Twins decision on Josh Staumont is a reminder of how big a failure the offseason was

It has already been generally agreed upon that the Minnesota Twins offseason was a complete and total failure.

No matter how anyone tries to spin it, the Twins opted to pinch pennies rather than add to the roster and continue building a World Series contender. Instead of investing in the team, Twins ownership decided to hope for the best under the guise of trusting the players already in-house.

That strategy led to the team holding off on spending in free agency and has already backfired in ways that just serve as a reminder of how frustrating the winter was.

Back in late December the Twins signed Josh Staumont to potentially be a hard throwing option to fortify the bullpen. He carried the classic injury caveat that seemingly attached to any pocket the Twins touch, and it didn’t take long for him to run into some bad luck.

Staumont was coming off a neck injury with the Kansas City Royals, but ended up starting the season on the IL after hurting his calf in Spring Training. He was activated on Friday but won’t be joining the MLB roster despite there being room with all the recent injuries that have plagued the team.

Josh Staumont getting sent to Triple-A is another reminder of the Twins bad offseason

Back in late December the Twins signed Josh Staumont to potentially be a hard throwing option to fortify the bullpen. He carried the classic injury caveat that seemingly attached to any pocket the Twins touch, and it didn’t take long for him to run into some bad luck.

Staumont was coming off a neck injury with the Kansas City Royals, but ended up starting the season on the IL after hurting his calf in Spring Training. He was activated on Friday but won’t be joining the MLB roster despite there being room with all the recent injuries that have plagued the team.

This is less about Staumont and more about the Twins and their complete bungling of the offseason. Minnesota could fit him onto three 26-man roster if they wanted to, and there’s been some bumpy appearances recently from the bullpen. Caleb Thielbar had a tough first outing back and Steven Okert recently coughed up a lead against Baltimore that spoiled a solid start by Pablo Lopez.

There’s no reason to hit the panic button on the bullpen, which had been as solid as it gets up to last weekend, but there could the an argument to make about freshening up what arms are out there.

After all, is that not what Staumont was brought in to do? 

Instead, he’s going to join St. Paul and is yet another example of the Twins ultimately paying for trying to be cheap this winter. They recently traded cash for Michael Tonkin, only to waive him and watch as he re-joined the New York Mets. The cash the Twins sent to Queens essentially ended up as nothing more than a donation.

To be fair, the Twins have shown the willingness to give pitchers as much leash as possible before making a move, which might be a why they’re holding off upsetting the balance to make room for Staumont. Okert is also out of options so that’s another reason to not make a roster move.

Still, the optics of the Twins’ first free agent signing being an addition to Triple-A’s roster rather than being an improvement to the one trying to win a World Series is another reminder of how unserious the team seems to be about doing all that it takes to win.

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