Berardino: Suzuki on Trade Waivers

[Craig Arko]

 

So when do we find out if he cleared? Should be sometime this afternoon right?

Well. if he's with the team tonight he either cleared or was claimed and pulled back, right?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

So when do we find out if he cleared? Should be sometime this afternoon right?

Actually the Twins already found out midday Sunday.

 

If he was claimed, they had another 48 hours to try to trade him to the claiming team, which would expire about now.

 

So I am guessing he wasn't claimed, or something would have been reported by now, either by the Twins or the team that claimed him.  Which also suggests that there is very little interest on Suzuki.

 

[Loosey]

 

Actually the Twins already found out midday Sunday.

 

If he was claimed, they had another 48 hours to try to trade him to the claiming team, which would expire about now.

 

So I am guessing he wasn't claimed, or something would have been reported by now, either by the Twins or the team that claimed him.  Which also suggests that there is very little interest on Suzuki.

Which also tells us the Twins may be able to re-sign to a one year deal instead of a multi-year deal in the off-season if they want to as another year of stop gap since interest is seemingly low.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Which also tells us the Twins may be able to re-sign to a one year deal instead of a multi-year deal in the off-season if they want to as another year of stop gap since interest is seemingly low.

Good point.

 

Although if interest is really that low, while his ax-bat offense is peaking, maybe it should be time for us to look elsewhere too? It doesn't look like Suzuki has had much positive impact on our pitching staff, or on his fellow Twins catchers.  Maybe it would be better to roll the dice on some other vet for a change?

[diehardtwinsfan]

yeah, not being claimed can be a good or a bad thing. If he sneaks through, a sudden injury can make him a valuable piece. If he doesn't, you have to negotiate with one team. Him getting through isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not sure he'd net that much.

[Seth Stohs]

From Mike Berardino via Twitter:

 

https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/765633474082533377 

[nicksaviking]

I'm puzzled how and why that doesn't get reported two days ago. What is the leverage in keeping that mum?

[gocgo]

Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki cleared revocable trade waivers and is free to be traded to any team, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I'm puzzled how and why that doesn't get reported two days ago. What is the leverage in keeping that mum?

Maybe they ran him through a second time, just to be safe.

[nicksaviking]

 

Maybe they ran him through a second time, just to be safe.

 

Ha, love that one.

 

I asked Berardino though and he replied. The commissioners office considers the waivers confidential information and disclosure is prohibited.

 

Which makes sense seeing as no matter what the player or club, the reporting of the waivers always seems to be a very random scoop and often not timely.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

yeah, not being claimed can be a good or a bad thing. If he sneaks through, a sudden injury can make him a valuable piece. If he doesn't, you have to negotiate with one team. Him getting through isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not sure he'd net that much.

It's sort of a bad thing, in that it will lead to more trade speculation for the rest of the month when clearly no one wants him.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

It's sort of a bad thing, in that it will lead to more trade speculation for the rest of the month when clearly no one wants him.

ah man.. you ruined it.  You mean we won't be able to get Tyler Glasnow for him?  Even if we throw in ABW as a PTBNL?

[RedBull34]

Offers that he turned down? Why? We have the 2nd worst record in the MLB and worst in the AL. He is also a FA in a few months!

 

Ummm, would it not make sense to trade him for anything? If you really liked him and wanted to keep him, just sign him back in the offseason. My guess is that there were NO offers at all, or they would (should) have taken them. Would the SP be any worse off without him?

I wouldnt take org filler for him. You still need an actual prospect. They might not have offering those.

[HitInAPinch]

 

Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki cleared revocable trade waivers and is free to be traded to any team, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

 

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/08/kurt-suzuki-clears-trade-waivers.html

[jorgenswest]

I guess there couldn't have much interest at the trade deadline. There wasn't even a taker for a waiver claim. Anyone interested would have had more leverage by making claim. Does it make sense that a team of interest would pass in claiming him?

 

If this is the league's view of Suzuki, how interested should the Twins be for 2017?

[kab21]

This should give people an idea of what Suzuki's trade value is and why he wasn't moved at the trade deadline.

[Mr. Brooks]

Yep, Suzuki is a major liability behind the plate, and the fact that the Twins can't see that just confirms to me my opinion that we need a pretty full house cleaning.

Unless the Twins bring him back, I'd be pretty surprised to see him get offered a major league contract next year.

[Thrylos]

 

Yep, Suzuki is a major liability behind the plate, and the fact that the Twins can't see that just confirms to me my opinion that we need a pretty full house cleaning.
Unless the Twins bring him back, I'd be pretty surprised to see him get offered a major league contract next year.

 

If Antony is the GM, they might go for the Qualifying Offer situation

 

[jorgenswest]

Suzuki will be on a major league team next year. The few teams in the play off hunt with a need at catcher might not have seen him as a fit in a starting role, but there are jobs for 60+ catchers next year and he is among the best 60.

[Mr. Brooks]

Suzuki will be on a major league team next year. The few teams in the play off hunt with a need at catcher might not have seen him as a fit in a starting role, but there are jobs for 60+ catchers next year and he is among the best 60.

Agree to disagree I guess.

He may end up on a major league roster after injuries, but I think he starts on a minor league deal.

Unless of course, Antony is retained, then I have no doubt he'll be back here.

IMO, his arm and pitch framing and sequencing are poisonous to a pitching staff.

[jorgenswest]

Suzuki was a poor framer when acquired. His numbers were poor in his first season as a Twin.

 

It appears that he has improved significantly in 2015 and continued in 2016. It could be the combination of his hard work and the influence of Allen coming from the Rays organization. He is at -0.09 calls per game this year following -0.07 calls per game last year according to stat corner. While relatively neutral, the Indians catcher are both positive framers and that is one team that might have been a fit.

 

He can't improve his arm and probably is best when he is used less than the Twins use him, but I am confident he will find a job next year. While I hope the Twins look for a long term solution, I appreciate his consistent hard work and willingness to play catcher on days when his body is pretty banged up.

[PseudoSABR]

 

Yep, Suzuki is a major liability behind the plate, and the fact that the Twins can't see that just confirms to me my opinion that we need a pretty full house cleaning.

I don't think waiving Suzuki and him going unclaimed says anything about what the Twins think of Suzuki's defense.  They brought in Murphy who should have been the starting backstop by now but can't hit (whom they gave up another up-the-middle player who also can't hit).  There really wasn't that many options to take at bats away from Suzuki, yet he'll still fall short of the necessary PAs to vest his option.   Suzuki can both be bad at defense and the Twins can know that he's bad at defense.

 

Unless this is more criticism from something the Twins shouldn't have done two years ago...

[Rosterman]

Well, it is time for the Twins to make a two-year contract offer (say $4.5 million a year) to keep him in Minnesota, not that he is going anywhere else. Kinda a slap in your face heading into your free agency year, I think. Not worth $1.5 million as a backup or bat off the bench...too rich for most team's blood.

[gil4]

 

Comrade Bork, on 16 Aug 2016 - 1:06 PM, said:

So when do we find out if he cleared? Should be sometime this afternoon right?

 

Shaitan, on 16 Aug 2016 - 1:22 PM, said:

Maybe never. It's "confidential."

 

gocgo, on 16 Aug 2016 - 2:49 PM, said:

Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki cleared revocable trade waivers and is free to be traded to any team, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

 

 

I guess "confidential" doesn't mean what it used to.  Someone needs to tell Antony not to put that stuff on his private server.

[nicksaviking]

Comrade Bork, on 16 Aug 2016 - 1:06 PM, said:

So when do we find out if he cleared? Should be sometime this afternoon right?

 

Shaitan, on 16 Aug 2016 - 1:22 PM, said:

Maybe never. It's "confidential."

 

gocgo, on 16 Aug 2016 - 2:49 PM, said:

Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki cleared revocable trade waivers and is free to be traded to any team, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

 

 

I guess "confidential" doesn't mean what it used to.  Someone needs to tell Antony not to put that stuff on his private server.

Well we found out McCann was placed on waivers before the waiver period even ended. Things get leaked, even if it's supposed to be confidential, and the leak could come from any of the 30 teams since they all know who is waived.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I don't think waiving Suzuki and him going unclaimed says anything about what the Twins think of Suzuki's defense.  They brought in Murphy who should have been the starting backstop by now but can't hit (whom they gave up another up-the-middle player who also can't hit).  There really wasn't that many options to take at bats away from Suzuki, yet he'll still fall short of the necessary PAs to vest his option.   Suzuki can both be bad at defense and the Twins can know that he's bad at defense.

 

Unless this is more criticism from something the Twins shouldn't have done two years ago...

Well, we have 3 years of the Twins plus Suzuki to evaluate.  And only once in that time did the Twins make a move to really threaten Suzuki's starting job, with the acquisition of Murphy after Suzuki's poor *offensive* 2015 season.  (I also don't think they planned on Murphy starting at any point in 2016, although he could have worked toward a more equitable split.)  They also demoted Murphy fairly quickly this year, and waived John Hicks who has a pretty good defensive rep in the minors, and instead went to Centeno who was zero threat to take away Suzuki's starting job (much like our other MLB catchers in 2014-2015).  For that matter, they originally paired Suzuki with Pinto, suggesting they thought Suzuki would provide the defensive value in that arrangement.

 

Obviously we will never know for sure, but I think it's fair to speculate that the Twins evaluation of Suzuki's defense hasn't matched the league's evaluation of his defense.  (Not to dwell on the extension, but that might have been another benefit of letting him hit the open market that offseason -- we could have seen more clearly how other teams valued his defense.)

 

Hopefully by generating such little trade interest despite a solid 103 OPS+, it serves as a bit of a wake-up call in their planning at the position for 2017.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I guess there couldn't have much interest at the trade deadline. There wasn't even a taker for a waiver claim. Anyone interested would have had more leverage by making claim. Does it make sense that a team of interest would pass in claiming him?

Actually, it might.  If their interest is modest (i.e. they want him, but only for a marginal PTBNL or cash), and they know that the Twins will reject that offer right now and pull Suzuki back from waivers, it is actually in the other team's best interest to pass on making a claim now.  That gives them more time to convince the Twins to accept that return.  It also moves any potential acquisition closer to the expanded rosters of Sep. 1st, making it easier to roster an additional player (i.e. if they want to keep their current two catchers, acquiring Suzuki near August 31 means they don't have to carry 3 catchers on their 25 man roster for very long).  If they are frugal, delaying the trade also saves them a bit of cash (two weeks of Suzuki is about $500k).

 

Obviously, this all assumes that the "interested" team could take him or leave him, and the trade return would be very low, so it's not a great sign for the Twins, but it's still possible there is a bit on interest and a trade could still happen.

 

I probably shouldn't have posted this, as it will only encourage more exaggerated trade speculation for the rest of the month!

[d-mac]

 

I wouldnt take org filler for him. You still need an actual prospect. They might not have offering those.

 

Why? He offers no value the rest of this year and will be a free agent. 

[RedBull34]

Why? He offers no value the rest of this year and will be a free agent.

He does offer value, but it's just through the end of the year. Org Filler offer no value ever. You don't trade something of value for something with none, just to do it. I would take a 20-30 team rank prospect for Suzuki, but not a nonprospect.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

He does offer value, but it's just through the end of the year. Org Filler offer no value ever. You don't trade something of value for something with none, just to do it. I would take a 20-30 team rank prospect for Suzuki, but not a nonprospect.

Suzuki also costs $1.5 mil through the end of the year, and could be preventing someone else from getting reps behind the plate in MLB.  Murphy was the chief candidate and hasn't exactly made a case for himself at AAA, but Garver has hit well in his first few games there and might deserve at least a look in September, and Turner might too if we plan to protect him on the 40-man roster anyway.

 

Might be nice to get a little data on how our pitchers respond with a different receiver too.