The Minnesota Twins’ key acquisition at the trade deadline will reportedly undergo season-ending surgery on his ailing shoulder.
While the Minnesota Twins have enjoyed tremendous success in the 2019 season, there are some moves that have made many scratch their heads along the way. One of those moments was at the trade deadline when several big names were floated out to fix the Twins bullpen, but Minnesota only came away with Sergio Romo and Sam Dyson.
The acquisition of Dyson, who was acquired from the San Francisco Giants for three prospects on July 31, has come under the most scrutiny as he has struggled since putting on a Twins uniform. While his ineffectiveness has remained a mystery, it appears we finally have some answers on what could be causing the drop in performance.
After being shut down earlier this month and experiencing pain in his pitching shoulder on Sept. 14 (via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Phil Miller), Dyson told KSTP-TV’s Darren Wolfson on Friday that he will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery next week to fix a joint capsule strain that has apparently been an issue for the past two years.
Knowing the cause for Dyson’s issues isn’t going to ease the sting of Twins fans who felt that Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine should have been more aggressive at the trade deadline even though Dyson’s initial acquisition looked good on paper.
In 51 innings with the Giants, Dyson looked great, posting a 2.47 ERA and issuing just seven walks and three home runs on the season. Although that looked like it would fix the Twins’ issues of free passes and balls leaving the yard, Dyson’s tenure in a Twins uniform got off to a rocky start after allowing six earned runs in his first two appearances.
Dyson would eventually land on the injured list due to a bicep injury that apparently occured in mid-July, but returned to post solid numbers with a 2.53 ERA in his last 10 appearances. Still, something seemed to be off as he allowed three home runs and walked four over those 10 2/3 innings. The Twins would shut him down and now, Dyson appears to be lost for the season.
What happens from here depends on how the Twins feel about Dyson’s health. With a bullpen that has had several new faces step up in the second half of the season, Dyson may no longer be needed. As the second year of his two year contract is not guaranteed for 2020 (via Wolfson), the Twins may choose to non-tender him, leaving this trade to be a colossal bust.
However, if Dyson’s recovery does go well, the Twins could choose to keep him around to add experience to a bullpen that appears to be trending up. Either way, it’s a disappointing ending to something the Twins thought could be key to their postseason push.