RIP, Yorman Landa

Yorman Landa,
1994-2016.

Yorman Landa was the subject of a few posts here this offseason because he was the subject of some roster manipulation. This is one I'd rather not write.

The Twins nontendered him a bit more than a week ago to make room on the 40-man roster for the Rule 5 draft. Then they re-signed him to a minor league deal.

And then he died. The 22-year-old perished in a car crash in his native Venezuela.

One of my co-workers asked me if Landa would have reached the majors. I don't know. He certainly had the talent -- he was reportedly clocked at 102 mph during the Florida State League all-star game last summer -- but he had had one shoulder surgery and his command/control wasn't as good as it needed to be. The Twins had put him on the 40 to protect him from the Rule 5 draft in 2015, then exposed him to the 2016 draft, and nobody put in a claim.

Still, he was just 22. He had time. Or so we tend to think.