Ex Twins in 2021: Where Are They Now?

[lecroy24fan]

13 hours ago, h2oface said:

This is fascinating! A team with currently the best record in Baseball again (now tied again after tonight's Giants win for the same bragging point), will take a look at Vasquez in the heat of a battle to not be in the one game wild card rodeo or win the NL West with the best record in baseball........ but a team like the Twins, with all the right reasons to see Vasquez again, can't seem to find a couple innings for the guy with the likes of what that Twins are throwing out there right now! If Vasquez lights it up for the Dodgers.................

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/09/dodgers-select-andrew-vasquez.html

Dodgers have been dumpster diving recently as well. They claimed 2 pitchers from the Cubs, one of whom was sent to AAA to make room for Vasquez.

[Musk21]

https://www.tmz.com/2021/09/08/delmon-young-arrested-booked-domestic-violence-charge-mlb/

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Musk21 said:

https://www.tmz.com/2021/09/08/delmon-young-arrested-booked-domestic-violence-charge-mlb/

Whew, I was concerned Delmon may have become an upstanding citizen after retreating to obscurity. Good to know up is still up and the sun still rises in the east.

[stringer bell]

Marwin Gonzalez is back in the majors with the Astros. He homered today and raised his average above the Mendoza line. 

[Major League Ready]

On 8/31/2021 at 9:36 PM, Brock Beauchamp said:

Butera's career is one of the most fascinating things about baseball I've been following for the past 10+ years.

His career OPS+ is 48.

He has made $8.4m in his career.

I fully understand why that has happened and good for Drew but still fascinating.

Is Rortvedt the next Drew Butera?

[Brock Beauchamp]

9 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Is Rortvedt the next Drew Butera?

It's very possible. One thing that will drastically change MLB catching overnight is an automated zone. I'm not sure how that will impact Rortvedt, though. I think he'll do fine, as he's such a good catch-and-throw receiver. The type of player it will hurt is Jeffers, assuming he never regains his stroke and hits above league average again (though I think he will in time). Jeffers is a great framer and bad thrower. If he doesn't hit, an automated zone will crush his value.

[Twodogs]

On 9/2/2021 at 5:51 PM, stringer bell said:

Andrew Vasquez, just traded by the Twins to the Dodgers, had his contract selected by the Dodgers

I didn't think teams could trade players after the deadline anymore?

[Rosterman]

53 minutes ago, Twodogs said:

I didn't think teams could trade players after the deadline anymore?

You trade players in your minor league system for other players in a minor league system, as long as they are not on the 40-man roster.

 

[Twodogs]

14 hours ago, Rosterman said:

You trade players in your minor league system for other players in a minor league system, as long as they are not on the 40-man roster.

 

I remember when teams would waive a player and allow him to clear waivers and then trade him. A la Verlander.  As long as no one claimed him you could trade him as he wasn't on the 40 man any longer.  I thought with the strict Aug 1st deadline that they couldn't do that anymore? 

[Otto von Ballpark]

On 9/11/2021 at 11:19 PM, Rosterman said:

You trade players in your minor league system for other players in a minor league system, as long as they are not on the 40-man roster.

 

Just to add: trading players after the deadline requires that the players aren't on the 40-man, and that they haven't been outrighted off the 40-man this year. (So clearing waivers and getting outrighted wasn't a loophole for post-deadline trade eligibility.)

That also explains why no one traded for Matt Shoemaker in August.

[Otto von Ballpark]

On 9/12/2021 at 1:52 PM, Twodogs said:

I remember when teams would waive a player and allow him to clear waivers and then trade him. A la Verlander.  As long as no one claimed him you could trade him as he wasn't on the 40 man any longer.  I thought with the strict Aug 1st deadline that they couldn't do that anymore? 

That was a special kind of waivers, called "trade assignment waivers", and clearing them didn't remove a player from the 40-man, it just made the player eligible to be traded after the deadline. But in any case, those waivers don't exist anymore.

So the August 1st deadline is pretty firm now. Basically the only guys who can get traded after that point are guys on minor league deals who haven't been on a 40-man roster this season. So Vasquez was eligible, but Shoemaker was not. Around the league, the only August trades were pretty much guys like Brad Peacock and Delino Deshields, guys playing on minor league deals who had failed to make it back to MLB yet in 2021.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

That was a special kind of waivers, called "trade assignment waivers", and clearing them didn't remove a player from the 40-man, it just made the player eligible to be traded after the deadline. But in any case, those waivers don't exist anymore.

So the August 1st deadline is pretty firm now. Basically the only guys who can get traded after that point are guys on minor league deals who haven't been on a 40-man roster this season. So Vasquez was eligible, but Shoemaker was not. Around the league, the only August trades were pretty much guys like Brad Peacock and Delino Deshields, guys playing on minor league deals who had failed to make it back to MLB yet in 2021.

I'm glad we have you around for clarity on some of these confusing and changing rules

[Longdistancetwins]

I know we are not supposed to link to stories with a paywall, so I’ll just say that The Athletic has a story today about what a good acquisition J.A. Happ was for the Cardinals.  Can you believe it?  

[RpR]

38 minutes ago, Longdistancetwins said:

I know we are not supposed to link to stories with a paywall, so I’ll just say that The Athletic has a story today about what a good acquisition J.A. Happ was for the Cardinals.  Can you believe it?  

I think Twins pitching problems has some thing to do with management.

[a-wan]

21 minutes ago, RpR said:

I think Twins pitching problems has some thing to do with management.

Yeah,  40 year old pitchers are definitely adversely effected by management. ?

[RpR]

2 minutes ago, a-wan said:

Yeah,  40 year old pitchers are definitely adversely effected by management. ?

Nice rationalizaton.

[big dog]

I'd rather have Gant than Happ. Assuming Gant doesn't need arm replacement surgery, but maybe even if he does.

The Dodgers returned Vasquez to the minors after two appearances. It will be interesting to see what happens to him. So many relievers move around, some successful (at least eventually), some not. Deolis Guerra (Johan Santana trade) is having a good year with Oakland. Took him 9 years to get to the majors, He's been with 5 teams in his 6 years since then (counting Pitt two different times) and he's having his second decent year, the only two times he's been in 20 or more games. Who knows, maybe this is the start of something great!

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

22 hours ago, Longdistancetwins said:

I know we are not supposed to link to stories with a paywall, so I’ll just say that The Athletic has a story today about what a good acquisition J.A. Happ was for the Cardinals.

You mean the guy with a 4.08 ERA and a 5.18 FIP since joining the Cardinals?*

Yeah, great. Whooooooo World Series, baby.

*Happ's FIP in Minnesota was 5.41, for the record

[Squirrel]

Surprised no one posted this here:

 

Wtg, Eddie! ❤️ 

[stringer bell]

Congratulations Eddie! He's done well (SSS) for the Braves so far.

In other former Twin news, Ildemaro Vargas has been added to the D-Backs roster, presumably for the rest of the season. He's played for three teams this year after playing for three teams in 2020.

[stringer bell]

Brandon Waddell is back in the majors, recalled by the Cardinals. He's also pitched for three teams this year.

[big dog]

In tonight's "Wait, no...what?" category:

Robbie Grossman has 23 homers and 18 steals this year.

Former career highs: 11 homers, 9 steals.

 

[h2oface]

Chargois and Enns hold down the ninth for the team with the best record in the AL, Tampa Bay, tonight. Chargois comes in after Robertson had given up 2 runs to Toronto on a double, homer and a walk (score now 6-4 Tampa), and inherits one runner on first, gets a fly out by Bichette and strikes out Hernandez, but then gives up a single to Jansen and walks Gurriel to load the bases, and Enns comes in with the bases sacked and 2 outs, inheriting 3 runners, goes 3-0 to Valera and then gets 2 high out of zone called strikes (Jays were PISSED as the bases should have still been loaded, with the score 6-5 now), and a foul, and a 3rd called strike just in zone middle outside edge. Enns and Tampa were definitely aided by bad calls, but it was fun to watch, especially since I had no skin in the game. But another example of the plate umpire drastically affecting the outcome of the important game. 

Enns and Chargois both looking toward the playoffs. Lucky them.

[stringer bell]

10 hours ago, big dog said:

In tonight's "Wait, no...what?" category:

Robbie Grossman has 23 homers and 18 steals this year.

Former career highs: 11 homers, 9 steals.

 

Grossman is an interesting player. He's added parts to his game in his late 20s and early 30s. When he broke in, including with the Twins, his strength was getting on base. In Oakland, he showed himself a capable corner outfielder and now he has added power (home runs) and base stealing to his resume. Either he or Jonathan Schoop might be Detroit's MVP.

[h2oface]

On 9/20/2021 at 10:02 AM, stringer bell said:

Congratulations Eddie! He's done well (SSS) for the Braves so far.

In other former Twin news, Ildemaro Vargas has been added to the D-Backs roster, presumably for the rest of the season. He's played for three teams this year after playing for three teams in 2020.

He has been GREAT for his stint on the Braves since the trade. Playoff bound, and on a hot streak. Will it last? I hope so. 

Some say that once a player is traded they are dead to them. I find, these days, with the way players are dealt, that my team is full of stangers. I compare it to a house and a home. The players make it a home, and the team is just the house. When my team (and it is the "thing" all around the league) always gets rid of their best and/or fan favorite players to make the team better, maybe, down the road, maybe, the home becomes a house, and more something that I force myself to be fond of, even though the family has been gutted by execs that were never fans of the team, and are only here for the money and the job, really.

[Rosterman]

It is just the pain of arbitration. The Twins didn't feel he was worth the increase, but looking back he would've been a tradechip and we didn't have anyone who really filled his spot.

 

Be interesting to see where Rosario goes from here.

[Sousy]

Switching over to MLB's "Big Inning" after the Twins game jumped right to this at bat:

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/dodgers-brusdar-graterol-silly-102-mph-pitch

[jkcarew]

2 hours ago, Sousy said:

Switching over to MLB's "Big Inning" after the Twins game jumped right to this at bat:

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/dodgers-brusdar-graterol-silly-102-mph-pitch

Still, a disappointing season. Sitting at 30 innings right now…and still somehow K rate is below league average, although better than last year.

Of course, he’ll have a chance (presumably) to make up for all that in the post season…and he has been good lately. Dodgers may have figured out how to deal with Graterol’s chronic injury/durability issues: not only keep him in the bullpen, but also shut him down at least twice per season. They can afford that approach with the quality depth of their pitching…and with no worries to make the postseason.

[stringer bell]

Sean Poppen got his first MLB victory pitching in middle relief for the D-Backs. Arizona rallied for five runs in seventh to give Poppen a W. 

[Vanimal46]