Albers DFAd, O'Rourke up

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins announced that Andrew Albers has been DFAd from the 40-man roster. They noted that a pitcher will be called up for tomorrow's game. (I suppose they aren't ready to name him yet, not until he is on a plane and it is in flight to the Twin Cities)

 

Options for the promotion include:

 

Pat Light

Alex Wimmers

Ryan O'Rourke

 

DJ Baxendale also possible, though he threw on Friday night. 

 

Thanks to the work of Albers and Pat Dean (SAturday), the call up doesn't have to be a long-relief option and can be a one-inning guy like Light. O'Rourke has been tremendous since the beginning of July. Wimmers has been good as one of the Red Wings late inning relievers and can become a free agent at season's end. Might want to see what he can do the rest of the way.

[nicksaviking]

I vote Wimmers. Last chance to make something of that first round pick.

[CampQ]

Are Reed and Melotakis shut down or too far away?

[Rosterman]

Melotakis is still too far away, although they might move him up with these recent transactions. There is, sadly, no reason to add Reed to the 40-man. So he will just go to spring training and probably start the season at Rochester.

 

I'm hoping it is Wimmers for now. Would like to see the Twins get a good look at him to make a decision to keep him or let him walk.

[h2oface]

I hope Wimmers to. I always like to see whether a first round pick can get to the show before they are thirty. I have seen enough of O'Rourke.

[PseudoSABR]

GONSALVES!!!!

[dgwills]

It would be nice to see Alex Meyer get another shot. You know, if he wasn't injured.... and on another team.

[SarasotaBill]

It should someone with no chance to be on the 40 (like Albers) or someone who will be definitely on the 40.

 

If they add Wimmers and then take him off then anyone can grab him for their 40 instead of the 25.

[Mr. Brooks]

It should someone with no chance to be on the 40 (like Albers) or someone who will be definitely on the 40.

 

If they add Wimmers and then take him off then anyone can grab him for their 40 instead of the 25.

Wimmers is a free agent at the end of the season.

Another team can add him to their 40 (not 25) whether we add him now or not.

[Otto von Ballpark]

If they add Wimmers and then take him off then anyone can grab him for their 40 instead of the 25.

For Wimmers, this doesn't matter -- he will be a minor league free agent after the season if not added. O'Rourke too.

 

Your concern does apply to Wheeler and Baxendale, though.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I wonder why they waited a day to do this.

 

Also, why DFA? Do they really need 10 days to decide what to do with Albers? AFAIK, he has minor league options remaining too, so we could have just optioned him.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I wonder why they waited a day to do this.

 

Also, why DFA? Do they really need 10 days to decide what to do with Albers? AFAIK, he has minor league options remaining too, so we could have just optioned him.

dont they have 38(39 w/ Albers) on the 40?

[mikelink45]

Why the mystery?  Is this just the TWINS way?  Lets see a process in place, a systematic review of our minor league prospects that will give us some good information to work with in 2017.   O'Rourke is a known so I would rather see one of the other two.  In the same way that I would have preferred someone besides Dean to have been the last call up.  

 

I will add my feelings that its time to look at a new pitching coach - they can make a difference.  I remember Sain and Kaat and a few others making pitchers more effective.  Our coach has not shown this at any point in two years. Where is that new system that is being put in place?

[Shane Wahl]

It would be so good for Alex Wimmers to final see the majors. What a hectic career.

[Halsey Hall]

It's probably Light since it was him a couple days ago that couldn't get here in time.  I'd like to see Wimmers get a shot though.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Wimmers is a free agent at the end of the season.
Another team can add him to their 40 (not 25) whether we add him now or not.

 

I don't believe this is true once he's on the 40 man. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

GONSALVES!!!!

 

As much as I'd like Gonsalves, I think that would be a mistake.

[goulik]

Id like to see Wimmers but Light is a nice consolation prize to me.

[HitInAPinch]

I'm not seeing the love for Wimmers.  I see here that he's a MiLB FA at the end of the season. 

One last look?  Makes complete sense.  The remainder of this season is for auditions.

 

O'Rourke certainly has better numbers than Wimmers.  So does Light.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I don't believe this is true once he's on the 40 man.

That is correct. The point of the comment, though, is that we are under no additional risk of losing Wimmers if we add him today and drop him this winter.

[jorgenswest]

Numbers aren't very useful for major league relievers. They are useless for minor league relievers as the pitch level data isn't easily available. The sample isn't large enough.

 

The eyes of skilled observers who have watched them several times is the only way to assess. Scouting by stat line isn't going to be very persuasive.

 

There also sent enough opportunity in the reminder of the season for a reliever to have a meaningful audition. The Twins need a body who can throw multiple innings this weekend. Whichever reliever is most prepared to do that should come up.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Numbers aren't very useful for major league relievers. They are useless for minor league relievers as the pitch level data isn't easily available. The sample isn't large enough.

 

The eyes of skilled observers who have watched them several times is the only way to assess. Scouting by stat line isn't going to be very persuasive.

 

There also sent enough opportunity in the reminder of the season for a reliever to have a meaningful audition. The Twins need a body who can throw multiple innings this weekend. Whichever reliever is most prepared to do that should come up.

I disagree on that last point. No, there may not be a large enough sample remaining to accurately project from, but those can absolutely be meaningful innings for someone. Maybe Melotakis can get his nerves and initial adjustments out of the way; maybe the MLB staff can make something interesting with some tinkering of Wimmers, etc.

 

In fact, your two points seem to contradict each other -- it is a small sample, but if you are relying on the evaluations of coaches over stats anyway, you don't necessarily need a large sample to make those innings meaningful.

[Craig Arko]

Ryan O'Rourke on his way up.

[bluechipper]

 

Ryan O'Rourke on his way up.

Good, the least intriguing of the three options. What a surprise.

 

O'Rourke has been good though, and he probably deserves it. I just want to see Pat Light pitch.

[Danchat]

This is a good move if Molitor uses O'Rourke as a LOOGY. If he doesn't, O'Rourke probably won't be very good - his MLB stats aren't very impressive, but you have to remember he wasn't being used as a LOOGY.

[jorgenswest]

This is a good move if Molitor uses O'Rourke as a LOOGY. If he doesn't, O'Rourke probably won't be very good - his MLB stats aren't very impressive, but you have to remember he wasn't being used as a LOOGY.

He has a spent pen after the last two days. He is up because he hasn't pitched since the 9th and can eat some innings.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I am okay with O'Rourke, but I would rather see someone else in place of Dean. That might leave us without a true long reliever, but that has been true much of the season (and 2015 too), I am not sure why we would be worried about that now. Plus, O'Rourke, Rogers, Chargois, etc. all have options left, as would Dean's replacement, so if a starter got knocked out early and our pen got taxed, we could swap guys out to AAA. (And of course it will cease to be an issue at all in a few weeks when rosters expand.)

[Otto von Ballpark]

He has a spent pen after the last two days. He is up because he hasn't pitched since the 9th and can eat some innings.

Spent pen? Kintzler and Pressly haven't even pitched the last two days, and Tonkin and Rogers only appeared once each on Thursday.

 

The only "spent" part of the pen is Chargois (pitched both days) and Albers and Dean. And of course, Albers has already been cut, and Dean should have been optioned for a fresh arm like Light or Melotakis if they were truly concerned about the pen being "spent."

[Kwak]

ALHWD?

[Vanimal46]

O'Rourke is a guy who can easily be DFA'd just like Albers once other pitchers are healthy or September comes around.

 

Melotakis IMO is the more intriguing call up.. Who knows if he catches lightning in a bottle for 10ish innings before the rosters expand.