Twins Take Former Top Prospect Off 40-Man Roster

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Twins Take Former Top Prospect Off 40-Man Roster

Diego Cartaya, Minnesota Twins — Chris Tilley-Imagn Images Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

Ted Schwerzler · Minnesota Sports Fan

Fri, Apr 25, 2025 ·

4 min read

Diego Cartaya outrighted by Minnesota Twins

This offseason the Minnesota Twins swung a trade for Diego Cartaya . The former top 100 prospect had fallen out of favor with the Los Angeles Dodgers and he seemed like a potential reclamation project. Now struggling at Triple-A, he has been outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Diego Cartaya has cleared outright waivers and will be outrighted to Triple-A St. Paul. #MNTwins 40-man is at 39.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) April 25, 2025

It's a positive that Cartaya cleared waivers and remains in the Twins organization. That's a byproduct of his production though. The 23-year-old has played in seven games for the Saints and is batting just .080/.207/.200 . He has an 18/4 K/BB and his lone extra-base hit is a home run.

Cartaya has struggled mightily out of the gate. On Tuesday against the Indianapolis Indians he came up having gone 0-for-4 with four strikeouts . It wasn't until the Indians put in a position player that he recorded a hit in the 16-4 drubbing.

It's possible that Cartaya plays himself back into the Twins plans, but quite unlikely. The .892 OPS he owned as a 20-year-old in High-A looks like a mirage. He had just a .643 OPS at Triple-A last season in the Dodgers organization, and that's lightyears better than where he is at currently.

Carson McCusker time for the MN Twins?

Thursday Minnesota played a man down on the 26-man roster because Pablo Lopez was going to be recalled for a start on Friday. They couldn't have added another bullpen arm, and the return of Mickey Gasper had all but exhausted the 40-man hitting talent.

That's where the Cartaya move gets interesting. Although the Minnesota Twins have not yet made a corresponding move to take the final 40-man roster spot, they need to add talent. Minnesota went eight days without a bench bat because they decided to wait through Willi Castro 's injury rather than place him on the injured list.

The waiting game on Castro signified a lacking desire to promote anyone simply so Baldelli had another choice. Gasper ultimately became that guy, but him being just 2-for-18 to start the season is why there wasn't much urgency.

In moving Cartaya off the roster there is an additional spot to add someone internally. The best candidate seems like Carson McCusker. The former independent ball product was at Target Field on Thursday an appeared on the pre-game show.

This is now a @carson_mccusker stan page. He hits his first ever grand slam. It's his 6th home run of the season for the man that came in 2nd in Triple-A in exit velo at 95.9. (home run was 102.6). He came in 2nd in the IL in slugging (.673) & OPS (1.073) & T3rd in HR. Lead 5-1. pic.twitter.com/ROH2vvx6Zd

— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) April 22, 2025

He is an undrafted 26-year-old outfielder that is hard to miss. At 6'8″ he resembles Aaron Judge in the box. Since joining the Twins organization in 2023 all he has done is hit.

Last year between Double and Triple-A McCusker posted a .282/.353/.488 slash line . He strikes out plenty but hit 19 home runs. In 18 games for St. Paul this year he owns a .302/.380/.667 line and already has six homers. Tuesday he launched his first career grand slam.

McCusker likely won't hit for the same average at the big league level, but the power is legit. He would be another developmental success story for the Twins and can play both corner outfield spots. As a right-handed hitter he provides some platoon flexibility with Trevor Larnach , and he should bring more offense than what DaShawn Keirsey Jr. has been able to muster.

It remains to be seen how Minnesota will use the open 40-man spot. Maybe they have something cooking on the trade front. If it's McCusker though, he's a guy that could help to spark what has been a dismal offense.