Minnesota Twins: Re-Grading the 2021 Offseason Moves

Re-Grading the Minnesota Twins Minor League Deals

Original Grade: B

While it’s hard to judge a large group of talent, I gave out a B at the start of the year because I felt like that was a fair grade given the wide group of talent the Twins brought in. With most of the season in the rearview mirror, we can give a more accurate grade.

There were always going to be a few busts. Keon Broxton was cut in August and is in the Brewers system. Glenn Sparkmann was released in May and now plays in Japan. Chandler Sheperd has a 5.76 ERA in Triple-AAA. Robinson Leyer’s ERA is even higher.

A few players reached the bigs but fizzled. Tzu-Wei Lin played a combined 8 games between the Minnesota Twins and St. Paul Saints before missing the rest of the season on the IL. J.T. Riddle was productive in his 4 games at the major league level, but didn’t offer much over 90 games at Triple-AAA. Derek Law and Andrew Albers made appearances, but weren’t key contributors.

Two of the signings have made big impacts in Minnesota though. Rob Refsnyder played pretty well before injuries derailed what could have been a career year. Luke Farrell has pitched in 17 games with a 3.32 ERA (3.44 FIP) and a 22-8 K-BB ratio, buoyed by a strong spin rate.

Don’t be surprised if Farrell finds his way into the 2022 bullpen and the production out of those two alone drags this grade up to passing. Most minor-league deals don’t end up helping (and that was the case here, but Refsnyder and Farrell did solidly for a beat-up roster.

Grade: B-