Minnesota Twins minor leaguer Ryan Costello passes away

The Minnesota Twins family suffered a terrible loss over the weekend as prospect Ryan Costello passed away. He was only 23 years old.

This winter was set to be an interesting one for Minnesota Twins minor leaguer Ryan Costello. The Connecticut native was slated to play with the Auckland Tuatara in the Australian Baseball League, having arrived in New Zealand last week. With Auckland’s season set to begin on Wednesday, it was an exciting time for Costello and his development.

Sadly, Costello would not get to play for Auckland. The Twins minor league passed away over the weekend, with preliminary investigations indicating that he died of natural causes in his sleep. He was only 23 years old.

After spending three years in Central Connecticut State, Costello was selected with the 31st round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. He truly came into his own as a prospect the following year, being named an All Star during his time with the Clinton Lumberkings in the Midwest League.

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The Twins acquired Costello, along with Chase De Jong, on July 30, with Zack Duke heading back to the Mariners. While he did not continue his impressive performance after the trade, Costello also found himself promoted to High-A, with the former 31st rounder moving quickly through the ranks.

That continued this season as well. Although he started the year back in the Florida State League, Costello was promoted to AA midseason. All told, he put together a .223/.343/.412 batting line, hitting 16 doubles and 15 homers while drawing 63 walks and striking out 109 times in 411 plate appearances.

Costello was certainly an intriguing player. He had respectable power and a solid batting eye, hitting 43 homers and .361 on base percentage over his 1099 professional plate appearances. In addition to that power and batting eye, he had a good deal of defensive versatility, spending time at first, third, and left in his minor league career. Costello may not have been a top prospect, but he was certainly a player to keep an eye on for the Twins.

Our condolences go out to the Minnesota Twins and Ryan Costello’s family and friends.