Thread: Christensen: Twins Weighing Options With Blackburn

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/166663226.html

With Nick Blackburn seemingly out of answers for how to end his season-long struggles, the Twins are weighing options such as sending him back to Class AAA Rochester, having him skip a start or moving him to the bullpen.

I can't imagine he would be an asset in the bullpen, and AAA is almost over. What options are there?

If you send him to Rochester and he blows their playoff chance...whoa! I hope the Twins go with a six-man rotation in September thru season's end. AT this point, keep throwing the guy out there to see what you have. The more games the Twins lose, the more they can spend on draft picks next year, too.

I think moving him to the pen and seeing if he can get anything done there. Probably not but it's worth giving him a shot for a month or so.

Gardy seems to be getting pissy about people ripping his favorite pitcher. Front office needs to take the decision away from him

Originally Posted by greengoblinrulz

Gardy seems to be getting pissy about people ripping his favorite pitcher. Front office needs to take the decision away from him

Blackburn's continued presence in the rotation has a lot more to do with the contract that he has than Gardy's attitude towards him. And that contract was not given by Gardy. If you want to blame someone for the harm that Blackburn has inflicted on this pitching staff, the line begins with the front office, not the coaching staff.

Originally Posted by John Bonnes

Originally Posted by greengoblinrulz

Gardy seems to be getting pissy about people ripping his favorite pitcher. Front office needs to take the decision away from him

Blackburn's continued presence in the rotation has a lot more to do with the contract that he has than Gardy's attitude towards him. And that contract was not given by Gardy. If you want to blame someone for the harm that Blackburn has inflicted on this pitching staff, the line begins with the front office, not the coaching staff.

I agree. I realize with the contract he probably not going anywhere, but i say either move him to the bullpen or shut him down for the year.

Moving him to the pen is a waste of time, keep him in the rotation until Sept 1st, if he hasn't rebounded by then, then stick him in the pen as a mop up guy once the rosters expand.

Let him work in the off-season and come back to try to win a big league spot in 2013, if not just stash him in AAA. I suppose you could just cut him outright, but I don't see the point really. Maybe he can pull it together again, but the odds are against him.

At this point, you also have to consider how his continued struggles affect the rest of the team. If you just keep trotting him out there every fifth day, are you just basically telling the team that you are giving away every fifth day as a loss? Is his continued presence in the rotation affecting morale? I can imagine that, even trying to keep a professional attitude, and even if you like the guy personally and he's an asset in the clubhouse, it's bound to get old knowing that every fifth day is thrown away before it even starts. There's been some talk on other threads about whether or not the Twins have given up. I'm not willing to say that, but keeping Blackburn in the rotation can't be helping that.

I think you have to take a serious look on whether he should just be released, if not now than during the off-season. Yes, you take a hit on the salary, but that's a sunk cost - it can't be recovered. At some point you have to just write that off and do what you can to put a better product on the field. Even somebody with a consistent 5.00 ERA would be an improvement - there's gotta be one of those out there for only a million or two for next year.

Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

Moving him to the pen is a waste of time, keep him in the rotation until Sept 1st, if he hasn't rebounded by then, then stick him in the pen as a mop up guy once the rosters expand.

Let him work in the off-season and come back to try to win a big league spot in 2013, if not just stash him in AAA. I suppose you could just cut him outright, but I don't see the point really. Maybe he can pull it together again, but the odds are against him.

Is that an option next year? Or will he have enough major league service time (5 years) to be able to veto such a move? They could do it this year because he was at 4+ years.

Gardy could care less, the F. O. can sit on it.

Originally Posted by John Bonnes

Originally Posted by greengoblinrulz

Gardy seems to be getting pissy about people ripping his favorite pitcher. Front office needs to take the decision away from him

Blackburn's continued presence in the rotation has a lot more to do with the contract that he has than Gardy's attitude towards him. And that contract was not given by Gardy. If you want to blame someone for the harm that Blackburn has inflicted on this pitching staff, the line begins with the front office, not the coaching staff.

No question this is Bill Smith but the Terry Ryan era front office is trying to justify the contract from their buddy.
If TR wants to turn this team around, they need to get rid of Bill Smith trash that is Blackburn/Nishi's deals & move on

DFA seems like a perfect options.

Originally Posted by DPJ

DFA seems like a perfect options.

would be the best sign of faith towards the fans that the organizaiton is serious about getting back to bein a winner

I can't wait until I've seen the last of Nick Blackburn.

Is it possible that the Man just can't pitch?

Will there be a time that the Front Office comes to this conclusion?

Skip next start--or give him at least a weeks rest...then give him one more start to show he belongs in the rotation in Sept. If he has one more bad start either shut him down or stick him in the pen in a mop up role. He has one more year on his contract. Not sure under latest player union deal if you can DFA him next year or not but if he continues to suck, just DFA him spring 2013.

The guy can't pitch, end of story. We know it, they know it, he knows it. They may as well stick him in the bullpen and see if he could be a semi-serviceable 12th pitcher, because that's his absolute ceiling at this point. He doesn't even make sense for that role except for the contract.

Bullpen or AAA? It should be more like bullpen or DFA.

I side with the DFA crowd. I don't know how many more million dollars he is owed on his contract, but I would guess that the amount that is due to him is a fun night out on the town for the Pohlad boys. This marriage is dead... let's start writing up the divorce papers and end this once and for all - Pretty Please?

If the Twins are serious about competing next year, they need to sever ties with Blackburn. Cutting him will cost $5.5 million that's he's due next year, but at least the Twins would open up a spot on the 40 man roster. The same with Nishi. Why keep these two players on when they have no shot of helping the team? Especially if itt means exposing 2 prospects to the rule V draft?