Thread: Article: Roster Reconstruction Begins

Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

Originally Posted by Forever34

Bummer about losing Gutierrez. Didn't see Delois Guierra (spl?) on the list. Does that mean the crown jewel is safe and they no longer need to waste a roster spot for him? I thought there was some rule about how long a guy can stay on the 40-man without making the major league roster. I'm not an expert on all these roster rules.

Doubt Slama will be put on the roster. The only good thing about that is that if that happens we will know once and for all whether he is the prospect we all think he is. If no one bites, clearly the Twins FO is right to think of him as a non-major league caliber pitcher. My gut tells me at least one team will since he is as finished a prospect as you can get and some bad team will be able to keep him on their 25-man all year.

Guerra is out of options, so (unless something changes later in the offseason) he will head to spring training. He will have to make the Twins 25 man roster and stay on it. Or, he'll have to be DFAd and put through waivers. If he clears, he can go back to Rochester. If he is claimed, that team will have to keep him on their active roster.

As for Slama, the FO has already been proven right as he cleared waivers a year ago and wasn't selected in the Rule 5. That's not to say that he couldn't be claimed in the Rule 5, but we'll see.

do you know if anthony is hurt? according to mazalans website he hasnt been pitching lately----3 games 2 innings0-00 era
im planning on going to watch him on the 2nd if hes still there and not hurt, thanks for any info you have

Originally Posted by Twins Twerp

Slama finds his way into every thread. We talk about him more than Mauer, Mornie, and Span combined. The funny thing is, most people are arguing that it isn't FAIR for him not to get a shot. Come on now, lets give him a participation medal and maybe he'll feel better about himself.

Lets remember that this is a business, the currency is wins, and if the guy was good enough, he would have been called up.

like drew, nishi ,escobar,and florimon?

Originally Posted by ThePuck

He was coming off injury, wasn't he?

congrates on your promotion to AA

Originally Posted by ThePuck

Originally Posted by Twins Twerp

Slama finds his way into every thread. We talk about him more than Mauer, Mornie, and Span combined. The funny thing is, most people are arguing that it isn't FAIR for him not to get a shot. Come on now, lets give him a participation medal and maybe he'll feel better about himself.

Lets remember that this is a business, the currency is wins, and if the guy was good enough, he would have been called up.

He's got a minor league career ERA under 2.00 (this last season 1.24). He's averages over 12 Ks per 9IP (13.9 this year). He doesn't give up the long ball (1 HR allowed this year). The only knock on him is he walks a bit too many which is the kiss of death for a Twins prospect.

People see numbers like that, they understandably ask why. I don't see why that's such a bad question. The argument is, if he was worth bringing up they would have? Why? Because the Twins have shown themselves to be great judges of pitching talent lately?

The fact that our pitching was so horrible, and Gray was still pitching, says something about this Slama guy. I don't even buy that it is because of his fastball. De Vries fastball can't be much more than 85 mph. Slama cannot pitch in the big leagues, if he could, he would have been picked up off of waivers or drafted in the Rule 5. All the love for this guy is unwarranted. We had a 10 page forum on this guy and sent Terry Ryan a letter/petition in favor of this guy. I wonder how much he and other Twins officials laughed at that.

I understand that he probably could have been given a chance in September to pitch 2 or 3 innings, but he didn't. He hasn't been cut, he still has Spring Training to prove he is cabable of being in a Big League Pen. But when he fails at spring training, and gets sent back to Rochester (or cut like everyone wants so he has a "chance), can we please stop with the love for this guy.

P.S. Slama, Derek Holland called, he wants his pencil-stache back

Originally Posted by Rosterman

Offer Baker a $1 mil contract with $1 mil for each month in the majors? Baker can get that with any team. So we need to match loyalty with some sort of two-year contract with real-based incentives. Many teams would take a low-ball chance on Baker.

Hermsen is interesting. In the Rule 5 world you have to keep a player on your majo league roster all season. The number of teams capable of doing this are usually 7-8. Maybe a team like the Astros could really gamble and keep 3-4 players, and they would be one to add Hermsen. That's the crap shoot. Hermsen has to be protected and he is sloted as being a memebr of the Twins by 2015, surely.

Seth, what is the requirement for minor league Rule 5...where the Twins grabbed Marty Popham last season. They have to be A-ball or below and be added to AA/AAA rosters for the season? The Twins seem to lose a couple of guys this way each year.

Gutierrez was a loss, but he wasn't going to contribute in 2013 and was in the same situation as Slama, getting older and injured. Now the Cubs have to keep him on their roster. And he probably won't stay. See him in the minior league free agent pickings sooner rather than never.

The Twins can free up more roster spots with arbitration. Casilla, Butera. Not sure if they will stick with Swarzak.

Then they still have names like Guerra, Oliveros and Joe Benson who could be dropped for free agent signings if push came to shove. Even players like DeVries and Deduno could be switched out to major/minor contracts if the right free agents were signed.

So there is lots and lots of roster space to work work (not to mention Hernandez and Escobar, or Florimon...none of whom should be in demand if ran thru waivers, seriously, or not easily replaceable).

Guess doesn't speak well for the roster in general. The Twins still have 25-guys, but HOW MANY ARE IN DEMAND by anyone?

so your sugesting we over pay for 1 of our own?maybe give him a 10 million dollar option for 2014 , but no quarentteed money till we know if his arm will respond

Originally Posted by twinsnorth49

Why is everybody so convinced of this, despite the fact a lot of pretty knowledgeable baseball people aren't? I get giving him a chance, he does deserve it, but all these proclamations of guaranteed success is a little presumptuous.

those pretty knowledgeable people can make mistakes. Albert Pujols wasn't a first round pick... or a second. Lots of pretty knoweldgeable baseball people thought he had enough questions to pass on him. I'm not saying Slama is the next Mariano Rivera or anything like that, but the kid has gotten results at every level of the minors... knowledgeable or not, on a bad team, he should be getting a shot in the majors to prove himself. It's very possible he could have proven all of the knowledgable sceptics right, but on a 90+ loss team, he should at least be given a shot, especially over the likes of a Jeff Gray.

I have no idea at all in regards to Slama. It's gotta be more complicated than what I know simply. Based on his numbers... He should have had his chance to see if it translates at the MLB level.

If he isn't going to pitch in the Majors because of something that he doesn't do well. Cut him... Quit wasting his time... Let him go to a new club or into the next phase of his life. From a numbers standpoint. He's done the job.

Obviously this is about something else and there is no way of knowing what that is exactly.

It's wrong to assume MLB success and wrong to assume MLB Failure but I don't think it's wrong to expect MLB opportunity!!!

Originally Posted by old nurse

Originally Posted by ThePuck

Originally Posted by Twins Twerp

Lets remember that this is a business, the currency is wins, and if the guy was good enough, he would have been called up.

. The argument is, if he was worth bringing up they would have? Why? Because the Twins have shown themselves to be great judges of pitching talent lately?

88 mph fastball for a reliever is kind of slow. Great at deception in the minors. He will get a shot at ST. If a club wants him for 50K it will because they looked at the slash line, not the scouting reports.

and how hard does pat neshack throw?jaime moyer hung around how long throwing how hard , curly ryan has said he is open to bringing back 3 time sore armed pavano and his 86 mph fastball?

and how hard does pat neshack throw?jaime moyer hung around how long throwing how hard , curly ryan has said he is open to bringing back 3 time sore armed pavano and his 86 mph fastball?[/QUOTE]

Moyer is a lefthander,starter, had a long history of pitching adequately in MLB, pitched poorly in 2012, and is retired. Slama is none of those. Neshak depended on an unusual delivery and pre arm injury was well over 90 (see fangraphs),since his arm injury he has not pitched much in the majors. Pavano is a starter and in 09 and 10 was regularly in the low 90's. If Pavano's arm is sore it would be unlikely he would come back. Why wouldn't you, outside of history of injury concerns, cheaply bring back Pavano if he is healthy and pitching like he did in 09 and 10 ( Please read, '09 an '10. NOT '11 and '12. I suspect I might have to point that out to you a few time. '09-'10 Pavano

Originally Posted by old nurse

Moyer is a lefthander,starter, had a long history of pitching adequately in MLB, pitched poorly in 2012, and is retired. Slama is none of those. Neshak depended on an unusual delivery and pre arm injury was well over 90 (see fangraphs),since his arm injury he has not pitched much in the majors. Pavano is a starter and in 09 and 10 was regularly in the low 90's. If Pavano's arm is sore it would be unlikely he would come back. Why wouldn't you, outside of history of injury concerns, cheaply bring back Pavano if he is healthy and pitching like he did in 09 and 10 ( Please read, '09 an '10. NOT '11 and '12. I suspect I might have to point that out to you a few time. '09-'10 Pavano

Neshek had a pretty decent season this year. He spent a chunk of time in the minors, but he did just fine once he got promoted.

The Padres have the talented 3b prospect Jedd Gyorko who is blocked by Chase Headley. Maybe we could pry him away and move Plouffe to 2b. It would certainly take a top prospect and unfortunately I think the Padres are looking for young arms. Maybe trade Hicks to the A's for Brett Anderson and send him to the Padres for Gyorko. We could shore up the pitching through free agency and trading Span or Revere to the Braves or Reds. The Braves also have an intersesting SS blocked now in Tyler Pastornicky they may ben willing to move. He is a baseball rat which Gardy likes however he has a pretty average arm.

I don't see any way the Twins trade away significant assets for anything other than pitching.

That would hilarious if someone drafted Nick Blackburn. And too bad Nishioka left, somebody could have drafted him!
Jokes aside, I hope someone takes Slama, he becomes a closer/setup guy in 2014, and shows the Twins staff how stupid they are.

Twins need pitching, pitching and more pitching. If you look at the four finalists for the World Championship, all of them have bullpens with stuff, Twins need to follow this. Twins should only trade assets for pitching, look at the Giants, far from a great hitting club, but do the small things and pitch. The game changes, Twins need to do the same

I appreciate Seth's contributions to the site, and want to say congrats on having your post picked-up by MLBTR. I know it was pretty late when this article was posted but,if other people aren't going to edit these things, then I will:

Next, the Twins drooped several players from their 40 man roster. Pitchers PJ Walters, Esmerling Vasquez, Luis Perdomo, Kyle Waldrop, Jeff Manship and outfielder Matt Carson are no longer on the 40 man roster

There is a typo in the third sentence (drooped instead of dropped) of the article. This is not a great way to grab your audience.

In the one semi-surprise move of the day, the Twins lost Carlos Gutierrez to the Chicago Cubs. The Twins removed their hard-throwing former first-round pick from the 40 man roster. Unlike the other players, Gutierrez was claimed by another team, the Chicago Cubs

You told me in the first sentence that Gutierrez was lost to the Cubs, so you don't need to tell me again in the third sentence. There is probably a way to re-word these sentences to clarify why they lost him (waivers never come up in this paragraph) and to make it easier to read.

Coming off of shoulder, the Twins were likely hoping to sneak Gutierrez through and keep him around in 2013. However, they also know the rules of the game and were willing to take a chance that he would be taken.

I think you meant to say shoulder "surgery"? Also, this paragraph could be combined with the previous one since it is essentially just an extension and that last paragraph was only 3 sentences long. You should probably mention what, "the Twins were likely hoping to sneak Gutierrez through...."

So, who is eligible for the Rule 5 draft? On a high level, it is anyone who signed when they were less than 19 in 2008 or if they were over 19 in 2009. Generally speaking, that means that high school players drafted in 2008 and college or junior college players drafted in 2009. Many international signings happen with 16 or 17 year olds, but occasionally there will be a 19 or 20 year old signed as well.

Why do you need the second sentence in this paragraph? You give a somewhat complicated explanation of Rule 5 draft-eligible players in the second sentence and then give a better explanation in the third sentence. You could use the same approach as you did in the third sentence when explaining international signings who should now be eligible.

Sorry to sound harsh, I just would like to see these articles look a little more professional and like someone put some effort into editing them. I was just a little upset to see this many problems with something appearing on StarTribune.com. I don't feel it represents Twins Daily well.