Twins DFA'd O'Rourke and Graham, Maestro up

[mikelink45]

The moves are just bizarre.  What is the plan?  Mastriani (you have to be kidding).  Where is the improvement.  Graham - worth a spot all last year, but expendable this year???  Of course Fien is gone, why did he come north?  Milone, well he is okay, but shouldn't we have gotten something for him?  I mean we gave something to get him.  

 

This is the first time I have seen a roster constructed by pulling names from a bag.  Some teams think about age, potential, position, and ability.  What are we thinking about?  

 

Why don't we dfa major league coaches, randomly pick some from the minors and start over there.  

But of course lets leave the maestro TR in place.

[mazeville]

These are panic moves. 

 

Dumping JR Graham and Ryan O'Rourke reek of panic moves. O'Rourke was not great. But he was REALLY good at getting lefties out. Graham was a Rule 5 pick who was on the 25-man roster all last year and had options left. 

 

Murphy had to go down. I don't even mind calling up Mastro. But why not send Rosario and his .200 batting average down? 

 

I don't get any of this. 

[rghrbek]

What the hell is going on around here?

[Platoon]

I have no idea what Ryan or Molitor thinks but actions speak louder than words.

 

We had 3 men on the bench and 8 in the bullpen.

 

We had Buxton, Kepler, Polanco, Vargas and Walker on the 40 man. 

 

Molitor has already shown Ryan and all of us that he wasn't going to play Kepler or Polanco. 

 

Therefore we had to clear roster spot for Mastroianni and Centeno so we didn't call up prospects to sit on the bench. 

 

Mastro is on the roster because the Twins didn't sign a Vet CF in the off season. 

 

Mastro is our Vet CF

 

I hate being right 85% of the time.

 

I personally 85% is pretty decent. Have you considered MLB FO as a career?

[Boom Boom]

Twins baseball... catch the fever?

[nicksaviking]

Wow, 1.2 innings for Graham. Here I thought Meyer and Hughes got a quick hook.

 

I'm happy with the house cleaning, but I would have optioned Graham again. Even aside from the Rule V, he and Pressly had a lot of similarities and Pressly is working out OK.

[nicksaviking]

 

 

Twins baseball... catch the fever?

 

Do you get a fever with herpes?

 

I'm asking because I wouldn't know.

[Danchat]

 

Of course Fien is gone, why did he come north?

He actually isn't gone, which makes things even more frustrating. For some reason, keeping Fien is more important than retaining O'Rourke (would make a good LOOGY) and Graham (at least has a little potential). Instead, they're sticking with their mistake. 

 

Fien is just on waivers, but nobody in their right mind is going to claim him. Berardino thinks it's in preparation to DFA him, but that hasn't happened yet.

[EddieMatthews]

Indirectly related to this thread...  How do the Twins get a month out of Spring Training and have all these troubles.  What is ST for, anyway?  We have Plouffe, Gibson, Perkins on the DL, not for "injuries", but muscle pulls and sore shoulders.  Same thing last year.  Are the players doing conditioning and stretching?

 

And we had a competition for the fourth and fifth starter and Nolasco and Milone won.  Didn't Duffey earn a spot last August and September?  So the competition should have been between Nolasco and Milone, and with Berrios in the wings, the rotation should have been set.  As said many times in this and other forums, the relief pitching should have been addressed.  

 

And a month into the season, we have a second baseman playing left field, a shortstop playing center,  a third baseman playing right, and a catcher plays first.  The 2B and 3B are having a competition to see who will break the season strikeout record.  

 

Terry has his work cut out for him.  Good thing Gardy is waiting in the wings.  Maybe we can have a manager playing GM.

[twinsnorth49]

Was TR in a coma during the off season? Why the hell is all this happening now, in bloody May for God's sake?!

 

This is truly insane, honestly.....and then there's Mastro.....holy hell!

[Platoon]

I didn't even like O'Rourke. I watched him, and waited for him to implode. But he never did. He just kept getting LH out like a machine. Which sadly is more than many of our current residents can. Maestro? He seems to be able to run the bases, and catch fly balls. Something several of our OF have trouble with. But I agree with the posters who consider this a panic move. We have Santana out there. Not as good with the glove, but seems to have some of the bat back. And runs well. The Graham thing is mind boggling. They drug him around all last year. Now when they could have stashed him at Rochester and worked with him, if nothing else as depth, they dump his butt? Maybe there is more coming? A master plan too complex for the dwellers of moms basement? What was that old movie line? "Is that all you got?" I hope not. Has anyone considered this horrid possibility? We wanted movement! What if this is considered "movement" at One Twins Way?

[Seth Stohs]

 

If this team were say, 20-8, then depth would be a decent idea.  This team needs more than depth.  This team needs a front line player to be in CF.  This move does nothing for the club.  It's just another retread that is eating up a roster spot and playing time of a young player that they could be getting a good and extended look at instead.

 

What's the alternative? CAll back Buxton and let him flail, or sit on the bench?

[Otto von Ballpark]

Fien is just on waivers, but nobody in their right mind is going to claim him. Berardino thinks it's in preparation to DFA him, but that hasn't happened yet.

If he clears waivers, there will be no need to DFA him. They can outright him off the 40-man roster to AAA (although having been outrighted before, Fien could elect free agency at that point).

 

They also could have optioned him, he would have stayed on the 40-man but in AAA.

[S.]

 

What's the alternative? 

Replace the entire FO with people who don't put themselves in these terribly predictable positions?

[PseudoSABR]

 

Son: I burned the house down again

 

Dad: Again!  C'mon man!

 

Son: Yeah...but this time I went at it with a fire extinguisher for, like, at least 5 or 10 minutes

 

Dad: But the house still burned down?

 

Son: Yeah...but aren't you proud of me for the extinguisher this time!?!

 

Dad: .........

Look, everyone can keep slapping each other on the back about how bad the Twins are, but there's nothing ridiculous about noting that the Twins have changed the way they go about handling the roster (and ineffective players), and being happy about those limited moves, even though the roster situation the Twins find themselves is of their own making.  

 

This isn't finding some silver lining, this is a change in the way the Twins usually go about things.   Yes, everyone, the situation could be worse, the Twins could keep throwing ineffective players out there as they've tended to do in the past.  

 

But the "I'm so right about how bad things are" crowd seems to really appreciate your incendiary analogies! So like Bravo.

 

 

[wsnydes]

 

What's the alternative? CAll back Buxton and let him flail, or sit on the bench?

No, but they could give Kepler a real chance to show what he can do.  While Buxton is in AAA, that would give them an extended period to play.  I don't feel that he should have been sent back down to begin with, yet anyway.  I'm not a fan of how he was handled while up with the big league club.

[Riverbrian]

 

I personally 85% is pretty decent. Have you considered MLB FO as a career?

 

They never call me for advice

 

Can you believe that?

 

Yet another mistake that they are making. 

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

We shouldn't be at all disappointed at any of the names recently put on waivers or DFA'd. They are all below average players with little to no upside. We have plenty of other guys like that who can be that bad. I actually like that they did this all at once. Smart by them to have to admit failure with the decisions to have kept and believed in these guys in the first place, rather than have to admit that 4 separate times with them. This just makes it look like they admitted to one mistake, not 4;) 

[nicksaviking]

http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/137629/file-411273987-jpg/images/Ripping_Off_Bandaid.jpg

 

Let's finish ripping this sucker off now. There's plenty of other difficult decisions that can be made, let's get them over with.

 

Wouldn't it be nice to get these frustrations, unanswered questions and dilemmas over and done with in May, so we can start over fresh and still have plenty of the season remaining that isn't shrouded in consternation wondering when the next axe will fall?

[Brandon]

I can see the DFA of Fien,  He was bad in spring training and year to date.  something had to be done.  Millone could have had a few starts or he would be a good chip to send to the Angels right about now as their pitchers are dropping like flies. 

 

As long as they can keep Graham and Roark.  I wasn't a fan of Roark but he did get lefties out and that has value to someone out there. 

 

as I see it the problems were mostly offense with Rosario which nothing has been done, Buxton, demoted, Dozier who seems to have righted the ship, and Catcher where they are both awful but Murphy was making Suzuki look like a great hitting C.  at least Murphy was demoted.  Fix the offense and fix the loosing for the most part. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Look, everyone can keep slapping each other on the back about how bad the Twins are, but there's nothing ridiculous about noting that the Twins have changed the way they go about handling the roster (and ineffective players), and being happy about those limited moves, even though the roster situation the Twins find themselves is of their own making.

 

This isn't finding some silver lining, this is a change in the way the Twins usually go about things. Yes, everyone, the situation could be worse, the Twins could keep throwing ineffective players out there as they've tended to do in the past.

 

 

Um, they optioned Murphy, and designated O'Rourke and Graham (the latter having been here all of 1 game in 2016). And promoted noted non-prospects Centeno and Mastroianni, whose best attribute seems to be being obviously bad enough that (hopefully) the manager won't feel any great obligation to play them.

 

This is a change worth noting? A change in the way they do business? A real response to the poor performance of the team thus far?

 

I guess they are also seeing if someone will bail them out of the Milone and Fien contracts, but failing that, there is no indication they plan to drop either of those players soon. Even though these outright assignment waivers are irrevocable, functionally this is probably not much different than the multitude of overpaid players who go through revocable waivers in August.

 

I don't think there is any way to view these moves as any kind of meaningful change in direction or housecleaning.

[Monkeypaws]

I am surprised they cut Graham - he has a very live arm, and managed a sub 5 ERA and 7.5/9 K rate last year as a 25 year old rule 5 stash. He works at 95 with his fastball. This makes zero sense to me.

 

Unless the Roochester bullpen is so stacked there is no room for him - yeah, that must be it.

[Vanimal46]

No, but they could give Kepler a real chance to show what he can do. While Buxton is in AAA, that would give them an extended period to play. I don't feel that he should have been sent back down to begin with, yet anyway. I'm not a fan of how he was handled while up with the big league club.

I wasn't a fan of letting Kepler rot on the bench either. But he's in the same boat as Buxton with very little AAA experience. I'd like for Kepler to start hitting better than .205 in AAA before I hand him the keys in the MLB.

[twinsnorth49]

Look, everyone can keep slapping each other on the back about how bad the Twins are, but there's nothing ridiculous about noting that the Twins have changed the way they go about handling the roster (and ineffective players), and being happy about those limited moves, even though the roster situation the Twins find themselves is of their own making.

 

This isn't finding some silver lining, this is a change in the way the Twins usually go about things. Yes, everyone, the situation could be worse, the Twins could keep throwing ineffective players out there as they've tended to do in the past.

 

But the "I'm so right about how bad things are" crowd seems to really appreciate your incendiary analogies! So like Bravo.

Agree, somewhat, but if they truly want to change the way they do business they should concentrate more on being proactive than reactive.

 

If reacting to things they should have seen and dealt with months ago is a new way of doing business, colour me unimpressed.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Replace the entire FO with people who don't put themselves in these terribly predictable positions?

 

OK, well, that isn't going to happen midseason, so next alternative?

[Seth Stohs]

 

I am surprised they cut Graham - he has a very live arm, and managed a sub 5 ERA and 7.5/9 K rate last year as a 25 year old rule 5 stash. He works at 95 with his fastball. This makes zero sense to me.

 

Unless the Roochester bullpen is so stacked there is no room for him - yeah, that must be it.

 

Plus, he can be optioned this year and the next two years... Same with O'Rourke.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I wasn't a fan of letting Kepler rot on the bench either. But he's in the same boat as Buxton with very little AAA experience. I'd like for Kepler to start hitting better than .205 in AAA before I hand him the keys in the MLB.

 

I'd like to see a Rochester outfield of Rosario, Buxton and Kepler, with Walker DHing and getting a little time in the corners... All four need at bats and to figure things out to be ready for the big leagues... 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Plus, he can be optioned this year and the next two years... Same with O'Rourke.

Not that Graham and O'Rourke are great prospects, but cutting them with options while you continue to roster Pat Dean and Kennys Vargas (and still have a suspect MLB bullpen) because you need 40 man spots for bench placeholders in Centeno and Mastro is probably a bad use of resources.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I have no idea what Ryan or Molitor thinks but actions speak louder than words.

 

We had 3 men on the bench and 8 in the bullpen.

 

We had Buxton, Kepler, Polanco, Vargas and Walker on the 40 man. 

 

Molitor has already shown Ryan and all of us that he wasn't going to play Kepler or Polanco. 

 

Therefore we had to clear roster spot for Mastroianni and Centeno so we didn't call up prospects to sit on the bench. 

 

Mastro is on the roster because the Twins didn't sign a Vet CF in the off season. 

 

Mastro is our Vet CF

 

I hate being right 85% of the time. 

 

If this is on Molitor, then he really needs to find  a new team.  Not sure I want to scream fire Molly yet, but this team got younger.  There are bumps along the way and the person in his role has to work with that, like it or not.

[Vanimal46]

I'd like to see a Rochester outfield of Rosario, Buxton and Kepler, with Walker DHing and getting a little time in the corners... All four need at bats and to figure things out to be ready for the big leagues...

 

At this point I agree. It's not going to be as exciting to watch the Twins while they're down there. But there's not much of a choice until they figure out their issues at the plate.