Minnesota Twins, former Nationals reliever Eduardo Salazar agree to minor league contract
The Twins have signed righty Eduardo Salazar to a minor league deal, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman. The deal includes a foreign team inquiry clause for the former National.
Salazar hurled 29 innings over 30 appearances with Washington last season, posting an awful 8.83 ERA (6.45 FIP) with 23 strikeouts while surrendering 16 walks and seven home runs.
The righty's poor showing last year followed a 2024 season in which he posted a formidable 2.76 ERA with 27 strikeouts and 14 walks in 29 1/3 innings across 26 outings. Most of his innings in 2024 came with the Nationals, while two were for the Los Angeles Dodgers in one outing. He made his MLB debut the year prior, allowing 11 earned runs on 16 hits and five walks with five strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings across eight outings with the Cincinnati Reds. At the Triple-A level, Salazar sports a career 5.71 ERA in 117 innings.
Salazar throws a mid-90s four-seamer and sinker and a high-80s slider. While he has struggled to limit free passes and doesn't collect many strikeouts, he has a solid career 52.8% ground-ball rate.
Eduardo Salazar signing increases Twins' bullpen competition
The Twins also claimed righty reliever Jackson Kowar, who is out of minor league options, off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday and signed righty reliever Matt Bowman to a minor league deal last week.
Barring injuries, it's safe to say the Twins' Opening Day bullpen will include lefties Taylor Rogers and Kody Funderburk and righties Cole Sands, Justin Topa and Eric Orze. As for the other three spots, starting pitchers such as David Festa, Marco Raya, Zebby Matthews and others could be converted to bullpen roles, but it's unlikely all three of the bullpen vacancies will be filled by starters-turned-relievers. Salazar could be competing with Bowman, Kowar and others for a spot on Minnesota's Opening Day roster this spring.
However, if the Twins are really serious about competing, they'll acquire a more established right-handed reliever, stash Salazar and Bowman in the minors and attempt to pass Kowar through waivers. Those three pitchers could make a positive impact for the Twins, but immediately counting on them in the big leagues would be a mistake. Free agent righty relievers the Twins could look to sign include Michael Kopech, Paul Sewald, Tommy Kahnle and more.