December 21

Cy Williams (1887)

Josh Gibson (1911)

Bob Rush (1925)

Howie Reed (1936)

Paul Casanova (1941)

Elliott Maddox (1947)

Dave Kingman (1948)

Joaquin Andujar (1952)

Tom Henke (1957)

Roger McDowell (1960)

Andy Van Slyke (1960)

Dustin Hermanson (1972)

LaTroy Hawkins (1972)

D’Angelo Jimenez (1977)

Freddy Sanchez (1977)

Philip Humber (1982)

Danny Duffy (1988)

Kendall Graveman (1990)

Josh Staumont (1993)

Josh Gibson is generally considered to have been the greatest batter in Negro League history.

Right-hander LaTroy Hawkins was with Minnesota for the first nine years of his major league career, 1995-2003. He was born in Gary, Indiana and attended high school there. Hawkins was then drafted by the Twins in the seventh round in 1991. A starting pitcher throughout his minor league career, he did pretty well, getting brief trials with the Twins in 1995 and 1996. He began 1997 at AAA Salt Lake, and was not pitching that well, but he was 9-4, which was enough for the pitching-poor Twins to bring him up in mid-June and keep him in the starting rotation the rest of the season. He remained a rotation starter through 1999. As a starter, Hawkins was durable, and he was consistent: he posted an ERA well over five and a WHIP over 1.5 every season.  At that point, he didn't look like a good bet to still be in the majors in 2000, let alone 2014. Shifted to the bullpen in 2000, Hawkins became the Twins' closer toward the end of the season, a role he held until August, 2001. He did all right in the beginning, but less and less well as the 2001 season wore on, and eventually was placed in a set-up role. Hawkins thrived in that role, giving the Twins two solid seasons before becoming a free agent after the 2003 campaign. He became the Cubs' closer in June of 2004 and did not do that badly, but was once again a set-up man in 2005 and was traded to the Giants in late May. He moved on to Baltimore in 2006, to Colorado in 2007 (where he had a fine year as a setup man and helped the Rockies reach the World Series), to the Yankees at the start of 2008, and to Houston in late July of 2008. He stayed with the Astros for 2009, and then became a free agent. He signed with Milwaukee, but had a poor year in 2010; he was injured much of the season, and did not pitch well when he was able to pitch.  They gave him another shot in 2011 and he responded, going 3-1, 2.42, 1.24 WHIP in 48.1 innings.  A free agent again, he signed with the Angels and had another good year out of the bullpen.  Once again a free agent, he signed with the Mets for 2013 and kept on keeping on with another fine year.  Again a free agent, he moved on to Colorado for 2014 and had another fine year.  He started 2015 with the Rockies, but was traded to Toronto in late July in the Troy Tulowitzki deal.  As a Twin, he was 44-57 with a 5.05 ERA, 44 saves, and a WHIP of 1.52.  He appeared in over one thousand major league games before retiring at the end of the 2015 season.  He remains with Colorado for the start of 2015.  He was never a star, but he had a very long career, much longer than anyone would have expected early in his career.  At last report, LaTroy Hawkins and his wife owned the Fresh Healthy Cafe in Prosper, Texas.  He also worked for the Twins as a special assistant for baseball operations and was a part-time analyst for Fox Sports North until 2025, when he became the Twins' bullpen coach.

Infielder D’Angelo Jimenez did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for the second half of 2010. Born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, he was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1994. His early minor league numbers are decent, but not terribly impressive until you note that he was always young for his league, reaching AAA at age 20. He got noticed in 1999, though, hitting .327 with 15 homers in AAA Columbus and getting a September call-up. He was injured most of 2000, was back in AAA in 2001, and was traded in late June of that year to San Diego. He finished that season in the majors, hitting .276 in half a season as the Padres’ starting shortstop. He started 2002 in that same role, but was traded to the White Sox in mid-July. He won the White Sox’ second base job in 2003 but was again traded in mid-season, this time to Cincinnati. He started at second for the Reds for the rest of 2003 and all of 2004, hitting .270 in the latter season, He was still the Reds’ second baseman at the start of 2005, but when he hit only .229 he was sent to AAA in mid-May. That was the last time he would have a starting job in the majors. He signed with Texas for 2006, was released in mid-June, and finished the season with Oakland, spending most of the year in AAA. Released again after the season, he signed with Washington for 2007. Jimenez was in the majors most of the season as a utility infielder and did all right in that role, but was allowed to become a free agent after the season. That was his last time in the majors, at least so far. He moved on to the Cardinals’ organization for 2008, was in the Atlantic League and the Mexican League in 2009, and was playing in the Mexican League again in 2010 when the Twins signed him in late June. The Twins sent him to Rochester, where he hit .225/.300/.381 in 231 at-bats.  Back in the Mexican League again in 2011, he hit .320 in 147 at-bats.  In 2012 he played in three leagues, the Can-Am, the American Association, and the Mexican League, and hit a combined .296.   In 2013 he played in the Can-Am and the Atlantic Leagues and hit a combined .304.  He played a little winter ball after that, but then his playing career ended.  D'Angelo Jimenez has been the bench coach of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the Cubs organization since 2024.

Right-hander Philip Gregory Humber's career with Minnesota consisted of 13 games over two seasons, 2008-2009. Born in Nacogdoches, Texas, he went to high school in Carthage, Texas, attended Rice University, and then was chosen by the Mets with the third pick of the 2004 draft after a stellar college career. He pitched poorly in 2005 and then was injured, requiring Tommy John surgery. He missed much of 2006 recovering from surgery, but he did well when healthy and got a September call-up to the Mets that year, throwing two scoreless innings. He had a decent but unspectacular year for AAA New Orleans in 2007, again getting a September call-up. In February of 2008, Humber was traded to the Twins with Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, and Kevin Mulvey for Johan Santana. He had a mediocre year for AAA Rochester, again getting a September call-up. Humber began 2009 in Minnesota, had two good outings and two bad ones, and went back to Rochester. He did not do very well there, but was brought back in August, again having two good outings and two bad ones. As a Twin, Philip Humber had no record, a 6.10 ERA, and a 2.03 WHIP in 20.2 innings spread over 13 appearances.  Let go by the Twins after the 2009 season, Humber signed with Kansas City for 2010. He had a rather mundane season with AAA Omaha, getting back to the majors for the last two months of the season. The Royals placed him on waivers after the season, and he was selected by Oakland in December.  The Athletics waived him again a month later, and he was selected by the White Sox.  Surprisingly, at age 28 he seemed to put things together.  Not only did he get his first full season in the majors in 2011, he had a pretty good one, going 9-9, 3.75, 1.18 WHIP in 26 starts.  He was unable to repeat that success in 2012, however; despite a perfect game in April, he went 5-5, 6.44, 1.54 WHIP.  After the season he was waived by the White Sox and claimed by Houston.  The Astros were terrible in 2013 and so was he.  He started the season in the rotation and stayed there until early May, at which point he was 0-7, 8.82.  He went to the bullpen and then to the minors, coming back to Houston as a reliever in mid-August, a role in which he was still terrible but slightly less so.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Oakland for 2014 and spent the whole year in AAA, pitching fairly well in relief. He was a free agent again and pitched (not very well) in Korea in 2015.  He came back to the United States and signed with San Diego for 2016 but retired in late March. He then went back to college, going back to Rice to get a degree in sports management.  At last report, Philip Humber was living in Tyler, Texas and was a commercial real estate broker with Burns Commercial Properties.

Right-handed reliever Joshua Tyler Staumont pitched for the Twins for three months in 2024.  Born and raised in LaHabra, California, he attended Azusa Pacific University and was drafted by Kansas City in the second round in 2015.  He was a starter early in his minor league career, switching to the bullpen in 2018.  He always struck out a lot of guys, but he also always walked a lot of guys.  He always had a high WHIP because of the walks, but some seasons in the minors he was able to overcome it and still post a decent ERA.  He reached AAA in 2017 and came up to the majors in 2019.  In 2021 he was able to hold the walks down to a reasonable level and had the best season of his career, going 4-3, 2.88, 1.07 WHIP with 3.7 walks per nine innings.  In 2022, however, the walks returned.  The Royals allowed him to become a free agent after the 2023 season and he signed with Minnesota.  He started the season in AAA St. Paul but came up to the Twins in early May.  He actually pitched pretty well for them, going 1-0, 3.70, 1.27 WHIP in 24.1 innings (25 games).  He had a few bad games in July, though, and the Twins released him in early August.  He was signed by the Cubs a week later, but was released after only two games in AAA Iowa.  He signed with Cincinnati for 2025 but did not pitch due to injury.  He became a free agent after the season and is unsigned.  He turns thirty-two today.  If he can get healthy and if he wants to try to continue his baseball career, it seems like someone might give him a shot.  Those, of course, are two big ifs.  We wish him well in whatever his future holds.

December 20

Jack Manning (1853)

Harry Stovey (1856)

Jimmy Williams (1876)

Branch Rickey (1881)

Fred Merkle (1888)

Butch Henline (1894)

George Pipgras (1899)

Gabby Hartnett (1900)

Spud Davis (1904)

Eddie Leishman (1910)

Julio Becquer (1931)

Cecil Cooper (1949)

Oscar Gamble (1949)

Jose DeLeon (1960)

Augie Ojeda (1974)

Aubrey Huff (1976)

David De Jesus (1979)

James Shields (1981)

David Wright (1982)

Eddie Leishman was twice the Minor League Executive of the Year.

 Left-handed first baseman Julio (Villegas) Becquer played briefly for the Twins in 1961 and 1963. Becquer was born in Havana and signed with Washington as a free agent in 1952. He hit fairly well throughout his minor league career, although he struggled at AAA in 1956. Becquer got a September call-up in 1955, but did not make the majors to stay until 1957. He was with Washington from 1957-1960, always in a reserve role; his highest at-bat total was 298 in 1960. He did not show a lot at the plate in the majors, although he was apparently a good fielder and good pinch-hitter. He was left unprotected in the 1960 expansion draft, and was selected by the Angels. He played in only 11 games for Los Angeles, was sold to Philadelphia in May, and three weeks later was sold to the Twins. Once again a reserve, Becquer got 84 at-bats in 57 games, hitting .238/.253/.476. Most of the rest of his career was spent in the Mexican League, although he played in 11 games for AAA Vancouver in 1962 and was used as a pinch-runner in one game for the Twins in September of 1963 so that he could qualify for a major league pension. His playing career ended in 1964. He remained in the Twin Cities area after his playing career ended.  He was inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.  Julio Becquer was in an assisted living facility in Hopkins, Minnesota when he passed away on November 1, 2020.

Infielder Octavio Augie Ojeda played for the Twins in 2004, a part of his surprisingly long major league career. He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Downey, California, attended the University of Tennessee, and was drafted by Baltimore in the 13th round in 1996. His best years in the minors were 1997, when he hit .344 for Class A Frederick, and 2000, when he hit .280 for AAA Iowa. After the 1999 season, Ojeda was traded to the Cubs. He made his major league debut in 2000, playing for Chicago for about two months. The next year, 2001, was his first full season in the majors: Ojeda hit .201, and it would be seven years before he got another full season in the bigs. He was in Iowa for most of 2002 and 2003, playing a total of 42 major league games in that span. A free agent after 2003, he signed with Minnesota, hit .245 in Rochester, and came up to the Twins in August of 2004. He actually did quite well for the Twins in limited play, hitting .339 with two home runs in 59 at-bats. He was back in the minors for all of the next two years, one with Rochester and one back in Iowa in the Cubs' chain. In 2007, Ojeda signed with Arizona. After hitting .323 there, he was brought up to Arizona in mid-June and stayed there through 2010. He was a decent utility infielder for the Diamondbacks, although certainly nothing spectacular. After a poor year in 2010, he was allowed to become a free agent.  He signed back with the Cubs, went to AAA, but did nothing there and was released in July, ending his playing career.  At last report, Augie Ojeda was living in Chandler, Arizona and enjoying his retirement.

December 19

This is a reprint from last year.

Ford Frick (1894)

Al Kaline (1934)

Tony Taylor (1935)

Walt Williams (1943)

Rob Gardner (1944)

Geoff Zahn (1945)

Kevin Stanfield (1955)

Stu Cliburn (1956)

Stan Cliburn (1956)

Tom Lawless (1956)

Clay Parker (1962)

Bill Wegman (1962)

Mike Fetters (1964)

Chito Martinez (1965)

Russell Branyan (1975)

Rafael Soriano (1979)

Ian Kennedy (1984)

Aaron Loup (1987)

Ford Frick was the president of the National League from 1934-1951 and commissioner of baseball from 1951-1965.

Clay Parker was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-first round in 1984, but did not sign.

Left-hander Richard Frank "Rob" Gardner never pitched for the Twins, but started his professional career in their organization. Gardner was born in Binghamton, New York, and attended high school there.  Research did not indicate why he was called “Rob”; perhaps the story simply isn’t very interesting. He was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1963. He had a fine year for Class A Orlando (pitching 241 innings as an 18-year-old), but after the season was selected by the Mets in the first-year player draft. He struggled in 1964, but had another very good season in 1965, earning a September call-up.  In his last appearance of 1965, he pitched fifteen shutout innings against Philadelphia.  He spent all of 1966 with the Mets, but did not do very well. Back in the minors at the start of 1967, Gardner was traded to the Cubs in June. He made 18 appearances with Chicago, five of them starts, and did not do too badly. Gardner was on the move again the next year, traded to Cleveland right before the 1968 season. He was in AAA Portland most of that season and at the start of the 1969 campaign before being traded again, this time going to the Yankees in June. Gardner was mostly at AAA Syracuse through the 1972 season, pitching fairly well there, but getting only brief shots at the majors in 1970 (1 game), 1971 (six games, four of them with Oakland, to whom he was traded in April before being traded back to the Yankees in May), and 1972 (a longer stint--20 games). Gardner was traded back to Oakland before the 1973 season and made three more appearances before being sent to Milwaukee. He was in 10 games for the Brewers before being sent back to Oakland again. That was to be his last time in the big leagues--he was in the Detroit organization in 1974, back in the Yankees organization in 1975, and then his career was over. He may not have had a great major league career, but at least he got to see a lot of the country.  Each of the times the Yankees traded him, it was for one of the Alou brothers. It appears that he moved back to Binghamton after his playing career ended and became a firefighter until his retirement.  Rob Gardner passed away in his native Binghamton on October 21, 2023.

For a player who didn't have a full year in the majors until he was in his thirties, left-hander Geoffrey Clayton Zahn had a pretty decent major league career. He was a member of the Twins from 1977-1980. Born in Baltimore, he attended high school in Toledo, Ohio and then went to the University of Michigan. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the secondary phase of the January draft in 1968. Zahn pitched well in the low minors, stumbled in his first couple of tries at AAA, but had a strong year for Albuquerque in 1973, earning a September call-up. He battled injuries in 1974 and 1975, making sporadic appearances for the Dodgers before being traded to the Cubs in May in a trade involving Burt Hooton. He was with the Cubs through the end of 1975 and in April of 1976, but then was sent back to the minors and was released after the season. The Twins took a chance on Zahn, signing him for the 1977 season, and the chance paid off. He became a big league rotation starter for the first time at age 31, and was a solid member of the Minnesota rotation for four years, winning twelve to fourteen games every year and averaging over 200 innings per season. He became a free agent after the 1980 campaign and joined the exodus out of Minnesota, signing with the Angels. He pitched even better in California, posting ERAs under four for three consecutive years, winning 18 games in 1982 (when he finished sixth in Cy Young voting), and leading the league in shutouts in 1984 while continuing to average around 200 innings per season. He was off to a strong start in April of 1985 when he was injured, and while he tried to come back in August, he was clearly not himself any more, and retired after the season. As a Twin, Geoff Zahn was 53-53 with a 3.90 ERA in 133 games, 126 of them starts. He won 111 games in his career, which is not bad for someone who had eight career wins when he turned 31. After his retirement, Zahn went into coaching, and was the head coach at the University of Michigan from 1996-2001. Today, Geoff Zahn tours the country as a Christian motivational speaker.  He owns the Master Pitching Institute in the Ann Arbor area and has done some broadcasting.

Left-hander Kevin Bruce Stanfield spent his entire major league career with the Twins. He was born in Huron, South Dakota, went to high school in San Bernardino, California, attended San Bernardino Valley College, and was drafted by the Twins in the seventh round of the January draft in 1976. He did well in 1976, had a poor year for Class A Visalia in 1977, but bounced back for a good year at AAA Toledo in 1978. He did less well in repeating AAA in 1979, but was given a September call-up to the Twins that year. Stanfield pitched three innings over three games, giving up two runs on two hits for an ERA of 6.00. Oddly, that's where Kevin Stanfield's baseball story ends; he developed a sore arm over the off-season and never pitched again in either the majors or the minors. While there are still several families of Stanfields living in Huron, Kevin Stanfield was at last report living in San Bernardino.

Right-hander Stuart Walker Cliburn never played for the Twins, but has been a pitching coach in their minor league system for some time. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and attended high school there. He then went to Delta State University and was drafted by Pittsburgh in the fourth round in 1977. He pitched well in the low minors, but looked as he was going to top out at AA, as he struggled in various tries at the AAA level and was released just before the 1982 season. The Angels picked him up, though, and in 1984 he had a fine year in the Edmonton bullpen, getting a September call-up. He followed that up with a good year for the Angels in 1985, going 9-3 with six saves and a 2.09 ERA in 44 appearances. For reasons that are not clear, however, he spent the next two years at AAA. Cliburn finally got another shot at the big leagues in 1988, and did not pitch too badly, although not as well as in 1985. It again got him nowhere; he was in the Angels' minor league system for two more years, pitched in the Seniors league in 1990, and then his career was over. He immediately got into coaching, and has been a minor league pitching coach ever sins his playing days ended. Often, he has been the pitching coach for teams managed by his twin brother Stan. Stu Cliburn was the pitching coach for the Rochester Red Wings in 2019.  The Twins let him go after the season, and he became the pitching coach for the Wei Chuan Dragons in Taiwan.  He came back to the United States in 2021 as the pitching coach for the Chicago Dogs in the American Association, a job he still held at last report.

Catcher Stanley Gene Cliburn never played for the Twins, but has managed in their minor league system. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and attended high school there. He was drafted by the California Angels in the fifth round in 1974. He hit over .300 in consecutive years of Class A (1976-1977), but stumbled when he was promoted higher. He hit only .238 in AAA in 1979 and was hitting .125 in 1980, but the Angels were apparently desperate for a backup catcher, because Cliburn was promoted to the majors in early May of 1980. He appeared in 54 games, garnering 56 at-bats and batting .179 with two home runs. He moved on to the Pittsburgh organization after that, spending two years in AA and three years in AAA from 1981-1985. He returned to the California organization for 1986, then was traded to the Braves system for 1987. That was his last season as a player, other than a stint in the Seniors League in 1989. He began his career as a minor league manager in 1988. Cliburn managed in the Pittsburgh and Texas organizations and in the independent Texas-Louisiana League before coming to the Twins in 2000. He managed in Class A, AA, and AAA for the Twins, often with his brother Stu as the pitching coach, through the 2010 season.  He was the manager of the independent Sioux City Explorers from 2011-2013, was the bench coach and batting coach for the Lancaster Barnstormers in 2014, was the manager of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in 2015, and was the manager of the New Britain Bees from 2016-2017.  He was the bench coach of the Chicago Dogs in the American Association in 2018 and has been back as manager of Southern Maryland since 2019.

Right-handed reliever Michael Lee Fetters appeared with the Twins briefly in 2003. Born in Van Nuys, California, he attended high school in Honolulu. Fetters then went to Pepperdine, and was drafted by the Angels in the first round in 1986. Fetters was a starting pitcher throughout his minor league career, but was never given a chance in a major league rotation, starting only six big league games. He got a September call-up in 1989, spent most of 1990 and 1991 in the big leagues, but did not really develop until he was traded to Milwaukee after the 1991 season. Fetters went 5-1 in 1992 with a 1.87 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in 50 games. He never repeated that level of success, but he was a solid contributor to the Brewers' bullpen through 1997, spending three years (1994-1996) as the Milwaukee closer. After the season, he was traded to Oakland by way of Cleveland. Fetters struggled after leaving Milwaukee, and was on the move again in August, traded back to the Angels. He went to Baltimore for 1999 and to the Dodgers for 2000. In 2000, he had his first good season since 1997, going 6-2, 3.24 with a 1.20 WHIP. He could not sustain it, though, and at the end of July, 2001 he was traded to Pittsburgh. Fetters moved on to Arizona in July of 2002, became a free agent at the end of the season, and signed with Minnesota. Fetters appeared in five games in April, throwing six scoreless innings and giving up only two hits. Then, however, he got hurt, and was out the rest of the year. He went back to the Diamondbacks for 2004, but did not pitch well, and his career was over after the season. Mike Fetters is best remembered for the sudden jerk of his head toward home plate while in the stretch. Fetters is the cousin of opera baritone Steven Totter.  After his playing days ended, Fetters was a sports agent in Beverly Hills for a few years.  He was a Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President and General Manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks, then became their quality control coach, then became their bullpen coach in 2017.  He held that job through 2024, but will not return in 2025.  We assume that not even Mike Fetters knows what he will be doing in 2025 at this writing.

Outfielder Reyenaldo Ignacio “Chito” Martinez did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 1994. He was born in Belize, British Honduras (the first major league player born in Belize) and was drafted by Kansas City in the sixth round in 1984. It took him a while to develop power, as he hit no home runs in his first two minor league seasons. In 1986, however, he hit .304 with 11 homers for AA Memphis. His average fell off after that, but his power continued, as he hit over 20 homers in AAA in both 1989 and 1990. He did not get a call to the majors, however, and after the 1990 season he became a free agent. Baltimore signed him, and after an awesome half-season in Rochester (.322 average, 20 homers, 1.046 OPS in 211 at-bats) he got the call to the majors. He hit fairly well as a part-time outfielder for the Orioles through 1992, but after starting 1993 0-for-15 he was sent to the minors, never to return. A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota for 1994 but failed to make the team. He had a good year in AAA for the Yankees that year, moved on to the Colorado organization for 1995, and then his playing career was over. Chito Martinez appears to have had a successful career in business and at last report was an account manager for Access Data Network Solutions in Memphis.

December 18

This is a reprint from last year.

Ty Cobb (1886)

Dick Coffman (1906)

Gino Cimoli (1929)

Moose Skowron (1930)

Zoilo Versalles (1939)

Steve Hovley (1944)

Drew Coble (1947)

Roy Howell (1953)

Jim Clancy (1955)

Scott Bailes (1961)

Willie Blair (1965)

Joe Randa (1969)

Jose Rodriguez (1974)

Byron Buxton (1993)

Ronald Acuna (1997)

Drew Coble was an American League umpire from 1982-1999.

Zoilo Casanova (Rodriguez) Versalles played for the Twins from their inception through 1967, and is still arguably the best shortstop the Twins have ever had. Born in Veldado, Cuba, he was signed by the Washington Senators prior to the 1958 season. He had three solid seasons in the minors, getting cups of coffee with Washington in both 1959 and 1960. Versalles came to Minnesota with the team in 1961 and became the team's regular shortstop that year at the age of 21. He remained in that position through 1967. He had some fine years with the Twins. He made the all-star team twice, in 1963 and 1965. He also won the Gold Glove in both of those years. He finished 21st in the MVP voting in 1962 and won the award in 1965. 1965 was probably his best season: Versalles hit .273 with 45 doubles, 12 triples, and 19 home runs. He led the league in runs, doubles, triples, and total bases in an era when sub-.200-hitting shortstops could be major league regulars. Only 25, it looked like Versalles might be a star for a long time, but he never came close to repeating that season. By 1967, he had slumped to a .200 batting average, and after that season he and Mudcat Grant were traded to Los Angeles for Bob Miller, Ron Perranoski, and Johnny Roseboro. The next year, 1968, was Versalles' last as a major league regular, as he hit only .196. He was taken by San Diego in the expansion draft, but was traded to Cleveland before the 1969 season started. The Indians traded him to Washington in mid-July; he finished the season there, but was released just prior to the 1970 campaign. He played in the Mexican League for a year and a half, came back to Atlanta at the end of May in 1971, but was released again after the season. He played in Japan in 1972, and played briefly in the Kansas City organization in 1973. As a Twin, Zoilo Versalles hit .250/.296/.383, which, again, is better than it may sound when considered in context. Sadly, life after baseball was difficult for Versalles. His proficiency in English was limited, and he held a series of low-paying jobs. His health failed, and he eventually had to sell his awards. Zoilo Versalles passed away in Bloomington, Minnesota on June 9, 1995. He was posthumously inducted into the Twins' Hall of Fame in 2006.

Left-hander Jose Ilich (Jose) Rodriguez pitched in four games for Minnesota in 2002. He was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico, attended Florida International, and was drafted by St. Louis in the 24th round in 1997. A reliever throughout his career, Rodriguez started slowly in the minors. He had a good year in 2000, though, making the majors for about three weeks. He had another good year for AAA Memphis in 2001. In 2002, Rodriguez started in Memphis, came up to St. Louis for two games in early May, went back to Memphis, and was released in early June. A week later the Twins signed him and sent him to AAA Edmonton. He pitched 5.2 scoreless innings there and came up to Minnesota at the end of June. Rodriguez pitched 3.2 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and four walks for an ERA of 14.73. He remained in the Twins' organization through the end of the year and was released, but then re-signed with Minnesota for 2003. He began the year in AAA Rochester, pitched poorly in 7.2 innings, and was released again in late April. Rodriguez moved on to the Montreal organization for the rest of 2003, went to the Baltimore system in 2004, was released in mid-July, hooked on with the Florida organization, and stayed there through 2005. Rodriguez was apparently out of baseball in 2006, made three appearances with independent Newark in 2007, and then signed a contract with the Indians organization for 2008. He was released again, and apparently went to Taiwan; at least there’s a 2008 Taiwan baseball card of him. As you might guess, there are lots of people named Jose Rodriguez in the world; one source indicates there are over two thousand just in the state of Florida, and b-r.com indicates there have been sixty-five of them in professional baseball.  No current information about “our” Jose Rodriguez was readily available.

Outfielder Byron Keiron Buxton has been with the Twins since 2015.  Born and raised in Baxley, Georgia, he was drafted by Minnesota with the second pick of the 2012 draft.  He climbed through the Twins system pretty quickly, playing in both the GCL and the Appalachian League in 2012, going through low-A and high-A in 2013, and reaching AA in 2014 after spending the first half of the season in high-A.  Unfortunately, he was injured in his first game of AA and missed the rest of the season.  He started 2015 in AA but came up to the majors in mid-June.  He played in eleven games before getting hurt and missing about six weeks.  He played thirteen games of AAA and then came back to the Twins in mid-August.  He didn't do a whole lot, but the trade of Aaron Hicks opened the center field job for him in 2016.  He struggled at the plate and was bounced back-and-forth between Minnesota and Rochester a couple of times.  He hit quite well when given a September call-up, though, and was the Twins regular center fielder at the start of 2017.  He got off to a horrible start at the plate but hit very well in the second half.  Those second half offensive numbers, combined with his outstanding defense, had a lot of people thinking he was going to be a superstar.  In 2018, however, he again got off to a bad start, got hurt, and then got sent back to AAA.  He didn't get healthy there until the last few weeks of the season, when he hit extremely well.  The Twins refused to give him a September call-up--they claimed it was due to health concerns, but most observers felt it was an attempt to keep him under team control for an extra year.  He began 2019 as the Twins' center fielder and was having a fine season until he got hurt on August 1, missing the rest of the season other than a few appearances as a pinch runner/defensive replacement.  He again had injury problems in 2020, playing in fewer that two-thirds of the team's games.  He was having an MVP-caliber season in 2021, but he again was injured in early May and, other than three games in June, did not come back until late August.  He got off to a good start in 2022, but started battling injuries and struggled until his season ended in August.  The Twins moved him to DH in 2023 to try to keep him healthy, but it didn't work--he again missed two months of the season and wasn't all that good when he could play.  He had a relatively healthy season in 2024, missing only a month, and had a solid season.  We've been waiting a long time for him to be a superstar, and he has been in brief stretches, but he turns thirty-one today and his career numbers are .244/.304/.476 in 2614 at-bats.  We'd still love to see him be a superstar, but at this point if he could just stay healthy and be a solid contributor, we'd take it.

December 17

Cy Falkenberg (1879)

Ted Trent (1903)

Ray Jablonski (1926)

Cal Ripken (1935)

Jerry Adair (1936)

Leo Cardenas (1938)

Bob Ojeda (1957)

Marvell Wynne (1959)

Curtis Pride (1968)

Alex Cintron (1978)

Chase Utley (1978)

Fernando Abad (1985)

Donovan Solano (1987)

Taylor Rogers (1990)

Tyler Rogers (1990)

Brent Headrick (1997)

Cal Ripken was in the Orioles organization for many years, managing in the minors from 1961-1974, coaching in the majors from 1976-1986 and 1989-1992, and managing the big club from 1987-1988.  He had a son, also named Cal, who had a fairly decent major league career.

We apologize that we did not have time to write a biography for Donovan Solano.  Sorry about that, Donovan.  Maybe next year.

Shortstop Leonardo Lazaro (Alfonso) Cardenas was with the Twins from 1969-1971. Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Cardenas began his professional career in 1956 as a 17-year-old in the independent Arizona-Mexico League. He then went into the Cincinnati Reds' organization. He was in Class A Savannah for two years, then Class AAA Havana for a year and a half before getting called up to the majors in late July of 1960. He was installed as the starting shortstop at the age of 21, but did not hit and was reduced to part-time status. He started 1961 as the starter as well, but again went to the bench after a lack of offense. Given another chance at the starting job in late July, Cardenas went on a tear and ended the season hitting .308, the only year of his career he hit over .300. He remained Cincinnati's starting shortstop through the 1968 season. He hit .261 in his years with the Reds, which is much better than it sounds given the offensive context of his time, especially for a shortstop. He made the all-star team every year from 1964 through 1968 except for 1967, when he was injured part of the season. He also won a Gold Glove in 1965 and finished 21st in MVP voting. Cardenas also led the league in intentional walks in 1965 and 1966. After the 1968 season, Cardenas was traded to Minnesota for Jim Merritt. He gave the Twins three solid seasons, finishing 12th in MVP voting in 1969 and 21st in 1971, when he again made the all-star team. As a Twin, Cardenas hit .263/.325/.394 for an OPS+ of 98, and also provided fine defense. After the 1971 campaign, the Twins traded Cardenas to the Angels for Dave LaRoche. 1972 would be his last as a big league regular, as he hit just .223. Just before the 1973 season started, the Angels traded him to Cleveland, where he was used as a reserve. Cardenas moved on to Texas for 1974 and 1975, and then his career was over. At last report, Leo Cardenas was living in Cincinnati and making regular appearances at Reds promotional events.  He is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

Left-hander Fernando Antonio Abad was with the Twins for the first four months of 2016.  He was born in La Romana in the Dominican Republic and signed with Houston as a free agent in 2002.  B-r.com does not have any stats for him until 2006, when he was in the Dominican Summer League with the Astros.  He advanced pretty slowly, not reaching AA until 2009, and only pitching in five games of AAA in 2010, but then suddenly shot up to the majors at the end of July of 2010.  He did very well there, too, posting an ERA of 2.84 and a WHIP of 1.00 in 19 innings.  He apparently was used as  LOOGY, as nine of his twenty-two appearances were for less than an inning.  He was used similarly in 2011, but a few bad outings made his ERA skyrocket (it's hard to get your ERA down very fast when you only pitch a third of an inning at a time) and he missed the second half of the season due to injury.  He came back in 2012 and pitched fairly well for four months, but fell apart at the end of the season.  He's been a pretty good reliever since then, though, going to Washington in 2013, traded to Oakland before the 2014 season, and signing with the Twins in 2016.  He did quite well for the Twins, going 1-4, 2.65, 1.21 WHIP in 39 appearances (34 innings).  The Twins traded him to Boston on August 1 of 2016 for Pat Light.  His numbers for the Red Sox the rest of the season were not very good, but he came back in 2017 to have a fine year for them.  One would've thought that he would certainly be in a major league bullpen in 2018, but that's not what happened.  He signed with Philadelphia, was released in spring training, signed with the Mets, and then was suspended for use of a banned substance.  The Mets immediately released him and he pitched for Long Island in the Atlantic League.  He signed with the Giants for 2019, came back to the majors in mid-August, and pitched pretty well for the rest of the season.  He signed with Washington for 2020, but was released shortly before the season started.  He signed with the Yankees a few days later but did not pitch for them and was again a free agent after the season.  He signed with Baltimore for 2021 and did not have a good season in AAA, but got called up in mid-August anyway.  He started out very poorly but did better in September.  A free agent again, he signed with Seattle in May of 2022 and actually had a good season in AAA, but did not get called up to the majors.  He signed with Colorado for 2023, came up for three games in May, was released, signed with Colorado again six days later, came up for three games in July, was released again, and signed with Milwaukee, finishing the season in AAA.  He played in the Mexican League in 2024-2025 and is currently playing in winter ball.  He turns forty today.  It's very doubtful that we'll see him back in the majors, but again, we're all for someone playing as long as they can find a team that will let them play.

Left-hander Taylor Allen Rogers was with the Twins from 2016-2021.  Born and raised in Littleton, Colorado, he attended the University of Kentucky and was drafted by Minnesota in the eleventh round of 2012.  A starter through his minor league career, he pitched well throughout the low minors and had a solid season in AA in 2014.  He was okay, but nothing more, in AAA in 2015 but was very good in six starts in the Arizona Fall League after that season.  He began 2016 in Rochester, made one appearance with the Twins in April, then came up to stay in mid-May, pitching out of the bullpen.  He struggled in September but did all right overall.  He had a solid 2017 for the Twins and did even better in 2018.  Three years ago, we said, "He's never been given a chance to be a closer--only two major league saves--but his numbers don't show any reason he couldn't be one."  Well, he was one in 2019 and it went pretty well--2.61 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 90 strikeouts in 69 innings, 30 saves.  It did not go so well in the short 2020 season, and the Twins made Alex Colome the closer at the start of the 2021 season, but before long Rogers was back to closing and was pitching well until an injury stopped his season in late July.  He was expected to be the Twins' closer in 2022, but just before the season started he was traded to San Diego with Brent Rooker for Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan, and a player to be named later (Brayan Medina).  As a Twin, Taylor Rogers was 17-18, 3.15, 1.15 WHIP, 50 saves.  It did not go well for him in San Diego, although it appears some of that may have simply been bad luck.  He was traded to Milwaukee on August 1, and things got worse for him.  He signed with San Francisco for 2023, uniting him with his twin brother Tyler, and while he was not the closer he came back to have two very good years for them.  He was traded to Cincinnati before the 2025 season, traded to Pittsburgh in late July, and traded to the Cubs the next day.  He pitched very well for Cincinnati but not so well for Chicago and became a free agent after the season.  He turns thirty-five today and presumably will be in someone's bullpen in 2026.

Left-hander Brent Wayne Headrick pitched for the Twins in parts of 2023-2024.  He was born in Braidwood, Illinois, attended Illinois State, and was drafted by Minnesota in the ninth round in 2019.  He was a starter in college and through most of his minor league career.  His ERA in college was 4.55, which is part of the reason he wasn't drafted until the ninth round.  He was really nothing special throughout much of his minor league career.  He did have an excellent half-season in Cedar Rapids in 2022, but he was a twenty-four-year-old playing in high A.  He struggled when promoted to Wichita that season and was mediocre in St. Paul in 2023, although he did strike out a lot of batters in both places.  He had several stints with the Twins in 2023, totaling fourteen games, all in relief.  He gave up runs in eight of those games and more than one run in six, for an ERA of 6.31 in 25.2 innings.  He was injured most of 2024, making one appearance with the Twins.  The Twins waived him after the season and he was claimed by the Yankees.  He split the season between AAA and the majors, pitching surprisingly well in both places.  He turns twenty-eight today and remains with the Yankees.  We hope he's figured something out and will go on to have a good major league career.

December 16

Sammy Strang (1876)

Tony Kaufmann (1900)

Neil Chrisley (1931)

Adolfo Phillips (1941)

Mike Flanagan (1951)

Rick Sofield (1956)

Tom Gorman (1957)

Billy Ripken (1964)

Jeff Granger (1971)

Charles Gipson (1972)

Matt Kinney (1976)

Alcides Escobar (1986)

Hector Santiago (1987)

Tyler Chatwood (1989)

The reason Neil Chrisley is listed is because his given name is Barbra O’Neil Chrisley. No explanation for this name could be found, but it seems reasonable to assume that he’s the only man to play major league baseball whose given first name was Barbra.  So far.

Jeff Granger was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1990, but did not sign.

Outfielder Richard Michael Sofield played for the Twins from 1979-1981. Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, he attended high school in Morristown, New Jersey and was drafted by the Twins with the 13th pick in the 1975 draft, turning down a football scholarship at Michigan. He struggled early, but broke through in 1977, hitting .325 with 27 homers for Class A Visalia. Sofield never had a year like that again; his next highest minor-league average was .281 in 1978 with AA Orlando, and his next highest minor-league home run total was five. Still, he began 1979 as the Twins' starting right fielder. He did not keep the job--in mid-May he was hitting .241, had only one extra base hit, and was sent to AAA. He was called back in September, though, and hit .400 (14-for-35), which was enough for him to regain the starting right fielder job for the Twins in 1980. It was not only his only full year as a big-league regular, it was his only full year in the big leagues. He hit .247 with nine homers. He started 1981 in Minnesota, but did poorly and went back to Toledo, never to return. He began 1982 with Toledo, finished in Denver in the Texas system, and then was done, out of baseball at age 25. After leaving baseball, he enrolled at the University of South Carolina intending to play football, but was declared ineligible after it was revealed that he had briefly attended the University of Minnesota in 1975. He instead became an assistant baseball coach for South Carolina, was head coach at Utah from 1988-1994, and then went into coaching at the professional level with a variety of organizations. In 2007, Rick Sofield was hired as the first baseball coach of the University of South Carolina--Beaufort, a position he held through 2011.  He managed Class A West Virginia in the Pittsburgh organization in 2012 and was a coach for the major league club from 2013-2016, but was let go after the 2016 season.  He was apparently out of baseball in 2017, became the head baseball coach at Hilton Head Preparatory School in South Carolina in 2018, but left that position after just one season.  At last report, Rick Sofield was living in Okatie, South Carolina.  He is one of two major league players whose last name begins with "Sof" (Ray Soff, Cardinals pitcher in the 1980s).

Left-hander Thomas Patrick Gorman did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 1987. He was born in Portland, Oregon, attended Gonzaga University, and was drafted by Montreal in the fourth round in 1980. Pitching mostly in relief, he was started in AA and had two fine seasons in Memphis, making his major league debut as a September call-up in 1981. He struggled in AAA in 1982 when he was converted to starting, and was traded to the Mets in mid-August. He righted himself in 1983, and after a strong start at Tidewater came up to the Mets in late June. He was excellent out of the Mets bullpen through 1984, but struggled in 1985 and was released at the end of 1986 spring training. Philadelphia signed him and he pitched very well in AAA Portland, but not so well when brought to the majors for a month. He was released again after the season and signed with San Diego for 1987, but when he continued to struggle he was traded to Minnesota in June for right-hander Dave Blakely. He did well in limited innings, going 1-4, 3.02, 1.39 WHIP in 44.2 innings. The Twins let him go after the season. He made one appearance in AAA with Oakland in 1988, then his playing career was over.  The third most famous Tom Gorman in baseball history (behind the former umpire and the 1950s relief pitcher), at last report this Tom Gorman was a high school pitching coach in Oregon, Ohio.  That last report, however, is several years old now.

Right-handed pitcher Matthew John Kinney began his major-league career with the Twins, pitching for them in 2000 and 2002. He was born in Bangor, Maine, and went to high school there. He was drafted by Boston in the sixth round in 1995. He pitched well in the low minors, but was still in Class A on July 31, 1998 when he was traded to Minnesota with Joe Thomas and John Barnes for Orlando Merced and Greg Swindell. He flopped in a promotion to AA in 1999, but did better there in 2000. Kinney also pitched fairly well when promoted to AAA in 2000, and reached the Twins briefly that year, making eight starts at the end of the season. He had a bad year at AAA Edmonton in 2001, but was still placed in the starting rotation for a couple of months in the beginning of 2002. It did not go well, and it did not go well for him in the minors that year, either, although he appears to have been injured part of the year. That off-season, Kinney was traded with Javier Valentin to Milwaukee for Gerry Oakes and Matt Yeatman. He was in the Brewers rotation all of 2003 despite not pitching very well, was sent to the bullpen in 2004, continued to not pitch well, and was placed on waivers in August. Kansas City selected him, he finished out the year there, and then became a free agent. Kinney signed with San Francisco and was in the starting rotation for AAA Fresno for the next three years, getting a September call-up in 2005 but not in 2006 or 2007. He pitched in Japan in 2008, but came back to the United States in 2009, again with Fresno. He was injured much of 2010, making only seven appearances for Fresno. Near the end of the season, he received a fifty-game suspension for testing positive for adderall, an amphetamine. Kinney stated it was a drug he had taken since 2005 to treat his ADHD, but he had not filed the proper paperwork to get permission to use it in 2010. As a Twin, Matt Kinney was 4-9 with a 4.82 ERA in 22 games, 20 of them starts.  His playing career ended with the 2010 suspension.  At last report, Matt Kinney was the baseball coach of Hermon High School in Bangor, Maine and also sold insurance through the The Kinney Agency.

Left-hander Hector Felipe Santiago pitched for the Twins in 2016-2017.  He was born in Newark, went to high school in Bloomfield, New Jersey, attended Okaloosa-Walton College in Niceville, Florida (one of nine major leaguers the school has produced), and was drafted by the White Sox in the thirtieth round in 2006.  His numbers in the minors are okay, but nothing really eye-popping.  He was a relief pitcher throughout his minor league career other than 2011, when he made 23 starts.  He made his major league debut that year, appearing in two games of relief, and came up to stay as a reliever for the White Sox in 2012.  He went back to starting in 2013 and did well enough.  After the season he went to the Angels in a three-team deal.  He was a starter for the Angels for two and a half seasons, then was traded to the Twins on August 1, 2016 with Alan Busenitz for Alex Meyer, Ricky Nolasco, and cash.  He stayed with the Twins through 2017 but did not pitch after July 2 due to a shoulder injury.  He had some good starts but struggled overall, going 7-14, 5.61, 1.43 WHIP in 26 appearances (25 starts).  He was allowed to be a free agent after the 2017 season, and while it was nothing personal no one was all that sad to see him go.  He signed with the White Sox for 2018 and was arguably somewhat better but not much, going 6-3, 4.41, 1.58 WHIP in 49 appearances (7 starts).  He signed with the Mets for 2019, pitched poorly, was released in mid-June, signed with the White Sox two days later, continued to pitch poorly, and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Detroit for 2020, but was released shortly before the season started.  We thought his career might be over, but he signed with Seattle and pitched fairly well in thirteen appearances in 2021.  He played winter ball after that season, did not play in 2022, but played in the Mexican League in 2023 and has played winter ball in Puerto Rico the last three seasons.  He turns thirty-eight today.  It's extremely unlikely we'll see him in the majors again, but we're all for someone playing as long as someone will let him play.

December 15

Nig Clarke (1882)

Eddie Robinson (1920)

Ray Herbert (1929)

Haywood Sullivan (1930)

Sammy Esposito (1931)

Stan Bahnsen (1944)

Art Howe (1946)

Mike Proly (1950)

Bud Bulling (1952)

Mo Vaughn (1967)

Rick Helling (1970)

Kevin Cameron (1979)

Ryan Pressly (1988)

Trevor Hildenberger (1990)

Ryan Eades (1991)

Two of the six Twins players with the first name "Ryan" were born on this day.  They have also had three players with the last name "Ryan", although none had the first name "Nolan".  They also, of course, had long-time general manager Terry Ryan.

Right-hander Michael James Proly did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 1977. He was born in Jamaica, New York, went to high school in Mineola, New York, attended St. John’s, and was drafted by St. Louis in the ninth round in 1972. He was mostly a relief pitcher in the minors and did pretty well other than a stumble in 1975, his first season in AAA. He did not strike out very many, however, and while he made his major league debut in 1976, appearing in 14 games, the Cardinals left him unprotected after the season. Minnesota selected him in the rule 5 draft, and while the records don’t mention a trade, something was obviously worked out, because Proly pitched for AAA Tacoma in 1977. He did not pitch well, going 9-12, 4.57, 1.55 WHIP. A free agent after the season, he signed with the White Sox and apparently figured something out. He had a strong half-season in AAA for the Sox, then came up to the majors and continued to pitch well. He was a solid pitcher for the White Sox through 1980, then was traded to Philadelphia just before the 1981 season. He pitched pretty well in relief for them, too, but was released just before the 1982 season. The Cubs signed him, and he was a solid contributor to their bullpen for two years. Despite that, the Cubs released him early in the 1984 season. He signed with Toronto, was sent to AAA, pitched poorly, and his career was suddenly over. He pitched in seven major league seasons, appeared in 267 games, had an ERA of 3.23, and never had an ERA over four, yet was released twice and given up on entirely after 21 poor innings in AAA.  At last report, Mike Proly was a financial advisor for MetLife Financial Services in Greenville, South Carolina, although he is semi-retired.

Catcher Terry Charles "Bud" Bulling was in the Twins' minor league system at the beginning of his career, playing in fifteen games for them in 1977. Born in Linwood, California, Bulling went to California State--Los Angeles and was drafted by the Twins in the 14th round in 1974. In 1976, he hit .310 at Class A. He followed that up by hitting .285 at AA Orlando in 1977 and got his first call-up to the big leagues, playing in 15 games. It would be four years before got there again. In 1978, he only hit .247 at Orlando, and at the end of spring training in 1979 Bulling was sold to Seattle. He had two good years in AAA Spokane, and then was the Mariners' reserve catcher in 1981 and 1982, getting 154 at-bats both years. He became Gaylord Perry's personal catcher and caught Perry's 300th win. He began 1983 with Seattle, but after playing five games he was sent to AAA, never to return to the majors. He finished out the season in Salt Lake City and then ended his career. As a Twin, Bulling hit .156 in 32 at-bats. Terry "Bud" Bulling passed away on March 8, 2014 in Salem, Oregon after a long battle with prostate cancer.

Right-handed pitcher Ricky Allen Helling never pitched for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for a brief time in 2004. He was born in Devils Lake, North Dakota, went to high school in Fargo, and then attended Stanford. He was drafted in the first round by Texas in 1992. He had a very good year in AA in 1993, then spent the next three years bouncing back and forth between the majors and AAA. In the first two of those years, he did not pitch particularly well in either place, but he had an excellent year in 1996 for Oklahoma City. In September of that year, Helling was traded to Florida. The following year, 1997, was Helling's first full year in the majors. He was in the bullpen most of the year with the Marlins, but in mid-August he was traded back to Texas and returned to the starting rotation. He stayed with the Rangers through 2001, putting in four solid years. He made 33 to 35 starts each year and always pitched between 215 and 220 innings. He won 20 games in 1998. He became a free agent and moved to Arizona for 2002, where he again was a solid member of the rotation. Again a free agent after the season, Helling signed with Baltimore, but he had a poor year and was released in August. Florida signed him and sent him to the bullpen, where he did a fine job in 11 appearances. The Twins signed him for 2004, but he battled injuries, made six minor-league starts, and was released in early June. He was signed by Texas, was in their minor-league system for a month, and was released again. He then went to Milwaukee, going back and forth between AAA and the majors for two more years before ending his career after the 2006 season. He was never a star, but he made 30 or more starts five years in a row, which is a pretty useful pitcher. He is in the Texas Rangers' all-time top ten in wins, starts, innings, and strikeouts. At last report, Rick Helling was a special assistant to the Major League Baseball Players Association.  He was also a youth football coach in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

Right-handed pitcher Kevin John Cameron never played for the Twins, but he was drafted by them. A native of Joliet, Ill., he attended Joliet Catholic Academy and then went to Georgia Tech. He was drafted by the Twins in the 13th round in 2001. A relief pitcher throughout his minor league career, Cameron had a very good year in the Appalachian League in 2001, but then was injured and missed all of the 2002 campaign. He came back to pitch quite well for four years in the Twins' minor league system, posting ERAs under three each year from 2004 through 2006. He was left off the Twins' forty-man roster, however, and was selected by San Diego in the 2006 Rule 5 draft. He stayed with the Padres all of 2007, posting an encouraging 2.79 ERA but walking 36 in 58 innings. He started 2008 in San Diego, but control continued to be a problem, and he was sent down to the minors in early May. He remained in the minors the rest of the year while battling injuries. A free agent after the season, Cameron moved to Oakland, again splitting the year between the majors and AAA. That seems to have been the end of his career; he was a free agent after the season, signed with San Francisco, but did not make the team and his playing career came to an end. At last report, Kevin Cameron was a vice president and lead credit portfolio consultant for commercial banking for Wells Fargo in Scottsdale, Arizona area.

Right-hander Thomas Ryan Pressly was with the Twins from 2013-2018.  He was born in Dallas, went to high school in Flower Mound, Texas, and was drafted by Boston in the eleventh round in 2007.  He was a starter until 2012 and did okay in the low minors, but less well in high A.  He began to make the conversion to reliever in 2012 and had a fourteen very good relief appearances in AA that season.  Still, he was twenty-four and did not have much record of success above low A, so the Red Sox left him unprotected and Minnesota claimed him in the Rule 5 draft.  He stuck with the Twins for all of 2013 and did fairly well.  He started 2014 in Rochester, but came back to Minnesota in late July and did fairly well again.  He started 2015 in Minnesota and again pitched fairly well, but was injured in early July and missed the rest of the season.  He came back in 2016 and again did--fairly well.  In 2017 he was quite inconsistent, mixing dominating performances with dreadful ones.  in 2018 with the Twins, he returned to his 2016 form--again fairly good, but nothing to be excited about.  In late July, the Twins traded him to Houston for Jorge Alcala and Gilberto Celestino.  He caught fire as an Astro, posting an ERA of 0.77 and a WHIP of 0.60 in 23.1 innings.  He couldn't do that for a full season, of course, but pitched very well for Houston, posting an ERA of 2.81 and a WHIP of 1.16 with 111 saves and 411 strikeouts in 342 games (333 innings).  He was traded to Cubs after the 2024 season and it did not go well at all.  He posted an ERA of 4.35, a WHIP of 1.52, and was released on the first of August.  He has not signed with anyone since then.  As a Twin, he was 17-16, 3.75, 1.30 WHIP with 282 strikeouts in 317 innings (281 appearances).  He turns thirty-seven today.  As desperate as everyone is for pitching, it would seem like someone would take him to spring training, at least, in 2026.

Right-hander Trevor Sean Hildenberger was with the Twins from 2017-2019.  He was born in San Jose, California, attended the University of California in Berkeley, and was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2014.  A reliever his entire career, he has pitched extremely well at every level.  In rookie ball in 2014 (GCL Twins and Elizabethton) he went 1-4, 10 saves, 2.48, 1.10 WHIP with 32 strikeouts in 29 innings.  In Class A in 2015 (Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers) he went 3-2, 17 saves, 1.55, 0.72 WHIP with 80 strikeouts in 64 innings.  In 2016 he made 6 appearances in Class A, then was promoted to AA:  he went 3-4, 19 saves, 0.75, 0.79 WHIP with 53 strikeouts in 48 innings.  In 2017 with Rochester he was 2-1, 6 saves, 2.05, 1.14 WHIP with 35 strikeouts in 30.2 innings.  Promoted to the Twins, he went 3-3, 1 save, 3.21, 1.05 WHIP with 44 strikeouts in 42 innings.  He looked like a future closer, but turned in a very inconsistent 2018, having stretches where he was unhittable and other stretches when he was extremely hittable.  Either way, Paul Molitor kept sending him out there--he made seventy-three appearances for the Twins, leading the club.  He started the 2019 season in the majors and pitched well in April, but fell apart in May and was sent back to Rochester in the middle of the month, where he battled injuries and did not returning to the big leagues until September.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Boston, but did not play for them in 2020.  He became a free agent again and signed with the Mets for 2021.  He made two appearances for them, was waived in mid-May, and was claimed by San Francisco, spending the rest of the season in AAA.  He remained with the Giants through April of 2023, but was able to pitch in only eleven minor league games.  He apparently was significantly involved in the drive to unionize minor league players. As a Twin, he was 9-11, 5.35, 1.39 WHIP with 9 saves.  No information about what Trevor Hildenberger is doing now was readily available.

Right-hander Ryan Nelson Eades made two appearances for the Twins in 2019.  Born and raised in Slidell, Louisiana, he attended Louisiana State and was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2013.  He didn't do much for his first couple of years but had a solid season in 2015 for Fort Myers.  He struggled at AA in 2016 but did well there in 2017 and also was solid in the Arizona Fall League following that season.  That's pretty much where the good news ends for him, though.  He struggled at AA in 2018 and had a poor season in AAA in 2019.  Despite that the Twins, probably needing a fresh arm for the bullpen, brought him up for two games in June.  He did well in those games, giving up four hits and two walks but no runs in 3.2 innings and striking out five.  As a Twin he was 0-0, 0.00, 1.64 WHIP.  The Twins waived him in mid-August and he was claimed by Baltimore.  He appeared in six more games for them.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Astros in early May of 2021.  He made six AAA appearances and was released in late August, finishing the season with independent Lancaster, for whom he pitched well.  That, however, brought his playing career to an end.  At last report, Ryan Eades had returned to Slidell and was the owner of a food truck called Deep Roots Juicery.