The Twins sent an outfielder Mark Contreras He was named outright to Triple-A St. Paul after he was not waived, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. Joey Gallo.
Contreras has spent his entire career with Minnesota organizations. Drafted in his seventh round in 2017, he spent nearly five years climbing his league ladder in the minors. The Twins chose UC Riverside’s product to his 40-man roster last May. He held the place for the rest of the season, but continued to spend much of his year in option assignments to St Paul. Contreras appeared in his 28 big league contests, batting . 121/. 148/.
The 27-year-old (turned 28 later this month) has done pretty well with the Saints. Contreras hit a .237/.317/.418 line in 423 Triple-A at-bats last year. He connected with 15 home runs and his 21 doubles while stealing his 23 bases in just 25 attempts. The left-handed hitter displayed an interesting combination of power and athleticism, but swing and miss concerns ultimately kept him off the roster. , and has a 27.9% strikeout rate throughout his minor league career.
Contreras has never been in public and has less than three years of service in the major leagues. That means he doesn’t have the ability to refuse a free agency assignment, he sticks with the organization without occupying a spot on his 40-man roster. It wouldn’t be surprising if he received an off-roster invitation to big league spring training before returning to St. Paul as an outfielder.
