Anthony

DeSclafani

The recovery timeline for the procedure is 13 months, which will take him into the start of the 2024 season. The Twins were hoping that DeSclafani would help to stabilize the backend of their rotation when they acquired him from the Mariners over the winter, but now he may not wind up throwing a single pitch in a Twins’ uniform.

Yikes. The Twins believed DeSclafani was going to be ready for Opening Day, but now that he’s been put on the 60-day IL, Minnesota will be without one of their starters for an extended period of time.

The latest update was that DeSclafani was trending to be ready for Opening Day, but Derek Falvey revealed he had a setback a couple of days ago. This would seem to ensure that Louie Varland will open up as the Twins’ fifth starter.

All indications are that DeSclafani will be ready to go at the start of the season after dealing with some right elbow soreness earlier this spring. The 33-year-old righty is no longer a relevant fantasy option, but his presence figures to bump the much more promising Louie Varland back to Triple-A St. Paul. Even if he winds up starting the year in the minors, Varland figures to be up and making an impact at some point in the near future.

There’s some lingering uncertainty whether DeSclafani will be a full-go in time for Opening Day in a couple weeks, but it’s encouraging that he’s seemingly on the verge of facing hitters again, after dealing with some elbow soreness. If he’s not ready to go, it would be Louie Varland getting the nod as Minnesota’s fifth starter to open the year.

It’s not what you want to hear, but his absence could open the door for Louie Varland to break camp as Minnesota’s fifth starter. The 33-year-old righty was acquired last month from the Mariners in the Jorge Polanco trade and doesn’t offer a ton of fantasy relevance at this point in his career.

DeSclafani is on the move for the second time in less than a month after he was dealt from the Giants to the Mariners in the Mitch Haniger deal in early January. It actually appears to be a good move for the 33-year-old hurler, as his path to a secure spot in the Opening Day rotation looks to be much clearer with the Twins than it would have been with the Mariners. DeSclafani is expected to be healthy and ready to go for the start of spring training after his 2023 season ended prematurely due to an elbow issue.

The Twins will also receive right-hander Justin Topa, minor league outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez and minor league pitcher Darren Bowen. DeSclafani had just been acquired by the Mariners in early January along with Mitch Haniger in a trade from the Giants. His path to a full-time spot in a starting rotation looks much clearer with the Twins than it would have been with the Mariners.

It’s a bit unclear exactly how DeSclafani fits into Seattle’s young starting rotation mix as he would most likely unseat Bryan Woo for the final spot in their season-opening rotation mix. The 33-year-old righty posted an inflated 4.88 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 79/20 K/BB ratio across 99 2/3 innings (19 appearances, 18 starts) this past season for the Giants. He’s unlikely to make a significant impact for fantasy managers outside of the occasional favorable streaming matchup.

Wow. This qualifies as a significant offseason trade as Ray provides the Giants with a potential front-end starting pitcher, barring any setbacks in his recovery from last year’s Tommy John surgery. The 32-year-old lefty is expected to be ready to contribute after the All-Star break. Meanwhile, Haniger was plagued by injuries last year in his Giants debut as oblique and forearm issues cost him nearly three months. If healthy, he’s capable of being an impact power-hitter again, especially given his familiarity with Seattle. The 33-year-old slugger blasted a career-best 39 homers for the Mariners back in 2021.