The Twins quietly parted ways with 18-year-old right-hander Eliezer Lucena last week, trimming a lower-level arm from the organization after a brief run in the system.
Lucena signed a minor league contract with Minnesota on Jan. 15, 2025, then got into 11 games in the Dominican Summer League that summer before an injury wiped out his entire 2026 season. The release itself is the kind of offseason transaction that usually barely registers, but this one stands out a bit because Lucena’s numbers in the DSL were actually pretty solid on the surface.
He finished his time with the DSL Twins with a 3.35 ERA across 37 2/3 innings, which is the sort of line that can make a player look like a potential keep. But the rest of the stat sheet tells a different story.
Lucena struck out 31, issued 19 walks, hit five batters and gave up 38 hits. His .264 opponent batting average and 1.51 WHIP suggest Minnesota had plenty of reason to be cautious, even with that respectable ERA.
The injury piece also played into the story. Minnesota placed Lucena on the 60-day injured list on June 26 during the 2026 season and never activated him before cutting him loose last week.
There’s still a chance another team takes a shot. Lucena is young enough that a club could see something worth betting on, especially with the flashes he showed in the DSL. But for the Twins, this looks like a standard offseason clean-up move more than a major statement about his future.
Lucena is the eighth minor leaguer Minnesota has released since Sept. 10, joining right-handers Jesse Bergin, Jake Cover, Matt DesMarets, Halton Hardy and Nick McAuliffe, plus outfielders Caleb Roberts and Misael Rodriguez. And if that list doesn’t ring many bells, that’s the point - surviving in the lower levels is a grind, and most names disappear before they ever reach the radar.
More cuts could follow for the Twins before the offseason winds down. That’s just how this business works.
In Other News...
Rocco Baldellis Next Move Just Got More Interesting
Rocco Baldellis name had been circulating in the Seattle Mariners managerial search, a reminder that his standing in the game remains intact even after the Twins moved in a different direction. Minnesota handed the job to Derek Shelton in 2026, and the change produced a losing season, which only added another layer to the franchises recent managerial shift.
Now with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a special assistant, Baldelli has removed himself from the Mariners opening for family reasons, putting the brakes on what looked like a plausible next step. Even so, he is still interested in managing again down the road, so this may be less an ending than a pause in a return that clearly still interests him. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Jeffers Projection Could Change Twins Offseason Plans Fast
Ryan Jeffers is already the kind of player who can complicate an offseason in a hurry, and a recent market projection only adds another layer to it. Jim Bowden, the former general manager turned insider, floated a modest two-year deal for the Twins catcher in the 2026-27 free agent class, with Minnesota mentioned as one of the clubs that could make sense if he gets there. For a team that always has to balance budget realities with roster stability, the catching spot is one worth watching closely.
The real question is whether that kind of projection will age well. Jeffers has done enough recently to make it hard to imagine his market staying that restrained, especially if several teams decide they need catching help at the same time. If his value keeps climbing, the Twins may find themselves facing a decision that reaches beyond simply keeping a familiar bat and glove around. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Davis Just Put Kirby Puckett Back In Twins Fans Heads
Some postseason calls are bigger than the moment itself, and Joe Davis tapped into that old broadcast magic again in Game 4 of the 2023 World Series. After a walk-off single ended it, the moment instantly sent listeners back to the lineage of Jack Buck and Joe Buck, the kind of call that baseball fans remember long after the final out. For Twins fans, it was the sort of scene that can drag Kirby Puckett and those October memories right back to the front of the mind.
The Rays now head into Game 5 at Tropicana Field with the series still alive, and Tampa Bay has not yet announced its starting pitcher. Even with the spotlight shifting toward the next matchup, the broadcast call from Game 4 lingers because it connected a current postseason finish to one of the sports most recognizable traditions, the kind of throwback that reminds fans why October baseball sounds different when the pressure is highest. [Read more 🡒]