Thread: Twins outright Deolis Guerra, assign him to AAA

The Twins announce that they have outrighted Deois Guerra off the 40-man roster and have assigned him to Rochester. The Twins roster now resides at 37.

Guerra, 23, had a very good year out of the bullpen. Splitting the year between New Britain and Rochester, the big right-hander struck out 71 in 70 innings. The Twins will extend him an invitation to the major league camp.

I'd think that the team that claims him in the Rule V will be extending him the spring training invite.

In addition to trading away Span for a young'un, they also outrighted (and lost) Thomas Fields, right? Opening up 3 roster spaces, for what? Three Rule-5 picks? A trade of someone like Morneau for four MLB-ready players? Two imminent free agent pitchers plus a Rule-5? With the draft only days away (Dec 6?), I don't see the need to free up so much space unless some slam-dunk move is in the pipeline. Do the rules require some lead time, as opposed to outrighting someone like Guerra on the same day that a transaction for someone fitting their plans better occurs?

Originally Posted by nicksaviking

I'd think that the team that claims him in the Rule V will be extending him the spring training invite.

Someone claimed in rule 5 has to stay with the team the full season, don't they? Would seem odd not to take them to spring training, then.

I think that when he was outrighted that means he cleared waivers and they can assign him from there. I would guess if anyone wanted him he'd have been claimed. If that's wrong please correct.

Originally Posted by ashburyjohn

Originally Posted by nicksaviking

I'd think that the team that claims him in the Rule V will be extending him the spring training invite.

Someone claimed in rule 5 has to stay with the team the full season, don't they? Would seem odd not to take them to spring training, then.

Ha one would think. My sarcasm had a loophole I guess.

Good point on no team claiming him. Of course it's possible teams with the top picks wouldn't do so to save roster spots to see if anything better pops up. I wonder if there are any rules against picking your own player? If there were no other players the Twins preferred over him at the #4 pick, could they decide to save Guerra?

If no team claimed him this week for free, why would they pay $50,000 to take him in the Rule 5 next week? This is good for the Twins. It give Guerra another year at AAA to actually get good! He really struggled after his first month there, and he was hurt.

As always, is this move a precursor to something else?

Daniel Schlereth got non-tendered, his control is so shakey he doesn't seem like a Twins kind of pitcher but they do seem to be turning their attention to power arms at long last. Not sure he'd need to be offered more than a minor league contract but he is a sexy flamethrower so he might get offered a MLB contract and require a spot on a 40-man.

Originally Posted by nicksaviking

Ha one would think. My sarcasm had a loophole I guess.

My bad for not fielding the short-hop cleanly. Quoting the last line from Parker's posting would have been enough to trigger my evidently-malfunctioning laff-o-meter.

Kinda screws Guerra in not becoming a FA & finding another team he could have a shot with

Yes, hey seemed to have passed him thru waivers where a team could've claimed him anyways and just needed to add them to their own 40-man (which no one did, and that other team would've had the option of re-sending him thru waivers and keeping him in their organization, a la Carlos Gutierrez). So, maybe good for the Twins. Really didn't see this happening until after the Rule 5, though. Players like Guerra would be deep-sixed to free up space in signing free agents (who do the Twins have left...wait, they have three roster spots now). I would say Butera is still on the bubble. Not sure if they do have to keep Oliveros around, even though he is injured. Swarzak isn't a necessity. You can argue about the influx of C-level infielders taking up space. Mastro and Benson could both get thru waivers if roster spots are full, I imagine, although Mastro would become a free agent. They could probably sneak Hernandez, thru, too...as the winter progresses. But, yes, three roster spots are pretty darn valuable going into the GM meetings...and we all ask "why is Drew Butera still taking up space!"

Well this was my only real beef with the Liriano trade. I didn't want guys who were forced to take up a 40-man spot but weren't usefull enough to be on the 25 man. Now even if it's justified, Ryan won't want to lose Escobar or Hernandez because he's going to feel obligated to give those two a fair shot to prove the trade worthy.

Originally Posted by nicksaviking

Daniel Schlereth got non-tendered, his control is so shakey he doesn't seem like a Twins kind of pitcher but they do seem to be turning their attention to power arms at long last. Not sure he'd need to be offered more than a minor league contract but he is a sexy flamethrower so he might get offered a MLB contract and require a spot on a 40-man.

Maybe they can get his Dad Mark to give the Twins some motivation. He pumps me up when i listen to him on ESPN.

Originally Posted by nicksaviking

Well this was my only real beef with the Liriano trade. I didn't want guys who were forced to take up a 40-man spot but weren't usefull enough to be on the 25 man. Now even if it's justified, Ryan won't want to lose Escobar or Hernandez because he's going to feel obligated to give those two a fair shot to prove the trade worthy.

Escobar is a 23 year old, good fielder at 3 positions who might hit a little, but has enough glove to be a utility infielder for a long time.
Hernandez is a 23 year old lefty who already has a big league start. Granted, it was a rough start that he was rushed to do, but he's left handed and has 3 pitches. What's not to like there?!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Guerra wouldn't have to clear waivers if he has options left, would he? Not sure if he has options left, but he's never pitched at the big league level yet. Has he been on the 40man for more than three seasons?

Guerra probably has a chance to be a useful big league reliever. Unfortunately for him, every big league team has a few guys like him hanging around the edges of the 40 man roster. I think he has a fair chance to pitch for the Twins sometime in 2013, if he can stay healthy. I also think that is likely true for nearly every guy that ends up pitching at Rochester this year.

Originally Posted by mudcat14

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Guerra wouldn't have to clear waivers if he has options left, would he? Not sure if he has options left, but he's never pitched at the big league level yet. Has he been on the 40man for more than three seasons?

He was taken off the 40-man roster. Outrighted. Cleared waivers.

Good move for Twins. He's out of options so it was smart to pass him through when roster spots are hard to come by.