The Minnesota Twins claimed right-handed reliever Christian Roa off waivers from the Houston Astros and designated infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, according to The Athletic's Dan Hayes. Minnesota has optioned Roa, whom the Astros designated for assignment earlier in the week, to Triple-A St. Paul.
Roa, 27, surrendered five earned runs in 8 2/3 innings across seven outings with Houston this season before being DFA'd. He made two appearances with the Miami Marlins in 2025, hurling three scoreless innings. In 380 career minor-league innings, the righty has a 4.19 ERA with 450 strikeouts and 231 walks.
Roa is the second reliever with MLB experience the Twins have added to their system this week. On Tuesday, Minnesota signed former New York Mets reliever Luis GarcÃa, 39, and assigned him to Triple-A St. Paul.
The Twins have one of the worst bullpens in MLB this year. Minnesota's relievers rank 21st in MLB bullpen ERA (4.70), 24th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.00) and 23rd in walks per nine innings (4.80). Roa likely won't fix the Twins' bullpen issues, but he gives the team needed depth. The righty's pitch arsenal consists of a mid-to-high-80s slider (35% usage in 2026), high-80s changeup (8%) and mid-90s sinker (32%) and four-seamer (25%). Roa joins a Saints bullpen abundant with pitchers who have MLB experience, including RHP Dan Altavilla, RHP Matt Bowman, RHP John Brebbia, RHP Grant Hartwig, RHP Zak Kent and RHP Julian Merryweather. Not to mention, righty Travis Adams is currently on a rehab assignment with the Saints.
Wagaman trade ends up being a disappointment for Twins
The Twins acquired Wagaman, 28, from the Marlins in exchange for minor-league reliever Kade Bragg last Winter. When the Twins acquired Wagaman, it seemed he had a good chance to play a platoon role for the team this season. He has logged MLB innings at all four corner spots and hit southpaws at a .283/.321/.462 clip last season.
Unfortunately, Wagaman got off to an extremely slow start for the Saints this season, slashing .159/.284/.254 in 74 plate appearances. Wagaman's poor performance with St. Paul was enough for the Twins to decide he wasn't worth keeping on their 40-man roster.
Minnesota will have five days to trade Wagaman to another team or place him on outright waivers. If the Twins place him on waivers and he goes unclaimed, they'll assign him to Triple-A St. Paul.
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