Berardino: Twins place Milone and Fien on waviers

[Platoon]

For better or worse, and no matter the history that brought us to this point, this is virtually uncharted territory for this FO. Add in the fact that it's May 5, and it almost a tectonic shift in philosophy. Will it continue? Should be interesting!

[Squirrel]

 

Just guilty of trying to put a positive spin on the move.

But Mastro isn't for sure, is it?

[PseudoSABR]

 

Let's not work too hard to pat the Twins on the back here.  This is like praising your kid for calling the tow truck after he rammed the car into a tree.

Maybe you were among those who definitively knew that Fien and Milone wouldn't be assets this year, but I was not among them.  It's always difficult for any organization to let go of players they've invested a lot of money in, especially when they have had a track record (if inconsistent) of success in the past.

Good on the Twins for setting them free and eating the money.  

 

The apt metaphor is praising the parent for teaching the kid to call the tow-truck, even if it was the parent who lent the kid the keys.  Although I wasn't sure Fien and Milone would fail, I also knew there was good chance they would, it's easy to say they should have been replaced with known-quantities at similar costs, but we enter the realm of speculation and hindsight. 

[stringer bell]

I thought keeping Fien was a mistake. They needed someone who could go multiple innings and it would be a good position for a big arm without refinement to learn how to pitch. I liked Milone and still do. As pointed out above, with the SSS of this year, his record could look much different if he was handled differently and with better bullpen help. He has a low ceiling and the Twins are probably right in trying guys who could be a lot better.

 

Coming into 2016, the Twins were thought to have a decent chance to contend and a very good chance to be relevant. So far, it look really bad for our home nine. In a scenario where the team has a chance, having veterans on the roster like Fien and Milone makes sense. If this is a lost season, then go with the kids and see what you have.

 

Finally, the DFA of Milone and Fien won't cost that much. I am almost certain that someone will claim Milone and his reasonable contract. The Twins would then pay only one-sixth of his contract, less than a million dollars (chump change in mlb). Fien could be outrighted if they choose, but I think it is goodby for Casey. They could have optioned him to Rochester, but they want to use the 40-man spot.

[USAFChief]

I am going to blow a gasket if Mastro wears a Twins uniform this season.

 

WTF? How does that do anything to improve the present, or the future? That would be the GM throwing his hands in the air and admitting he has no plan, had no plan, and doesn't expect to have a plan. He simply needs 25 men in uniform, and Mastro had a couple singles a couple years ago.

[jorgenswest]

With other guys trying to go the steroid path, I appreciate the effort of Fien and Milone. They didn't enter professional baseball with high expectations and their hard work has led to major league success. I hope both find more success in the majors.

[Woody Wants Wins]

Too bad for Tommy.  Remember last year sent down to Rochester to prove himself.  5 starts, 38 innings, 3 runs, 4-0, 47 k's,.    Name one pitcher that even has come close to that.  Tommy is a GOOD #5, AVG #4 ML pitcher.  I hope the young guys can pitch.  I hated the mid 90's watching the Twins continue to run up supposedly big time pitchers from AAA that never produced.  Meyer, May, Worley, Nino, Deduno, Diamond etc.  All these guys were supposed to #2's or even a #1.  But lets face it, only Liriano could've been a #1 with a few breaks.  Hopefully the Twins don't lose 100 games this year trying to use all of these AAAA pitchers.  If just a couple could pan out it would be great. I hope Berrios is as good as advertised, but lets not hold our breaths.  Give him a chance.  Radke was 22 - 30 his first 2 years in Majors w ERA around 5.  Pitched over 400 innings.  Hope Berrios can be close to that.

[DocBauer]

Let's not work too hard to pat the Twins on the back here.  This is like praising your kid for calling the tow truck after he rammed the car into a tree.

On a serious note....

 

I will not absolve Ryan for last season, or this past off season, for acquiring only Jepsen for the bullpen despite obvious need. (And thus, keeping May in the bullpen as a consequence) But as I have stated before, I can at least get or appreciate his thinking: "let me roll the best i/we can and hopefully maintain while the kids are coming and, hopefully, getting close." I still maintain that is short-sighted thinking as you could surely afford to eat a couple contracts or even find real trade value to a contending team.

 

No absolution...but at least his eyes are open enough to admit a mistake and begin to address it.

[stringer bell]

Roster predictions:   Centeno for Murphy, probably Chagois for Fien and Gibson and Santana replacing Graham and Milone. I haven't seen much about Gibson's injury, but he was disabled retroactive to April 22, so he would be eligible to come off the DL on May 7. I also haven't heard much about Perkins, but he's been on the shelf long enough that he'll need a rehab assignment.

 

Edit:    It looks like neither Gibson or Perkins is close to being activated. There is a need for another outfielder, I dunno, I guess it could be anybody, but please no Mastro!

[Twinfan & Dad]

With Fein and Milone placed on waivers we can only guess what comes next. I have been a sceptic from the start that the team TR constructed just didn't make any sense. First, I hope this move means that Berrios is here to stay. He has nothing more to prove in the minors and is our one hope of a legitimate top end starter for years to come. Next if Nolasco ca

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

With Fein and Milone placed on waivers we can only guess what comes next. I have been a sceptic from the start that the team TR constructed just didn't make any sense. First, I hope this move means that Berrios is here to stay. He has nothing more to prove in the minors and is our one hope of a legitimate top end starter for years to come. Next if Nolasco ca

Small victories are better than none--don't finish that thought

[bluechipper]

Mastro coming up makes no sense to me, unless the Twins are sending Eddie Rosario down I guess.

[DocBauer]

I am going to blow a gasket if Mastro wears a Twins uniform this season.

WTF? How does that do anything to improve the present, or the future? That would be the GM throwing his hands in the air and admitting he has no plan, had no plan, and doesn't expect to have a plan. He simply needs 25 men in uniform, and Mastro had a couple singles a couple years ago.

If I were forced to defend the guilty, I would say that he offers defense and bench speed for a while, along with ML experience, in order to "protect" Buxton and Kepler in order that they can continue to play everyday at Rochester for now.

[DocBauer]

Roster predictions:   Centeno for Murphy, probably Chagois for Fien and Gibson and Santana replacing Graham and Milone. I haven't seen much about Gibson's injury, but he was disabled retroactive to April 22, so he would be eligible to come off the DL on May 7. I also haven't heard much about Perkins, but he's been on the shelf long enough that he'll need a rehab assignment.

 

Edit:    It looks like neither Gibson or Perkins is close to being activated. There is a need for another outfielder, I dunno, I guess it could be anybody, but please no Mastro!

Really? I'm anxious to see Chargois very much! And despite all the time he's missed previously, I have a feeling he's one of those guys that just has the stuff and "it" factor to rise quickly and make a difference. I mean, really, should he be this good after missing two years? I'm thinking Kinsler for now to allow Shaggy some more milb time, maybe with a corresponding move to Rochester.

[Guest]

I believe this to be a step in the right direction.

If this were March 15, I'd agree wholeheartedly. Now, it looks like planless flailing. What new facts about Fien and Milone have been learned in the first month of the season that weren't known during arbitration season?

 

Should have packaged Milone with Plouffe this winter, like Theo added Straily to Valbuena to get Dexter Fowler.

 

Also kind of destroys the meme about TR making a great trade to flip Sam Fuld for Milone.

[Ultima Ratio]

Fien move is fine, but Milone really got stung by horrible BP help, allowing many of his baserunners to score.  Almost every time Milone left a game with men on base, his relief failed him, them, us.

[Guest]

If I were forced to defend the guilty, I would say that he offers defense and bench speed for a while, along with ML experience, in order to "protect" Buxton and Kepler in order that they can continue to play everyday at Rochester for now.

If that's the upside with Mastro, trading Fuld for Milone and his DFA contract looks worse all the time.

 

That said, I'd much rather have Mastro for a while if the alternative is to have Kepler sit on the bench five days a week or for Buxton to be thrown to the wolves again.

[nicksaviking]

I was as critical of re-upping Fien and giving Milone one of the starting gigs as anyone, those were probably the two moves that frustrated me the most.

 

However, I would also like to point out that their acquisitions were two of Ryan's best moves in his second stint. Signing Fien to a minor league deal worked great for three years, and trading Fuld for Milone was a steal. Kudos for cutting bait in early May. I would have liked it done sooner, but human nature tells us that it's hard to concede a past victory that is now no longer a victory. Neither are the reason the Twins are a losing club in 2016 anyway, the team would still be losing if Duffey and Chargois had their spots from the start.

[Vanimal46]

I was as critical of re-upping Fien and giving Milone one of the starting gigs as anyone, those were probably the two moves that frustrated me the most.

 

However, I would also like to point out that their acquisitions were two of Ryan's best moves in his second stint. Signing Fien to a minor league deal worked great for three years, and trading Fuld for Milone was a steal. Kudos for cutting bait in early May. I would have liked it done sooner, but human nature tells us that it's hard to concede a past victory that is now no longer a victory. Neither are the reason the Twins are a losing club in 2016 anyway, the team would still be losing if Duffey and Chargois had their spots from the start.

Very well said, Nick. The good thing is they are now changing the plan, and realize who they are; in a rebuilding year. This is a good start to letting the youth movement happen.

[Wizard11]

I love the sequence of waiving John Hicks to create a spot for David Murphy who then retires instead.  Now TR waives Tommy Milone in part to add Juan Centeno to the roster.  Brilliant.  I wonder if J. Pohlad is happy with this great deployment of company assets.

[Vanimal46]

For those commenting that Milone could have been traded for a C level prospect; Would it really have made you happy that a C level prospect was here in March over Milone? IMO it wouldn't have mattered either way...

 

It was a fair assessment to be critical that Fien and Milone were re-upped during the offseason. I was one of them who didn't agree with the decisions. The reality is TR & Company believed this was a playoff contending team in December. Clearly it didn't happen...

 

The good thing is they seem to understand what position they're in this year: rebuilding. Let's see the young guys play.

[Riverbrian]

Very well said, Nick. The good thing is they are now changing the plan, and realize who they are; in a rebuilding year. This is a good start to letting the youth movement happen.

This doesn't look like a youth movement.

 

This looks like a pure scramble to me.

 

This is real finger in the dike type stuff.

[Vanimal46]

This doesn't look like a youth movement.

 

This looks like a pure scramble to me.

 

This is real finger in the dyke type stuff.

It certainly depends on who they call up when the dust settles.. For now I'm going off the recent news of Chargois and someone else..

 

If it's Mastro then I'll be right there, pitchfork in hand...

[USAFChief]

This doesn't look like a youth movement.

This looks like a pure scramble to me.

This is real finger in the dyke type stuff.

That's the thing.

 

If they thought they were a playoff team over the winter, they sure didnt act like it.

 

And if they thought they weren't, they didnt act like that, either.

 

And maybe I'm not bright enough to follow, but I see little evidence much has clarified.

[Otwins]

I think Mastroanni makes sense only from the standpoint that they don't play him unless someone is hurt or needs a day off. Give Arcia, Sano, Santana a chance to play everyday. Arcia needs to face left handers even though he can't hit them.  This outfield will be the league 's worst defensively but Buxton, Rosario, Kepler are not ready yet. If they drop Mastroanni as soon as one of these three are ready to be called up again then I think it makes sense.

[twinsnorth49]

This game plan

 

This season.

 

 

 

[nicksaviking]

That's the thing.

If they thought they were a playoff team over the winter, they sure didnt act like it.

And if they thought they weren't, they didnt act like that, either.

And maybe I'm not bright enough to follow, but I see little evidence much has clarified.

I agree they took half measures regardless of their chosen path, and they've been guilty of taking half measures for decades.

 

Still, this was the right move, so perhaps it will lead to more right moves. If this is a concession that they screwed up, I'm not going to rub their nose in it unless they still proceed with moves that demonstrate that they still haven't learned. They may have, and this is a fine start.

[Halsey Hall]

This is just the start!

[Taildragger8791]

 

This doesn't look like a youth movement.

This looks like a pure scramble to me.

This is real finger in the dyke type stuff.

 

Not gonna lie. I had to double check which site I was on and re-read that last line before I got the intended meaning.

[CampQ]

I agree.

 

Heineken...so I made sure it went down.

Yeah I know the feeling. I have to suppress my gag reflex when I drinl Heineken