Jake Cave

The Minnesota Twins opted to non-tender a trio of arbitration-eligible relievers — Danny Coulombe, Juan Minaya and Trevor Megill, whom they claimed off waivers earlier in the day — ahead of Major League Baseball’s Tuesday night deadline. The Twins came to terms with relievers Tyler Duffey ($3.8 million), who posted...

Trevor Megill, a hard-throwing righthanded reliever who debuted in 2021 for the Cubs, has been claimed off waivers by the Twins. Megill's fastball averaged 96.3 miles per hour during his rookie season, explaining his 30 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings during his rookie season. The 27-year-old Californian appeared in 28 games in four separate stints for the Cubs, posting an 8.37 ERA that was inflated by a disastrous six-run, zero-out appearance against the Brewers. He's quite a presence on the mound, standing 6-foot-8 and weighing 250 pounds.

Cave was outrighted to Triple-A St. Paul on Tuesday, source reports. Cave recorded a 106 wRC+ across the first three years of his MLB career but stumbled to a 49 wRC+ last season, the product of a .189/.249/.293 slash line. He could return to his former level as a passable part-time outfielder next season, but he has a modest ceiling to pair with a low floor.

The Twins front office hasn’t made many popular moves with the fanbase lately, and the news that has broke in the rest of the league doesn’t reflect well on the team either. Since the Berrios/Buxton news that broke last week, the Twins also made decisions to let go of fan favorite Willians Astudillo, and in a particularly galling move, tendered a contract to Jake Cave, who signed for $800k.

Cave agreed to a one-year, $800,000 deal with the Twins on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Darren Wolfson of Channel 5 Saint Paul reports. This was his first year as an arbitration-eligible player, and this is one of the lower dollar figures a player will accept in the arbitration process. Cave, who turns 29 in a couple weeks, hit .202/.263/.332 with seven home runs in 118 games over the last two seasons.

Cave went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's 9-6 extra-inning win over Boston. The 28-year-old saved his best at-bat for last, launching a towering blast to right-center field to extend Minnesota's lead in the 10th inning. Cave has seen his playing time diminish, and for good reason -- he's gone just 8-for-38 (.211) in August, although two of those hits have left the yard. For the year, the outfielder is slashing just .188/.260/.316 with three homers, eight RBI, 13 runs scored and a stolen base across 147 plate appearances.

BOSTON — This being Fenway Park, the comparisons tend to be straight out of Cooperstown. Didn't Jim Rice once crush a home run that landed a block and a half up Landsdowne Street? Isn't there a grainy black-and-white somewhere of Mickey Mantle missing the light tower and leaving the building, his blast still rising?

NEW YORK — Jake Cave finally had his Yankee Stadium moment. It probably didn't live up to his dreams. Cave, drafted out of high school by the Yankees a decade ago, spent seven summers in New York's minor league system, believing he would someday inherit the position of Mickey Mantle and Bernie Williams in the Bronx. But the Yankees, with a surplus of outfielders and a shortage of roster spots, traded Cave to the Twins during spring training of 2018 for minor league pitcher Luis Gil, and he settled in as a backup to Byron Buxton in Minnesota.

Cave will start in center field and bat ninth Tuesday against the Red Sox. Although Cave is back in the lineup for the series opener in Boston, the Twins may have pulled the plug on using him as their primary center fielder. Cave made his previous two starts in right field and left field, with Nick Gordon or Rob Refsnyder getting the nod in center the prior five contests. If Byron Buxton (finger) returns from the injured list later this week, Cave's path to reps in the outfield will become further blocked.

Cave went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in Thursday's 7-5 loss to the Yankees. Cave slammed a solo homer off Jameson Taillon in the sixth inning. It was just his second long ball of the season with his other one coming on April 23. Since coming off the 60-day injured list on July 25, he is batting .222 without any multi-hit games. The 28-year-old is slashing just .183/.263/.300 with five RBI and 12 runs scored in 134 plate appearances.

Cave is not in the starting lineup Tuesday against Cleveland. It appeared that Cave was in the process of taking over as the Twins' primary center fielder, but he will now sit in favor of Rob Refsnyder for the third time in five games. Cave is just 2-for-15 across his last six games, and it seems like he's out of an everyday role for the time being.