Teng (1998)

Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1999)

As everyone reading this knows, Calvin Griffith was the long-time owner of the Minnesota Twins.  He had served in a variety of positions for the Washington Senators, including batboy, minor league player-manager, and working in the front office.  His managing career lasted from 1937-1941.  He also played for Class B Charlotte from 1939-1941.  No records of his playing career are available from 1939-1940, but in 1941 he got a hit in his only at-bat.

As you may know, Cal McLish's full name is Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish.

Harry Arthur "Cookie" Lavagetto was the first manager of the Minnesota Twins in 1961. He was born in Oakland, and attended Oakland Technical School. His first professional season was 1933, when he hit .312 in the Pacific Coast League at age 20. An infielder, Lavagetto got to the big leagues in 1934, playing three seasons in Pittsburgh. He was used as a part-time player, primarily at second base, getting about 200-300 at bats per year. After the 1936 season, he was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers, which is where he became a star. He was the Dodgers' starting second baseman in 1937, then started at third for four years. His numbers as a Dodger are good, but not all that impressive: he hit .300 once, his highest home run total was 10, and he never stole more than 15 bases. Still, he made the all-star team every year from 1938-1941, and twice received MVP votes. Lavagetto lost four years to World War II, as he enlisted in the Navy. When he came back as a thirty-three-year-old in 1946, he was reduced to part-time status. Released by the Dodgers in May of 1948, he went back home to Oakland, playing three more years in the Pacific Coast League. He then went into coaching, spending three years with Brooklyn (1951-1953) and one with Oakland (1954) before joining Washington in 1955. He became manager in 1957 and came to Minnesota with the club in 1961. He was let go after 59 games that season with a record of 23-36. He became a coach for the original Mets and was thought to be the logical choice to succeed Casey Stengel as Mets manager, but a false diagnosis of lung cancer led him to take a coaching job with the Giants in 1964 so he could be closer to home. He retired in 1967 and assisted his wife in her therapy equipment business. Lavagetto is best remembered today for a pinch-hit double he hit with two out in the ninth inning of game four of the 1947 World Series, a hit which broke up a no-hit bid by Bill Bevens and won the game for the Dodgers. Cookie Lavagetto passed away from a heart attack on August 10, 1990 in Orinda, California.

Left-hander Daniel Ernest Schatzeder was with the Twins in 1987-1988. His time as a Twin was brief, but he managed to get a World Series ring in the process. A left-hander, Schatzeder was born in Elmhurst, Illinois, and attended the University of Denver. He was drafted by Montreal in the third round in 1976. He pitched well in two minor league seasons, reaching the majors in September of 1977 and coming to stay in May of 1978. He put in a couple of solid years for the Expos as a swing man, but then was traded to Detroit in December of 1979. After one decent and one poor year for the Tigers, Schatzeder was traded again in December of 1981 to San Francisco. He started poorly in 1982, and was sold to Montreal. His stints with the Expos were the best years of Schatzeder's career. He shifted more to the bullpen from 1982-1986, although he still made 36 starts over that span. He was still pitching well for Montreal in July of 1986 when he was traded to Philadelphia. He was with the Phillies for nearly a year, and in June of 1987 he was traded to Minnesota for Tom Schwarz and Danny Clay. Schatzeder did not pitch well for the Twins, but did throw 4.1 scoreless innings in the League Championship Series. Released by the Twins after the season, he was signed by Cleveland, but when the Indians released him in June the Twins took him back again for the rest of the 1988 season. The second time around, he was used mostly in the starting rotation at AAA Portland, coming back to Minnesota for ten relief appearances in September. Schatzeder was a free agent after the season: as a Twin, he had an ERA of 5.50 in 54 innings spread over 40 appearances. After leaving the Twins, he went to Houston, the Mets, and Kansas City; his last big-league appearance was as a Royal in 1991. Released by Kansas City in late May of 1991, he signed with the Mets and played at AAA for a couple of weeks, but then his career was over. Dan Schatzeder was a physical education teacher at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois until his retirement in 2015.

The Greg Harris we are dealing with is Gregory Wade Harris, not Greg Allen Harris, the ambidextrous pitcher whose career covered roughly the same years. Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Greg W. Harris attended Elon University and was drafted by San Diego in the tenth round in 1985. A starter throughout his minor league career, he advanced a level each season. His numbers at AA and AAA were not all that impressive, but he got a September callup in 1988 and was in the Padres bullpen in 1989 and 1990. He did a fine job for San Diego in those years as a setup man, and pitched well for them in 1991 as well when he made twenty starts. Harris remained an unspectacular but solid starter for the Padres through July of 1993, when he was traded to Colorado. He may have moved north and east, but his career went straight south. In a year and a half with the Rockies, Harris was four and twenty, which may work for blackbirds in a pie but not for major league pitchers. His ERA in that time was 6.60. Released by the Rockies, Harris signed with Minnesota in April of 1995. He was with the Twins for a little over a month, making seven appearances, six of them starts. It did not go well: he was 0-5 with an 8.82 ERA. Harris was sent to AAA and then was released in August. The Padres gave him a last shot in 1996, but he pitched poorly at Class A and his career was over. His career ERA for the Padres, 2.95, is second on the Padres' career list to Trevor Hoffman. Arm problems were at least partly responsible for his rapid decline; he sued his surgeon over botched operations on his pitching arm and shoulder, receiving a judgment of six million dollars. He also was the victim of some investment scams, for which he received a judgment of ten million dollars. At last report, Greg Harris was a coach with Prospects NC and was living in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system from 2018-2019.  He was born in Taichung, Taiwan and signed as a free agent with the Twins in October of 2017.  He was having a strong 2019 season in Class A when he was traded to San Francisco with Prelander Berroa and Jaylin Davis for Sam Dyson at the July deadline.  He missed the 2020 COVID season and struggled when promoted to higher levels.  He kept getting promoted, however, reaching AA in 2022 and AAA in 2023.  He started 2024 in San Francisco and appeared in four games, going 0-0, 9.82, with a 2.09 WHIP.  Sent back to AAA, he went 3-6, 8.60, 1.81 WHIP.  He was back in AAA in 2025 and had a much better season, but did not accomplish much when brought back to the majors toward the end of the year.  He turns twenty-seven today.  He strikes out a lot of batters, but he also walks a lot of batters.  If he can learn to throw strikes, he might be a decent major league pitcher, but there have been hundreds of pitchers of whom that could be said.

Infielder Christian Lee Encarnacion-Strand did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2021-2022.  He was born in Walnut Creek, California, attended Yavapai College and Oklahoma State, and was drafted by Minnesota in the fourth round in 2021.  He tore up the Florida State League that year, batting .391/.424/.598, although in just 87 at-bats.  He proved it was no fluke the next season, posting an OPS of .968 in Cedar Rapids and over a thousand in AA before being traded to Cincinnati with Steve Hajjar and Spencer Steer for Tyler Mahle.  It's a trade that is not likely to go down as Derek Falvey's finest hour.  Encarnacion-Strand spent the first half of 2023 tearing up the International League and the second half playing quite well in the majors.  Playing mostly at first or DH, he overcame a slow start to bat .270/.328/.477 with 13 home runs in 222 at-bats.  He was off to a slow start again in 2024, but was injured in early May and missed the rest of the season.  He had a poor first half of the season in 2025 and was sent back to AAA, where he did fairly well.  He turns twenty-six today.  We certainly wouldn't give up on him, but other than a half-season in 2023 he still hasn't accomplished much in the majors yet.  He needs to get something going pretty soon.