Twins prospect Ryan Costello found dead in New Zealand
The baseball world is mourning the death of 23-year-old Twins prospect Ryan Costello, who was found dead in his hotel room Sunday in Auckland, New Zealand.
Costello, a native of Wethersfield, Connecticut, arrived in New Zealand last week and was set to play for the Auckland Tuatara. His team announced that Costello appears to have died of natural causes, according to MiLB.
"The Tuatara would like to express their deepest condolences to Ryan's family back home in the United States and to the whole Minnesota Twins organization," the statement says. "Support is being offered to the Tuatara players, who are naturally devastated at the moment."
Costello spent the 2019 season at Class A Advanced Fort Myers and Double-A Pensacola. He hit .223/.343/.412 with 15 home runs and 46 RBIs in 108 games.
We are saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Ryan Costello. The entire Twins organization sends our most sincere condolences to Ryan's family, friends, coaches, and teammates. pic.twitter.com/TXwztkmgQA
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) November 18, 2019
The utility infielder/outfielder was picked by the Mariners in the 31st round of the 2017 MLB Draft and traded to the Twins in 2018 in a midseason deal that also sent pitchers Zach Duke and Chase De Jong to Minnesota.
A little over a year ago, Costello told Twins Daily that one of his strengths is "my ability to stay positive through tough times and understand that it's part of the game and ups and downs are going to come."
More details about Costello's death could be announced Monday when his New Zealand team is expected to meet with the media.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.