Bullpen Help and AAA

[Shane Wahl]

I have to wonder if a good approach to acquiring bullpen help might be actually trading for AAA pitchers who are on the cusp of the big leagues instead of spending more in terms of money and prospects for current MLB relievers. I know that would still be a crap shoot, to some degree, but apparently the Twins don't like the current AAA pitchers they have for relief (Oliveros), and Burdi and Jones are actually down in Fort Myers now, with Reed clinging to Chatty somehow. I doubt that the Twins are going to call up Brandon Peterson so fast.
 

If it doesn't work for 2015, they are still nice additions to the top of the system, right?

 

An example would be . . . Nick Wittgren, who I wanted the Twins to draft out of Purdue. He was dominant in the lower minors and has been very good up through AAA now, with only a few bad outings to make the ERA jump.

 

There's got to be 10 such relievers out there. Maybe acquiring two of them for whatever would be a good idea.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I think we have several of those already.  Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, and Pat Dean. 

[Shane Wahl]

 

I think we have several of those already.  Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, and Pat Dean. 

 

I don't take Pat Dean seriously. Duffey is an option and Rogers is a better option. I don't know if it still isn't smart to bring in one more guy, at least.

[Mike Sixel]

They have Duffey, Rogers, May, Berrios.....they need to actually use them.

[Rosterman]

Michael Bowden is available. Didn't we want him from the Red Sox in the Santana negotiations? I'm sure there are arms available on the fringes of AAAA ball, but we also have those in Oliveros and Pryor (both ijured) and Darnell, not to mention Rogers. Heck, sign Pedro Hernandez away from the St. Paul Saints!

[GCTF]

 

 Heck, sign Pedro Hernandez away from the St. Paul Saints!

Bannable.

[Thrylos]

Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, and Pat Dean cannot strike their grandmas out.  The biggest issue with the Twins' pen is strikeouts.  O'Rourke, Pressly and Tonkin lead that Rochester team in K/9.  See how they did in the bigs.

 

Nope.

They need pitchers who can strike people out in the major leagues.    Look at Oliver Drake (Orioles.)  He was untouchable at AAA, but...

 

The Twins are competing.  They cannot afford to be bottom-feeders, like usually.  They need to go after pitchers who can pitch in the majors. 

 

Their payroll is about $30 million less than KC's and it shows...

[DaveW]

Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, and Pat Dean cannot strike their grandmas out. The biggest issue with the Twins' pen is strikeouts. O'Rourke, Pressly and Tonkin lead that Rochester team in K/9. See how they did in the bigs.

 

Nope.

They need pitchers who can strike people out in the major leagues. Look at Oliver Drake (Orioles.) He was untouchable at AAA, but...

 

The Twins are competing. They cannot afford to be bottom-feeders, like usually. They need to go after pitchers who can pitch in the majors.

 

Their payroll is about $30 million less than KC's and it shows...

Agreed, though Rogers has some nice value as a LOOGY in the major league pen, but he isn't a current answer for 7th/8th the Twins desperately need.

 

I think their best shot at a guy like that internally at this point is pelfrey or may, but they need to trade for a guy most likely as wel, Benoit, Clippard, K Rod, Chapman (seriously, why not? He buys them another year too) etc

[Shane Wahl]

How is there not more here? Anyway, yes, Rogers is clearly someone the Twins should add for the playoffs. He is better than Duensing, end of story.

 

There has to be someone else. I wouldn't trade much away for old bullpen help, but I might for young bullpen help.

[drjim]

 

How is there not more here? Anyway, yes, Rogers is clearly someone the Twins should add for the playoffs. He is better than Duensing, end of story.

 

There has to be someone else. I wouldn't trade much away for old bullpen help, but I might for young bullpen help.

 

If Rogers has a career half as good as Duensing he should consider that very successful.

 

There is certainly a chance he might be better at the moment, but it is far from "end of story."

[Shane Wahl]

 

If Rogers has a career half as good as Duensing he should consider that very successful.

 

There is certainly a chance he might be better at the moment, but it is far from "end of story."

 

Hopefully the Twins call him up to give us the chance to see who is correct.

[Willihammer]

I like the idea, and would add the caveat that we should specifically keep our eye out for starters who are in the process of losing their jobs (either in AAA or the bigs). There are a fair number of guys who for whatever reason, have stuff that plays up in the bullpen. Will Smith, our old buddy Liam Hendriks, and of course Wade Davis are some examples. A lot of teams would probably prefer to have the roster space in some cases so the price should be reasonable.

[stringer bell]

 

How is there not more here? Anyway, yes, Rogers is clearly someone the Twins should add for the playoffs. He is better than Duensing, end of story.

 

There has to be someone else. I wouldn't trade much away for old bullpen help, but I might for young bullpen help.

I take the same issues as drjim. We don't know how AAA numbers will project to the American League. Rogers may in fact be better, but when not comparing apples to apples, it is some type of educated guess.

 

The thing that would concern me about acquiring a current starter to convert to the bullpen is that there is no time for adjustment. The player needs to be ready to go as the eighth inning guy as soon as he is acquired. The Twins are in a pennant race with 70 games to go. Waiting a week or two for a guy to transition to the bullpen is too much time.

[h2oface]

Albertin Aroldis (de la Cruz) Chapman...... he is on the market..... why not go big?

[DaveW]

Albertin Aroldis (de la Cruz) Chapman...... he is on the market..... why not go big?

I have been 100% for this for the last few months, plus he is around for 2016 as well, when the Twins, on paper at least, should be even better.

[drjim]

 

I have been 100% for this for the last few months, plus he is around for 2016 as well, when the Twins, on paper at least, should be even better.

 

I wonder if you can get him without giving up Berrios or May. I'm doubtful.

 

Polanco would be a given, but not sure if he is enough to be the main piece.

[Willihammer]

I would sooner stick Berrios in the pen than trade him. The cost is a roster spot and starting his clock a little early, big whoop.

 

Not to mention that we still have no idea what kind of reliever May is. I wouldn't be surprised if his stuff played up.

[drjim]

 

I would sooner stick Berrios in the pen than trade him. The cost is a roster spot and starting his clock a little early, big whoop.

 

Not to mention that we still have no idea what kind of reliever May is. I wouldn't be surprised if his stuff played up.

 

I wouldn't trade Berrios for Chapman either, especially in the context of the current team. Which probably means no deal.

[Jham]

Meanwhile O'Rourke hasn't given up a hit...  Can we ride enough hot hands to make it work?  First of all, I am hugely disappointed in Alex Meyer's inability to be even marginally effective being a 2-pitch reliever.  If he can find something, that would be ideal.  Berrios has to move to the pen soon.  He should be watching his innings especially if he's going to help us into October.

 

Chapman makes us an instant World Series contender IF the rotation holds up.  

 

May must be getting shopped heavily.  I can't imagine a reason why he wasn't used this weekend unless we were trying to get a team an extra start out of him.   

[nicksaviking]

Any outside upgrades won't fix this problem. Simply because of two months of success, Boyer has joined Fien as a bullpen lock. After Perkins, these two are the most trusted relief arms, yet are the two guiltiest pitchers in terms of letting the ball be put in play. Outside upgrades will replace O'Rourke, Graham and May which won't fix the problem that is a lack of strikeouts, as Boyer and Fien almost surely will still be getting the ball way too much.