ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Minnesota Twins have re-signed infielder Drew Maggi and signed left-handed pitchers Danny Coulombe and Caleb Thielbar, and infielders Cody Asche, Jack Reinheimer, and Wilfredo Tovar to minor league contracts, Twins Director of Player Development Alex Hassan announced.
Maggi, 30, spent all of last season in the Twins organization, playing a majority of his games with the Red Wings but also appearing with Double-A Pensacola. He batted .258/.384/.405 (100-for-388) with 19 doubles, four triples, 10 homers, 46 RBI, nine stolen bases, and 71 runs scored in 108 games with the Wings and .256/.341/.436 (10-for-39) with four doubles, one homer, one RBI, one stolen base, and five runs scored in 11 games with the Blue Wahoos. Maggi combined to set career-highs in home runs, RBI, and runs scored. He reached base safely in a career-high 39 straight games from June 21-August 9, the longest in the International League since Toledo’s Jordan Lennerton reached in 48 straight from April 28-June 17, 2013 and the longest by a Red Wing since Jason Bartlett’s 39 straight from June 18, 2005-April 8, 2006. Maggi was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the 15th round of the 2010 Draft out of Arizona State and has also spent time in the Cleveland and both Los Angeles organizations.
Coulombe, 30, split 2019 between Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (NYY) and Triple-A San Antonio (MIL), going 4-2 with one save and a 4.71 ERA (19 ER, 36.1 IP) with 39 hits, 20 total runs, nine homers, five hit batters, 17 walks, and 61 strikeouts between the two teams. He spent a month on the RailRiders Injured List from April 12-May 14 before being released on July 1. Coulombe was signed by Milwaukee and assigned the Missions on July 19 and released on August 29 before rejoining Scranton/WB on August 31. He would pitch in one playoff game on September 6 at Durham, throwing 1.0 scoreless innings with a hit and a strikeout in the second game of the series. Coulombe was originally selected by the Dodgers in the 2012 Draft out of Texas Tech and has also pitched in the Athletics organization. He pitched in the big leagues every year from 2014-18 and is 6-4 with a 4.27 ERA (68 ER, 143.1 IP) in 153 career MLB appearances.
Thielbar, 32, spent most of last season with Triple-A Toledo (DET) before being traded to Atlanta and assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett on August 31. He was 2-1 with four saves and a 3.30 ERA (28 ER, 76.1 IP) with 74 hits, 29 total runs, seven home runs, two hit batters, 16 walks, and 92 strikeouts in 50 games with the Mud Hens. Thielbar threw a scoreless appearance and earned the save in 2.0 innings in his Stripers debut before allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts in 1.1 innings over two postseason games with Gwinnett. He is a former Red Wing, having appeared in 71 games with Rochester from 2012-15, and has pitched in 109 career games with a 2.74 ERA (30 ER, 98.2 IP) for the Twins. Thielbar was originally selected by the Brewers in the 18th round of the 2009 Draft out of South Dakota State and has also pitched for the Padres in his professional career.
Asche, 29, appeared in just 29 combined games in 2019 due to injury. He opened the year in Spring Training with the Dodgers before being released and signing with Sugar Land of the Independent Atlantic League and played in six games before having his contract purchased by Boston on May 3. Asche was assigned to Double-A Portland played in 23 games before being placed on the Injured List for the remainder of the season. He hit .208/.363/.292 (15-for-72) with three doubles, a homer, eight RBI, three stolen bases, and nine runs scored for the Sea Dogs. Asche was originally selected by Philadelphia in the 4th round of the 2011 Draft out of Nebraska who has also played in the Yankees, Mets, and White Sox organizations.
Reinheimer, 27, spent all of 2019 with Triple-A Norfolk (BAL), batting .246/.323/.336 (84-for-342) with 15 doubles, two triples, four homers, 31 RBI, 12 stolen bases, and 43 runs scored in 106 games for the Tides. He was claimed off waivers by the Cubs, Rangers, and Orioles between the end of 2018 and the start of 2019 Spring Training. Reinheimer has appeared in 23 career MLB games with the Diamondbacks and Mets. He was originally selected by the Mariners in the 5th round of the 2013 Draft out of East Carolina and was part of the seven-player trade that sent Mark Trumbo from Arizona to Seattle on June 3, 2015. Reinheimer has also appeared in professional games with the Mets.
Tovar, 28, was in the Angels organization all last season, batting .193/.239/.253 (16-for-83) with five doubles, five RBI, and five runs scored in 31 MLB games and .321/.355/.446 (105-for-327) with 17 doubles, six triples, four homers, 57 RBI, three stolen bases, and 53 runs scored with Triple-A Salt Lake. He set career highs in triples and RBI. Tovar is a former Red Wing who spent all of 2016 in Rochester, setting the Twins-era single-season record for stolen bases with 29. He won the Pacific Coast League title with Triple-A Memphis (STL) in 2017 and 2018 after leaving the Red Wings. Tovar was originally signed by the Mets as a non-drafted free agent on October 12, 2007 out of Santa Teresa, Venezuela.
Minnesota will announce all minor league signings who receive an invite to spring training at a later date.