Thread: Carlos Villanueva?

Can someone explain to me why I have not heard his name brought up at all this offseason?

I was wondering the same thing. If we're going to be signing scrub starting pitchers, at least sign someone with a little upside.

I agree with this! He is better than Corriea.

I'd go multi-year and put him in the bullpen when Meyer, May and Gibson are ready. Much better than Correia.

He struck out almost 9 batters per 9 last year. Doesn't fit our pitch to contact philosophy.

Seriously, I haven't heard much of anything about him, not only in regards to the Twins but among anything national as well. I agree if we are going after lower tier pitches, I would look closely at him instead of Corriea.

He has pitched and survived in the AL east for the last two years. Although his drawbacks would include the fact that he has never thrown more than 125 innings in a season, he walks more than 3 per 9 innings, his career whip is almost 1.3, but he has given up less than one hit per inning over the last three years. Two of them pitching in the AL east.

I too would consider him a better candidate than Correia.

Carlos Villanueva has told Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulous that he still wants to start but would be more willing to compete for a rotation job with them.
Villanueva said last month that he wanted any interested team to guarantee him 30 starts next season, which is something the Blue Jays wouldn't be able to do following their acquisition of Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson. He could come to camp to compete with J.A. Happ for the final job in the rotation, but the reality is that he's likely to wind up elsewhere

Originally Posted by minn55441

He struck out almost 9 batters per 9 last year. Doesn't fit our pitch to contact philosophy.

Seriously, I haven't heard much of anything about him, not only in regards to the Twins but among anything national as well. I agree if we are going after lower tier pitches, I would look closely at him instead of Corriea.

He has pitched and survived in the AL east for the last two years. Although his drawbacks would include the fact that he has never thrown more than 125 innings in a season, he walks more than 3 per 9 innings, his career whip is almost 1.3, but he has given up less than one hit per inning over the last three years. Two of them pitching in the AL east.

I too would consider him a better candidate than Correia.

The lack of interest in him is more likely tied to his personality, rather than his pitching abilities.

My guess is there is a lot of reluctance to guarantee him 30 starts. Assuming a quality start every time (which isn't realistic, but is to be hoped for), that's 180 innings. Last year he started 16 games and pitched 125.1 innings, major league career highs for him.

Regardless of his skill level, there is no indication that his body could even handle 30 starts. His max in the minors was 25 starts, and that was 7 years ago.

He was serviceable in Milwaukee for years and, as stated, he did a serviceable job in the AL East. I would take him in a heartbeat. He could always go back to bullpen if he failed in his starter role. Lord knows we may need some long middle relievers if the starters don't work long innings. I like him better than Corriea because of his multiple role ability (mindset).

I'd take him too, but not if we have to guarantee him 30 starts

Hypothetically the Twins sign him; wouldn't they want him to make 30 starts, if he is physically able? If he falls apart mechanically, or has an injury, that's not a breach of that promise... That's the hole in the rotation he would be filling at #2 or (more likely) #3. That pitcher (Villanueva or someone else) should be making that many starts if they are a free agent pickup.

I agree, he totally should. But if he is actually asking for that a 30 start guarantee be written into a contract, that'd be a big issue for most I think

Originally Posted by twinsfaninsaudi

Can someone explain to me why I have not heard his name brought up at all this offseason?

Purely a Guess... But I'm under the impression... rightly or wrongly... that Terry Ryan isn't the type of guy who plays the rumors game at all. I think Terry keeps his cards close to his vest as far as the public is concerned.

Guessing again... but I believe that the Majority if not all Rumors that we find on MLB Trade rumors and elsewhere about the Twins come from the Agents or other sources.

If Villanueva's agent is of similiar mindset with the rumor game. You wouldn't hear about it and the lack of Villanueva rumors in total kind of suggests that. There were very few Correia rumors before the signing.

Just a Guess... Ryan could be talking like a drunk in a bar... I don't know... Just a guess.

There was also a report that the Twins had offers "all over the place" yet the Twins have only been specifically linked to a few players - Liriano, Pavano, Saunders, Lannan, Blanton, Correia - basically the people TD are already on top of. Something doesn't add up.

From MLB trade rumors

5:44pm: The Cubs have agreed to sign Carlos Villanueva, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Terms of the deal are unknown.

6:36pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and MLB.com's Carrie Muskat report that the two sides are close to a deal but it is not done yet.

Originally Posted by minn55441

From MLB trade rumor5:44pm: The Cubs have agreed to sign Carlos Villanueva, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Terms of the deal are unknown.

6:36pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and MLB.com's Carrie Muskat report that the two sides are close to a deal but it is not done yet.

Mmmm…gonna have to watch closely who does better overall between the cluster of pitchers the Cubs signed and those the Twins have this offseason.

Originally Posted by twinsfaninsaudi

Mmmm…gonna have to watch closely who does better overall between the cluster of pitchers the Cubs signed and those the Twins have this offseason.

Personally, I'd rather have Baker, Feldman and Villanueva over Corriea and Pelfrey, although the Cubs have been overpaying as badly as the Twins. The Corriea contract is the worst for money spent, although the Feldman contract isn't far behind.

If the Cubs add Edwin Jackson and Villanueva to their staff, along with Baker, Garza, Samardzija and Wood, their staff is not too bad, especially when compared to what the Twins would be throwing out there.

Cubs signed RHP Carlos Villanueva to a two-year, $10 million contract.

Villanueva has registered a decent 4.11 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 7.4 K/9 over his last 232 1/3 innings, operating as both a starter and a reliever for the Blue Jays. He'll be used primarily out of the rotation in Chicago and could carry some value in deeper mixed fantasy leagues.

Source: Jon Heyman on Twitte

Jim Bowden of ESPN.com reports that the Cubs are "now the front runner" for Edwin Jackson.