Santana Optioned, Vargas Recalled

[stringer bell]

 

Yeah, seems risky to me.

 

Boras has to basically believe he can get a 3 or 4 year deal to decline 1/16.  Boras has already stuck it to the Twins twice with Pelfrey, I don't want to give him a third opportunity.

Pelfrey has cost the Twins something like $15M over three years.  If he wins 15 and has an ERA of under 4 (still a stretch), he might give the club enough value in one year to pay for all three years he has been a Twin.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't have any idea what a particular player might learn in a 3-week AAA assignment after being in the bigs for almost a year. But I bet this is what I would learn/remember:

 

- after being in the majors, the minors really suck

- I like flying better than bus rides

- I will do whatever it takes to get back

- if I get back, I will do whatever it takes to stay

- I will do what my coaches tell me. Joyfully, with feeling.

 

I have no idea if any of that was a problem for Vargas, but I guarantee you, that's what I would take away from the experience. And I think it would be good for me.

Great post. I hope it works for Kennys, though I never fully understood the demotion in the first place.

[blairpaul715]

 

Yeah, seems risky to me.

 

Boras has to basically believe he can get a 3 or 4 year deal to decline 1/16.  Boras has already stuck it to the Twins twice with Pelfrey, I don't want to give him a third opportunity.

I would say IF IF IF Pelfrey stays the course the rest of the yr, he didnt stick it to us twice, just that he had one out of 3 good yrs, but this years value might be worth the $11M we paid him for the 2 yrs.......again a big IF!!!!!

[kab21]

 

Great post. I hope it works for Kennys, though I never fully understood the demotion in the first place.

The only rational explanation is that there was a message to Kennys in the demotion.  The nice thing is that they haven't made it public which is usually the kiss of death in the organization.

[TheLeviathan]

Ryan just said they sent him down for pitch recognition, but the call-up was because of the needs of the big league lineup.

 

So there you go.

[DocBauer]

I like Santana a lot. He has some real talent and ability. I believe he has the talent to play in the league, and the work ethic and ability to do so. Including at SS. But right now he is struggling and seems a bit lost, though his defense may have been actually improving as of late. I think the move is a good one to get him relaxed and back on track.

 

Considering his potential, and considering what he did last season, I have to wonder if he isn't best suited, ultimately, as a LF who can backup CF and SS. Not saying he can't be a SS full time, but with Escobar around, Polanco after him, and Gordon after him, might his potential be opened up with such a move? It's happened before to a lot of talented guys.

 

Escobar did a fine job last season and will undoubtedly do so as well this year. His bat may be ready to come around with playing every day at one spot again. I'm not worried about Nunez as the utility guy. He'll play SS one day a week, can hit some, has some pop and some speed. He is nothing more than average defensively, but that's all he HAS to be one day a week. And he has ML experience over the years.

 

I hope Vargas learned something though I can't imagine what. Not only was he swinging the bat better when sent down, but he was the only real, true DH option on the roster at the time. Mistake sending him down. Mistake corrected now.

[Mike Sixel]

Ryan just said they sent him down for pitch recognition, but the call-up was because of the needs of the big league lineup.

 

So there you go.

Were those needs not there before? I am confused.

[USAFChief]

 

I don't care much about 16M on a one year deal.  But I do care that he will be our third vet on scholarsip. Immovable objects blocking more promising pitchers.  Now you have Meyer, Milone, May, Gibson, and Berrios going for two spots.

 

The only vet of those three whose talent is top five is Ervin, IMO.  And that is assuming his past was not helped by illegal substances.

There's no such thing as a bad one yr contract, and there's no such thing as too much pitching.

 

And there is, at this point, nothing that says to me Meyer or Milone are safe bets to outperform any of the scholarship vets in 2016, and I'd be inclined to put Berrios in the same camp.

 

I would not even consider an extension for Pelfrey, but if he pitches well enough to make a qualifying offer worth it, it's a no brainer.

[jokin]

Were those needs not there before? I am confused.

Not the first time, and you're not the only one...

[drjim]

 

Ryan just said they sent him down for pitch recognition, but the call-up was because of the needs of the big league lineup.

 

So there you go.

 

Some times obvious things are obvious.

[drjim]

 

Were those needs not there before? I am confused.

 

Unfortunately they are likely still there.

[twinsnorth49]

Some times obvious things are obvious.

Like AAA fastballs.

[howeda7]

 

Yes, exactly what I would do, but I bet they would favor Thielbar over potentially both Tonkin and Achter at this point. They made Oliveros start again yesterday. Good grief.

Agreed. Neither Duensing or Thompson are getting anyone out right now. They need at least one lefty.

[TheLeviathan]

Some times obvious things are obvious.

Right but the promotion had nothing to do with his performance in AAA and everything to do with the team realizing how much they needed his type of bat

[drjim]

 

Right but the promotion had nothing to do with his performance in AAA and everything to do with the team realizing how much they needed his type of bat

 

Or realizing they had no other options unless they wanted to roll with the Bernier train again.

 

What they need is his theoretical bat, not his actual bat at this moment.

[Linus]

 

Or realizing they had no other options unless they wanted to roll with the Bernier train again.

 

What they need is his theoretical bat, not his actual bat at this moment.

This.  I am surprised how many people think his bat is going to be transformational in the lineup.  If he keeps swinging like last night, he will trade places with Arcia in the not so distant future.  He has no chance against a major league breaking ball and thats all he is going to see going forward.

[jokin]

This.  I am surprised how many people think his bat is going to be transformational in the lineup.  If he keeps swinging like last night, he will trade places with Arcia in the not so distant future.  He has no chance against a major league breaking ball and thats all he is going to see going forward.

I've looked up and down the thread, and I don't see one use of the word "transformational", not even in conjunction with Kennys Vargas.

[twinsnorth49]

 

This.  I am surprised how many people think his bat is going to be transformational in the lineup.  If he keeps swinging like last night, he will trade places with Arcia in the not so distant future.  He has no chance against a major league breaking ball and thats all he is going to see going forward.

Unlike Escobar's transformational bat at the DH spot? He has "no chance": against a major league breaking ball so the best plan is to then keep him at AAA where he'll never see one and therefore learn to recognize one? 

 

Personally I don't care much if he trades places with Arcia, as long a one of them hits. If Bruno can't straighten out either one of them then it could be a problem but we're a long way off from that. I'd rather have one of them trying to work it out and pose at least a semblance of a threat as opposed to writing in Suzuki at the 5 spot, Robinson in the 2 hole and pretending Escobar is a DH.

[Linus]

 

Unlike Escobar's transformational bat at the DH spot? He has "no chance": against a major league breaking ball so the best plan is to then keep him at AAA where he'll never see one and therefore learn to recognize one? 

 

Personally I don't care much if he trades places with Arcia, as long a one of them hits. If Bruno can't straighten out either one of them then it could be a problem but we're a long way off from that. I'd rather have one of them trying to work it out and pose at least a semblance of a threat as opposed to writing in Suzuki at the 5 spot, Robinson in the 2 hole and pretending Escobar is a DH.

No where in my post did I refer to Escobar - I don't care for him DHing as much as you do (don't) nor did I advocate for Vargas being in AAA so I'm not sure why you used my quote in your post..  I'm simply saying that he really struggles with the breaking ball which means that, unless he learns to hit it, he won't be much help.

[twinsnorth49]

 

No where in my post did I refer to Escobar - I don't care for him DHing as much as you do (don't) nor did I advocate for Vargas being in AAA so I'm not sure why you used my quote in your post..  I'm simply saying that he really struggles with the breaking ball which means that, unless he learns to hit it, he won't be much help.

Just based on your transformational claim and the fact that Escobar was occupying the DH spot prior to Vargas coming back up. Also, your language seems pretty absolute that Vargas has no chance against a major league breaking ball.