December 29

Hank DeBerry (1894)

Bill Knickerbocker (1911)

Ted Del Guercio (1927)

Ken Rudolph (1946)

Jim Wilson (1960)

Devon White (1962)

Craig Grebeck (1964)

James Mouton (1968)

Tomas Perez (1973)

Emil Brown (1974)

Richie Sexson (1974)

Jaret Wright (1975)

Jack Wilson (1977)

Chase De Jong (1993)

Brian Navaretto (1994)

Ted Del Guercio was part of the largest trade in baseball history. He was traded by the New York Yankees along with Don Larsen, Billy Hunter, Bob Turley, Kal Segrist, Bill Miller and Don Leppert to the Baltimore Orioles for Gene Woodling, Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Hal Smith, Gus Triandos, Willy Miranda, Mike Blyzka, Darrell Johnson, Jim Fridley and Dick Kryhoski in the off-season following the 1953 campaign. Del Guercio was the only person involved in the trade not to play in the majors.

James Mouton was drafted by Minnesota in the eighth round in 1990, but did not sign.

First baseman James George Wilson did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for much of 1987. He was born in Corvallis, Oregon, went to Oregon State (where he lettered in baseball and football), and was drafted by Cleveland in the second round in 1982. He showed power throughout his minor league career, hitting 14 homers in Class A in 1982, 26 in AA in 1983, 15 in AAA in 1984, and 26 in AAA in 1985. He had good batting averages to go with those power numbers. He was a September call-up in 1985, going 5-for-14, and doubtless big things were expected. They didn’t happen. In 1986 Wilson slumped to only 9 homers and a .232 average in AAA Maine, and was released by the Indians after the season. Minnesota signed him in mid-May and sent him to Portland, where he hit .268 with 3 homers in just 157 at-bats. He signed with Seattle for 1988 and spent the year in AA. In 1989, however, he had a big year in AAA Calgary, hitting .314 with 26 homers and getting another September call-up. He went 0-for-8, however, and would never get another shot at the majors. He was in AAA with Montreal in 1990 and with San Francisco in 1991, hitting .300 with 21 homers in Phoenix. It did him no good; he was out of baseball in 1992, played briefly with Calgary in 1993, was with independent Winnipeg in 1994, and then his playing career was over. While his minor league records are incomplete, it appears that he struck out a lot, which may be why teams were reluctant to give him a shot. Still, he hit over 20 homers in four minor league seasons and over .300 in three minor league seasons; it seems like he deserved a chance to see what he could do at the major league level. After his playing days were over, Jim Wilson coached high school and American Legion baseball in Vancouver, Washington.  He now lives in Corvallis, Oregon, and at last report was a broadcaster for Oregon State football.  He is a member of the Oregon State Sports Hall of Fame.

Right-hander Chase Louis De Jong appeared in five games for the Twins from 2018-2019.  Born and raised in Long Beach, California, he was drafted by Toronto in the second round in 2012.  He did well in the low minors but progressed quite slowly, not reaching AA until 2016.  He was then jumped from AA to the majors at the start of the 2017 season.  He was no longer with the Blue Jays by then--they traded him to the Dodgers in July of 2015, and they traded him to Seattle in March of 2017, so it was as a Mariner that he made his major league debut.  He couldn't handle it, going 0-3, 6.35 in 28.1 innings (7 games, 4 starts).  He didn't do very well in the minors that year, either.  He was doing well in AA in 2018 when the Twins acquired him at the July trade deadline along with Ryan Costello in exchange for Zach Duke and cash.  They sent him to AAA and then gave him four starts in a September call-up.  He did okay, going 1-1, 3.57, 1.36 WHIP.  He made on appearance for the Twins in early April of 2019, pitching one inning, then went to AAA, where he pitched very poorly and was released in mid-July.  He finished out the season pitching for SugarLand in the Atlantic League.  He didn't do very well there, either, but did much better in 2020 and signed with Houston in August.  He appeared in three games for them and was hit hard each time.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Pittsburgh and made ten starts for the Pirates from late May through mid-July, pitching exactly five innings in eight of them.  He was not particularly good, however, posting an ERA well over five, and is again a free agent.  As a Twin he was 1-1, 5.30, 1.61 WHIP.  He turns twenty-eight today.  There's not a whole lot to recommend him, but teams are always looking for pitching, so it's certainly possible that he'll get an invitation to spring training in 2022.

Catcher Brian Eduardo Navaretto did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system from 2013-2019.  He was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, went to high school in Jacksonville, Florida, and was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in 2013.  He established very quickly that he was not going to hit:  he batted .226 in the Gulf Coast League and followed that with a .194 average in the Appalachian League.  He did not get better as he went along:  his .683 OPS in the Gulf Coast League is the best he's done so far.  We assume he's considered an excellent defender, simply because if he wasn't he wouldn't still be around.  He reached AA in 2017 and was still there in 2019 when he was sold to the Yankees in late July.  He remained at AA the rest of the season, became a free agent, and signed with Miami for 2020.  There was no minor league season in 2020, of course, but he made his major league debut on August 23 and, amazingly, went 2-for-3.  He appeared in one more game, going 0-for-2, and then went back to the practice squad.  So, his career batting average is .400, and there aren't too many people who can say that.  He was still in the Marlins' system in 2021 and again did not hit.  He turns twenty-seven today and is a free agent.  He'll never hit, but there have been non-hitting catchers who had long careers as backups, so who knows?  Maybe he can be one of them.