Twins Claim David Hale

[nicksaviking]

The Yankee's DFA'd him when they claimed former prospect A.J. Cole. Hale's only MLB action this year came against the Twins when he struck out three over 2 innings. Somehow that failed to impress the Yankee brass I guess. At least it impressed the Twins.

 

Looks like he's almost exclusively been used in the rotation in the minors, but he'll likely find himself in the Twins pen. Here's to finding a diamond in the rough.

[KGB]

Let's hope this isn't the start of throwing out the journeyman pitchers and not calling up any of the prospects they have on the 40 man rosters

[nicksaviking]

Yeah, I'd rather give Busenitz another shot, followed by Reed and Curtis.

 

They may not have read it as a correlation like I did, but the pen improved last year after the journeymen got the boot and the young guys got regular jobs.

[Mike Sixel]

They really don't seem to trust young players, or something

[Mill1634]

So what are the moves going to be with Hale and Buxton coming back?

[Otto von Ballpark]

As you may guess about a 30 year old on waivers, Hale is out of options, having been optioned in 2013, 2015, and 2016. He has been a minor league free agent each of the last 2 offseasons.

[Rosterman]

Interesting. So the Twins would basically make him a free agent if no one claims him once they decide to send him off.

 

But wait, maybe he IS better than someone we currently have. And he can pitch multiple innings, right?

 

We are still considered plus-1 in the bullpen department, though.

 

I would send out Hildenberger!

[Mike Sixel]

As you may guess about a 30 year old on waivers, Hale is out of options, having been optioned in 2013, 2015, and 2016. He has been a minor league free agent each of the last 2 offseasons.

Oh good. Clogging up the staff more with mediocrity.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Interesting. So the Twins would basically make him a free agent if no one claims him once they decide to send him off.

 

Actually Hale has never been outrighted. So if he were to clear waivers, he could be sent outright to AAA and remain in the Twins org, at least for the rest of the season.

[Vanimal46]

Back to 25 pitchers on the 40 man! Thank God, I was worried they were running out of options to stash on the 25 man roster.

[Shaitan]

He can't be worse than what they've put out there over the last week.

[Otto von Ballpark]

According to Seth in the minor league forum, Slegers was optioned back to Rochester after 1 day to make room for Hale.

[ashbury]

According to Seth in the minor league forum, Slegers was optioned back to Rochester after 1 day to make room for Hale.

What was your favorite 2018 Slegers moment?

 

If I were Aaron Slegers I think I'd be pretty angry at losing my roster spot for David freaking Hale. Hale had a good 2014; since then, Slegers has shown more at AAA than Hale has.

[Gagne Fan]

So a guy with a current 5.52 era in AAA is better than our current AAA pitchers who all have era’s below 2

 

Sleegers, Curtis, Baxendale, Magill

 

All these guys should be pissed

[Blake]

 

What was your favorite 2018 Slegers moment?

 

If I were Aaron Slegers I think I'd be pretty angry at losing my roster spot for David freaking Hale. Hale had a good 2014; since then, Slegers has shown more at AAA than Hale has.

This just looks bad all the way around. 

 

FO grabs another castoff and, in the process, jerks around a player the Twins drafted and who has moved steadily through the organization.

 

Just from an age standpoint it makes me wonder, because Slegers is 25 while Hale is 30. Late bloomers are incredibly rare at the MLB level.

[rdehring]

 

What was your favorite 2018 Slegers moment?

 

If I were Aaron Slegers I think I'd be pretty angry at losing my roster spot for David freaking Hale. Hale had a good 2014; since then, Slegers has shown more at AAA than Hale has.

Does Slegers at least get a big league paycheck for his one day with the Twins?  Or not?

[Thrylos]

 

 

If I were Aaron Slegers I think I'd be pretty angry at losing my roster spot for David freaking Hale. Hale had a good 2014; since then, Slegers has shown more at AAA than Hale has.

 

I'd like to see what Slegers can do in the pen after he tosses his horrible slider.  Hale was fine with Atlanta and then went to the Rockies in 2015 and 2016 and sucked.  Has been better afterwards.

Is he the answer to the Twins' problems?  Hale not.   But Slegers isn't either.  These two (along with Cave) and the 3  most likely to be taken off the roster when the nextest bestest thing comes along.

 

Slegers has about 3500 reasons, a couple decent nights' sleeps, and a few decent meals to be thankful to come to the bigs even for a blink...

[nicksaviking]

https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/tyler-kinley-designated-for-assignment/c-273931974

 

From a Lavine interview with Bollinger:

 

"This is a guy we pursued this offseason," Twins general manager Thad Levine said of Hale. "We think we may have been the runners-up to the Yankees in terms of enticing him to come to Spring Training.

 

UGH, why would you tell someone in the media that you were runners up to the Yankees in a contest for the services of David Hale?!

 

Also on Slegers demotion:

 

 "We see him as a starter," Levine said. "The reason why we are sending down Slegers and bringing in Hale is to give Aaron a chance to go back in the rotation and be the next line of defense for us on the starting front."

 

So Slegers, not Gonsalves, Romero or Mejia, is next in line to start.

 

[Doctor Wu]

It's only April and already my head is spinning and I'm having headaches. Let's bring back those snow-outs!

[Shaitan]

 

What was your favorite 2018 Slegers moment?

 

If I were Aaron Slegers I think I'd be pretty angry at losing my roster spot for David freaking Hale. Hale had a good 2014; since then, Slegers has shown more at AAA than Hale has.

 

Or he could see that he's clearly the next player the front office has in mind for a MLB roster spot and be happy about it. He's ahead of everyone else in Rochester. Riding the MLB/AAA shuttle is a part of the job. If nothing else, he got a raise for one day. If a player is personally slighted each time they face adversity, I don't think they're bound for MLB success.

 

Frustrated, sure. Anger, though, is a whole different level.

[ashbury]

Frustrated, sure. Anger, though, is a whole different level.

That's why I said "If I were Aaron Slegers". Blind, seething rage is just one of my many fine qualities. Never getting frustrated is another.

[Tomj14]

 

So Slegers, not Gonsalves, Romero or Mejia, is next in line to start.

I would choose Romero first, but why bring him up when the Twins aren't hitting. Mejia is hurt and only has pitched 9 innings, and Gonzo is pitching 5 innings at a time in AA. So by default that makes in Slegers

[nicksaviking]

 

I would choose Romero first, but why bring him up when the Twins aren't hitting. Mejia is hurt and only has pitched 9 innings, and Gonzo is pitching 5 innings at a time in AA. So by default that makes in Slegers

 

I would hope all of those issues were obsolete by the time they call up the next starter.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Does Slegers at least get a big league paycheck for his one day with the Twins?  Or not?

Yes, and it's not chump change. One day at league minimum is approximately $3k.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Or he could see that he's clearly the next player the front office has in mind for a MLB roster spot and be happy about it. He's ahead of everyone else in Rochester.

That's not entirely clear. Slegers was "ahead of everyone" only when they urgently needed a back of the bullpen arm to replace Tyler Kinley, and Busenitz and Moya were not eligible to be recalled. And Duffey already was. Romero might still be the top starter, those other guys plus Curtiss might be the top short relief options.

 

Maybe Slegers will get a chance to replace Duffey soon, but if they'd rather claim Nick Tepesch 2.0 when they have a roster spot available, I'm not sure that's a good sign for Slegers.

 

EDIT: This was before I read the Levine quote. Apparently Slegers is "next in line" to start. But I could see that changing by the time they're ready to remove/replace a starter.

[Rosterman]

At some point this season the Twins need a good look at Slegers, Mejia (althugh he is a lefty) as well as Enns to see if they fit into next year's plans. Not that Hale is necessarily someone that I would put stock in for sticking beyond 2018.

 

So Hale will be the longman, along with Duffey. Or..."the guy who completes the game Phil Huighes starts."

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Also on Slegers demotion:

 

 "We see him as a starter," Levine said. "The reason why we are sending down Slegers and bringing in Hale is to give Aaron a chance to go back in the rotation and be the next line of defense for us on the starting front."

 

So Slegers, not Gonsalves, Romero or Mejia, is next in line to start.

Also, they can't recall Slegers for 10 days now. At least not without an injury. So that gives Hughes some cushion, although he is well acquainted with DL stints.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

"This is a guy we pursued this offseason," Twins general manager Thad Levine said of Hale. "We think we may have been the runners-up to the Yankees in terms of enticing him to come to Spring Training.

 

UGH, why would you tell someone in the media that you were runners up to the Yankees in a contest for the services of David Hale?!

My guess (hope?) is that we're just doing this to get him to Rochester. If we "pursued" him on a minor league deal this winter but lost out, we probably just wanted him at Rochester. And now that he is on waivers, we can claim him for a day and then put him back on waivers with the hope that he will clear and can be outrighted to Rochester. (I'm sure Hale would be thrilled, but such is the life of the fringe MLB player.)

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

If I were Aaron Slegers I think I'd be pretty angry at losing my roster spot for David freaking Hale. Hale had a good 2014; since then, Slegers has shown more at AAA than Hale has.

Actually, Hale was pretty mediocre in 2014 too. 3.30 ERA, but 4.0 BB/9 and only 4.5 K/9. The bulk of his work was in relief, which came with a .77 game-entering leverage index, which is decidedly mopup duty.

[Mike Sixel]

The longer the front office is in charge, the less I like their approach. Another old, never actually good, pitcher?