Twins without Options

[John Bonnes]

Accoring to MLBTR, here are the Twins without options this spring:

 

Jeff Gray, Matt Maloney, Glen Perkins, Anthony Swarzak, Alexi Casilla, Luke Hughes, Trevor Plouffe

 

The surprises here are Gray and Maloney, since I think we expected each of the others to be on the 25 man roster. Gray and maloney were picked up by Bill Smith before Ryan took over, have taken a spot on the 40-man all offseason (leading to the loss of Jim Hoey) and a pretty mediocre pitchers who are unlikely to make the 25-man. That just doesn't make sense.

 

So are we undervaluing these guys? They seemingly would have the inside track over other fringe candidates (or even established guys with options, like Alex Burnett). I had better take a second look at them, I guess. All I really remember about them is they're ex-Krisvsky guys that I didn't think were good enough to warrant a 40-man roster spot.

[Parker Hageman]

From my understanding, Maloney is sort of a Scott Diamond-redux. He lacks the velocity but has some decent secondary pitches and good location. Some reports I've read from Baseball America make it sound as if he was never given a full shot with the Reds after putting up fairly impressive minor league numbers while on the other hand other scouting reports seemed to suggest that his failure in the small sampling of MLB appearances is based upon a poor fastball. Still, with the rotation almost spoken for and the left-handed bullpen spots all but solidified by Perkins and Duensing (not to mention Diamond), it's hard to understand where the Twins are projecting him to be after spring training. And, I would bet that if he has a decent spring, the Twins won't be able to slip him through waivers to hide him in Rochester.

[Seth Stohs]

why are they 'surprises'? We knew when they were acquired that they were out of options? I think Jeff Gray is a given to make the 40 man roster. I think Maloney has a good chance to clear waivers and start in Rochester. I should say, I hope Gray is a given to make the 40 man roster in hopes that that means that 1.) they've decided to keep Terry Doyle, and 2.) they plan to start Burnett and Oliveros in AAA to help them develop. Those two still have a chance to be solid, so keeping them down is probbably in their best interest. Gray isn't great, but he's good enough to pitch in the 6-7 innings.

 

And, if he proves not to be, you take him off the 40 man and add Bulger, Burton, Vasqez, Perdomo, French, whoever. As Aaron has talked about frequently on the podcasts, the back of the 40 man roster will allow for some flexibility.

[John Bonnes]

Seth, do you mean Gray is a given to make the 25-man roster? You said "40 man."

 

I guess I would agree that both of these guys have the inside track. I can see the Twins carrying 3 LHPs in the bullpen, especially because Perkins isn't going to be really used as a situational lefty, so that would make room for Maloney. And gawd knows they could use a decent RHP in the bullpen. If so (and assuming they keep Swarkak, who is also out of options) that would make the bullpen:

 

Capps - Closer

Zumaya & Perkins - Setup men

Duensing & Maloney - LH Relievers

Swarzak & Gray - RH relievers

 

Or am I missing someone obvious?

[Seth Stohs]

Yeah, I meant 25 man roster... my projections a couple weeks ago had - Capps, Zumaya, Perkins, Duensing, Swarzak, Gray and Terry Doyle.

[John Bonnes]

But Doyle has options, right? Does Manship?

[Seth Stohs]

Doyle was their Rule 5 pick. He has to make the 25 man roster and stick all year or else he goes back to the White Sox (or work out a trade). If they work out a trade with the White Sox, he comes off the 40 man roster. Same as Diamond last year. The Twins later added Diamond to the 25 man and 40 man roster when he was called up. When he was sent down, that was his first option.

 

Manship has one option remaining.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

I could be mistaken, but I think that for the Twins to trade for Diamond he had to be placed on waivers first and clear. Once he cleared, the Braves got him back and then the Twins traded for him. It would have been possible for another team to claim him and the Rule V rules still applied.

 

Same deal with Doyle. If he doesn't break camp, he'll have to be placed on waivers before the team can work out a trade. I'd think he'd have a better chance to stick than either Gray or Maloney.

[Seth Stohs]

That is correct.