Left-hander Bradley Richard Thomas pitched for the Twins in 2001 and again in 2003-2004. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, he was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in 1995. The Dodgers quickly soured on him, releasing him in May of 1997 after only one year of rookie ball. Minnesota signed him three days later, and he slowly worked his way up the Twins' system. In 2001, at AA New Britain, Thomas went 10-3 with a 1.96 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. He had a couple of brief trials with the Twins that year, making five starts. Thomas spent the next two years at AAA. He pitched poorly in 2002 and was hurt part of 2003, but did better when he came back. Thomas received a September call-up in 2003, working 4.2 innings over three games. He started 2004 in Minnesota, but after three ineffective relief appearances was sold to Boston. As a Twin, he appeared in 11 games, five of them starts, and went 0-3, 9.89 in 23.2 innings. He pitched briefly in AAA for the Red Sox and then went to Japan. He tried to come back to the United States in 2007, signing with the Mariners, but after a mediocre season in AAA he was released and it appeared his chances for a big league career had ended. He then went to Korea, where he became a star closer in the Korean league, setting a record for saves. He also pitched in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for Australia. After the 2009 campaign, he signed with Detroit and surprisingly enough made the team in 2010. Even more surprisingly, he didn’t do too badly, going 6-2, 3.89 in 49 appearances, two of them starts. He was injured for most of 2011 and did not pitch well in the majors when he did pitch, although he did not do too badly in eight AAA appearances. He was a free agent after the 2011 season and went unsigned. He played in Taiwan from 2012-2014, pitching for the Brother Elephants. At last report, Brad Thomas had returned to Australia and had a number of business interests, including Brad Thomas' Big League Xperience Baseball Academy, Tickled Pink Travel, and The Core Group, which appears to be involved in mineral processing.
Catcher Dustin Eli Whiteside never played for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for a time. Born in New Albany, Mississippi, he attended Delta State University, and then was drafted by the Orioles in the sixth round in 2001. Whiteside never hit much in the minors, although he did hit 18 homers with AA Bowie in 2004. He reached AAA in 2005, and played in nine games for the Orioles that year, going 3-for-12. He went back to the Orioles' minor-league system for the next two years, becoming a free agent after the 2007 season. The Twins signed him and sent him to Rochester for 2008, but he was released at the end of April. Signed by the Giants, he came back to the majors with them at the end of May, and was their reserve catcher the rest of the season. As such, he caught a no-hitter by Jonathan Sanchez and hit his first major league home run, a grand slam. In 2010 he played his first full season in the majors at age 30. He slumped to .197 as a part-time catcher in 2011, however, and spent most of 2012 in AAA, appearing in only twelve major league games. He had an eventful off-season following 2012: he was waived by the Giants in November and claimed by the Yankees, waived by the Yankees in December and claimed by Toronto, then waived by Toronto the same day and claimed by Texas. He spent the year at AAA Round Rock but hit only .187 as a part-time catcher. A free agent again after the 2013 season, he signed with the Cubs and got back to the majors again for about two weeks in 2014. He signed with Atlanta for 2015, but chose instead to become the bullpen catcher for the San Francisco Giants. He retained that job through 2017 but does not appear to have held it after that. in 2021, however, he returned to the Giants as a roving minor league catching instructor.
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