Five months later, we have Derek Bender’s side of the story.
In an article from The Athletic, Sam Blum (with an assist from Twins beat writer Dan Hayes) relays that Bender denies ever tipping pitches to opposing hitters, an allegation which resulted in him being released from the Twins.
The Twins drafted Bender in the sixth round in June and released him in September after he was accused of tipping pitches to opposing hitters while catching.
Here is a link to the original report from ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan. There have been no additional follow-ups on this story until now.
Today’s article from The Athletic is a great piece of reporting from a writer who took the time to visit Bender at his home. So while there’s room for us to react to the situation here at Twins Daily, it wouldn’t be appropriate to relay every detail of Blum’s report. Here are two major takeaways:
1. Bender denies ever giving any pitches away.
2. We still don’t have the full story from the other side. Since there is still an ongoing MLB investigation, nobody with the Twins was available to comment on the record.
Among the people The Athletic tried to contact were Fort Myers manager Brian Meyer, numerous players and coaches from both teams involved in the game (including Mighty Mussels pitcher Ross Dunn, whose pitches were allegedly being tipped) and the home plate umpire. None of them were available to comment on the situation.
While Blum was unable to get anyone with the Twins to go on the record, he cites an unnamed team source who told him Twins GM Jeremy Zoll conducted an internal investigation (apart from the ongoing MLB investigation) that resulted in the team no longer being able to trust Bender.
As Blum puts it, “In their mind, this was no longer just a question of immaturity. This was a player they could no longer employ.”
Bender was known as a bit of a maverick during his college days at Coastal Carolina. That mostly manifested in a light-hearted, pro-fun approach.
He appeared to be well-liked by coaches and teammates, including Twins prospect Peyton Eeles, who played alongside Bender at Coastal Carolina for one season.
Bender’s independent spirit seems to also lead him to go against the grain in other ways. This interview with The Athletic is a good example.
Blum reports that Bender’s agency, Octagon, advised him not to speak on this subject until the MLB investigation is resolved. He obviously did not abide by those wishes, and has now been dropped by Octagon as a client.
Taking Bender’s viewpoint, if he really didn’t tip any pitches, you can see why he would want to voice his side of the story.
On the other hand, and maybe this is a stretch, but him going against the wishes of his agency may be viewed as another piece of evidence that he cannot be trusted.
Bender’s messaging also feels a bit contradictory. Blum reports that Bender doesn’t fault anyone in the Twins organization and that he thinks “they handled it well.”
For me, that’s confusing. If he didn’t actually tip any pitches, how in the world is being released due to that allegation considered handling it well?
Bender also expressed to Blum his feelings that the Twins would never have taken this action had the allegations been toward a first-round pick.
I have to agree with him there, to be completely honest, but it sounds more like sour grapes coming directly from him and makes me wonder why that’s part of Bender’s messaging at all. If he didn’t tip pitches in the first place, what does that matter what round he was drafted?
Perhaps I’m over-analyzing things. While this article provides more insight into the situation, it appears we won’t have the full details until the MLB investigation has been completed.
What’s now concrete is Bender denies ever tipping pitches. Maybe once MLB’s investigation is complete we’ll hear the full story from the other side.
There will certainly be more details to come from this story, but the good news (at least in my opinion) is that this situation will not result in the end of Bender’s baseball career.
As things stand, I understand why the Twins released Bender, but I was also hoping he’d get a second chance somewhere. He’s a 22-year-old who (allegedly) made a stupid mistake. There are men who have done much worse who are still allowed to be in Major League Baseball.
Bender has a lot to prove, but the Brockton Rox of the independent Frontier League are going to give him the opportunity to turn things around this season.
If he’s a model teammate and plays well, perhaps Bender will get another opportunity in affiliated ball.
Not only did his former teammate Payton Eeles accomplish that feat of climbing from indy ball into signing a minor league deal with an MLB club, but fellow Coastal Carolina alum and current Twins prospect Nick Lucky did, as well.
