The Twins announced this morning that they have selected the contract of left-hander Genesis Cabrera. Right-hander Travis Adams was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Cabrera on the active roster, while Cabrera will take the 40-man roster spot of outfielder Alan Roden. Roden was placed on the injured list due to a thumb sprain yesterday, and now has been transferred to the 60-day injured list in a move that effectively ends his 2025 season.
Cabrera, 28, signed with the Rays out of the Dominican Republic and made his pro debut back in 2014. His MLB debut came as a member of the Cardinals in 2019. After a middling start to his career as a swingman, he moved into a pure relief role and turned in solid results over the next few seasons with a 3.81 ERA and 4.53 FIP in 255 1/3 innings of work from 2020 to 2024 with St. Louis and Toronto. After pitching to a 3.59 ERA and 5.13 FIP in 69 appearances for Toronto last year following his inclusion in the trade that sent Jordan Hicks to the Jays at the 2023 trade deadline, he reached free agency for the first time in his career.
Upon arriving in free agency, Cabrera signed in Queens on a minor league deal. He’s bounced between a handful of MLB clubs this year, pitching for the Mets, Cubs, and Pirates at various points this season. He’s not pitched especially well in those outings, with a 5.79 ERA and 5.65 FIP across 28 innings of work. Even so, the Twins scooped him up on a minor league deal and are now bringing him onto the roster after one outing with Triple-A St. Paul. In Minnesota, Cabrera will help to fill out a bullpen that lost Jhoan Duran, Louis Varland, Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart, and Danny Coulombe at this year’s trade deadline. That exodus of quality pitching talent has left the Twins’ relief corps in desperate need of reliable innings, and that’s something Cabrera can provide even if his results have generally been below average in recent years. His arrival also provides some support to Kody Funderbunk, who had previously been the only lefty in the Twins bullpen following Coulombe’s departure.
As for Roden, the outfielder’s season is over after he was transferred to the 60-day IL today. The Twins are all but eliminated from postseason contention, and he won’t be eligible to be activated from the injured list until the regular season has concluded. Acquired from the Blue Jays in the deal that sent Varland to Toronto, Roden is a 25-year-old rookie who has hit just .191/.261/.294 in 54 games while playing primarily left field. It’s surely frustrating for Twins fans to see the under-performing corner bat they gave up a prized young reliever like Varland to acquire miss the final six weeks of his debut season, but after just 12 games in Minnesota there’s still plenty of time for the young outfielder to make a name for himself as a Twin beyond being part of the return for Varland. In the meantime, the Twins have Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, James Outman, and Kody Clemens to handle the outfielder corners.