The Twins have signed left-hander Locke St. John to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’ll presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.
St. John, 30, has eight major league games on his track record thus far, with seven of those coming with the 2019 Rangers. He posted a 5.40 for Texas that year in a small sample size, getting outrighted off the roster in September. In 2021, he signed a minor league deal with the Tigers and had a strong season, though never got called up to the big leagues. He tossed 59 1/3 innings for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens with a 2.58 ERA, striking out 29.2% of opponents and walking 9.7%.
2022 was a less of a success for St. John, however. He began the year on a minor league deal with the Cubs, eventually getting selected to the big league roster. He made one appearance for the Cubs but allowed three earned runs in two innings of work. He was claimed off waivers by the Mets but they kept him in the minors and later outrighted him. Between the two organizations, he threw 49 Triple-A innings with a 5.88 ERA, striking out just 18.7% of hitters while giving free passes at a 12.6% clip.
Despite that down season, the Twins will give him a shot to see if he can get back to the solid form he showed in 2021. The Twins have a couple of lefties likely to be in their bullpen in Caleb Thielbar and Jovani Moran but the only other southpaw on the 40-man is starter Brent Headrick. St. John will give the club another non-roster option in that department, alongside Danny Coulombe and various other depth arms. If St. John can earn his way onto the roster, he still has a couple of option seasons and less than a year of MLB service time.
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