Twins Call Up Andrew Albers

[laloesch]

So once they rotation resets (Milone removed and Albers spot start completed) is it now?

 

Santana

Berrios

Gibson

Duffey

Santiago

[Mike Sixel]

 

So once they rotation resets (Milone removed and Albers spot start completed) is it now?

 

Santana

Berrios

Gibson

Duffey

Santiago

 

I would think so. Why would it not be that?

 

come September, they might rest Santana, or Santiago, but I doubt it.

[laloesch]

 

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.

You think the Twins are going to cut Santiago loose?  Not arguing just curious. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

You think the Twins are going to cut Santiago loose?  Not arguing just curious. 

 

This off season, yes. I think he's going to struggle, and they will non-tender him. I have zero knowledge about their thinking, obviously, but that's what I would do.

[DocBauer]

This was the right call. As stated, it is just for ONE DAY so an extra arm can come out of the pen. This is not the time or situation to bring up a prospect for a day to see if maybe he gets in a game or not.

 

Refering to some earlier comments, despite a pair of not so great starts to his Twins career, I'd much rather bring back Santiago than Milone, even if it's for a couple million more. He has better stuff and far more potential to help the club. 

[Rosterman]

So the Twins just burned one of their 40-man spots. They still have three sitting out there. Of course, they might have more - Plouffe, Dean, Milone, Suzuki could all be moved.

 

Happily, Albers does have options, so they can send him back down. But I don't see him sticking.

 

Will be interesting to see what other Rochester names might come over in September. The ones: Wimmers, Wheeler, O'Rourke, Garver, Beresford. It's probably too early for Palka, but hopefully the Twins will take a look at Walker (and Light at least). Tovar, Baxendale and Burnett could also be considered. I guess I don't see the Twins adding anyone (like Reed) who doesn't need to be added this year. 

 

So when all is said and done, and looking at the Red Wings starting staff, Albers fell into the right place at the right time for him (and he gets a nice piece of cash for his day in the majors). 

 

[Thrylos]

 

So the Twins just burned one of their 40-man spots. 

 

It's not like they cannot DFA Albers tonight or August 31 to put someone who they are planning on calling up in September, if they had to...

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

So once they rotation resets (Milone removed and Albers spot start completed) is it now?

Albers isn't getting the spot start.  Milone is.  Berrios is starting the first game (and he probably wishes it would start raining now, judging by the score).

 

Albers is just an extra bullpen arm for game 2. So there's not much to reset, Milone will presumably go back to mop-up duty and Albers presumably back to AAA.

[Mike Sixel]

Or, maybe for game 1....sigh...

[ashbury]

AA makes an emergency start

Apparently I misunderstood the callup. Milone is listed as the starter tonight. AA is available for duty in case Tommy doesn't go nine.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

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? 

 

Wasn't me.  I've got an alibi, unless of course your office is in Christianburg, Va. 

[d-mac]

 

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.

 

Wheeler has all of his options. Why would we remove him? Especially if we are viewing him as potential depth next year. 

[d-mac]

 

AA makes an emergency start, I'm all:

 

going_ape.gif

 

This is mesmerizing. Where in the heck does that book come from?

[d-mac]

 

It's not like they cannot DFA Albers tonight or August 31 to put someone who they are planning on calling up in September, if they had to...

 

But they won't. That's not how the Twins do things. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Wheeler has all of his options. Why would we remove him? Especially if we are viewing him as potential depth next year. 

If they're higher on other prospects or new acquisitions than Wheeler, they may need/want to remove him.

 

Obviously, if we like Wheeler long-term, go ahead and add him now.  But if we are at all on the fence, it could be better to wait, save the 40-man spot for someone else this winter, and force other teams to use Rule 5 if they want to take Wheeler away.  (Assuming we have enough better prospects to fill the 40-man this November, of course.)  Putting him on the 40-man just to get a look at him probably isn't a good enough reason, you've got to want to keep him there.

 

Now, guys like Wimmers and O'Rourke, they will be minor league free agents after the season if they are not added, so it's a different calculus.  We've got less to lose by adding them to the 40-man for a quick look, with an eye toward dropping them if they don't impress and we have better uses for the spot.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

But they won't. That's not how the Twins do things. 

But they weren't going to start aggressively auditioning other guys in Albers' absence either.  So it doesn't much matter either way.

[d-mac]

 

If they're higher on other prospects or new acquisitions than Wheeler, they may need/want to remove him.

 

Obviously, if we like Wheeler long-term, go ahead and add him now.  But if we are at all on the fence, it could be better to wait, save the 40-man spot for someone else this winter, and force other teams to use Rule 5 if they want to take Wheeler away.  (Assuming we have enough better prospects to fill the 40-man this November, of course.)  Putting him on the 40-man just to get a look at him probably isn't a good enough reason, you've got to want to keep him there.

 

Now, guys like Wimmers and O'Rourke, they will be minor league free agents after the season if they are not added, so it's a different calculus.  We've got less to lose by adding them to the 40-man for a quick look, with an eye toward dropping them if they don't impress and we have better uses for the spot.

 

Wheeler would need to be added this winter anyways. Why not put him on now and then give him a cup of coffee in Sept? I'm not really following you. Especially since we'd have the same issues with Albers. 

[Seth Stohs]

A cancelled flight means that Albers will be sticking around a little bit longer. 

 

Buddy Boshers was placed on the DL after the game this afternoon and Albers was called up to the 25 man roster. So, they're not going with 26 players tonight.

 

It'd be interesting to know who was supposed to fly to Minneapolis today but couldn't because of the flight situation.

 

Light? Wheeler? Baxendale? Wimmers?

[alarp33]

 

A cancelled flight means that Albers will be sticking around a little bit longer. 

 

Buddy Boshers was placed on the DL after the game this afternoon and Albers was called up to the 25 man roster. So, they're not going with 26 players tonight.

 

It'd be interesting to know who was supposed to fly to Minneapolis today but couldn't because of the flight situation.

 

Light? Wheeler? Baxendale? Wimmers?

 

Thanks for the info but I'm not sure I follow. 

 

If they decided Boshers needed to go on the DL - that decision must've been made in the last hour, since he just pitched.  How did a cancelled flight change any of those plans? I mean Albers still could've been the extra man tonight, and whoever this mystery player is could've caught a flight tomorrow?

 

Am I misunderstanding?

[Seth Stohs]

 

Thanks for the info but I'm not sure I follow. 

 

If they decided Boshers needed to go on the DL - that decision must've been made in the last hour, since he just pitched.  How did a cancelled flight change any of those plans? I mean Albers still could've been the extra man tonight, and whoever this mystery player is could've caught a flight tomorrow?

 

Am I misunderstanding?

 

That is the confusing part to me... if the plan was to DL a pitcher after Game 1, then why not having the Mystery Pitcher take the same flight as Albers?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Wheeler would need to be added this winter anyways. Why not put him on now and then give him a cup of coffee in Sept? I'm not really following you. Especially since we'd have the same issues with Albers. 

Wheeler doesn't necessarily need to be added this winter, unless you think he's a likely Rule 5 pick and one you can't afford to lose.

 

Pat Dean was in a similar spot last winter, and I was critical of the Twins for protecting him perhaps unnecessarily.  Wheeler is probably better than Dean, but I'm not sure if he's better enough to warrant a Rule 5 investment by another team, in which case we could conserve the roster spot.

[Mike Sixel]

 

A cancelled flight means that Albers will be sticking around a little bit longer. 

 

Buddy Boshers was placed on the DL after the game this afternoon and Albers was called up to the 25 man roster. So, they're not going with 26 players tonight.

 

It'd be interesting to know who was supposed to fly to Minneapolis today but couldn't because of the flight situation.

 

Light? Wheeler? Baxendale? Wimmers?

 

Oooh, intrigue....

 

Why is Albers now on the roster, though? Why not still call up that other guy, and still send Albers down?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

That is the confusing part to me... if the plan was to DL a pitcher after Game 1, then why not having the Mystery Pitcher take the same flight as Albers?

Plan to DL a pitcher?  Did they let Boshers throw hurt?

 

Boshers still has options, we could have sent him down after Game 1 if we wanted, no need for DL games.

[d-mac]

 

Wheeler doesn't necessarily need to be added this winter, unless you think he's a likely Rule 5 pick and one you can't afford to lose.

 

Pat Dean was in a similar spot last winter, and I was critical of the Twins for protecting him perhaps unnecessarily.  Wheeler is probably better than Dean, but I'm not sure if he's better enough to warrant a Rule 5 investment by another team, in which case we could conserve the roster spot.

 

Wheeler is quite a bit better than Dean. Protecting Dean made zero sense. But the Twins love their soft tossing lefties for some reason. 

 

Wheeler would likely be the 6th or 7th man in terms of rotation depth next year. I don't know why you'd risk losing him for nothing. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Thanks for the info but I'm not sure I follow. 

 

If they decided Boshers needed to go on the DL - that decision must've been made in the last hour, since he just pitched.  How did a cancelled flight change any of those plans? I mean Albers still could've been the extra man tonight, and whoever this mystery player is could've caught a flight tomorrow?

 

Am I misunderstanding?

 

Also, they could still option Albers tomorrow and call up the Mystery Pitcher. But, with Boshers on the DL, they're playing with 25 tonight... It's really just semantics.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Oooh, intrigue....

 

Why is Albers now on the roster, though? Why not still call up that other guy, and still send Albers down?

 

They could. 

[d-mac]

 

Oooh, intrigue....

 

Why is Albers now on the roster, though? Why not still call up that other guy, and still send Albers down?

 

Albers 2.0 is the latest obsession in a long line Twins' soft tossing lefthanded AAA pitchers that they seem to have a fetish for. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Wheeler is quite a bit better than Dean. Protecting Dean made zero sense. But the Twins love their soft tossing lefties for some reason. 

 

Wheeler would likely be the 6th or 7th man in terms of rotation depth next year. I don't know why you'd risk losing him for nothing. 

Wheeler was previously on the 40-man roster, and cleared waivers once when he was removed.  Obviously he was struggling at the time, but that suggests he isn't particularly valuable, even if he is better than Dean.  You figure if someone would be willing to give him a 25-man roster spot for all of 2017, they would have been willing to give him a 40-man roster spot last year.

 

I really haven't crunched the numbers on the 40-man situation this winter, maybe there's easily a spot for Wheeler, I don't know.  But my point is, sometimes it is better to challenge other teams to take a guy in Rule 5, particularly with a guy like Wheeler (and perhaps Gilmartin before him).

[Seth Stohs]

That said... Having Albers for a few days might be good depending on how tonight goes.

 

If Milone goes 5+, he won't be able to pitch for 3-4 days, so having Albers as a long-reliever might be wise.

 

If Milone has a short start and Albers has to pitch quite a bit tonight, he would probably be sent back to Rochester tonight or tomorrow.

[alarp33]

 

Also, they could still option Albers tomorrow and call up the Mystery Pitcher. But, with Boshers on the DL, they're playing with 25 tonight... It's really just semantics.

 

Ok that would make more sense.  I took your 1st post as meaning Albers is here to stay (presumably for the 15 day stint Boshers spends on the DL) since someone had a flight cancelled.