Boyer makes the team

[stringer bell]

They didn't have to do it for a few days, but the Twins officially added Boyer to the 40-man, assuring him of a spot on the 25-man roster. This action means that someone (Stauffer, Thielbar, Graham) won't make the squad unless someone else is disabled or traded.

[jimmer]

good for him.

[Squirrel]

Please let it be Stauffer. A girl can dream, can't she?

[stringer bell]

First guess is that the team has worked out a trade for Graham.

[Squirrel]

First guess is that the team has worked out a trade for Graham.

They can trade a Rule 5 pick? Would that team have to put him on the 25-man?

 

I'm really hoping Stauffer is cut.

[stringer bell]

They can trade Rule 5 picks. If the Twins traded Graham to anyone, that team would have to go by the Rule 5 rules. I suggested that the Twins could work out a trade with the Braves, so that they could send him to the minors.

[jorgenswest]

I have plenty of thoughts on the Twins management and their building for the future.

 

In this thread, I only want to appreciate Boyer and his hard work that earned him a spot in the majors. By all accounts a good man, hard worker and hopefully a good story.

[Thrylos]

 

First guess is that the team has worked out a trade for Graham.

 

Graham has the best RHRP arm in camp (and maybe not only right).  He is a lock.

 

Thielbar is the one who gets optioned.  Stauffer should be Blackburned, but Terry couldn't...

[Dr. Evil]

Another retread. Here we go again with Ryan building a pen on the cheap.

[Dr. Evil]

Turning 34 in July....... a lifetime MLB ERA of 4.63 in 265 games and 274.1 innings, with a 6.3 K/9. I really don't care what he did this spring. Some posters here have really liked him, I know, and they even saw him pitch. I haven't. But I don't like it. 33-34 year old season. This is a bad direction for the Twins to be going.  Just what is the point, exactly? Is he a "win now" guy? 

 

How about that Brian Duensing.......

Thats your primary lefty setup guy. Cmon, it's exciting right?

[Old Twins Cap]

Gotta respect the decisions.  The Twins coaches are working with these guys every day.  If they don't perform, then we bring up the kids.  Nothing wrong with that.  And, Boyer looked like he has some good stuff tonight against the Sox.

 

Brighten up people.  The regular season is about to begin.  Could it be any worse than the last four years?

[gunnarthor]

 

Another retread. Here we go again with Ryan building a pen on the cheap.

Not quite sure why he's getting ripped on here.  Would you prefer he spent millions on Soriano?  18m on Gregerson?  13m on Neshek?  I can see an argument for letting some of the young arms sink or swim but not sure about the cheapness claim.  And Ryan has had some nice success with bullpen rehab projects like Burton, Fein, Guerrier, Reyes, etc. 

[Seth Stohs]

Graham is pretty safe. Stauffer is safe. Thielbar is a question mark.

 

Boyer's opt-out was today, so that's why they had to announce it today.

 

Shane Robinson's opt-out is on Thursday, so they'll need to add him then.

[Otto von Ballpark]

And Ryan has had some nice success with bullpen rehab projects like Burton, Fein, Guerrier, Reyes, etc.

Those guys were younger than Boyer with more team control, usually a lot more team control (Fien and Guerrier, 6 years each). Not a whole lot of future value for Boyer.

 

That said, he seems like a cool dude, and I look forward to seeing his family around Target Field!

[Otto von Ballpark]

Boyer's opt-out was today, so that's why they had to announce it today.

 

Shane Robinson's opt-out is on Thursday, so they'll need to add him then.

Guys with opt-outs must love the Twins these days.

 

Pelfrey wishes he would have had an opt-out if he didn't make the rotation. Then he would have made the rotation for sure.

[biggentleben]

I loved Boyer as a young pitcher coming up for the Braves. He was a local Georgia boy who made it on the major league roster and had a very nice rookie year before injuries/surgery really changed his career trajectory.  I'm glad to see him make it back, especially for the local team.  Perhaps I can find my way to a Twins game this year to catch him in person.

[DocBauer]

A warm and sincere CONGRATS and WELCOME as well as an honest GOOD LUCK.  He seemed to find himself again out west last year, and has pitched very well this ST. (SSS mandated warning) I have absolutely no problem with him making the club.

 

On the surface.

 

On the surface I have little to no problem with Stauffer making the ballclub despite an awful spring. On the surface I have little to no problem with Robinson making the club. Or Pelfrey. Or Milone.

 

But I dig a little deeper, beyond the surface, and I see ALL FIVE of these guys making the club....now I have a problem. A deep and talented minor league organization, guys knocking on the door, a new manager and staff, an owner who has opened up his pocketbook like never before....and this is as good as it gets at certain spots?

 

Look, I'm not being mean, and I'm not being a pessimist. I actually like most of the club. But I have to ask: are the Twins being crazy like a fox, giving the youngsters another month or so to stretch out, do well, gain confidence, not feel pressured, and come up later after the Twins either remove a ballplayer or two, or make a trade or two, to make room and possibly acquire an additional asset or two? Or have we gotten to the point where we are suddenly trying to outsmart everyone and suddenly outsmarting ourselves?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Look, I'm not being mean, and I'm not being a pessimist. I actually like most of the club. But I have to ask: are the Twins being crazy like a fox, giving the youngsters another month or so to stretch out, do well, gain confidence, not feel pressured, and come up later after the Twins either remove a ballplayer or two, or make a trade or two, to make room and possibly acquire an additional asset or two? Or have we gotten to the point where we are suddenly trying to outsmart everyone and suddenly outsmarting ourselves?

I'm right with you.  I like this team, and I like these guys, but it just seems like they usually default to their most veteran alignment coming out of spring.

 

I don't think they are trying to outsmart anyone.  I think they just give a lot of deference to MLB experience and veteran status, and barring unusual circumstances they are going to give those guys the first crack to make this their team and their season, and the young guys can get their chance later.  (And on those occasions where a young guy has to take a role on the team out of spring training, they apply perhaps a bit too much pressure/scrutiny?  They don't always seem too careful about what young guys they throw into the fire too -- part of what makes the Hicks saga so confounding.)

 

Deference to veterans in roster decisions is certainly not uncommon around MLB, but it's a little more unusual to consistently see it in a rebuilding team like the Twins.  And they often don't show much urgency to deviate from it (usually waiting 2-3 months to make any moves), or much selectivity in what veterans they bring aboard, again particularly for a rebuilding club (note that we're something like 5-for-5 in avoiding veteran opt-outs the last two years, if you count Guerrier's delayed start to 2014 which was at least partially due to surgery he had the previous August).

 

Interesting that it's happening with Molitor at the helm too, as this was a frequent area of concern about Gardy.  I think it goes a lot deeper than just the manager though (although hopefully TR/Molitor are more judicious about it than Gardy/Antony/Smith seemed at times).

[Danchat]

Take a look at how our bullpen is shaping up:
(Pitcher - Age) (Age is by June 30th of 2015)
Glen Perkins - 32

Casey Fien - 31

Brian Duensing - 32

Blaine Boyer - 33

Tim Stauffer - 33

Mike Pelfrey - 31

J. R. Graham - 25

 

This is a rebuilding team? There is ONE pitcher under 30 years old! 

 

Now, I know that the younger bullpen arms didn't look so great in Spring Training - Tonkin and Pryor's pitches were off, Thompson and Thielbar struggled, and Achter was just too reliable - but there has to be some development for the future here. 

 

In my opinion, Duensing, Stauffer, and Boyer aren't going to contribute to a potential 2016 playoff run. I'd rather see a young guy struggle a little bit and get experience so he can be better in 2016. 

 

But the Twins insist on rolling out barely passable veterans... we'll see if no shakeup in the formula will produce a non-90+ loss season, but I doubt it. 

[Rosterman]

Yeah, I love the oldest bullpen in baseball.

 

Too often Ryan rides the horse of finding the diamond-in-the-rough. Guerrier. Burton, amongst others.

 

Yes, time should be given to Acheter and Tonking and the rest of the young crop.

 

But the Twins are notorious for bypassing the prospects that never materialize. Slama, Morlan. Korecky.Of course we have Manship, Hendriks, Waldrop. The names go on and on and they really didn't produce here or elsewhere.

 

So let's hope beyond hope that when the Twins spent almost an entire draft on relief arms, that they actually do pitch, and pitch well, for the Twins in seasons to come. Yeah, who buy Big and Expensive (Neshek, Soriano, others) when used and neglected will also do.

 

Again, I'm hoping beyond hope the starters average 7 innings for the entire season and WE DO see the future before the season is into September!. Even though there may not be many attending bodies in the stands watching it materialize.

[Shane Wahl]

Scary how this has transpired.

[Otto von Ballpark]

So let's hope beyond hope that when the Twins spent almost an entire draft on relief arms, that they actually do pitch, and pitch well, for the Twins in seasons to come.

Sometimes I fear that our old conservative, build from within Twins are a little eager to project their draft picks and prospects. I suspect a motivating factor in trading Span and Revere was not only the presence of Hicks, but also the arrival of Buxton, and the promise of Buxton has caused them to keep blindly throwing Hicks or whatever scrap heap options out in CF going on 3 years. Similarly, our MLB rotation patch was light in 2013 because hey, we just acquired these two AA arms... who are still in AAA two years later.

 

It is weird, though, because while I don't believe they promote too slow, they don't promote particularly fast for a team with that attitude either. They simply seem more than comfortable waiting for the future and spinning their wheels at multiple spots on the roster in the meantime...

[Otto von Ballpark]

Take a look at how our bullpen is shaping up:

(Pitcher - Age) (Age is by June 30th of 2015)

Glen Perkins - 32

Casey Fien - 31

Brian Duensing - 32

Blaine Boyer - 33

Tim Stauffer - 33

Mike Pelfrey - 31

J. R. Graham - 25

 

This is a rebuilding team? There is ONE pitcher under 30 years old!

I have said this elsewhere, but the most disappointing thing about this group isn't so much the age, as the team control / upside. Perkins is signed long term, Fien has 4 years of control left, and obviously Graham is a rookie, but the other 4 will all be gone or relatively expensive after 2015. And none of those 4 seem to offer the short-term performance boost that would make our investment in them worthwhile.

[TRex]

 

Take a look at how our bullpen is shaping up:
(Pitcher - Age) (Age is by June 30th of 2015)
Glen Perkins - 32

Casey Fien - 31

Brian Duensing - 32

Blaine Boyer - 33

Tim Stauffer - 33

Mike Pelfrey - 31

J. R. Graham - 25

 

This is a rebuilding team? There is ONE pitcher under 30 years old! 

The bolded part I understand, but the major complaint about the bullpen lately was the lack of hard throwers. However, Fangraphs indicates that this is not a pen full of Guerrier-types (avg. career fastball of 91.1). Below are the avg fastball speeds for the currently projected pen:

 

Glen Perkins - 94.0 (career as reliever, max 95.8 in 2014)
Casey Fien - 92.3 (max 95.4 2014)
Brian Duensing - 91.2 (2014; max 94.1 all years)
Blaine Boyer - 93.9 (career, max 96.5 all years)
Tim Stauffer - 90.7 (career, max >93.5 all years)
Mike Pelfrey - 92.5 (career as starter, max>96.2 for all healthy years)
J. R. Graham - reportedly in the 96mph range 

 

I would also imagine that the Burdi/Jones/Tonkin/Pressly group will start taking spots away from these guys this year as well.

[TKGuy]

I have no problem with this bullpen, except Stauffer, going into the season.  I agree that Thielbar is probably the odd man out.  I can certainly see Pelfrey thriving in the one inning of work, a la Latroy Hawkins.  

 

[gunnarthor]

 

Take a look at how our bullpen is shaping up:
(Pitcher - Age) (Age is by June 30th of 2015)
Glen Perkins - 32

Casey Fien - 31

Brian Duensing - 32

Blaine Boyer - 33

Tim Stauffer - 33

Mike Pelfrey - 31

J. R. Graham - 25

 

This is a rebuilding team? There is ONE pitcher under 30 years old! 

 

I'm not really sure young bullpens are particularly relevant to any team, including a rebuilding team.  Certainly, other rebuilding teams have had old bullpens.  Ideally, you want cheap arms (which they have) and replaceable arms (ditto).  The elite bullpen arms the Twins have in the minors aren't quite ready yet, although could be up by the break if all goes well.  I think worrying about whether or not 25 year old Tonkin or 26 year old Achter, for instance, makes the team seems a bit over thinking things.  

[Brandon]

I'm fine with the bullpen we had lots of options and no one stepped up but these guys and Hamburger and Achter.  I think our pitching will do the same rollover that the offense did last year.  Kubel, Willingham, and Collabello for Santana, Escobar, Vargas.....

 

We have 3 or 4 starting pitching prospects on the cusp of being ready and several strong relief prospects as well.

[Dr. Evil]

Not quite sure why he's getting ripped on here.  Would you prefer he spent millions on Soriano?  18m on Gregerson?  13m on Neshek?  I can see an argument for letting some of the young arms sink or swim but not sure about the cheapness claim.  And Ryan has had some nice success with bullpen rehab projects like Burton, Fein, Guerrier, Reyes, etc.

Yes he sure has, occasionally. But correct me if I'm wrong, our bullpen has been ranked in the bottom 5 of all of MLB the past 3 years. Yet we still look to reclamation projects as a primary source of talent.

[Oxtung]

Another worry I have is that Boyer and/or Stauffer are mediocre or show signs of unsustainably low ERA's but Ryan decides to extend them partway through the year a la Burton, Pelfrey, Suzuki, Doumit, et al...

 

[big dog]

I thought Boyer looked pretty good last night against the Red Sox.

 

My hope is that after 3-4 weeks, the Twins are aggressive in making any moves that seem necessary.  If the bullpen's done the job and no one in the minors is lights out, fine.  But if the pen is struggling, and/or a couple of the young guns are on fire, I sure hope they make changes fast.  I can live through April to see how things sort out, given that there are uncertainties in the majors and the minors.  But don't make me wait until June.