Minnesota Twins: Should the Twins bring back Michael Pineda for 2020?
By Chris Schad
The Minnesota Twins right-hander will end the 2019 season with a 60-game suspension, but could the Twins bring him back in 2020?
If the Minnesota Twins are feeling a little burned by Michael Pineda, there aren’t many people that could blame them. The right-hander has been one of the Twins’ best pitchers in 2019 and as he was starting to get better as the season rolled along, many thought the reclamation project could come full circle by starting Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series.
But just as the Twins were penciling in Pineda’s name on their postseason lineup card, the news came down that Pineda was suspended 60 games for violating Major League Baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy. While he didn’t take a direct PED, he used a diuretic with a masking agent, which triggered the positive test.
With the Twins hanging on to a three-game lead in the American League Central, the loss of Pineda was a brutal blow for a team looking for adequate starting pitching. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, it would be a good bet that Pineda’s time in Minnesota has come to an end.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Phil Miller, Pineda doesn’t see it that way. In an article regarding the roughly $2.5 million in salary and bonuses he forfeited with the suspension, Pineda said that he would like to remain a Twins saying, “I have no control over that. We’ll let time decide that.”
While the Twins were snake-bitten, there’s still a chance that the Twins opt to bring the 30-year old back for another run in Minnesota, but what are the odds they make that decision?