Twins Call Up Andrew Albers

[Seth Stohs]

With the double header on Thursday, the Twins are able to call up a 26th player. With Tommy Milone scheduled to start the second game, having a pitcher who is able to eat several innings, the Twins needed to promote a starter from Rochester. They decided to go with lefty Andrew Albers. 

 

Albers signed with the Twins early this season when the Twins had three of their AAA starters with the big league club. He was promised nothing, other than being able to make AAA starts. He has gone 9-5 with a 3.51 ERA in 19 starts. 

 

Albers story is incredible. He was my choice for Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2011. He was signed out of independent ball and frankly, the story is remarkable. (I wrote about it here with lots of great quotes from Albers.)

 

He earned a promotion to the Twins and began his career by throwing 8.1 shutout innings in his debut. In hsi next start, he threw a complete game shutout. He became popular with fans. I was in the clubhouse after his third start, a loss to the White Sox. We interviewed him following the game in the clubhouse. Then he put his uniform back on and went out to the field to talk to friends and family and take pictures with Twins fans. It was remarkable. He had Canadian fans and friends travel all over to see his starts.

 

The writing was on the wall following the season, so the Twins helped him get signed in Korea. After a year there, he spent a season in the Blue Jays system and even pitched in one game for Toronto. 

 

He was back in the indy leagues to start this season, just looking for an opportunity. The Twins gave it to him, and now he's back. Granted it is due to the rules of a double header and he'll likely be sent back to Rochester on Friday but all I can say is Good For Him! My congratulations, Andew!

[twinsnorth49]

I wonder if Albers knows Reuben Mayes?

 

He must.

 

Albers story is a great one, but he's probably a Rider fan so I have to temper my enthusiasm.

 

Hope he has a good outing.

[PseudoSABR]

The Twins have been getting abused for their penchant for loyalty lately (and not without reason); but it's stories like this one that make me proud to be a Twins fan.  It might be a losing culture presently and in the recent past, but how the Twins have gone about their business has endeared themselves to their players, and at least one fan.

[jimbo92107]

I watched Albers in person shut down I think the Royals in either his debut or his second start. It was like watching a master tightrope walker. He was painting corners the whole time. Of course, that's the problem with pitchers that can't bring it at higher speeds - they have to do something else to keep hitters down. Super precision, hide the ball, change speeds, throw a knuckler, etc. 

 

Albers has a lot in common with Tommy Milone. Both guys have a normal mix of pitches, but because they don't bring it in at least the low 90's, they need to master the art of precise location and mixing it up. One thing for sure about guys like that - it's going to be interesting watching them work. 

[Reider]

 

I wonder if Albers knows Reuben Mayes?

He must.

Albers story is a great one, but he's probably a Rider fan so I have to temper my enthusiasm.

Hope he has a good outing.

You must be a Blue Bombers fan.

 

I'm quite happy to hear that Andrew Albers is getting another opportunity to play in the MLB.

[70charger]

So he gets a 5 run lead right?

 

 

 

...he might need it.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

The writing was on the wall following the season, so the Twins helped him get signed in Korea. After a year there, he spent a season in the Blue Jays system and even pitched in one game for Toronto. 

I'm not sure if this is a fully accurate re-telling here.  "The Twins helped him get signed in Korea"?  They sold him to Korea.  I am sure the Twins gave some courtesy to Albers to approve the move, but let's not pretend like the Twins didn't profit from the transaction, and of course the Twins leveraged their handshake agreement with other MLB clubs not to claim players being sold overseas, thereby limiting Albers' ability to pursue other opportunities in North America at the time.  The Twins did the same with Kris Johnson, and tried to do it with Colabello and Vargas too.

 

The fact that Toronto signed Albers after a disastrous season in Korea, and even gave him some MLB time, suggests that he might have been better off if the Twins had just tried passing him through waivers after his nice 2013 season -- another MLB team may have claimed him and given him more MLB opportunities earlier.  But in that case, the Twins would have only received the nominal waiver fee, which was certainly much less than what the Korean team was willing to pay.  So the Twins used their leverage on Albers, telling him he could stay at AAA way down our depth chart, or he could make some decent cash overseas.  (And I suspect the Twins may have exaggerated the "writing on the wall" about Albers place on the depth chart to encourage him to accept the Korean deal -- the 2014 Twins did manage to give 30 starts to Pino, Deduno, Swarzak, Darnell, and Johnson, none of whom threw another pitch for the Twins, and only one of which -- Johnson -- brought anything back to the Twins upon leaving, also getting sold to Korea.)

 

Not blaming the Twins -- it's just a reality of the system as it is presently constructed.  But let's not gloss over it either.  There are plenty of other positive elements to the Twins-Albers story that we don't need to inaccurately represent this particular transaction.

[Vanimal46]

Not a fan of this call-up. Feels like a throw away call-up that won't help make any decisions on upcoming 40 man additions for 2017.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

So he gets a 5 run lead right?

Sadly, no.  Regular season games only become "suspended" once they are "official" (5 innings).  Yesterday's proceedings are completely washed away.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Not a fan of this call-up. Feels like a throw away call-up that won't help make any decisions on upcoming 40 man additions for 2017.

The problem isn't Albers, though. It's Milone. Milone should have already been dropped in favor of a more interesting reliever auditioning for 2017.  In which case, Albers would be called up as the 26th man to start today.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I'm not sure if this is a fully accurate re-telling here.  "The Twins helped him get signed in Korea"?  They sold him to Korea.  I am sure the Twins gave some courtesy to Albers to approve the move, but let's not pretend like the Twins didn't profit from the transaction, and of course the Twins leveraged their handshake agreement with other MLB clubs not to claim players being sold overseas, thereby limiting Albers' ability to pursue other opportunities in North America at the time.  The Twins did the same with Kris Johnson, and tried to do it with Colabello and Vargas too.

 

The fact that Toronto signed Albers after a disastrous season in Korea, and even gave him some MLB time, suggests that he might have been better off if the Twins had just tried passing him through waivers after his nice 2013 season -- another MLB team may have claimed him and given him more MLB opportunities earlier.  But in that case, the Twins would have only received the nominal waiver fee, which was certainly much less than what the Korean team was willing to pay.  So the Twins used their leverage on Albers, telling him he could stay at AAA way down our depth chart, or he could make some decent cash overseas.  (And I suspect the Twins may have exaggerated the "writing on the wall" about Albers place on the depth chart to encourage him to accept the Korean deal -- the 2014 Twins did manage to give 30 starts to Pino, Deduno, Swarzak, Darnell, and Johnson, none of whom threw another pitch for the Twins, and only one of which -- Johnson -- brought anything back to the Twins upon leaving, also getting sold to Korea.)

 

Not blaming the Twins -- it's just a reality of the system as it is presently constructed.  But let's not gloss over it either.  There are plenty of other positive elements to the Twins-Albers story that we don't need to inaccurately represent this particular transaction.

 

 

I think you're right, and I also think my two-sentence synopsis is also accurate. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Not a fan of this call-up. Feels like a throw away call-up that won't help make any decisions on upcoming 40 man additions for 2017.

 

As I've asked elsewhere, who should they have called up instead for the 26th spot in Game 2 tonight?

 

Adalberto Mejia's start was complete on Wednesday before the Twins needed to make a move.

Pat Dean started on Tuesday.

Jason Wheeler started on Sunday. I would guess that means he had his mid-start bullpen session on Wednesday.

 

With Milone starting the game, I certainly thinking going with a long-relief option was necessary. 

Albers started on Saturday. 

[Vanimal46]

 

As I've asked elsewhere, who should they have called up instead for the 26th spot in Game 2 tonight?

 

Adalberto Mejia's start was complete on Wednesday before the Twins needed to make a move.

Pat Dean started on Tuesday.

Jason Wheeler started on Sunday. I would guess that means he had his mid-start bullpen session on Wednesday.

 

With Milone starting the game, I certainly thinking going with a long-relief option was necessary. 

Albers started on Saturday. 

Knowing that information I would have chosen Jason Wheeler on 4 days rest. He needs to be evaluated for a potential 40 man add anyways this winter. 

[Halsey Hall]

With it being Milone, Albers should get 2 innings anyway.  That is if rain doesn't cause more problems.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I think you're right, and I also think my two-sentence synopsis is also accurate. 

I wouldn't use the term "helped" in this context.  The Twins sold him.

 

The Twins leveraged their control over Albers to profit, including an unwritten handshake agreement with other MLB clubs to deny Albers a chance with any other organization in North America.  That's "helping"?  Albers likely received a short-term profit too, given the reports of his "upper six figures" salary in Korea, but it's far less clear it was a net benefit to him.  He likely lost his best chance at a shot in MLB, including more MLB service time and further vesting in the MLB pension.  And by his own admission, his Korean team messed with mechanics and contributed to his poor performance there, jeopardizing Albers' future chances and earnings too.

 

I'm glad that Albers enjoyed the experience culturally, and I am sure he like most pro athletes is pretty accustomed to being moved around like chattel.  But that doesn't make it right.  In particular, I think the handshake agreement among teams not to claim players being sold overseas is quite unfair to the players, and we provide tacit support for that agreement by labeling it as "helping" the players.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Knowing that information I would have chosen Jason Wheeler on 4 days rest. He needs to be evaluated for a potential 40 man add anyways this winter. 

It would have been Wheeler on 3 days rest -- he pitched Sunday, so rest Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

 

Also, Wheeler is in a tricky spot -- while it would be neat to get a look at him in MLB, by adding him now we could quite likely risk losing him from the organization much earlier.  If he stays off the roster, the only way we can lose him this winter is if another team claims him in Rule 5 and is willing to give him a 25 man roster spot for all of 2017 -- a fairly high hurdle to clear.

 

If, on the other hand, we add Wheeler to the 40-man and we later want to remove him, we would risk losing him to any team with an open 40-man spot themselves -- a much lower hurdle to clear.

 

It seems counter-intuitive at first glance, but for a player with limited upside, which Wheeler appears to be (his K/9 is still lower than league average at AAA, as it has been pretty much his entire minor league career), the better play to keep him is often to wait to put him on the 40-man roster.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

As I've asked elsewhere, who should they have called up instead for the 26th spot in Game 2 tonight?

Seth, any idea why Milone is still on the team?  I have to think his current value is near zero, and he's almost a guaranteed non-tender this winter.

 

Seems like emergency/spot starting duty could be handled by Albers, Dean, and Mejia, no?  And we could use Milone's spot to get a look at other options?

[Mike Sixel]

I'm not Seth......

 

I don't think Santiago is on the roster next year. I think Milone has a shot to be the 5th man/long man in the bullpen. While I'd love to see some of the MiLB RP up here, I'd guess that's why.

[SwainZag]

 

I'm not Seth......

 

I don't think Santiago is on the roster next year. I think Milone has a shot to be the 5th man/long man in the bullpen. While I'd love to see some of the MiLB RP up here, I'd guess that's why.

 

I am holding out hope they swing Milone for a PTBNL later this month and then non-tender Santiago this off-season.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I don't think Santiago is on the roster next year. I think Milone has a shot to be the 5th man/long man in the bullpen. While I'd love to see some of the MiLB RP up here, I'd guess that's why.

Milone could earn almost as much as Santiago in arbitration, I'm not sure why they'd pick him over Santiago.

 

Milone is at $4.5 mil right now, and while a raise after his 2016 season seems unlikely, Wilson Ramos managed a $1.8 mil raise through arbitration after his 66 OPS+ season last year.  And after all he has been through here, I have to imagine that Milone would sign elsewhere if we attempted to non-tender him in an attempt to sign him cheaper outside arbitration.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Not a fan of this call-up. Feels like a throw away call-up that won't help make any decisions on upcoming 40 man additions for 2017.

It's the correct decision. The Twins need a guy who can throw multiple innings for literally one day.

 

This is how most teams use the Andrew Albers and Pat Deans of the world.

 

If you're going to call up a prospect, call up a prospect and let him play. If you need a guy to occupy space for 24 hours, go to the back of your 40 man and use one of those guys.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I am holding out hope they swing Milone for a PTBNL later this month and then non-tender Santiago this off-season.

I would shocked if Milone was dealt even for a PTBNL this month (EDIT: meaning an actual PTBNL, not a "PTBNL or cash" which becomes cash).  Given his season performance and current role, he'd probably be lucky to be considered in the same category of waiver-trade reinforcement as Cotts, Correia, Carroll, etc., none of whom fetched a player in return.  Far more likely, someone would simply agree to pay his final month's salary of ~$750k, and maybe give us some nominal cash in addition (akin to a waiver fee).

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I would shocked if Milone was dealt even for a PTBNL this month.  Given his season performance and current role, he'd probably be lucky to be considered in the same category of waiver-trade reinforcement as Cotts, Correia, Carroll, etc., none of whom fetched a player in return.  Far more likely, someone would simply agree to pay his final month's salary of ~$750k, and maybe give us some nominal cash in addition (akin to a waiver fee).

Yeah, unfortunately that's what Milone has descended to in value. Cash and salary relief.

[ashbury]

It's the correct decision. The Twins need a guy who can throw multiple innings for literally one day.

 

This is how most teams use the Andrew Albers and Pat Deans of the world.

 

If you're going to call up a prospect, call up a prospect and let him play. If you need a guy to occupy space for 24 hours, go to the back of your 40 man and use one of those guys.

AA makes an emergency start, I'm all:

 

[Thrylos]

The Twins made the logical decision:  They called up the AAA guy who was about to start today.  That was a no-brainer decision.  Albers does not have to get added on the 40-man roster and he will not stay with the club.

 

Unfortunately, they did not make the brave decision, to get the scheduled AA starter, Stephen Gonsalves, who: a. has been better than Albers this season (and that would have been a huge reward and motivation for him) and b. unlike Albers, he seems to be part of the future of the organization.

 

Cannot blame them for doing what most other teams would do.  Just hope that some day they will start doing more than than...

 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Seth, any idea why Milone is still on the team?  I have to think his current value is near zero, and he's almost a guaranteed non-tender this winter.

 

Seems like emergency/spot starting duty could be handled by Albers, Dean, and Mejia, no?  And we could use Milone's spot to get a look at other options?

 

My personal opinion is that they're hoping MIlone can be an August trade chip. Not a big return, but maybe something. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

Milone could earn almost as much as Santiago in arbitration, I'm not sure why they'd pick him over Santiago.

 

Milone is at $4.5 mil right now, and while a raise after his 2016 season seems unlikely, Wilson Ramos managed a $1.8 mil raise through arbitration after his 66 OPS+ season last year.  And after all he has been through here, I have to imagine that Milone would sign elsewhere if we attempted to non-tender him in an attempt to sign him cheaper outside arbitration.

 

Huh, I didn't know he made that much, for some reason, I thought it was closer to $3MM....so, um, ya, I got nothing other than maybe they think they can trade him? 

[Vanimal46]

 

AA makes an emergency start, I'm all:

 

going_ape.gif

Did Chief and diehard set up cameras in my office again? How did you know that's exactly what I did this morning immediately after reading this news? 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Albers does not have to get added on the 40-man roster and he will not stay with the club.

Albers does indeed get added to the 40-man roster -- only players on the 40-man roster can be recalled as the 26th man.

 

With the 60-day DL guys, we still have 3 open spots on the 40-man, though, so it shouldn't be of too much concern, although it might limit us if we were really committed to auditions for Garver, Wimmers, O'Rourke, Wheeler, Baxendale, etc.  But evidence suggests we're not committed to that, regardless of Albers.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

My personal opinion is that they're hoping MIlone can be an August trade chip. Not a big return, but maybe something. 

That's my opinion of what they're hoping too.  I just don't see it as likely, and not worth holding back auditions for, say, Wimmers and O'Rourke.