November 2

Dutch Zwilling (1888)

Chief Hogsett (1903)

Travis Jackson (1903)

Johnny Vander Meer (1914)

Al Campanis (1916)

Ron Reed (1942)

Tom Paciorek (1946)

Scott Boras (1952)

Paul Hartzell (1953)

Greg Harris (1955)

Willie McGee (1958)

Sam Horn (1963)

Orlando Merced (1966)

Travis Miller (1972)

Orlando Cabrera (1974)

Sir Sidney Ponson (1976)

Wilson Betamit (1981)

Yunel Escobar (1982)

Daryl Thompson (1985)

Dutch Zwilling held the record for last major leaguer in alphabetical order until Tony Zych came along.

Al Campanis was the general manager of the Dodgers from 1969-1987.

Scott Boras has been a player agent for many years.

The Twins have had three players named "Orlando".  Two of them were born on this day.

Right-hander Paul Franklin Hartzell was in the Twins' starting rotation for one season (1979). He was born in Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania and attended Lehigh University. Hartzell was drafted by the Angels in the 10th round in 1975. He spent only one season in Class A, mostly pitching out of the bullpen, and was jumped to the majors in 1976. He was a "swing man" for the Angels for three seasons, and pitched pretty well. Hartzell posted a 3.27 ERA for the Angels, with a 1.28 WHIP and a 111 ERA+ in 132 games, 50 of them starts. On February 3, 1979, he was traded to the Twins along with Dave Engle, Brad Havens, and Ken Landreaux for Rod Carew. Maybe it was a different park, maybe it was the pressure of being traded for Carew, maybe it was a worse defense, but for whatever reason, Hartzell's career went straight downhill after that. He was 6-10 with a 5.36 ERA for Minnesota and was released the following April. He signed with Baltimore and had a good year at AAA, but flopped in six outings in the majors. The Orioles released him after the season, and he moved on to the Brewers. He was released by them after a poor 1981 at AAA. He tried to come back in 1984, and had another good year at AAA, but pitched poorly in a September call-up and his career was over. Paul Hartzell has had what appears to be an excellent business career, and is the co-founder of True Digital Dossier, a data security company.  He was General Manager of The Perfect Pitch, which has nothing to do with baseball--it's a company that helps analyze markets and train sales teams.  He's also the Senior Director of North American Sales for AliasPath.  Paul Hartzell is a member of the Lehigh University Hall of Fame.

Outfielder/first baseman Orlando Luis (Villanueva) Merced played for the Twins for four months in 1998. He had a longer career than you might remember, as he played in parts of 13 seasons in the big leagues. Born in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, he went to high school in San Juan and was signed by Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1985. He started very slowly in the minors, possibly due to injuries. He began his career as an infielder, then moved to first base and the outfield. His minor league numbers are not all that impressive, but after a stint as a pinch-hitter in 1990, Merced became the more-or-less regular first baseman for the Pirates in 1991, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year balloting to Jeff Bagwell. He remained a more-or-less regular first baseman/outfielder for Pittsburgh through 1996. He never put up eye-popping numbers, but he was a steady, solid contributor, hitting for a decent average, drawing a good number of walks, and providing occasional power. Traded to Toronto prior to the 1997 season, he continued to be a steady, solid contributor for the Blue Jays. He became a free agent after that season, and signed with the Twins in January of 1998. Merced continued to produce at about the same rate for the Twins, but his playing time was cut down. The 1998 Twins were going nowhere, so at the end of July, Merced and Greg Swindell were traded to Boston for Joe Thomas, John Barnes, and Matt Kinney. The Red Sox really didn't have a spot for Merced, and released him on September 1. The Cubs picked him up for their September playoff drive, but allowed him to become a free agent after the season. Signing with Montreal, Merced again had a solid season as a part-time player, but he again was allowed to become a free agent. Merced went to Japan for most of 2000, but signed with Houston on August 15. He did not play for the Astros that year, but spent 2001-2003 with them. He again had a couple of solid seasons as a part-time player. He had a down year in 2003, which may have had as much to do with sample size as anything, but he was now 36, and no one was willing to give him another chance. As a Twin, Orlando Merced hit .289/.345/.422, numbers which are quite close to his career numbers. After his playing career ended, Merced did some minor-league coaching.  At last report he was the owner of the Seven Tools Sports Academy in Kissimmee, Florida and had also gotten back into coaching, as he was the bench coach and batting coach for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in 2026.

Left-hander Travis Eugene Miller pitched for the Twins from 1996-2002. He was born in Dayton, went to high school in New Paris, Ohio, and attended Kent State University. The Twins drafted him in the first round in 1994. A starting pitcher in the minors, his numbers were not all that impressive, but this was the late '90s Twins--anyone who looked like he might possibly be a pitcher was given a chance. Each year, from 1996 to 1998, Travis Miller was given a chance. He made the Twins to stay in May of 1999, and was a not-awful left-handed bullpen option for the Twins for the next three seasons. He never developed into anything more than that, however, and after spending most of the 2002 at AAA Edmonton, the Twins let Travis Miller go. He moved on to the Cubs, Indians, Reds, and Brewers organizations, but never got back to the big leagues. He was out of baseball after 2003. In his big league career, Travis Miller made 203 appearances and pitched 267.1 innings. He had a 5.05 ERA, a 1.66 WHIP and an ERA+ of 97. At last report, he was the athletic director for Eaton Community Schools in Eaton, Ohio.

The brother of former big-leaguer Jolbert Cabrera, shortstop Orlando Luis Cabrera played for the Twins for two months in 2009. Born and raised in Cartagena, Colombia, he was signed by Montreal as a free agent in 1993. His minor-league record is somewhat mixed, but on the whole appears to be fairly average, although he started somewhat young. He made his debut with Montreal in 1997, and was in the majors to stay by June of 1998. He was a part-time player in 1998, but was the regular shortstop for the Expos from 1999 until the end of July of 2004. As an Expo, he hit about the way he has hit his entire career: a decent but unspectacular batting average, not a lot of walks, a little power but not significant power. On July 31, 2004, Cabrera was traded to Boston as part of a four-team trade that saw Doug Mientkiewicz also go to Boston. This is apparently when Cabrera began learning how to win, because he certainly didn't learn it with the Expos. He became a free agent after the 2004 season and signed with the Angels, where his education in winning continued. He had some good years with the Angels: he hit over .300 for the only time in his career in 2007, a year in which he finished 15th in the MVP balloting and won his second Gold Glove (his first came in 2001). He was traded to the White Sox after the 2008 season, signed with Oakland as a free agent for 2009, and was traded to Minnesota on July 31 for Tyler Ladendorf.  As a Twin, he hit .289/.313/.430 in 242 at-bats. A free agent after the season, Cabrera signed with Cincinnati, batting .263 for the Reds.  A free agent again after the 2010 campaign, he signed with Cleveland for 2011, then was traded to San Francisco just before the July deadline. Cabrera was an extremely durable player: he played in over 160 games four times, and in over 150 games three more times.  He had the worst year of his career in 2011, however, batting just .238 with an OPS of .573. He retired after that season.  He holds the record for most career doubles (459) by a player who never made an all-star game roster.  At last report, Orlando Cabrera was living in Windham, New Hampshire and was the owner of Cabrera Consulting, LLC, a sports management company.

Sir Sidney Alton Ponson made seven starts for the Twins in 2007. Born and raised in Noord, Aruba, he is one of four major league players to be born in Aruba and is the most successful of the four. Baltimore signed him as a free agent in 1993. He did not have a lot of success in the minors, but came to the majors in April of 1998 and stayed there. He finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1998, and was a durable rotation starter for the Orioles through July of 2003, consistently posting ERAs in the fours. Near the end of his contract, Ponson was traded to the Giants on July 31, 2003, and finished out the season with them. 2003 was Ponson's best year: he won 17 games, posting an ERA of 3.75. He returned to Baltimore as a free agent in 2004, but his ERA went over five, and then over six the next year. The Orioles released him on September 1, 2005, and Ponson began bouncing around. He was with St. Louis and the Yankees in 2006, the Twins in 2007, Texas and the Yankees again in 2008, and Kansas City in 2009. His stint with the Twins in 2007 consisted of seven games, all starts. He was 2-5 with a 6.93 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP. He played briefly for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League in 2010, but was placed on the retired list in mid-June.  At last report, Sidney Ponson had returned to Aruba and was operating Ola Sport Fishing, a charter fishing company.

Right-hander Daryl Marcelus Thompson did not play for the Twins, but he was in their organization for part of 2012.  Born and raised in LaPlata, Maryland, he was drafted by Montreal in the eighth round in 2003.  He had not gotten out of Class A in 2007, and was now in the Cincinnati organization, having been traded after the 2006 season.  In 2008, though, he made ten excellent starts at AA, seven fine starts in AAA, and ended the season in the majors, where he went 0-2, 6.91.  He was injured much of 2009, making only seven minor league starts, and made only fifteen minor league starts in 2010.  The Reds thought enough of him to send him to the Arizona Fall League, though, and in 2011, even though he wasn't pitching that well in the minors, they brought him back to the majors for one relief appearance.  After that season, though, the Reds released him.  He signed with Minnesota for 2012 and was sent to Rochester, where he went 1-5, 4.71 in nine starts.  The Twins released him on the first of June.  He didn't give up, though.  He had a fine year for Southern Maryland in the Atlantic League in 2013 and signed with the Mets after the season, but was released before 2014 spring training and returned to Southern Maryland.    He pitched in the Atlantic League for many years.  He had a fine season for Southern Maryland in 2019, earning Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year Honors, and had fine seasons in 2021 and 2022.   He was not as good the next two seasons, but still made twenty-six starts in 2024.  He has continued to play winter ball, but does not seem to have played in the summers since 2024.  He also was the pitching coach for the Blue Crabs from 2021-2024. His career major league record is 0-3, 8.31 in 17 innings.  He turns forty-one today.  One expects him to remain in baseball in some capacity as long as he can.

November 1

Doc Adams (1814)

Bid McPhee (1859)

Larry French (1907)

Pat Mullin (1917)

Vic Power (1927)

Jim Kennedy (1946)

Miguel Dilone (1954)

Gary Redus (1956)

Fernando Valenzuela (1960)

Eddie Williams (1964)

Bob Wells (1966)

Ryan Glynn (1974)

Cleatus Davidson (1976)

Coco Crisp (1979)

Steven Tolleson (1983)

Stephen Vogt (1984)

Anthony Bass (1987)

Alex Wimmers (1988)

Anthony Misiewicz (1994)

Brent Rooker (1994)

Daniel Lucius "Doc" Adams was instrumental in developing the rules of baseball and was the first man to play what we now know as shortstop.

November 1 takes the lead for most Twins birthdays, with ten.

First baseman Victor Pellot Power played for the Twins from 1962-1964. He appears to have been a much better player than many people remember today. Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, his given name was Victor Pellot, a name he used when playing winter ball. Power played for some independent minor league teams from 1949-1951. Playing for an independent team carried no stigma at that time; farm systems were not fully developed yet, and it was common for teams with no formal major league affiliation to play in organized minor leagues. The Yankees bought his contract rights prior to the 1952 season, and he played for their AAA team in Kansas City for two years. He was nearly the first person of color to play for the Yankees, but instead, he was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics, made the team out of spring training in 1954, and never returned to the minors. Power later said that the Yankees traded him because he dated white women. He was with the Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics through June of 1958. He hit over .300 twice and received MVP consideration three times in those years. He also provided double digit home runs in each season after 1954. He was traded to Cleveland at mid-season of 1958 in a trade that involved Roger Maris. Power continued to provide a .300 batting average and double-digit home run power. He made two more all-star teams as an Indian, recieving MVP consideration three more times and winning four Gold Gloves. Just before the 1962 season, Cleveland traded Power and Dick Stigman to Minnesota for Pedro Ramos. Power never hit .300 again, but he hit in the upper .200s as a Twin, again hitting double-digit home runs, again had a year in which he received MVP consideration, and won two more Gold Gloves. In June of 1964, the Twins sent him to the Angels as part of a three-team deal that also involved Cleveland: the Twins traded away Power and Lenny Green and received Frank Kostro and Jerry Kindall. Now 36, Power was near the end of his career. He was traded to Philadelphia in September, was bought back by the Angels for the 1965 season, and then retired. As a Twin, Power hit .278/.305/.398. A tremendous fielder, he played much farther off the base than other first basemen of his time. He told the infielders to throw the ball at the base, and he would get there in time to catch it, often on a dead run. Power has a number of odd records: one of five batters to hit both a leadoff and a walkoff homer in the same game; one of eleven players to steal home twice in the same game; most consecutive games with an assist as a first baseman (16); tied for most unassisted double plays in a game (2). After leaving baseball, he returned to Puerto Rico and spent his time coaching and working with youth. He had a dry sense of humor, which he used to deflect the racism he encountered. Once, when told by a waitress "We don't serve colored people," he replied, "That's OK, I don't eat colored people. I just want rice and beans." Vic Power passed away in Bayamon, Puerto Rico on November 29, 2005.

Infielder James Earl Kennedy did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1971. The brother of major league infielder Junior Kennedy, he was born in Tulsa and signed as a free agent with the Yankees in 1966. He did not hit as a Yankee; his highest average in four years in their system was .244. Unsurprisingly, he was left unprotected after the 1969 season; surprisingly, he was chosen by St. Louis. They apparently worked something out, because Kennedy spent most of that season in his hometown of AAA Tulsa. The home cooking must have helped, because he had his best season, batting .275. He also made his major league debut that season, getting 24 big league at-bats in about a month. He hit only .125, however, and was sent back down. After the 1970 season, Kennedy was traded to Minnesota with Sal Campisi for Charlie Wissler and Herman Hill. The Twins sent him to AAA Portland where he had the highest batting average of his career, .288. That was as good as it would get for him, however, and it was not good enough to get him back to the majors. He moved on to play in AAA for the Mets in 1972 and for the Yankees in 1973, then his career was over. No current information about Jim Kennedy was readily available.

Corner infielder Edward Laquan Williams did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1999. He was born in Shreveport, went to high school in San Diego, and was drafted by the Mets with the fourth pick of the 1983 draft. He did not do much for the Mets in the minors, however, and they traded him to Cincinnati just a year later. In 1985, as a 20-year-old in Class A Cedar Rapids, he hit .261 with twenty homers. Cleveland was impressed enough to take him in that year’s rule 5 draft, and he started 1986 in the majors. He was there until late May but played in only five games. Something was then worked out to send him to the minors, but he never did get things going that season. In 1987, however, he bounced back to hit .291 with 22 homers for AAA Buffalo, earning a September call-up. In 1988 he hit .301 for AAA Colorado Springs, although with only 12 home runs, and got another September call-up. While the records are sketchy, he appears to have struck out a lot in the minors, which may have made teams reluctant to give him more of a chance. Cleveland traded him to the White Sox for 1989. He was in Chicago for the first half of the season and did okay, hitting .274 with ten homers, but was still sent down around the all-star break. A free agent after the 1989 season, he signed with San Diego and was back in AAA for most of the season, getting only a month in the majors. He was then sold to the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and played in Japan for two years. He came back to the United States in 1992 with Atlanta, but was released in mid-May and was out of baseball the rest of the season. He signed with Milwaukee for 1993 but was released in mid-April and was again out of baseball the rest of the season. He did not give up, however, signing with San Diego for 1994, and in mid-June, after a four-year absence, Eddie Williams was back in the major leagues. He responded by hitting .331 with 11 homers in 175 at-bats as a part-time first baseman. He did not sustain that in 1995, but in his first full season in the majors he hit .260 with twelve homers as a part-time player. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Detroit but had a bad year, batting only .200 as a part-time DH. He signed with the Dodgers for 1997, spending most of the year in the minors but finishing it in Pittsburgh, where he was traded in early August. He went back to San Diego for 1998, spending about a month in the majors before getting released again in mid-September. He did not give up, however, and signed with Minnesota for 1999. He had a solid year in AAA Salt Lake, hitting .316 with 17 homers, but as bad as the Twins were that year they did not call him up. He then played for three seasons in independent leagues before his playing career ended after the 2002 season. He was never a star or even a regular, but he managed to play professional baseball for twenty years, making the majors for at least part of ten of them. He then spent a couple of years as a batting coach in Class A, but that seems to have ended after the 2004 season. At last report, Eddie Williams was living in the Los Angeles area, but traveled to conduct baseball clinics in other places, including the Phoenix area.  His son, Trey, spent two seasons in the Phillies organization in the Gulf Coast League.

Right-hander Robert Lee Wells played for the Twins from 1999-2002. He came to the Twins at the end of a career that was surprisingly lengthy considering how he pitched. Born and raised in Yakima, Washington, Wells attended Spokane Falls community college and signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1988. He began as a starting pitcher, but became primarily a reliever at Class A in 1991. He had some good years as a reliever, but advanced slowly, not seeing the last of Class A until 1993. He made his major league debut with the Phillies in May of 1994 and pitched well in six appearances, but was sent back to the minors and then placed on waivers in August. Seattle selected him, and Wells finally reached the majors to stay in 1995. He was never very good for the Mariners; his lowest ERA with them was 5.30. Still, he was with Seattle for four years until he was finally released in November of 1998. The Twins signed Wells as a free agent the following January, and he pitched four more years for them. He actually did pretty well the first couple of seasons, posting ERAs in the mid-threes and WHIPs around 1.2. In 2001 and 2002, however, he posted ERAs over 5.00. He was released after the season, and his career was over. As a Twin, Bob Wells appeared in 265 games, posting an ERA of 4.47 and an ERA+ of 109 in just over 300 innings.  At last report, Bob Wells had moved back to the Yakima area.  He was the pitching coach for the Yakima Valley Pippins of the West Coast League from 2014-2016, but then resigned to spend more time working on his apple farm.

Right-hander Ryan David Glynn did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them in 2006. Born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, he attended VMI and was drafted by Texas in the fourth round in 1995. He started slowly but hit his stride in 1998, when he went 9-6, 3.44 with a 1.30 WHIP at AA Tulsa. He reached the majors in mid-May of 1999 and was soon in the starting rotation but flopped, posting a 7.24 ERA in 13 games before being returned to the minors. He was back in the minors at the start of 2000, but after a good half-season in AAA he came back to Texas. He stayed in the rotation the rest of the year and started 2001 there but continued to struggle, going back to the minors in early June of 2001. He became a free agent after the season and started moving around: he signed with Milwaukee for 2002, was released in early June, signed with Florida a week later, became a free agent after the season, signed with Atlanta for 2003, was released in late June, and was out of baseball the rest of the season. He did not make the majors in either of those years. He signed back with Atlanta for 2004, was released again in late May, signed with Toronto a few days later, and after sixteen strong starts at Syracuse found himself back in the majors as a September call-up. He started 2005 back in the minors, however, and was sold to Oakland in mid-May. He got back to the majors for a month, making three starts but pitching in AAA most of the year. Minnesota signed him for 2006, but released him after one start for AAA Rochester. He then went to Japan, pitching two years for the Nippon Ham Fighters and one year for Yokohama. He came back to the United States in 2010, pitching for the independent Newark Bears. He apparently pitched in China in 2011, after which his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Ryan Glynn was a financial professional for Blue Chip Financial in Fort Myers, Florida.

Infielder Cleatus Lavon Davidson appeared in twelve games for the Twins in 1999. He was born in Bartow, Florida, went to high school in Lake Wales, Florida, and was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 1994. He never hit a lot in the minors, but he was fast, stealing 123 bases from 1997-1999. He got a couple of call-ups to the Twins, both in 1999. Davidson appeared in 12 games for the Twins, batting .136 (3-for-22) with 3 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Other than those two call-ups, Davidson never rose above AA with the Twins. After the 2000 season, they let him go; he was in the Padres' system in 2001 and played in the Yankees and Cardinals organizations in 2002. He then played in independent leagues, last playing for Long Beach of the Golden Baseball League in 2008.  He got into some sort of legal trouble in Florida in 2017, but we could not find out what that was about. At last report, it appeared that Cleatus Davidson was living in the Tallahassee area.

Infielder Steven Wayne Tolleson did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for five seasons. The son of major league infielder Wayne Tolleson, he was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina and was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 2005. He posted some solid minor league batting averages, had decent doubles power, and drew a good number of walks. His best season in the Twins’s system was 2008, when he hit .300 with 28 doubles and nine homers, giving him an OPS of .848. He mostly played second base, but also had a pretty fair number of games at shortstop. He reached AAA in 2009 and hit .270, but was placed on waivers on February 1 of 2010 and was selected by Oakland. He had a tremendous season in AAA Sacramento, hitting .332 with an OPS of .915. He appeared briefly with the Athletics in late April, then came up in mid-August and stayed the rest of the season. He got 49 at-bats, hitting .286 with a home run and four RBIs. In 2011, however, he was back in AAA, and was traded to San Diego in late May for a player to be named later.  He played all over the diamond, seeing time at second, short, third, and left field, and had a solid enough season, but did not get another shot at the majors.   A free agent after the 2011 season, he signed with Baltimore.  He hit for a decent average in AAA, but with little power.  He got two months in the majors as a reserve infielder, hitting .183/.227/.310 in 76 at-bats.  A free agent again after the 2012 season, he signed with the White Sox for 2013 and had a good year in AAA, but did not return to the majors.  Once again a free agent, he signed with Toronto, came up to the majors in early May, and stayed the rest of the season as a reserve.  He did okay in that role, hitting .253 while playing six positions, including pitcher.  He started the 2015 season with the Blue Jays and was doing well in a reserve role when he was hurt in late May.  He played very little the rest of the year and was in a dispute with the Blue Jays, with Tolleson saying he was still injured and the Blue Jays saying he wasn't.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Baltimore for 2016, but had only twenty AAA at-bats before being released in late May.  He signed with Kansas City a few days later but had only four at-bats in AAA with them.  That was the end of his playing career.  At last report Steven Tolleson was the founder of Wealth Intelligently Navigated, which specializes in "strategic wealth management for athletes, business owners, and retirees," in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Right-hander Alex Wimmers played for the Twins in 2016 and 2017.  He was born in Cincinnati, attended Ohio State, and was drafted by the Twins in the first round in 2010 with the twenty-first pick.  He pitched very well in four starts in Fort Myers in 2010, then started having injury problems.  He appeared in only twenty-one games from 2011-2013.  When he came back he did okay, but nothing to get too excited about.  He split 2014 between A and AA, was in AA for all of 2015 (making 18 starts and 12 relief appearances), and started 2016 in relief in Rochester.  He pitched decently enough there--3.62 ERA, 1.33 WHIP--for the Twins to call him up in late August.  He was not particularly good for the Twins, but he was not terrible, either.  He had an outstanding season in AAA in relief in 2017 and had six appearances for the Twins in June, not doing very well.  In his major league career, he is 1-3, 4.38, 1.66 WHIP in 24.2 innings (22 games).  He became a free agent after the 2017 season and signed with Miami.  He made only four AAA appearances for them, not doing very well again, and spent the rest of the season with Sugar Land of the Atlantic League.  He had a fine season in relief for them, but it was the swan song for his playing career.  At last report, Alex Wimmers was living in Lubbock, Texas and owns Playmakers Lbk.  He was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025.

Left-hander Anthony Misiewicz appeared in five games for the Twins in 2025.  He was born in Detroit, went to high school in Fair Haven, Michigan, attended Michigan State, and was drafted by Seattle in the eighteenth round in 2015.  He was mostly a reliever in college, although he did make a handful of starts.  The Mariners turned him into a starter, which did not go particularly well.  He was in AA in August of 2017 when he was traded to Tampa Bay.  The Rays traded him back to Seattle after the season for international bonus slot money.  He had a poor year in AA in 2018, but after seven good AA starts in 2019 he was promoted to AAA.  He had a poor season there, but spent all of the shortened 2020 COVID season with Seattle and did okay, though nothing special.  He was less okay in 2021, and after spending the first two months of 2022 in the majors he went back to AAA and then was traded to Kansas City in early August.  That was the start of a journey for him.  He was sold to Kansas City that off-season, sold to Arizona before the 2023 season started, was waived in mid-June and claimed by Detroit, and was waived again a couple of weeks later and claimed by the Yankees.  He made eleven appearances in the majors that season.  He stayed in the Yankees organization in 2024, but was almost entirely in AAA, getting only one game in the majors.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota for 2025.  He had a pretty good year in St. Paul and came up to the Twins for about two weeks.  That did not go very well, as he went 0-0, 9.64, 1.93 WHIP in 4.2 innings.  He signed with Cincinnati for 2026 and had a fine season pitching in AAA for them, but it did not result in a call-up.  He turns thirty-two today.  In the majors, he is 8-9, 4.86, 1.45 WHIP.  In AAA, he is 23-16, 4.30, 1.24 WHIP.  We suspect someone will sign him, at least to pitch in AAA, in 2027.

Outfielder Terry Brent Rooker played for the Twins in 2020-2021.  He was born in Germantown, Tennessee, attended Mississippi State, and was drafted by the Twins in the first round in 2017.  It was the second time the Twins had drafted him--they had taken him in the thirty-eighth round in 2016.  He batted very well throughout his minor league career, reaching AA in 2018 and AAA in 2019.  He made his major league debut in 2020, appearing in seven games for the Twins.  As with many players, he was probably set back by the lack of a minor league season that year.  He split 2021 between AAA and the Twins, having a fine minor league season but batting just .201/.291/.397 in the majors.  The Twins traded him to San Diego just before the 2022 season along with Taylor Rogers for Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan, and a player to be named later (Brayan Medina).  That trade did not work out particularly well, for the Twins, although it took a while for us to see that.  He hit very well at AAA El Paso but got only two games in the majors before being traded to Kansas City.  He again hit very well in AAA and got a few weeks in the majors, but got just twenty-five at-bats and batted .160.  The Royals waived him after the season and he was claimed by Oakland.  Given regular playing time, some at corner outfield and some at DH, he finally did in the majors what he'd done in the minors, slugging thirty homers and posting an OPS of .817.  He had an even better season in 2024, hitting 39 homers with an OPS of .927 and winning a Silver Slugger award.  He did not repeat that in 2025, but still had a fine season, making his second all-star team.  In 2026, however, he dealt with injuries, playing just forty-eight games and not hitting well when he could play.  He turns thirty-two today.  He's expected to be healthy in 2027, and as he has three years remaining on his contract he will presumably be given every chance to show he can still hit.