Twins sign reliever Cody Allen to minor league deal

[ScrapTheNickname]

He's 30.

He sucked really badly this year with The Angels. (1.913 WHIP, 6.26 ERA)

But he's just 2 years removed from being stellar.

Maybe Wes Johnson can work some of the problems out.

Or maybe he's through.

Smarter people than me may now begin the discussion.

[PseudoSABR]

The offseason move many were clamoring for finally happens!! 

 

Worth a gamble.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Cheaper than the 2/20 I was calling for!!

[operation mindcrime]

This seemed inevitable!!!

[Richie the Rally Goat]

He's 30.

He sucked really badly this year with The Angels. (1.913 WHIP, 6.26 ERA)

But he's just 2 years removed from being stellar.

Maybe Wes Johnson can work some of the problems out.

Or maybe he's through.

Smarter people than me may now begin the discussion.

https://mobile.twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1142564320305397760

 

Per Heymen

[james2334]

My first thought was "maybe they saw something they can fix", but then again if they could fix broken relievers they should start by fixing the guys they already have. 

[DocBauer]

Wow! None of us saw this coming!

 

Right there with Hosken when I thought he would be a good and smart signing. (I had him more around 2 and $16).

 

Could be he is Reed all over again. Could be there is something left and it was wrong time and wrong place and the Twins see something.

 

Really amazing to reflect on the glut of available BP arms that were available this past offseason and see what has befallen most of them.

 

And here we have one of the best records in baseball even with the pen we didnt really want/like. And after a couple really bad performances, they have suddenly been pretty strong the past 6 games or so.

 

Shows the general nature of a pen and how hard it is to build one. It's not always "sign this guy" or "throw this starter in to the pen".

 

The Twins have opportunity to do something for this great season and I'm sure they will. But this process is not as easy as it appears.

 

I wish no ill-will to anyone, and I still dont believe the Twins fortunes will depend on what they didnt do, but it will be interesting to see what Kimbrel does this year.

[Thrylos]

I bet that he might sell a few more tickets in Rochester and maybe even help them.  If they see something obvious in him and they fix him so he would contribute for the Twins, it will be bonus.  Other than that, I am not seeing this signing different than Preston Guilmet's.

[Squirrel]

Article can be found here: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/33658-article-twins-sign-rhp-cody-allen-minor-league-deal/

[Jham]

Did Allen refuse a AAA assignment and forego his contract to become a free agent? how does that work?

[Squirrel]

Did Allen refuse a AAA assignment and forego his contract to become a free agent? how does that work?

No, he was dfa’d then released. The Angels still have to pay him.

[Jham]

No, he was dfa’d then released. The Angels still have to pay him.

Gotcha. He accepted the assignment then given outright release? Presumably they must be rostered or outrighted once they accept assignment?

[Squirrel]

 

Gotcha. He accepted the assignment then given outright release? Presumably they must be rostered or outrighted once they accept assignment?

I'm not actually sure what he accepted or didn't. I'm not sure how that all works within MLB rules. He didn't have options so couldn't just be sent down. He was dfa'd; the Angels were unable to trade him, then released, and then signed a minor league deal with us. And the Angles still have to pay him the balance of his contract.

 

spycake? He would know how that specifically works. All I know is what I said ... dfa'd, released, signed with the Twins, Angels still have to pay him.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Did Allen refuse a AAA assignment and forego his contract to become a free agent? how does that work?

It appears Allen has all 3 of his minor league options remaining, but with 5+ years service, he also has the right to decline any optional assignment. Under rare circumstances vets might accept them (Anibal Sanchez did his last year in Detroit, just to get some starts instead of being stuck in mop-up duty), but generally they refuse.

 

Allen may have refused a minor league assignment, as is his right, but he didn't have to elect free agency himself. Refusing an assignment in this case would just force the Angels to either keep him on their MLB roster or release him. He still gets his full contract from them regardless (less the minimum salary he might make elsewhere).

[USAFChief]

 

Gotcha. He accepted the assignment then given outright release? Presumably they must be rostered or outrighted once they accept assignment?

A player DFA'd is removed from the club's 40 man roster. Within 7 days, He must be either placed on waivers, traded, released, or outrighted to the minors. In all cases except a trade, the major league team is still responsible for the remainder of the player's contract.

 

 A player can only be outrighted once. That isn't a factor for Allen though, because as a player with more than 5 years MLB service time, he can refuse a minor league assignment. 

 

Allen was released, meaning he is the property of no MLB team, and is a free agent. An MLB team signing him to a MLB contract would only be responsible for the prorated portion of the MLB minimum. In Allen's case, I believe the Twins signed him to a minor league contract, so they're not even responsible for that.

[a-wan]

Maybe he still has Cleveland's playbook and can give the Twin's defense help against the Cleveland offense.

[ashbury]

A player DFA'd is removed from the club's 40 man roster. Within 7 days, He must be either placed on waivers, traded, released, or outrighted to the minors. In all cases except a trade, the major league team is still responsible for the remainder of the player's contract.

I believe that if the player is selected by another team via waivers, the contract goes with him to the new team.

[Twodogs]

I wonder How many years the Cardinals still have control over Carlos Martinez?  I know he has expressed interest in starting once again and the Cardinals kind of seem to not be on that same page with him.  Of course the Cardinals have all sorts of pitching depth in their organization, so they probably don't need him to start.  But I thought it might be interesting if the Twins were to be able to lure them in to trading him over to the Twins, the Twins could use him as a reliever this year with the promise to move him back into the rotation next year??

[USAFChief]

 

I believe that if the player is selected by another team via waivers, the contract goes with him to the new team.

I believe you are correct.

 

Good catch.

[RatherBeGolfing]

#BigMoneyMoves

 

As the kids say

[ashbury]

I believe you are correct.

 

Good catch.

 

"Good catch... _^nitpicker."

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I wonder How many years the Cardinals still have control over Carlos Martinez?  I know he has expressed interest in starting once again and the Cardinals kind of seem to not be on that same page with him.  Of course the Cardinals have all sorts of pitching depth in their organization, so they probably don't need him to start.  But I thought it might be interesting if the Twins were to be able to lure them in to trading him over to the Twins, the Twins could use him as a reliever this year with the promise to move him back into the rotation next year??

The Cardinals control Carlos Martinez through 2023.

 

Their pitching depth has been tested this year, though. There was talk of them moving Martinez back into the rotation after the all star break, but I could see them waiting until later in the season or the offseason too. They're still trying to salvage something out of Wacha, but they will have him and likely Wainwright to replace in next year's rotation. I think their asking price for Martinez would still reflect that.

[Mike Sixel]

Worth a flyer.....still hoping they trade for someone they believe in, Starter and Reliever (or two).

[DiscGolfer]

Definitely worth a flyer, low risk situation.  What concerns me is that his velocity has steadily decreased since 2015, if Wes and the Twins can help him find his velocity again I could see him helping the bull pen.  If not then no harm done, good luck to him.