The Minnesota Twins are making a move to clear a spot on Rocco Baldelli’s active roster as he looks for answers.
Ex-Dodgers catching prospect Diego Cartaya cleared waivers early Friday afternoon and will play with Triple-A St. Paul. Cartaya struggled to break into the Twins’ catching rotation held down by Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez.
Cartaya, who was traded by the Dodgers to Minnesota in January, is the 14th-ranked prospect in Major League Baseball, according to MLB.com.
However, the 23-year-old catcher is going back to St. Paul to play in the minors, according to The Athletic Twins writer Dan Hayes.
The move opens up a roster spot on Minnesota’s roster, but Baldelli nor general manager Jeremy Zoll offered an explanation for the change.
Regardless, Cartaya struggled in his 29 plate appearances in the majors.
The Venezuelan catcher is one of the more talented players on the MLB prospect board, along with James Wood, Jackson Holliday and others.
However, the Twins have two established catchers in Jeffers and Vazquez.
While the move is necessary to clear a path for Jose Miranda to return from his injury.
The Twins infielder suffered a bizarre accident in the minor leagues that has kept him off the field for a while.
Minnesota needs their roster to come together soon if they want to start overcoming a slow start.
Injuries have hampered the Twins yet again, albeit with new victims this year.
Instead of Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa, Miranda and Royce Lewis have been the ones unable to take the field.
As a result, Minnesota is near the bottom of the AL Central, ahead of only the Chicago White Sox. Given the makeup of the roster, Baldelli and the organization expect much more out of their team.
The Minnesota Twins’ move to send one of their prospects to the minors is a significant change.
They hope can inspire the team to start turning things around.