MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins added outfield depth Saturday, claiming outfielder Clete Thomas off waivers from Detroit. To make room on the 25-man roster, Minnesota optioned outfielder Ben Revere to Triple-A Rochester.
Thomas, 28, has spent parts of three seasons with the Tigers. He appeared in three games this season but did not have an at-bat before he was designated for assignment earlier this week. Thomas played in a career-high 102 games in 2009 and batted .240 with 39 RBIs and seven homers in 275 at-bats. He also saw time in 40 games during the 2008 season.
The Twins drafted Thomas back in the fifth round of the 2002 draft, but he opted to play college ball at Auburn instead. He was again drafted in 2005 when the Tigers took him in the sixth round.
"He's a guy that we've liked for a while, and we've got a good look at him over the last couple years," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said Saturday. "He can play left, center and right. He can run. He's got some power. He can throw. We took advantage of a situation for a waiver claim."
Thomas will likely be the fourth or even fifth outfielder behind Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Ryan Doumit and Trevor Plouffe. While Thomas may be suited for that role as a reserve, it wasn't a good fit for the 23-year-old Revere, who wasn't getting much playing time early on.
After playing in 117 games last season, Revere had just 11 at-bats through Saturday for the Twins. He'll be able to play every day and get more at-bats while down in Rochester.
"Ben wasn't playing here. He's behind Span right now," Ryan said. "It just doesn't work. Thomas can play all three and he certainly can do all the things that we're looking for in an extra outfielder."
Span, a Tampa native, has known Thomas, also from Florida for about a decade. Span said Saturday that he and Thomas used to play against each other in high school. Since then, they've worked out together in Tampa during the offseason for the past several years.
"He's a good athlete," Span said of Thomas. "He definitely can play all three positions in the outfield, can hit for some power and has a cannon from the outfield. I'm sad about the news about Ben, but we're getting a good guy in Clete."
To make room for Thomas on the 40-man roster, the Twins placed right-hander Scott Baker on the 60-day disabled list. Baker is out for the season with an elbow injury that requires surgery, which has a rehab of at least six months.
Thomas will join the Twins prior to Sunday's game against Texas. He'll wear No. 36, which up until this season was worn by closer Joe Nathan.
"We'll see what we've got with Clete, who is a pretty good player," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We like him a lot. … He's a good defensive outfield, got a good swing, got a very strong arm. He's one of those guys when you watch different organizations and you see guys like that and you always say that they can help you somewhere. We'll see what he can do."
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