MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins will place right fielder Matt Wallner on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring, after avoiding a long-term absence for shortstop Carlos Correa with his sore left wrist.
Wallner was held out of the 4-3 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday, after he felt tightness in the muscle while running out an infield hit in the first inning the night before.
The Twins removed shortstop Willi Castro from the game with mild tightness in his right oblique, sending Mickey Gasper to pinch-hit for him in the eighth. Correa took over in the field, but his place in the order didn't come up.
“I think I could have played through it, but I just didn’t want it to get worse,” Castro said. “So I just told them about it, and they took me out.”
The Twins, who have Thursday off to further assess their injuries and options, acquired utility infielder Jonah Bride in a trade with the Miami Marlins for cash that was announced after the game on Wednesday. The 29-year-old Bride has played third base, second base and first base in four seasons in the majors.
Manager Rocco Baldelli declined to speculate on whether he would've let Correa hit, but he said his thought before Castro came out was that Correa would take the whole day off from hitting.
“We were going back and forth on what I was going to do if the at-bat came up. I’m glad it never got there,” said Correa, who was pulled in the fifth inning on Tuesday after fouling off a pitch and feeling the discomfort.
Correa said on Wednesday his wrist was feeling better. The injury first bothered him last season, when he was limited to 86 games because of a bout of plantar fasciitis in his right heel for the second straight year after dealing with it in the left foot in 2023.
“I had literally zero concern and really zero discussion this year about the wrist, but it was something that would periodically pop up and give him some minor issues,” Baldelli said, “and something that I think even right now we’re going to be able to work through.”
With star Royce Lewis on the injured list for likely at least a few more weeks with a strained left hamstring, the Twins (7-12) can ill afford to lose another regular from their lineup.
“Sometimes guys feel things and they play through things,” Baldelli said. “That’s what this is, a reasonably minor issue, and I hope we can work through it.”
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Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli walks to check on Carlos Correa after sustaining an injury during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Twins' Carlos Correa walks back to the dugout after hitting a flyout to left during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Twins' Matt Wallner (38), right, leaves the game with manager Rocco Baldelli and a trainer after sustaining an injury during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.
On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.
It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.
The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.
Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.
Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.
Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.
The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.
Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.
Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.
President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
