Fien activated, Tonkin demoted

[LimestoneBaggy]

For the amount of money they spent, you have to see him a few more times before you dump him (who knows, the way things have been going, maybe he starts magically pitching well). But for now, all I ask is:

 

1. He better be moping things up.....against the Indians/White Sox.......when we're up by 20;

2. The second they bring him in, I'm switching to tequila; and

3. Where's Dave to declare a fork is necessary....that'll fix him up. 

[jokin]

 

I'm pretty sure we were promised nothing.

 

But yes, yes we were... we were assured by many that at least one magical mystery move was going to have this all make sense.  Still waiting... 

[drjim]

 

But yes, yes we were... we were assured by many that at least one magical mystery move was going to have this all make sense.  Still waiting... 

 

And sadly all we have had as fans to comfort ourselves since then is wins.

[jokin]

 

And sadly all we have had as fans to comfort ourselves since then is wins.

 

Why is that sad??

[Craig Arko]

I got nothin. Well, beer.

 

[Blake]

 

Oh good, what a relief! We are still free to bash the front office.

We would bash the front office no matter what. Picture this: "So what if we won 99 games! With one more bat, we could have had 101 wins!! Why didn't Ryan DFA Hitty McDefense and spend to get Defense Mchitty? As fans, we deserve better!!"

[formerly33]

 

We would bash the front office no matter what. Picture this: "So what if we won 99 games! With one more bat, we could have had 101 wins!! Why didn't Ryan DFA Hitty McDefense and spend to get Defense Mchitty? As fans, we deserve better!!"

Yep Or if we had 101 wins - "If we had traded Santana for so-in-so we could have won the WS." But I'm getting off topic.

[Craig Arko]

Yep Or if we had 101 wins - "If we had traded Santana for so-in-so we could have won the WS." But I'm getting off topic.

I'm pretty sure that's on the League Office.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I looked up Stauffer's career stats. When healthy, he's been an ERA 3.50 kinda guy. I can see why the club doesn't want to lose him before they see what he can do.

 

As for Tonkin vs. Fien, seems like kind of a wash. Fien's got a track record of success with this team. Tonkin goes down mainly on seniority rules.

Stauffer in SD was pitching very low leverage. He was basically their Swarzak.

[jokin]

 

Stauffer in SD was pitching very low leverage. He was basically their Swarzak.

 

Yep.  TR threw the dice here and it came up snake eyes, would Stauffer even be claimed if he is DFA'd?  Probably worth the "risk" to find out.  (Which team pays the bonuses if Stauffer hits hit appearance targets on another team after he is released by the Twins?)

[bird]

 

And he wasn't healthy the past week?  When we had 5 and 7 run leads?

 

 

I'm not defending the decision, but isn't a big part of his being idle for the past 5 games at least in part due to the fact that Allen and Molitor see his role as the long reliever? When every starter goes six or more, that causes a problem. I long for the days when Swarzak led the team in appearances.

 

 

[SwainZag]

 

I'm not defending the decision, but isn't a big part of his being idle for the past 5 games at least in part due to the fact that Allen and Molitor see his role as the long reliever? When every starter goes six or more, that causes a problem. I long for the days when Swarzak led the team in appearances.

 

There were only 2.2 IP of relief in those 2 games as well and Duensing, who is struggling, got an inning out of it as well.  It's not like there have been ample situations for Stauffer to pitch since he has been off the DL. 

[Platoon]

It's the Twins Way! it's been my complaint about the FO all along. It's not that I think TR doesn't know talent. I am sure he knows more about it than me, and most of us. Buts it's still moves like this, and ones coming up that will always limit this franchise to mediocrity, with a very limited chance at becoming a consistent top tier team. And I am not talking about wild card, or winning a weak division and getting smoked every year in the playoffs. The infatuation with replacement level vets continues!

[jokin]

 

I'm not defending the decision, but isn't a big part of his being idle for the past 5 games at least in part due to the fact that Allen and Molitor see his role as the long reliever? When every starter goes six or more, that causes a problem. I long for the days when Swarzak led the team in appearances.

 

Great... so then why is Ryan all in favor of maintaining the 13-man pitching staff that went right along with the days of Swarzak?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

5.14 ERA, 6.13 FIP and 1.43 WHIP

 

Tonkin's numbers this season.   Does that look like someone who pitched well enough to deserve a job in the the majors playing for a division leader?

 

Nope.

 

(Stauffer hasn't either, but that is another story.)

 

Not a Fien fan by any means, but even him was better than Tonkin...

if Tonkin was sent down for Vargas and Stauffer was cut for Fien or vice versa, I would not be epically pissed right now.

[h2oface]

Now Fien gets a chance to show he is better than he has been so far this season..... not glorious numbers to date, either, eh? Here's to hoping he can pitch like the middle of last season. 

[DocBauer]

You know, the problem isn't making a mistake in a signing. The problem isn't trying to ascertain fully if you've made a mistake by taking another look. The problem is a guy pitching awful in spring, awful at the begining of the season, getting hurt, and then getting brought back up after only a couple of appearances as though he were an all star closer the team felt it needed to rush back.

 

Absolutely, positively no reason for Stauffer to be back at this point. He should be rehabbing and proving he deserves his next opportunity.

[Pius Jefferson]

I'm hoping once Arcia is ready to come off the DL that Stauffer is designated for assignment but my hopes aren't very high.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I'm not defending the decision, but isn't a big part of his being idle for the past 5 games at least in part due to the fact that Allen and Molitor see his role as the long reliever? When every starter goes six or more, that causes a problem. I long for the days when Swarzak led the team in appearances.

If he is a strict, extreme mop-up man, that kinda limits his upside and utility, no? He is like the pitching version of Bernier.

[Otto von Ballpark]

There were only 2.2 IP of relief in those 2 games as well and Duensing, who is struggling, got an inning out of it as well. It's not like there have been ample situations for Stauffer to pitch since he has been off the DL.

Well, there were two clear opportunities, and a fairly obvious/immediate need to get Stauffer back up to speed after his layoff. If they are not willing to use him then, and they are likewise not willing to use him in close games, I guess I am just not sure why he is on the team.

[Rosterman]

I'm just confused about why Stauffer didn't pitch in any of the big lead games, too. And sending Tonkin down (as well as someone else) means someone on the Rochester roster has to move on or out. We know Pressly is on the bubble, but at some point I would rather see the future remain with options still to call up from the minors, and clear some 40-man roster spots, which can easily happen from any number of names like Stauffer, Schafer, Duensing, Bernier and even Herrmann. I can easily name a minor league guy to replace each of those names. I'll give Duensing a little more lease...but, jeez....why hasn't Stauffer pitched and why are we keeping 13 guys. Can't even find innings for Graham!

[nicksaviking]

Yep Or if we had 101 wins - "If we had traded Santana for so-in-so we could have won the WS." But I'm getting off topic.

I would assume then that if fans cannot to be critical of bad moves when the team is winning, then fans also cannot be supportive of good moves when the team is bad?

[formerly33]

 

I would assume then that if fans cannot to be critical of bad moves when the team is winning, then fans also cannot be supportive of good moves when the team is bad?

Don't get me wrong here. I wasn't criticizing anybody, and I love bashing the front office. If I showed you all the letters I've written in my time (without actually sending them) to Terry Ryan...well, you'd get bored with all the repetition. And I won't be stopping now. Everyone has a right to complain...and you're right, everyone has the right to cheer. But it is interesting that you make that point. If I thought that fans couldn't be critical of bad moves when the team was winning (which, I'll repeat, they can be), I would also think that fans couldn't be supportive of good moves when the team was bad. I'd just be like, "What are ya'll excited about? It ain't gonna help." Or something like that.

 

I didn't mean that in a negative way, and I didn't want anyone to take it as an insult. I'm sorry if it came across that way.

[Brock Beauchamp]

If Stauffer is not going to appear in meaningful games and the Twins aren't ready to recall either Vargas or Arcia (I think they still want Pinto catching in Rochester, as he continues to start regularly there), Tim's performance doesn't matter that much.

 

With that said, the move shows an unwillingness to discard underperforming veterans. It's not a good sign for a team battling for first place in the division. Maybe Stauffer, over the course of this season in mop-up duties, only costs the team 0-5 runs. That's not a big deal in low leverage situations.

 

But the opportunity to replace dead weight like Stauffer with a potential high leverage guy like Oliveros or Achter is troublesome, to say the least. Stauffer might do the most damage not through bad performances but through blocking a younger player from getting time in MLB. If that higher upside pitcher performs in June in low-leverage situations, he might move his way up to the seventh or eighth inning down the stretch. That's what really bothers me. It's not Stauffer so much as the thinking behind keeping Stauffer on the roster.

 

If Stauffer is gone the moment Arcia is ready or Vargas gets repromoted (meaning that Stauffer is nothing more than a placeholder for a position player to decrease the pitching staff to 12 again), then it's probably not a big deal. If he's dead weight on this roster in late June or through July, then it could really hurt the team because he's taking innings from potentially higher upside players who can step into more important roles as the season progresses.

[DocBauer]

What Brock just said.

 

Free Oliveros!

 

Or at least, give him a much deserved shot! Hes never pitched poorly at the ML level. Ofcourse he's gotten few opportunities either. Other than getting hurt, and then rehabbing back as strong as ever, what's he ever done negatively?

[Gene Larkin]

What Brock just said.

Free Oliveros!

Or at least, give him a much deserved shot! Hes never pitched poorly at the ML level. Ofcourse he's gotten few opportunities either. Other than getting hurt, and then rehabbing back as strong as ever, what's he ever done negatively?

Oliveros in stints with Tigers and Twins has a career 5.22 ERA, 1.466 WHIP and -0.1 WAR. In my book that's pitching poorly at ML. If any Rochester deserves a shot with the big club, it's AJ Achter

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Oliveros in stints with Tigers and Twins has a career 5.22 ERA, 1.466 WHIP and -0.1 WAR. In my book that's pitching poorly at ML. If any Rochester deserves a shot with the big club, it's AJ Achter

Lester Oliveros has pitched 29.1 innings in the majors. 21.1 of those innings came as a 23 year old in 2011.

 

Lester Oliveros' past major league stats have little bearing on his future major league stats. By no means is he guaranteed success going forward but those stats mean very little.

[stringer bell]

Patience, Grasshoppers!  I seriously don't like anything about Stauffer that I've seen since he's joined the Twins, but he is a guy with a decent track record and his work to this point is too small a sample.  I don't doubt that he will continue to be bad, but he's only worked 10 innings.  Give him another 10 and see where he's at. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

Patience, Grasshoppers!  I seriously don't like anything about Stauffer that I've seen since he's joined the Twins, but he is a guy with a decent track record and his work to this point is too small a sample.  I don't doubt that he will continue to be bad, but he's only worked 10 innings.  Give him another 10 and see where he's at. 

 

I just found five innings he pitched at Rochester earlier this month: 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 3 runs.

 

So now we're only down to 5 we have to give him.

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

If I'm going to give someone an extended look, it's going to be a young guy with upside, not an older guy on the wrong side of his career who hasn't performed well 2 months into the season.  I'd rather keep Tonkin and DFA Stauffer or Duensing.  Heck, I'd probably DFA them both and bring up Oliveros  as well.  Neither are high leverage guys at this point, so you may as well give extended looks to Oliveros and Tonkin in those roles.  Both need time to adjust to the majors, as I suspect both will eventually be decent relievers.