Twins considering the NL pitching well, yet again. Soon-to-be 38, Ryan Vogelsong is on the Twins radar

[jokin]

Mike Berardino is back to reporting about baseball matters.  He reveals that Ryan Vogelsong's agent tells him that the Twins have inquired on the Giant RHSP.  

 

https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/540519849227984896

 

He looks to have #5-level stuff in the AL, but his uptick in velocity in 2014 apparently helped him in a bounce-back year in San Francisco.  He made $5M last season, so it's easy to see that the price would be in TR's wheelhouse, but why another low-end guy when the current roster is crawling with them?

 

Thoughts? 

[Linus]

Berardino is back to reporting about baseball matters.  He reveals that Ryan Vogelsong's agent tells him that the Twins have inquired on the Giant RHSP.  He looks to have #5-level stuff in the AL, but his uptick in velocity in 2014 apparently helped him in a bounce-back year in San Francisco.  He made $5M last season, so it's easy to see that the price would be in TR's wheelhouse, but why another low-end guy when the current roster is crawling with them?

 

Thoughts? 

Agree.  Quality is what we need, not quantity, or at least somebody that has some potential upside.  While I want the Twins to add another starter, I want the person to clearly upgrade the rotation.  If they are going to battle it out for the 5th spot, I would rather roll with Meyer, May or even Milone.

[nicksaviking]

A velocity uptick in a contract year? Who would have heard of such a thing!

 

Yuk.  Please no. Surely the team can find a better road block for Meyer and May than a 37-year-old pitching in one of the NL's most pitcher friendly parks last year.

[minnesota transplant]

Agree to all the above.  Come on guys!

[Otto von Ballpark]

Berardino also reports that they made an offer on 37 year old reliever Jason Frasor (he's since signed with Kansas City, admittedly cheaply).

 

I think the average age of our coaching candidates was lower than the average age of our free agent offers so far.

[laloesch]

A velocity uptick in a contract year? Who would have heard of such a thing!

 

Yuk.  Please no. Surely the team can find a better road block for Meyer and May than a 37-year-old pitching in one of the NL's most pitcher friendly parks last year.

 

My thoughts exactly.  These kinds of moves make me wanna puke.  This is CLASSIC, CLASSIC Terry Ryan dumpster diving.  The first being the Torii Hunter signing and now a potential signing of Vogelsong, a 38 year old starter whose only had two good seasons out of ten (five as a starter).  The only thing I can make of this is that Masterson has brushed off the Twin's interest in him and no-one is talking to them.

[nicksaviking]

Trying to tie the LGBT debate to my baseball team yesterday was frustrating, but his reporting of this might be unforgivable.

[Mike Sixel]

Every rebuilding team should concentrate on signing players over 35.....it's the new inefficiency.

[Willihammer]

He's going to be 38 but he did start 32 games with halfway decent peripherals. He's not someone I considered but probably could be had on a short deal. I'm intrigued.

 

I wonder if they identified room for improvement with a repertoire tweak. He threw his changeup 10% of the time in 2014 but opponents slugged .540 off it. Every other pitch was .403 or under.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Maybe for the bullpen - he can have Swarzak's spot. (Pelfrey should have Swarzak's spot, though.)

[Brandon]

He could probably be had on a 1 year deal and would be easy to trade at the all star break so we can bring someone up to replace him.

[zenser]

There is no logical reason for the Twins to consider Ryan Vogalsong. He has absolutely zero roster value. He can give us innings? So can May, Meyer, Darnell, Milone. I am ready to see a little bit of the future.

[nicksaviking]

I wonder if they identified room for improvement with a repertoire tweak. He threw his changeup 10% of the time in 2014 but opponents slugged .540 off it. Every other pitch was .403 or under.

 

Isn't it considered an act of war around in this state to suggest a player should scrap his changeup?

[bird]

He's going to be 38 but he did start 32 games with halfway decent peripherals. He's not someone I considered but probably could be had on a short deal. I'm intrigued.

 

I wonder if they identified room for improvement with a repertoire tweak. He threw his changeup 10% of the time in 2014 but opponents slugged .540 off it. Every other pitch was .403 or under.

Well, then it sounds like he just needs some help with that change up. Let's just get him out there in the pen with Bobby Cue....never mind.

[nater79a]

Agree with most of the posters here. If we're not going to upgrade the rotation with a number 1 or 2 guy, why bother.  Don't we already have about 8 starters that can do what Vogelsong is capable of?

[Homer Hanky]

Let's just say NO! and keep making the way clear for our young arms in the minors! 

[Otto von Ballpark]

I wonder if they identified room for improvement with a repertoire tweak.

Does Vogelsong count as an "old dog"?  Would a repertoire tweak be a "new trick"?

[LJHoes]

This guy is just making stuff up now. The rotation needs 'veteran leadership?' Who's the source? A packet of ketchup? They have plenty of Veteran presence in the rotation. But beyond that, Vogelsong has barly more MLB experience than Hughes or Nolasco. If they're in on him, it's because they think he's good. That's a different debate, of course. But this is spurious reporting at best. So much so that MLBTR has ignored it all day. 

[TheLeviathan]

This guy is just making stuff up now. The rotation needs 'veteran leadership?' Who's the source? A packet of ketchup? They have plenty of Veteran presence in the rotation. But beyond that, Vogelsong has barly more MLB experience than Hughes or Nolasco. If they're in on him, it's because they think he's good. That's a different debate, of course. But this is spurious reporting at best. So much so that MLBTR has ignored it all day. 

 

Considering how often "veteran presence" comes out of the mouths of our leadership team on the Twins, I would say it's a vote of credibility to the rumor if anything.

[D. Hocking]

The tweet says they are looking for "veteran presence."

 

Wouldn't Hughes provide that for the starters and Perkins for the bullpen?  How many veterans do they need?

 

Maybe they want to build a team where they players are all old enough to remember when Molitor was a player thinking that will help create a "good clubhouse".

[Boom Boom]

It wouldn't be an offseason without the Twins bringing in an aging starter from the NL to eat innings.

[DocBauer]

If I had the time, I would rush to Franklin's website and look up how many different ways there are to say NO.

 

It's one thing to look at a Masterson, someone who is 30-ish, has done it, can do it again, and someone who had an OK season late in their career when they doubled up on their Wheaties and Cheerios for a season and figure to be nothing better than a 5th SP on staff. We have guys already who can do that, be that, and can use the experience to become more than that.

 

This is NOT the kind of veteran addition we need in any way, shape or form.

[jokin]

This is NOT the kind of veteran addition we need in any way, shape or form.

 

But the Twins continue to circle back to the same pattern as last offseason.  Bronson Arroyo was the same age but with better credentials and a higher price tag, and we know now that the Twins dodged a bullet (I was wrong, I thought Arroyo would have been a good risk @ 2/$16M, thankfully he signed for a whole lot more with Arizona) and how that one blew up in the D-Backs face. Vogelsong's track record suggests that his signing would entail more risk of performance failure, but at a slightly lower price tag.

[Seth Stohs]

Vogelsong is solid and would do alright with the Twins, I'm sure. I don't care about the age. But my comment all along has been that if they're going to sign a starting pitcher, make it a difference maker, a guy who if things go well could be a #2... otherwise, go with guys like Meyer and May.

 

I don't have a problem with them talking to Vogelsong though. He wouldn't be the end of the world at all. Solid starter. Pitching depth is good. He's pitched a lot of games/innings. He's someone they should have conversations with.

[jorgenswest]

He had 1 WAR in 2014.

He had -0.6 WAR in 2013.

He is projected for 0.5 WAR in 2015

He would be going for the NL to AL.

He would be going from a team with a good defense to one with a bad defense.

He would be going from a home park ranked 26th in park factor to one ranked 2nd in park façtor.

He will be 37.

 

I have a problem with it.

[jokin]

He had 1 WAR in 2014.

He had -0.6 WAR in 2013.

He is projected for 0.5 WAR in 2015

He would be going for the NL to AL.

He would be going from a team with a good defense to one with a bad defense.

He would be going from a home park ranked 26th in park factor to one ranked 2nd in park façtor.

He will be 37.

 

I have a problem with it.

 

Born in 1977, so he'll be 38 next July, but yeah.  This team doesn't seem to have much faith in their vaunted SP prospects, plus Vogelsong is likely to cost somewhere near $8M/yr, so he wouldn't be one who could easily be cast aside in favor of the younger arm.

 

If they really want to go this route of hiring an insurance policy against prospect unreadiness, why not a much lower cost option like Chris Capuano, who wouldn't present the same blocking issues?

[Otto von Ballpark]

I don't have a problem with them talking to Vogelsong though. He wouldn't be the end of the world at all.

Seth, at some point if they keep making offseason moves where your primary reaction is "it wouldn't be the end of the world", it could contribute to an early end to our competitiveness this season.

[ashbury]

This team doesn't seem to have much faith in their vaunted SP prospects

Some people count the eggs, some people count only the chickens, and maybe the front office is splitting the difference here?

[ashbury]

Seth, at some point if they keep making offseason moves where your primary reaction is "it wouldn't be the end of the world", it could contribute to an early end to our competitiveness this season.

That wouldn't be the end of the world, though.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

A velocity uptick in a contract year? Who would have heard of such a thing!

 

When I read that article and saw his agent saying he was hitting 95, I thought... what the heck.

 

But then I looked at Fangraphs and saw that he's been 89-90 forever, I thought... what the heck?

 

The Twins should pass.