Twins release reliever Matt Bowman, who triggered opt-out clause

The Minnesota Twins officially released relief pitcher Matt Bowman on Monday, according to the league’s transactions report.

It comes after Bowman reportedly exercised his opt-out clause on Saturday , which meant the Twins had to either add him to the MLB roster by Monday or let him become a free agent. The club chose the latter option.

Bowman, who was at Triple-A St. Paul after signing a minor-league deal with the Twins last month, has bounced around this season. This was already his second stint in the Minnesota organization, as he made five appearances for the Twins back in April before being designated for assignment.

After that, he went to Arizona and appeared in four games before being DFA’d again. Finally, he went to Seattle, appearing in just one game before electing free agency following another demotion.

Of those three MLB stints, the 33-year-old had the most success with the Twins, allowing two earned runs with four walks and six strikeouts in 7.2 innings. He also pitched well at Triple-A St. Paul, posting a 1.31 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 17 games and 20.2 innings.

Now, he’ll get another chance to see if he can latch on with an MLB team, but the Twins could always bring him back again if not, as he’s clearly done well here.

The Twins added another veteran reliever on a minor league deal last week and also have prospects they could call up if they need reliever help at the majors.