Twins, Hobie Harris Agree To Minor League Deal

The Twins and right-hander Hobie Harris have agreed to a minor league deal, per MLB Transactions Daily on Instagram. The Gaeta Sports Management client will make a salary of $750K if he cracks the major league roster.

Harris, 31 in June, made his major league debut in 2023 after almost a decade grinding away in the minor leagues. He was originally drafted by the Yankees in 2015 and finally made it to the show with the Nationals last year. He tossed 19 1/3 innings over 16 appearances with a 5.12 earned run average. His 9.9% strikeout rate and 14.4% walk rate were both well worse than league averages.

In addition to that major league work, he also tossed 32 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Despite a 5.57 ERA there, his peripherals were better than in the majors, but still subpar. He struck out 15.2% of Triple-A hitters on the year while walking 12%. The Nationals outrighted him off the roster at season’s end and he elected free agency.

Harris is not too far removed from some pretty strong showings at the minor league level. With the Jays in 2021 and Brewers in 2022, he tossed a combined 96 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 2.89 ERA and 27.4% strikeout rate, though the walks were still high at 12.6%.

The Twins will bring him aboard as some non-roster depth and see if he can get back into that form he showed prior to 2023. If he’s able to get onto their roster at any point, he still has a couple of option years remaining. The club lost relievers like Emilio Pagán and Dylan Floro to free agency and is now facing a budget crunch this winter due to uncertainty in their broadcast situation. The major league minimum salary is set to be $740K next year and Harris will barely be above that if he has his contract is selected at any point.

Harris is currently second all-time in wins above replacements among Hobies, with both Baseball Reference and FanGraphs having Hobie Landrith slightly ahead.