Twins sign four ex-major leaguers, including Keon Broxton, to minor league contracts

The Twins signed Keon Broxton and Andrew Albers to minor-league contracts with invitations to spring training Monday.

Also added with minor league deals were pitchers Robinson Leyer and Chandler Shepherd.

Broxton, a 30-year-old outfielder, has played for five major league teams. He hit 20 home runs for the Brewers in 2017, and has also played for the Mets, Orioles, Mariners and Pirates. In 376 major league games he has a .209 batting average with 39 homers.

Albers holds the Twins record for most shutout innings (17⅓) at the start of a major league career. The 35-year-old left hander pitched the past three seasons in Japan for the Orix Buffaloes. He made his big league debut for the Twins in 2013, and was 2-5 as a starter that season with a 4.05 ERA. The Twins released him in 2014, but was re-signed in 2016 and was back in the majors later that season. He pitched for the Mariners in 2017.

Leyer, 27, pitched in six games for the Red Sox last year. He had a 21.21 ERA in 4.2 innings, but struck out nine. The 6-2 righthander was originally signed by the White Sox in 2011 out of the Dominican Republic as a 17-year-old.

Shepherd, 28, pitched in five games, starting three, in 2019 for the Orioles. He was at Baltimore's alternate site in 2020, but never was called up. The righthander was in the Red Sox, Cubs and Orioles organizations in 2019, pitching mostly at the Class AAA level. The Red Sox signed him in 2014 after drafting him in the 13th round out of the University of Kentucky.

The Twins have now signed 13 players to minor league deals. The other nine, all of whom got invites to major league camp, are Danny Coulombe, Luke Farrell, Derek Law, Juan Minaya, Glenn Sparkman, Tomas Telis, Tzu-Wei Lin, Rob Refsnyder and J.T. Riddle.

Twins pitchers and catchers report to camp on Feb. 18, with the first full-squad workout on Feb. 23 in Fort Myers, Fla.