Daniel

Duarte

Duarte augments New York’s relief depth entering spring training after spending most of the past two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing 29-year-old righty holds a serviceable 3.99 ERA — 6.11 FIP — and 28/24 K/BB ratio across 38 1/3 innings between the Mets and Twins since 2022.

Duarte remains with Minnesota shortly after being removed last week from the club’s 40-man roster. The 27-year-old righty, who has made 36 relief appearances in the big leagues since 2022, is expected to miss the vast majority of next season as he recovers from UCL revision surgery.

It’s some procedural routine housekeeping for the Twins as they’ve jettisoned a quartet of relievers on the periphery of their 40-man roster at the outset of the offseason. There’s a strong possibility they all wind up electing free agency in search of new opportunities.

Duarte is expected to be sidelined for 14-16 months after undergoing UCL revision reconstruction surgery. The 27-year-old righty has a shot at making it back during the later stages of the 2025 campaign.

The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for new call-up Ronny Henriquez. It was announced over the weekend that Duarte is facing season-ending surgery on his right elbow, though the specific nature of the procedure isn’t yet known.

Duarte landed on the shelf earlier this month with a right triceps strain and will undergo a right elbow procedure in early May. No word yet whether it’ll wind up being a full Tommy John elbow reconstruction or a less invasive internal brace procedure. There should be an additional update on his status in a couple weeks.

Duarte hasn’t pitched since last Wednesday, so apparently something popped up in that time. Jose Miranda will take his place on the Twins’ roster going into Monday’s action.

Duarte will be on the Twins’ Opening Day roster as Minnesota deals with early season injuries to its bullpen. The 27-year-old right-hander had an impressive spring camp with a 2.92 ERA and a perfect 12/0 K/BB ratio across 12 1/3 innings.

It’s rather surprising that Duarte got through waivers; it might not have happened had the Twins waited and tried to pass him through once teams could place players on the 60-day IL. Duarte will head to camp with the Twins as a non-roster player, and while he probably won’t make the Opening Day roster, he should be a factor in their pen this season.

The move comes five days after Duarte was claimed off waivers from the Rangers. The 27-year-old right-hander had a 3.69 ERA in 31 2/3 innings out of the pen for the Reds last season.