The Twins have claimed right-hander Jackson Kowar off waivers from the Mariners, according to announcements from both clubs. Seattle had designated him for assignment a week ago when they acquired catcher Jhonny Pereda from the Twins. Minnesota had an open 40-man roster spot for Kowar thanks to trading Edouard Julien to the Rockies last week.
There’s a little bit of musical chairs happening here. The Twins recently signed catcher Victor Caratini and lefty Taylor Rogers, meaning they needed to open two roster spots. They designated Pereda and righty Pierson Ohl for assignment. They traded Pereda to Seattle, which nudged Kowar into DFA limbo. The Twins then traded both Ohl and Julien to the Rockies, getting a minor leaguer and cash while dropping their 40-man count to 39. They have now used that open roster spot to claim Kowar.
The 29-year-old Kowar has big velocity, averaging in the upper 90s with his four-seamer and sinker, but hasn’t yet translated that into major league success. He has 91 big league innings under his belt, split between the Royals and Mariners, allowing 8.21 earned runs per nine. He has walked 13.1% of batters faced, somewhat normal for guys with big heat, but has only punched out 20.3% of opponents. He hasn’t had much success in Triple-A either, with a 4.92 ERA at that level.
Seattle burned Kowar’s final option in 2025, so he is now out of options. Since he hasn’t been able to put up good numbers in the majors or the minors, he got nudged off the roster. For the Twins, they had a roster spot open and they also have huge bullpen questions. As part of their deadline fire sale last year, they traded away Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Danny Coulombe and Brock Stewart.
They are planning to return to contention in 2026 but haven’t done much to reload the relief corps. Apart from signing the 35-year-old Rogers, their biggest move has been to acquire Eric Orze, who has just 35 big league appearances.
Kowar is a wild card but the big velo is a nice starting point, even if he hasn’t harnessed it yet. He has landed with a club that should have lots of opportunities available. But given his out-of-options status and poor numbers, it’s possible the Twins try to pass him through waivers in the future. He doesn’t have a previous career outright nor three years of big league service time, so he wouldn’t have the right to reject an outright assignment.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images
