The Chicago Cubs announced Monday that they claimed right-handed reliever Eric Orze off waivers from the Minnesota Twins. The Twins also lost right-hander Jack Anderson via a waiver claim by the New York Mets yesterday.
The loss of Orze and Anderson to waivers brought the Twins' 40-man roster down to 37. MLB free agency officially opened at 4:00 p.m. CDT on Monday. Hopefully, the Twins put Orze and Anderson through waivers in anticipation of exciting moves before the inevitable lockout on Dec. 1.
The Twins acquired Orze, 29, from the Tampa Bay Rays for pitching prospect Jacob Kisting last offseason. Orze made the Twins' Opening Day roster out of spring training. After he posted a poor 5.66 ERA and 1.52 WHIP over 41 1/3 innings, Minnesota optioned Orze to Triple-A St. Paul on July 11. He remained with the Saints for the rest of the season.
Why did the Twins put Eric Orze on waivers?
Orze will be out of options next year, meaning the Cubs cannot send him down to Triple-A. If Chicago wants to remove Orze from its active roster, the club will have to designate him for assignment.
Orze had a strong finish to the season with the Saints, recording a 2.35 ERA and 0.70 WHIP with 20 strikeouts in 23 innings after being demoted. If Orze had options left, the Twins likely would've kept him. But since they wouldn't have been able to send him back and forth between the majors and Triple-A, it makes sense that the Twins cut him loose.
Still, it's a bit surprising the Twins moved on from Orze. In addition to his strong Triple-A finish, Orze had an 86.3-mph average exit velocity and a 29.2% hard-hit rate with Minnesota this past season. He also posted a solid 3.34 FIP, suggesting he had an unlucky season. However, the righty had poor walk (11.1%) and strikeout (19.0%) rates, which may be a reason why the Twins put him on waivers.
The Mets selected Orze in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of New Orleans. He made his MLB debut with New York in 2024, allowing four earned runs in 1 2/3 innings across two outings in his first big-league season.
After the 2024 season, the Mets traded Orze to the Rays for center fielder Jose Siri. Orze recorded a respectable 3.02 ERA in 41 2/3 innings while striking out 40 for Tampa Bay.
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