Caleb Thielbar, RP
It's been a truly brutal season for Caleb Thielbar, one that seems as though it will be his last in Minnesota.
Overall it's been tough sledding for the Twins' bullpen, so the struggles aren't exclusive to Thielbar. If anything, his decline was rather unexpected, as Minnesota was looking forward to getting him back from the IL after he began the season there, but things just didn't pan out once he returned.
Thielbar enters the home stretch of the season with a 5.63 ERA and is virtually unplayable in high-leverage situations. He has a -0.7 WAR, a 1.525 WHIP, and isn't someone the team can reliably go to, which essentially defeats the purpose of having him around. Things settled down a bit after a gnarly stretch over the summer, as four of his last five starts saw him allow zero runs and just five total hits.
It's appearances like the one against Atlanta where he was tagged for two big runs in just 1/3 inning that stick out the most, though. Thielbar contributed to or flat-out surrendered key leads at numerous points this season to the point where fans wondered if he'd get DFA'd. That didn't happen, but those blown games are coming back to haunt the Twins as they try to stay alive in an excruciatingly tight race in the AL Central.
Thielbar is a free agent at the end of the season, which means the Twins can let him walk.
Manuel Margot, OF
The Twins didn't make a ton of moves during the offseason, but one of the more notable ones was trading for Manuel Margot. He was brought in as Byron Buxton insurance but ended up being more of a frustration to fans than anything else.
Margot hits lefties well, which is exactly why the Twins traded for him to backup Buxton rather than bringing back Michael A. Taylor. Just like his predecessor, Margot is likely going to be with another team when Opening Day rolls around next year.
To his credit, Margot is hitting .393 against left-handed starters and .293 against all left-handed pitching this season. The flipside is that he's a .211 hitter against righties this season, an average that drops to .191 when facing starters. He's also been a defensive liability on more than one occasion, which doesn't help his cause.
Add to that the fact that he's now on the IL and it begins to be clear that his days in Minnesota are numbered.
Once again, money might be the deciding factor. Margot was due $10 million this season, but the Twins' front office worked its magic to get the Dodgers to pay it down to much more palatable $4 million. He has a $12 million mutual option due this winter that Minnesota absolutely will not be picking up and adding to the books.
Carlos Santana, 1B
It wasn't until February that the Twins actually made a meaningful splash in free agency. After trading Jorge Polanco, Minnesota used some newfound cash to sign Carlos Santana to a $5.25 million deal, one that took a bit for him to start living up to.
For as much frustration as fans felt with Santana at the beginning of the season, where he started pretty slow, he leveled out and has since turned in more good moments than bad. Santana's .238/.328/.425 slash pretty much lines up with the positive trend he built with Milwaukee last season and isn't far off from the .240 he hit with both the Brewers and Pirates combined.
The problem is he's an aging veteran on a one-year deal, which means the liklihood that he's back is pretty low. Minnesota passed on bringing back Michael A. Taylor and Donovan Solano this past winter, both affordable players who had positive impacts on the roster.
Santana seems to have some gas left in the tank, which could tempt a team to give him a nice contract in free agency. Minnesota has a need at first base, but it might not fill it by giving Santana more than what he got this year, which seems like he could be in line to make this winter.
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