The Minnesota Twins have no money left in their shrunken budget for the 2024 baseball season. That much has become clear, given the holes they still have, along with their refusal to fill said holes, no matter how big of a bargain the price-tag might be.
And when you’re a broke MLB front office, the only place to shop is the clearance aisle, which usually includes the ‘coulda been’, ‘if healthy’ and ‘probably should’ve retired by now’ bins of MLB free agency. Let’s be honest, this is an offseason aisle the Twins have become very familiar with over the years.
But… when you’re strolling through the clearance aisle on opening week, even these bins are extremely picked through. Enter new Twins pitcher, Jesse Chavez, a 40-year-old journeyman right-hander who signed with Minnesota on Sunday (per Twins Daily), just hours after being cut from Chicago White Sox camp.
Minnesota Twins sign veteran pitcher Jesse Chavez
Chavez is being brought in as an emergency patch for a bullpen that looked like the strength of the staff entering spring training. After injuries to two of their top relievers — Jhoan Duran (IL – Right Oblique Strain) and lefty Caleb Thielbar (IL – Left Hamstring Strain) — it looks more like a depleted floatation device that is going to struggle to keep the Twins’ discount starting rotation afloat.
Jesse Chavez has been in and out of the bullpen throughout his Major League career, which began in 2008 as a 24-year-old in the Pittsburgh bullpen. He broke out in 2009, when he posted a 4.01 ERA (104 ERA+) in 67.1 innings for the Pirates.
But he struggled from there. Between 2010 and 2012, Chavez was shipped around the continent. He was traded to Atlanta before the deadline in 2010, before moving to Kansas City, then up to Toronto and eventually landing in Oakland. In that time, his ERA ballooned to 7.29 (57 ERA+) in 95 total innings pitched. What happened while at his last stop in Toronto, however, changed the course of Chavez’ career. He started two games in the first half of the season, while with the Blue Jays.
From 2013-2017, Chavez would go on to start 68 games for four different teams, proving himself as a Kenta Maeda (Lite) who could fit whatever role his current team needed, whether that was out of the bullpen or in the starting rotation. During those five seasons, Chavez pitched a total of 565.1 innings and produced a very respectable 4.28 ERA, 4.15 FIP and 93 ERA+, completely resurrecting his MLB career.
In 2018, he moved back into a mostly full-time bullpen role, and his numbers continued to improve. Since then, he’s played for four more different teams, pumping out 328 innings at a rather incredible 3.43 ERA, 3.72 FIP and 134 ERA+.
Want more good news? His most recent stops in Atlanta during parts of the 2022 and 2023 seasons has probably been the best of his very long MLB career. He pitched 53 innings in 2022, posting a 2.72 ERA (152 ERA+) and followed that up with 34.2 innings in 2023 that included an absurd 1.56 ERA (287 ERA+) in 34.2 innings.
In other words… the Twins are hoping Jesse Chavez continues to age like a fine wine until their bullpen gets back to (hopefully) full health.
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