BREAKING: Minnesota twins key man Ended his Career
Alex Kirilloff was optioned to Triple-A on June 13 but never reported. On June 18, he appeared in the Minnesota Twins clubhouse, citing a back issue, which seemed like a passive-aggressive way to avoid his demotion and keep his service time clock running.
The Minnesota Twins demoted Alex Kirilloff to St. Paul due to his poor performance. Despite a strong start in April, his performance declined, prompting the team to recall Austin Martin to shake up the roster. Instead of joining St. Paul in Louisville, Kirilloff was missing in action.
Alex Kirilloff tells the Minnesota Twins his back hurts
Then on Tuesday, before the Twins’ home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Kirilloff unexpectedly showed up in the clubhouse. His sudden appearance was peculiar since he had been optioned to Triple-A five days earlier. Instead of reporting, it appears he took almost a week off and then developed a back injury. Consequently, he is now being placed on the 10-day injured list.
Alex Kirilloff is back in the Twins’ clubhouse, and it’s because he’s going on the Major League 10-day IL for a back issue on which Rocco said the communication from Kirilloff’s end needed to be better. So he won’t be optioned.
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) June 18, 2024
Playing through injury has become a detrimental habit for Kirilloff. With ongoing wrist problems over the past few years, he hasn’t lived up to his potential as a prospect, often to his own detriment.
In 57 games this season, he batted just .201/.270/.384, effectively acknowledging that his presence in Rocco Baldelli’s lineup was a liability. Unhealthy and ineffective, he hindered the team’s performance. This assumes Kirilloff’s back issue is genuine. If not, the implications are much worse.
Did Alex Kirilloff just make it about him instead of the Minnesota Twins?
By claiming a back injury and not reporting to Triple-A, Kirilloff continues to accrue service time. Staying on the major league injured list allows him to keep building on the more than two years of service time he has already amassed.
This is crucial for his progression towards free agency and the arbitration process, which his agent, Scott Boras, would likely be very keen on ensuring.
Instead of accepting that his poor performance led to his demotion and using the change of scenery to improve, Kirilloff won’t be playing anywhere. If he is truly injured, this would be the appropriate course of action.
However, the issue is that he played for the Twins on June 11 before being benched on June 12. He was optioned on June 13 and was reported to be healthy, only to retroactively claim a back injury that no one knew about, backdating it by a week.
The look can’t get any worse for Alex Kirilloff
The time Alex Kirilloff will need to prove himself at the minor league level has likely increased. His manager was unhappy with the lack of communication, and Derek Falvey likely shares this sentiment, especially if there’s any suspicion of manipulation by Kirilloff and his agent, Scott Boras.
It will be interesting to see how long Kirilloff stays on the injured list beyond the mandatory 10 days. Once eligible, he could be immediately optioned, which seems the most logical course of action. Matt Wallner, who was passed over for a promotion in favor of Austin Martin, might have been a trade candidate, but the Twins are likely rethinking that decision now.
If this is how Kirilloff and Boras intend to operate, the Twins might be better off without him. Trading the former first-round pick at next month’s trade deadline would likely yield minimal return given his current value, but parting ways might be the only viable path forward.
It will be challenging to get significant value for a 26-year-old with a career 101 OPS+ and defensive limitations, but pairing him with another prospect could make a trade more attractive. The ultimate outcome of this situation remains uncertain, but for now, Alex Kirilloff has positioned himself as public enemy number one.