Twins No. 1 starter Kenta Maeda's season is over; he will have arm surgery Wednesday

The Twins were able to clear up one bit of news surrounding Kenta Maeda's forearm tightness on Friday: The team's No. 1 starter will have a surgical procedure in Dallas on Wednesday, and his season is over.

The rest — what kind of procedure it will be and how long Maeda will be out — is still unknown.

Manager Rocco Baldelli said Texas Rangers orthopedic surgeon Keith Meister will begin the procedure on Maeda and then have a number of options to repair Maeda's arm. The doctor won't know which course to take until he is able to perform the surgery, Baldelli said.

"We don't know what direction exactly it's going to go in and what the determination will be until Dr. Meister takes a look himself with his own eyes," Baldelli said. "That happens in a lot of different procedures, but that's the way that we're going to approach this one so based on what he finds and based on what exactly he deems in need of fixing up, we will find out after the procedure exactly what was done."

Maeda left Saturday's game against the Yankees because of inflammation in his flexor muscle. Baldelli did acknowledge that Tommy John surgery to repair Maeda's troublesome ulnar collateral ligament is a possibility.

"It's very much a real option, but it's not the only option," Baldelli said.

"Because there are several different options, it's impossible to really set anything, We'll know so much more next Wednesday afternoon. Anything that I say now would be not just speculative; I wouldn't even be basing it on enough good information to make a statement."

The 33-year-old Japanese star has a team-friendly contract, signed with the Dodgers in 2016, with a $3 million base salary. He has pitched through arm difficulties since arriving in the major leagues, but he has been able to reach sizable bonuses — up to $10 million — by hitting a certain number of innings pitched and starts. He was runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award to Cleveland's Shane Bieber a season ago with a 6-1 record and 2.70 ERA.

He's already made $2.65 million in bonuses this season by going 6-5 with a 4.66 ERA in 21 starts (106⅓ innings). With four more starts, he would have added another $1.5 million, and he was 34 innings shy of another $1 million.

"The determination to have the surgery ... it's been made and plans are being finalized to carry it out based on Kenta's decision," Baldelli said. "From everything that I know of the situation, it's absolutely the right move and I'm in full agreement and believe that this is going to put him on track to get back to full health."

Catcher Mitch Garver went on the injured list because of a lower back strain. Garver hasn't played since Tuesday in Boston.

"He showed some improvement, but that improvement kind of slowed down and he was going to need some more time before we could get him in a game under any circumstances," Baldelli said.

With Garver going on the IL and Byron Buxton returning to the lineup, the Twins made a number of roster moves.

The Twins reinstated Jorge Alcala from the injured list and called up another reliever, Ian Gibaut, from St. Paul. Kyle Barraclough and Edgar García, both relievers, were sent down to the Saints.

Alcala missed 15 games because of triceps tendinitis. In 45 games for the Twins this season, he is 3-5 with a 5.11 ERA. Gibaut, 27, will make his Twins debut. He was a waiver claim from Texas at the end of last season, and in 27 games for the Saints he was 1-3 with a 7.2 ERA. He is a veteran of 24 major league games with the Rays and Rangers.

Barraclough gave up four runs in three games with the Twins and Garcia, in six games, gave up 12 runs. Pitcher Luke Farrell (right oblique strain) moved to the 60-day injured list to make room for Gibaut on the 40-man roster.

The Twins also got some staff members back from COVID protocols, including assistant athletic trainer Masa Abe, first-base coach Tommy Watkins and physical therapist Adam Diamond. Baldelli said assistant trainer Matt Biancuzzo will travel back to Minnesota on Sunday.