Twins sign eight former major leaguers to minor league deals

The Twins signed eight ex-major leaguers Thursday, which projects them as perhaps the first new members of the Class AAA St. Paul Saints.

Tzu-Wei Lin, a utilityman for the Red Sox for the past four seasons, and former

pitchers Luke Farrell and Glenn Sparkman were among the players added.

Pitchers Danny Coulombe and Juan Minaya, who had cups of coffee with the Twins last season when the team had a taxi squad at CHS Field in St. Paul, were re-signed, as was veteran catcher Tomas Telis.

Outfielder Rob Refsnyder, who played for the Rangers last season, and pitcher Derek Law, who was with the Blue Jays, are also joining the organization.

All eight players will get invitations to Twins spring training.

Lin, 26, played 26 games for the Red Sox in 2020, hitting .154. He split 2019 between the Boston and its AAA team in Pawtucket. He was signed as an international free agent from Taiwan in 2012 and made his big-league debut in 2017. In 101 major league games, he has hit .223 with one home run.

Farrell pitched in four games for Texas last season. The 29-year-old righty was originally drafted by the Royals in 2013 and made his major league debut for Kansas City against the Twins in 2017. The son of former Toronto and Boston manager John Farrell has pitched in 43 big league games with the Royals, Reds, Cubs and Rangers.

Sparkman made four relief appearances in 2020 for the Royals. The righthander, 28, was 4-11 with a 6.02 ERA in 31 games, 23 of them starts, in 2019 for Kansas City. He made his big league debut for Toronto in 2017.

Coulombe, a 31-year-old lefthander, has pitched in 155 major league games, including two last season with the Twins. Minaya, 30, is a righthander who made 125 relief appearances for the White Sox from 2016-19; the Twins called him up without using him last season.

Telis was signed by the Twins before the 2019 season, which he spent at AAA Rochester, hitting .330 in 82 games. The 29-year-old has played in the majors for Texas and Miami, and is a three-time minor league all-star.

Refsnyder, 29, hit .200 in 15 games with Texas last season. He spent the 2019 season at AAA Louisville, where he batted .315 with 10 homers in 85 games. He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 College World Series, leading Arizona to the NCAA title, and debuted in the majors with the Yankees in 2015. In parts of parts of five big-league seasons (181 games), he is hitting .217 with four home runs.

Law, 30, pitched for the Blue Jays in 2019 after Toronto picked him up from San Francisco in the Kevin Pillar trade. The righthander had a 4.90 ERA in 58 games, including four starts. He pitched in 109 games for the Giants from 2017-19.

The St. Paul Saints have accepted the Twins' invitation to become their Class AAA affiliate in 2021, replacing the Rochester (N.Y.) Red Wings.