Right-hander Victor Bernal was drafted by the Twins in the 1975 January draft, but the pick was voided. He went on to be chosen by San Diego in the June draft of 1975 and played in fifteen games for the Padres in 1977.
Right-hander Richard Martin Yett made one start for the Twins in 1985 and appeared in four games for them in 1990. He was born in Pomona, California, went to high school in Chino, California, and was drafted by the Twins in the 26th round in 1980. A starting pitcher for his entire minor league career, Yett moved up one level every year, posting unspectacular but fairly decent numbers at each stop along the way. His best year appears to have been with AAA Toledo in 1984, when he went 12-9 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Yett made the Twins out of spring training in 1985 and started the fifth game of the season. He lasted just one-third of an inning, walking two, throwing a wild pitch, having one man reach on an error, and givine up a single before being removed. He was then sent back to Toledo, where he was unable to repeat his success of the prior year there. After the AAA season he was the player to be named later in the deal which also sent Jay Bell, Curt Wardle, and Jim Weaver to Cleveland for Bert Blyleven. Yett was a reliever for the Indians in 1986 and most of 1987, and did not pitch particularly well for them, but these were the mid-80s Indians, so rather than being sent back to the minors he was moved into the starting rotation in August of 1987. He stayed in the rotation for all of 1988 and the first couple of months of 1989, but when he continued to not pitch well, he was finally sent to the bullpen. Yett was released by the Indians after the 1989 season, and was re-signed by the Twins. He made the Twins out of spring training and pitched well in four relief appearances in 1990, but was sent back to AAA Portland, where he reverted to form. His career came to an end after that season. As a Twin, Rich Yett had no decisions, and had an ERA of 3.86 in 4.2 innings. At last report, Rich Yett was a high school pitching coach in the Phoenix, Arizona area.
Outfielder Ruben Angel (Garcia) Sierra appeared in fourteen games for the Twins in 2006, at the end of his long career. He was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, went to high school in Carolina, Puerto Rico, and was signed by the Texas Rangers as a free agent in 1982. He was always young for his league, getting promoted to AA at age 19 and AAA at age 20. He was in AAA for only two months before being promoted to the Rangers, where he was instantly installed as a regular outfielder. He remained in the Rangers’ outfield until August 31, 1992. Sierra finished sixth in the rookie of the year balloting in 1986. His best year as a Ranger was 1989, when he led the league in RBIs, slugging percentage, total bases, and triples and finished second in the MVP voting to Robin Yount. Sierra made his first all-star team that year, and also won a silver slugger award. He would make two more all-star teams as a Ranger, and finished eighth in the MVP voting in 1991. He was traded to the Athletics at the 1992 trade deadline, and remained there for about three years. His average declined when he left Texas, but he continued to hit for power and drive in runs, making the all-star team again in 1994. Sierra began to move around quite a bit after that. He was traded to the Yankees at the July trading deadline in 1995, to the Tigers at the July deadline in 1996, and to Cincinnati after the 1996 season. After a slow start in 1997, the Reds released him in May; he signed with Toronto, but was released again in June. Sierra moved on to the White Sox for 1998, but was again released a couple months into the season, and finished out the year with Norfolk in the Mets’ organization. He spent 1999 playing for Atlantic City in the independent Atlantic League, and it looked like he was probably done. He signed with Cleveland for 2000, was released in spring training, and went to the Mexican League. In May, however, his original team, the Rangers, took a chance on him. Sierra had a big year at AAA Oklahoma that year, and made it back to the big leagues with the Rangers in September. He had a strong 2001 for Texas, but was released after the season. On the move again, he went to Seattle for 2002, came back to the Rangers in 2003, and was traded to the Yankees in June of 2003. Sierra remained fairly productive through 2004, but age finally caught up to him in 2005. The Twins signed him before the 2006 season, but at age 40, he had nothing left, and he was released in July. He got a spring training invitation with the Mets in 2007, but did not make the team. Ruben Sierra played only 14 games as a Twin, all as a DH or pinch-hitter. He had only 28 at-bats, and hit .179 with no homers and four runs batted in. For his career, however, Sierra hit .268/.315/.450, with 2,152 hits and 306 home runs. He was elected to the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2009. His page at b-r.com indicates that he owns show horses, but that appears to be a different Ruben Sierra. He has recorded three CDs of salsa music. His son, Ruben Sierra, Jr., spent three years as an outfielder in the Texas Rangers’ organization.
Left-hander Andrew Albers made ten starts for the Twins in 2013 and six more appearances for them in 2016. Born and raised in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, he attended the University of Kentucky and was drafted by San Diego in the tenth round in 2008. The Padres didn't give him much of a chance. He pitched seven innings in the Arizona Summer League in 2008, going 1-0, 0.00. One assumes he was hurt in 2009, as he did not play, and he was released in March of 2010. He spent 2010 pitching in relief for Quebec in the CanAm League and did well, going 3-0, 1.40, 0.99 WHIP in 40 appearances. The Twins signed him for 2011 and sent him to Fort Myers. He quickly proved that he was too good for that league and spent the rest of the year in New Britain, where he continued to pitch well. He did not become a full-time starter until 2012, when he again pitched for New Britain and went 4-3, 3.75, 1.25 WHIP in 98.1 innings (he again missed time due to injury). He made twenty-two starts for Rochester in 2013 and again did very well, going 11-5, 2.86, 1.18 WHIP. Promoted to the Twins in August, he made ten starts. In his best four, he went 2-0, 0.57; in the other six, he went 0-5, 7.85. For the season, he was 2-5, 4.05, 1.18 WHIP in 60 innings. Given the state of the Twins rotation, one would've thought he might get more of a shot, but instead he was released in late January of 2014 and went to play in Korea. He did not do well there. He came back to North America, signing with Toronto for 2015. He was sent to AAA and did not do well there, either, but still made one more appearance in the majors, pitching 2.2 innings and giving up a run on a solo homer. He started 2016 in the Atlantic League, signed with the Twins in late April, pitched decently in Rochester, and spent much of the last two months of the season in the majors, making six appearances (two starts). He turns thirty-one today. In his two stints as a Twin, he was 2-5, 4.44, 1.35 WHIP in 77 innings. A free agent after the season, he signed with Atlanta for 2017, had an excellent year in AAA, and was sold to Seattle in mid-August. He pitched very well for them in nine major league appearances, including six starts. It didn't help him, as he was released in December. He played in Japan in 2018-2019. He had an excellent season for Orix in 2018, but did not do as well in 2019. He remained with Orix for 2020 and had a better season. At that time we said, "It seems unlikely that we will see him in the majors again." Well, it may have been unlikely, but he did it. He signed with the Twins for 2021, had a solid season in AAA, and made five appearances for the Twins. It would be a better story if he'd done well, but in fact he posted an ERA of 7.58 in 19 innings. He signed with Seattle for 2022, but did not make the team and did not play for anyone in 2022. He did participate in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but that appears to have brought his playing career to an end. He was recently hired as the pitching coach for the Saskatoon Berries in the Western Canada Baseball League.
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