Twins make shocking roster move after adding pitcher off waivers

Things went from bad to worse for the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, and the team is running out of time to find solutions.

While it's easy -- and right -- to point at things like ownership pathetically refusing to invest in the roster as the reason we're in this mess, but it's not entirely helpful. There will be plenty of time to assess blame when the season is over, which it isn't yet even if it feels that way given how things have gone.

Minnesota's lead in the AL Wild Card standings has shrunk to just 1.5 games, but the Twins still control their own destiny. The Detroit Tigers can't catch Minnesota unless it lets them, which is why the team is trying to shuffle the roster to try and stay a step ahead.

Part of that involved making the rather stunning decision to option reliever Jorge Alcala to St. Paul with just 12 games left in the season.

Twins make surprise decision to option Jorge Alcala after signing Cole Irvin

After the Twins blew a 3-2 lead to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, the team announced that Alcala had been optioned to make room for the newly signed Cole Irvin. Alcala didn't pitch in the loss, but his performance over the last month has left a lot to be desired.

Still, even though he's hardly been sharp it was a surprise to just about everyone to hear that Alcala was being removed from the 28-man roster.

Alcala heads to St. Paul with a 3.46 ERA and 1.079 WHIP, as well as 52 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched. He was solid for large stretches of the season, but his sharp decline over the last month has been rough to watch.

Since August 4th, Alcala has posted a 9.45 ERA and been charged with 14 runs in 13.1 innings. Add to that the fact that he's allowed 7 home runs in 14 appearances and it starts to become clear why he might be on the bullpen bubble.

He certainly hasn't been good, but he's not the only reliever who has struggled. Alcala's decline is indicative of the overall disappointment everyone is feeling in the Twins' bullpen. It was a unit that ranked among the best in the league before Opening Day, but has the second-worst ERA in baseball. Only the Red Sox have a worse bullpen, which means the late innings of this weekend's series in Boston are going to be wild.

Irvin provides the Twins with another option for the rotation down the final stretch run of the season, but the team could have optioned a number of other arms to make room. Alcala getting optioned is both surprising but potentially a message to the rest of the bullpen that things need to change now -- or else.

More Minnesota Twins news and rumors