Mauer and Nolasco in? Who's out?

[stringer bell]

In the PiPress, a story about Nolasco says that he made his last rehab start today. Does that mean he'll be in Minneapolis when the Twins return from Houston? If so, who goes? Pino has options and there is a day off coming on Thursday, so they could get away without a Pino for ten days from his start. Mauer is on his way to Houston, if he's not already there, I believe. I still don't know who would go off the roster to make room for him. I said on another thread that after today's one-man bench game that it would be good to let a pitcher go (one way or another) tomorrow. My sneaky pick is Samuel Deduno.

[goulik]

My guess would be Pino going down temporarily until the next trade

[LaBombo]

Alternative title:  who's in?

[Rosterman]

Burton could go on waiver. Pino will definitely sit. Or Willingham could be moved before Nolasco has to be added. That's pretty much the deadwood for now. Unless they trade off Duensing or Swarzak.

[stringer bell]

Burton could go on waiver. Pino will definitely sit. Or Willingham could be moved before Nolasco has to be added. That's pretty much the deadwood for now. Unless they trade off Duensing or Swarzak.

OK--Milone is in for Correia. Tomorrow Mauer is to be activated. Who is moved to make room for #7? Pino is scheduled to start on Tuesday and if he were optioned, then the Twins would have to scramble to find a starter on Tuesday. I say Deduno is DFAed and Mauer takes that spot. Then after Pino pitches, he is optioned to clear room for Nolasco

[Danchat]

OK--Milone is in for Correia. Tomorrow Mauer is to be activated. Who is moved to make room for #7? Pino is scheduled to start on Tuesday and if he were optioned, then the Twins would have to scramble to find a starter on Tuesday. I say Deduno is DFAed and Mauer takes that spot. Then after Pino pitches, he is optioned to clear room for Nolasco

I like that idea, except I'm not so sure about DFA'ing Deduno. Then again, as I think about it, he really doesn't have a future with the team. He could get claimed, but that's not a bad thing. There are guys who could easily take his spot (Pino comes to mind. He might be best as a long reliever.).

Now I'm alright with your ideas. I hope this happens.

[Oxtung]

Bollinger reporting that the Twins might DL Arcia instead of sending anyone down. 

 

I think your Deduno guess is a good one.  Ultimately we know Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco and two of Pino, Milone, May will be in the rotation.  I would assume one of them will eventually go down, Pino being a good guess since he seems to have less of a future with the Team.  In the pen Perkins, Fien, Duensing and Thielbar all are guaranteed spots.  That puts the team at 9 guaranteed spots with 2 or 3 remaining for Burton, Deduno, Swarzak and Pressly.  Personally I think Pressly is pretty safe.  He has pitched pretty well and only just called up. 

 

TLDR: I think Pino will be sent down after this next start and I think that a bullpen piece gets traded/DFA'd.

[Otto von Ballpark]

If we're willing to keep him on the roster, Deduno is cheap for the foreseeable future (he won't even be arb-eligible until after NEXT season).

 

Obviously, that alone shouldn't win him a spot over Swarzak, but if they are remotely comparable back of the bullpen / spot starter options, Deduno should probably win out.

 

Same for Duensing vs Thielbar, really.  And given that the next 7 weeks are unlikely to tell us anything about these players that the last 4-5 years haven't already, hopefully the Twins are ready and willing to make a move on them now.

[jokin]

Bollinger reporting that the Twins might DL Arcia instead of sending anyone down. 

 

I think your Deduno guess is a good one.  Ultimately we know Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco and two of Pino, Milone, May will be in the rotation.  I would assume one of them will eventually go down, Pino being a good guess since he seems to have less of a future with the Team.  In the pen Perkins, Fien, Duensing and Thielbar all are guaranteed spots.  That puts the team at 9 guaranteed spots with 2 or 3 remaining for Burton, Deduno, Swarzak and Pressly.  Personally I think Pressly is pretty safe.  He has pitched pretty well and only just called up. 

 

TLDR: I think Pino will be sent down after this next start and I think that a bullpen piece gets traded/DFA'd.

 

Pretty close, but I have to think if a halfway decent offer comes down the pike for Duensing, the Twins pull the trigger and open up a spot that way.  (And any offer on Burton or Swarzak, as well, their time seems past done with the Twins).

[ScottyB]

I say that Arcia goes to the DL today when they activate Mauer (Parmelee goes to RF).  Pino gets the start tomorrow and gets sent down after the game for Nolasco.  Rotation for rest of year - Gibson, Hughes, Nolasco, May and Milone.

[Mike Sixel]

I think Scotty has it correct.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

With Mauer returning, my first thought is Vargas.

 

Would Arcia to the DL keep open DH at bats for Vargas? Or better yet let Mauer DH (in the 6 hole, dang it) and continue to let Vargas play first.

[DaveW]

I'd be a bit disappointed if Pino was sent down. He has held his own as a SP thus far and I would want to see if he can keep it up. If there is a roster crunch I'd much rather just cut DeDuno loose as he doesn't have much of a future with this club, move Pino to be the long guy and have him ready when the next pitcher gets hurt or if May gets shelled 3-4 consecutive starts.

[DaveW]

With Mauer returning, my first thought is Vargas.

 

Would Arcia to the DL keep open DH at bats for Vargas? Or better yet let Mauer DH (in the 6 hole, dang it) and continue to let Vargas play first.

I think Mauer should be getting the reps at first personally.

[jokin]

I think Scotty has it correct.

 

Yup.  And it makes it real easy to keep the starting-OF love affair going forward for the time being with Schafer, as well.

[Mike Sixel]

Pino can go down because he has options, that's the beauty of your RP and 5th starter having options....you can send them up and down as you need to. 

[jokin]

Pino can go down because he has options, that's the beauty of your RP and 5th starter having options....you can send them up and down as you need to. 

 

Yes.  It's great to see the Twins FO finally grasp and utililize the concept more frequently....Pino, and possibly Johnson (?) have much greater potential value going forward than the typical AAAA pitcher because of it.... it's a far cry better than carrying 13 and 14 pitchers as Gardy is wont to prefer, leaving him frequently in embarrassing bench situations such as yesterday with only Fryer at the ready.

[stringer bell]

Pino can go down because he has options, that's the beauty of your RP and 5th starter having options....you can send them up and down as you need to. 

Agree 100%.  With both of the long guys being out of options, it makes it much harder to manage the ebb and flow for the pitching staff.  A Deduno DFA would alleviate the situation, and I'm pretty sure that he would get picked up by somebody. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Yes.  It's great to see the Twins FO finally grasp and utililize the concept more frequently....

Not sure they didn't utilize it before.  Deduno and Walters were notable out of options guys, but DeVries, Diamond, Hernandez, Worley, Hendriks, Albers, Gibson, etc. all had minor league options remaining in 2012-2013 (and Hernandez, Hendriks, and Albers all had one left for 2014 too, plus Gibson of course).

 

I think they just have better pitchers for a change.

[DaveW]

Agree 100%. With both of the long guys being out of options, it makes it much harder to manage the ebb and flow for the pitching staff. A Deduno DFA would alleviate the situation, and I'm pretty sure that he would get picked up by somebody.

Why does a team need two long guys? I like DeDuno and all, but it's time for the Twins to move on. He doesn't profile as a starter for this team, and doesn't look like a real great BP option. Time to let him find an NL team and wish him luck.

[Mike Sixel]

I do agree, no team should need two long RP. If the one gets tired, call up a AAA starter.......

[jokin]

Not sure they didn't utilize it before.  Deduno and Walters were notable out of options guys, but DeVries, Diamond, Hernandez, Worley, Hendriks, Albers, Gibson, etc. all had minor league options remaining in 2012-2013 (and Hernandez, Hendriks, and Albers all had one left for 2014 too, plus Gibson of course).

 

I think they just have better pitchers for a change.

 

I agree they had these guys, but for the most part, they weren't being utilized on the shuttle plan.  Carrying the extra pitcher or two was the norm for much of 2012 and 2013.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Why does a team need two long guys? I like DeDuno and all, but it's time for the Twins to move on. He doesn't profile as a starter for this team, and doesn't look like a real great BP option. Time to let him find an NL team and wish him luck.

Swarzak and Deduno have definitely felt redundant for much of the season, although I'm not sure Deduno is the one to cast off now.  He makes the league minimum and at least got interesting results as a starter as recently as last year.  Swarzak could make close to $2 mil this offseason, and does not appear to have the trust or ability to be anything other than a mop-up reliever.  I guess they both could be offseason cut candidates, I suppose.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I agree they had these guys, but for the most part, they weren't being utilized on the shuttle plan.  Carrying the extra pitcher or two was the norm for much of 2012 and 2013.

Perhaps, but the Twins didn't really have a need for "shuttle guys" in 2012-2013.  They were desperately giving extended auditions to 3, 4, or even 5 starters at a time.

 

And I think we've been carrying an extra pitcher for most of 2014 too, even with the shuttle plan (Guerrier?  Deduno AND Swarzak?).

[SweetOne69]

Why does a team need two long guys? I like DeDuno and all, but it's time for the Twins to move on. He doesn't profile as a starter for this team, and doesn't look like a real great BP option. Time to let him find an NL team and wish him luck.

Because they don't have 5 starters that can go 5+ innings on a regular bases.

 

Every starter will have a bad outing every now and then and get lit up, but the Twins' will have 2 do it almost every time through the rotation.  So they need 2 long men as Gardy's policy is to rest a pitcher 1 day for every inning pitched.

[Mike Sixel]

You can't execute a shuttle plan, if all your RP are old and out of options.......

[jokin]

Perhaps, but the Twins didn't really have a need for "shuttle guys" in 2012-2013.  They were desperately giving extended auditions to 3, 4, or even 5 starters at a time.

 

And I think we've been carrying an extra pitcher for most of 2014 too, even with the shuttle plan (Guerrier?  Deduno AND Swarzak?).

 

The days the Twins have rostered 13 and 14 pitchers has been cut back quite a bit, pretty sure it hasn't been a majority of the time.And there shouldn't be a "need" for shuttle guys, they should just be there at the ready as a rule of course, to avoid most of the oft-embarrassing moments with a thin bench that comes from guys getting dinged up short-term and being unavailable for a few days.  

[jokin]

You can't execute a shuttle plan, if all your RP are old and out of options.......

 

Thankyou.  And part of that comes from delaying their progress/failing to generate proper progress through the minors.  I think the Twins have tried to address this issue through the draft with all of the college RP arms drafted of late.

[Brandon]

I'm ok with a Willingham trade, trading Burton, Swarzak, DL for Arcia, I don't really see anyone else I'd be ok with them loosing.  Vargas could go back to the minors but he's been hitting so I'd rather avoid doing that.  Deduno has been lights out as a reliever.  He had given up 9 runs in 41.33 innings before yesterdays clunker in relief.  He currently has a 2.74 relief era and 14 runs in 44.33 innings.  And he has 43 strikeouts in those 44.33 innings. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Because they don't have 5 starters that can go 5+ innings on a regular bases.

 

Every starter will have a bad outing every now and then and get lit up, but the Twins' will have 2 do it almost every time through the rotation.  So they need 2 long men as Gardy's policy is to rest a pitcher 1 day for every inning pitched.

Twins have only had 1 start less than 5 IP each of the last two weeks (Darnell and May).

 

For the season, by my count the Twins have had 22 starts of less than 5 IP in 116 games, or just under 20%.  That's an average of once per turn.