Thread: Article: Rounding Out the Bullpen

Originally Posted by edavis0308

Why would anybody give up a player of value for him when they could just claim him when he ultimately gets DFA'ed? We can't trade him to ourselves. He has a career K/9 below 5.5. A career ERA of 5.03. ERA+ of 82. Only thing in his favor is that he is young and cheap.

I'll admit that I would expect his stats to improve this year as he gets a little older, but I don't see him having any trade value.

Basically, slightly worse than Correia's career numbers in regards to ERA+ and K/9.

Originally Posted by edavis0308

Why would anybody give up a player of value for him when they could just claim him when he ultimately gets DFA'ed? We can't trade him to ourselves. He has a career K/9 below 5.5. A career ERA of 5.03. ERA+ of 82. Only thing in his favor is that he is young and cheap.

I'll admit that I would expect his stats to improve this year as he gets a little older, but I don't see him having any trade value.

That "player of value" is likely a 40-50 prospect in their system and is 4 years away, and Swarzak could be considered as a 5th starter by some teams and is ready for that now.

As far as Burnett goes, he was extremely lucky to keep the ERA as low as it was in 2012. His k rate and k/bb rate are going in the wrong direction. I would like to see him improve in Rochester since he can be optioned this year.

Swarzak probably would have been DFAd by 25 or so teams last year. He's as next to worthless as you can be on a major league roster. I'd go with Pressley, Wood, and Slama and maybe Harden and just see what happens for a couple of months. Maybe one of them develops and is an option down the line. On a 3rd straight 90+ loss team the only thing the Twins should be doing is testing out young talent and trading assets like Morneau and Willingham for more upside guys for when the team is competitive.

Yeah the problem with Burnett is that his K rate has plummetted and is approaching Blackburn levels.

Fien is the guy that intrigues me the most. He has a history of K'ing guys in the minors so it's possible that he could be a solid 7th inning guy. Right now I see a solid 8th/9th and a bunch of long relievers and mop up men in everyone's lists.

The Indians somehow just traded Jeanmar Gomez. Under the right circumstances, the Twins could get something for Swarzak, he can't be any less desirable than Gomez.

I'm hoping Fien improves on what we saw last year, the k rate is a nice thing.

I think Robertson will improve, cut down on his walk rate and there is lots to like about him.

For the love of god can we just see Slama already and get it over with one way or another.

I'd love it if Pressley became what Swarzak should be. If so, I can't see getting anything for Swarzak if he doesn't get a roster spot, the vultures will be waiting. They would need to decide now.

Be interesting to see what they do with Harden, can't see his arm holding up as a starter although that would be nice.



Burnett is maddeningly inconsistent and I agree with Shane in that he could use some Rochester time.

If Duensing can just stay in the pen this year he is very effective, he was lights out last April and May before he was shifted to the rotation and after that he was a human yo-yo, I don't think that helped him. His velocity in relief is impressive.

Wood and Roenicke in the mix will make things interesting and Oliverios and Guerra can't be far off.

Obviously Perkins and Burton are givens.

The arms are there, a lot needs to go right but there appears to be enough to work with.

Originally Posted by nicksaviking

The Indians somehow just traded Jeanmar Gomez. Under the right circumstances, the Twins could get something for Swarzak, he can't be any less desirable than Gomez.

Looking things up... Swarzak is more than 2 years older than Gomez, which makes a lot of difference in desirability. And all the Indians got was what looks like a fourth round draft outfield prospect who didn't excel in AA at age 23 and maybe is viewed optimistically as "perhaps a change of scenery will help" - upside at this point might be as a fourth outfielder. I think it was Bill Veeck or Frank Lane who had the phrase "dog and cat trade", which is what this one sounds like. Yes, the Twins might get "something" for Swarzak but it won't affect the Twins' fortunes significantly.

Originally Posted by grumpyrob

Would really like to see Slama brought up. Does anyone know exactly why he has never been given a chance at the ML level?

If you use the search box in this website and type "Slama" you'll find that this is among the most frequently raised topics ever. In a nutshell, the Twins' brass have stated that they don't think his tools translate well to the majors - of particular note is that many of his strikeouts are of the "called" variety and they don't think he'll have the same success with that up with the big club. That sounds to me like a glass half-full/half-empty dilemma, but Twins scouts have more experience than I, and I suspect Slama would bear out their forecast.

Originally Posted by edavis0308

Why would anybody give up a player of value for him when they could just claim him when he ultimately gets DFA'ed? We can't trade him to ourselves. He has a career K/9 below 5.5. A career ERA of 5.03. ERA+ of 82. Only thing in his favor is that he is young and cheap.

I'll admit that I would expect his stats to improve this year as he gets a little older, but I don't see him having any trade value.

If Swarzak has no value then wouldn't trading Swarzak for a prospect that eventually pitches like him be trading Swarzak for nothing?