The Minnesota Twins have placed outfielder Eddie Rosario on outright waivers. The news was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on Twitter.
Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario is on outright waivers, sources tell The Athletic. The move is the clearest sign yet he will be non-tendered. Twins essentially giving him chance to be claimed by team that might pay him his projected arbitration salary of $9.6M. 1/1
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 2, 2020
With this move, it officially ends his tenure with the Twins organization. Rosario was originally drafted by Minnesota in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB Draft. Furthermore, he made his debut with the team on May 6th, 2015.
Over the six seasons that he spent at the major league level, he amassed a total of 2,830 plate appearances. In that sample, the 29-year old combined for a .277/.310/.478 slash line. In addition, he accumulated 738 hits, 119 home runs, 388 RBI, 133 walks, and 539 strikeouts.
More specifically, Rosario is coming off a 2020 campaign in which he hit .257/.316/.476 over 231 plate appearances with 54 hits, seven doubles, 13 home runs, 42 RBI, 19 walks, and 34 strikeouts. He did enough at the plate to warrant a Top 20 finish in American League Most Valuable Player Award voting as well.
Future for Eddie Rosario
Besides the tweet from above, Ken Rosenthal went onto mention the following.
Twins have tried to trade Rosario, but apparently no team was eager to take him at his arb salary. His waivers expire at 1 p.m. tomorrow. If no team claims him, Twins can make case that no club wanted him at arb number, and try to negotiate a deal with him at a lower price. 2/2
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 2, 2020
As Rosenthal mentions, Minnesota did make efforts to trade Eddie Rosario. Of course, with the uncertainty regarding the financial state of many organizations, that made some clubs hesitant to make the move.
As a small-market team, the Twins have to be conscious about how much money they spend every season. Therefore, this move could simply be to bring Rosario back at a more affordable rate. In 2020, Rosario was paid a salary of $7.75 million dollars. He likely would have gotten a raise in his final year of arbitration.
Final Thoughts on Eddie Rosario
Regardless of what the future holds, Eddie Rosario should be able to find a job with a major league team. He has contributed enough over his six-year big league career to warrant that. Furthermore, Rosario is still at a reasonable enough age to make an impact. Now, only time will tell if that will be with the Minnesota Twins or another organization.
Main Image:
Embed from Getty Images
