The Twins traded righty reliever Jorge Alcalá to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for minor-league utilityman Andy Lugo on June 11 after Alcalá began the season with an awful 8.88 ERA over 24 1/3 innings. Alcalá's fall-off was mostly unexpected, as he sported a 3.24 ERA with 58 strikeouts over 58 1/3 innings the season prior.
Cardinals DFA former Twins reliever Jorge Alcalá about three months after Red Sox did same thing
Alcalá had a short tenure with Boston, as the Red Sox designated him for assignment on Aug. 5 after he posted a 3.31 ERA with 18 strikeouts and eight walks in 16 1/3 innings for the historic franchise. Two days later, the St. Louis Cardinals claimed Alcalá off waivers.
In 15 appearances for the Cardinals, Alcalá managed a 5.02 ERA with 15 strikeouts and seven walks over 14 1/3 innings. St. Louis' front office decided it had seen enough of the former Twins righty, announcing the decision to designate him for assignment on Tuesday.
Should the Twins consider bringing back righty reliever Jorge Alcalá?
Alcalá's main issue last season was his inability to limit free passes; his 11.7% walk rate ranked in the seventh percentile. His ground-ball rate (34.5%) was also poor, ranking in the 14th percentile. And while his hard-hit rate (37.6%) ranked in the 71st percentile, his barrel rate (10.9%) ranked in the lowly 10th percentile.
While all of those stats above suggest that Minnesota shouldn't consider bringing back Alcalá, the righty reliever may have a tough time finding a major-league deal this offseason. If that is the case, the Twins may as well sign him to a minor-league contract. After all, he has been successful in a Twins uniform in the past.
But if any team is willing to offer Alcalá a major-league deal, the Twins shouldn't even consider doing the same thing. Yes, Minnesota desperately needs to rebuild its bullpen after this past summer's trade deadline fire sale, but Alcalá likely isn't the answer.
As far as rebuilding the bullpen goes, the Twins already made a step in the right direction by trading for Rays reliever Eric Orze. The Twins have more work to do, but Alcalá isn't worth adding unless they can sign him to a minor-league contract.