The Twins announced that right-hander Justin Lawrence has been designated for assignment. The move opens a spot on Minnesota’s 26-man roster for Kendry Rojas, as the left-hander has been activated from the 15-day injured list.
Rojas posted a 1.26 ERA over his first 14 1/3 innings in the majors, though that dream start was undermined by a hefty 16.4% walk rate. A bout of triceps inflammation has kept Rojas out of action for about a month, and he’ll now return to at least a long relief role, with more starts possibly in his future once his arm is fully built up for starting duty.
Minnesota’s rotation uncertainty continued with yesterday’s news that Mick Abel would be undergoing an MRI on Monday. Abel had been set to be activated from the 15-day IL himself today, but he felt some elbow soreness after a bullpen session on Friday. Abel has already been on the IL for over two months due to inflammation in his throwing elbow, so the Twins could shift him to the 60-day IL just as a procedural move if they’re in need of a 40-man roster spot, regardless of when Abel might actually be back in action.
Lawrence was charged for five runs in two-thirds of an innings during the Twins’ 16-8 win over the Diamondbacks on Saturday, and the veteran righty now has an ugly 18.00 ERA over six innings and seven appearances in a Minnesota uniform. The Twins claimed Lawrence off waivers from the Pirates earlier this month, so Lawrence has now been designated for assignment for the second time in less than four weeks.
A 5.32 ERA over 22 innings with Pittsburgh didn’t stop Lawrence from being claimed, so it is possible another team in need of bullpen depth could overlook the right-hander’s tough recent results. If Lawrence clears waivers, he has the ability to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, since Lawrence has more than three years of MLB service time.
Because he has fewer than five years of service time, however, Lawrence would have to give up the rest of his guaranteed salary for 2026 if he elected free agency. Lawrence has a little over half of a $1.225MM salary remaining, with the Pirates on the hook for that money (minus the prorated portion of a Major League minimum salary that would be covered by a new team). As such, Lawrence might prefer to avoid the financial hit and just accept an outright assignment to Triple-A, while biding his time for another call-up to the Twins’ roster.