Twins Claim RHP Beau Burrows off Waivers

[David Youngs]

The Twins announced Tuesday afternoon that they claimed RHP Beau Burrows off waivers from the Detroit Tigers. Here’s what you need to know.

No, the name above isn’t former Heisman winner Joe Borrow. It’s Fort Worth, TX native and former Detroit first-round pick Beau Burrows. 

After a grueling stretch of games, the Twins added a promising arm to the bullpen, claiming Burrows off waivers from the Tigers on Tuesday afternoon. Burrows will report to Triple-A Saint Paul. The Saints will begin a six-game series against the Clippers in Columbus tonight.

The 6’2 right-hander was drafted out of high school in the first round (pick 22) of the 2015 Amateur Draft by the Tigers. He spent 2015-2019 dancing between Rookie Ball and AAA for the Tigers organization. His best season came in 2017 when he posted a 10-7 record with a 3.20 ERA in 26 games between High-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie.

Burrows got his shot at the big leagues in 2020, pitching 6 2/3 innings of relief in five games for Detroit. In that span, he recorded a 5.40 ERA with eight hits and four earned runs. 

The Weatherford High School graduate has only pitched once for the Tigers this season, surrendering four earned runs in 1 2/3 innings on June 22 against the White Sox. Burrows was perfect for the first inning of his appearance but left the game in the middle of his second inning on the mound due to illness.

And while he appears to be healthy now, Burrows has struggled to find consistency in the past thanks to injuries, particularly in 2019. Burrows missed a month and a half early that season due to shoulder inflammation. After returning to the bump he was later shut down in August due to a left oblique strain. 

Burrows' pitch arsenal consists primarily of a four-seam fastball (66%), slider (20%), and changeup (14%). His fastball has averaged at 94.5 MPH so far this season with hitters recording a .200 batting average against it. Burrows also has a curveball and sinker, yet hasn’t thrown either pitch so far this season.

While the sample size is small it’s clear that Burrows has some untapped talent and just hasn’t gotten into a rhythm yet. Hopefully, that will change in the Twins organization. Welcome to Minnesota, Beau!

The addition of Burrows puts the Twins back at 40 players on their 40-man roster. 

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[Mike Sixel]

I mean, sure, why not roll a die?

Just cut one of the current bullpen options, and put him there.....

[mikelink45]

Wait!  We are now picking up waiver claims that are cut by THE DETROIT TIGERS?  This will not offset Akil Baddoo or even Niko Goodrum.   Oh well, good luck.  

[Dman]

I guess they can take look and see if they can fix anything.  Wes does not have a good success rate with that this year though.  Lack of control hurt Waddell who is now gone who they didn't fix and Gibaut who isn't happy until he walks a bunch of guys.  I have my doubts they get much out of him but you never know.

[Vanimal46]

Yet another waiver claim jumping ahead of Balazovic, Winder, Sands, etc. in line for AAA and possibly MLB reps. Something’s fishy with our player development. 

[Aggies7]

The twins love shopping the Great Value brand products 

[Otto von Ballpark]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Yet another waiver claim jumping ahead of Balazovic, Winder, Sands, etc. in line for AAA and possibly MLB reps. Something’s fishy with our player development. 

Sands is on the IL now too. There is no shortage of AAA reps.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Kind of weird that the Tigers cut Burrows loose, with option years remaining, without much of a bullpen audition.

We know ARI, BAL, PIT, TEX, and COL all passed on claiming him too.

[Vanimal46]

30 minutes ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

Sands is on the IL now too. There is no shortage of AAA reps.

In the last week they’ve picked up Barraclough and Burrows instead of progressing their own draft picks through the system. Normally I don’t care who’s in AAA but it’s a necessity to be there in order to get called up to the show. 

[Danchat]

Burrows is probably just here to be depth, with Thorpe and Smeltzer on the shelf longer than usual. He and Barraclough ain't blocking anyone - the FO would make room for them when they are promoted, it's not like we have legitimate depth we can't afford to lose in AAA.

Burrows' track record is pretty mediocre, as he's been hittable and doesn't strike out a lot of guys. He is just 24 and has options. Perhaps they move him to the pen full-time and see if he can step his game up that way. 

[Seth Stohs]

5 hours ago, Dman said:

I guess they can take look and see if they can fix anything.  Wes does not have a good success rate with that this year though.  Lack of control hurt Waddell who is now gone who they didn't fix and Gibaut who isn't happy until he walks a bunch of guys.  I have my doubts they get much out of him but you never know.

Luke Farrell has looked pretty good... Nothing wrong with being aggressive at the back end of the 40-man roster, especially with a 24-year-old former first round pick... with options. 

[Seth Stohs]

4 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Yet another waiver claim jumping ahead of Balazovic, Winder, Sands, etc. in line for AAA and possibly MLB reps. Something’s fishy with our player development. 

Balazovic has had four AA starts since his return injury, and only has a playoff start for them in 2019. Winder, they're going to protect him as much as they can. Sands is now on the IL too. They need arms. Ober is up. Jax is now on the 40. Barnes is close. 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

In the last week they’ve picked up Barraclough and Burrows instead of progressing their own draft picks through the system. Normally I don’t care who’s in AAA but it’s a necessity to be there in order to get called up to the show. 

They're not calling up Winder or Balazovic any time soon... Need arms. 

[Vanimal46]

5 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

They're not calling up Winder or Balazovic any time soon... Need arms. 

There isn’t an arm ready in AA to make the move to AAA? 

[Seth Stohs]

18 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

There isn’t an arm ready in AA to make the move to AAA? 

Sure, they can call up Moran and Winder any time. This doesn't stop that. 

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Sure, they can call up Moran and Winder any time. This doesn't stop that. 

The slower to AAA, the slower to the majors. If they aren't there this year, this team is just a bit short on pitchers next year. Just a bit.....

[Seth Stohs]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

The slower to AAA, the slower to the majors. If they aren't there this year, this team is just a bit short on pitchers next year. Just a bit.....

We saw how quick things moved from when Celestino was promoted the first time from AA to AAA to when he got to the big leagues. One day? Two days?

Also, Berrios and Maeda will get their starts. Dobnak should continue to get starts as long as they're not in contention. Ober should keep getting starts. Jax would seem to be next in line. Duran is now out, but Winder can move up at any time and either make some AAA starts or move up. 

[AdoreAdorno]

Basically a Kohl Stewart. Tigers must have a pretty strong 40 man roster to cut him lose with an option year left. 

[old nurse]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

There isn’t an arm ready in AA to make the move to AAA? 

The problem is there isn't much for relievers  in AAA to move the majors. 

[KirbyDome89]

3 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

 Barnes is close. 

He either needs to be added or exposed this offseason. He'll be 26 by that time. He's a college arm on his 2nd stint in AAA and he's already made 8 starts this season. A Beau Burrows is always available, why not collect some data on your own fringe guys first?

[Vanimal46]

9 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Sure, they can call up Moran and Winder any time. This doesn't stop that. 

What’s stopping them then? Because 2 waiver wire picks are in AAA vs. any AA arm getting a promotion. 

[Dodecahedron]

15 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Wait!  We are now picking up waiver claims that are cut by THE DETROIT TIGERS?  

Twins ERA+ 84
Tigers ERA+ 96

Why not?

Beau's 3.16 FIP is made the algorithms go off everywhere in the league when he hit waivers.  He would have been claimed by someone, so kudos to the Twins for being terrible so they get first dibs. 

Strange to cut a guy after 1 appearance.  Maybe he pooped in Robbie Grossman's shoe or something, but to that end, who hasn't done that or at least thought about doing that?

[Seth Stohs]

6 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

He either needs to be added or exposed this offseason. He'll be 26 by that time. He's a college arm on his 2nd stint in AAA and he's already made 8 starts this season. A Beau Burrows is always available, why not collect some data on your own fringe guys first?

There are five rotation spots. Barnes isn't going to miss any starts. They're getting data on him. And he made four starts in AAA in 2019. That's not like a full season or anything. Barnes and Jax will get chances when there's a spot. 

[Sam Morley]

https://youtu.be/929Wk-EWQ0s

so after this, the tigers immediately sent burrows back to triple a, and now they’ve apparently cut him outright. 

[Mike Sixel]

11 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

We saw how quick things moved from when Celestino was promoted the first time from AA to AAA to when he got to the big leagues. One day? Two days?

Also, Berrios and Maeda will get their starts. Dobnak should continue to get starts as long as they're not in contention. Ober should keep getting starts. Jax would seem to be next in line. Duran is now out, but Winder can move up at any time and either make some AAA starts or move up. 

If Jax, Dobnak and Ober are 3/5 of next year's rotation, this team is in trouble. Jax is a great story, but he's probably not an average MLB starter. He's probably not even a number 5. I doubt we'll agree on this, and I'm ok with that. This team 100% needs at least one GOOD starter from this year's minor league teams to be in next year's rotation (or, to spend way more money on FAs or trades than they've shown they are willing to do). That won't happen if that pitcher isn't in MN for 7+ starts this year, imo.

[Dodecahedron]

2 hours ago, Sam Morley said:

https://youtu.be/929Wk-EWQ0s

so after this, the tigers immediately sent burrows back to triple a, and now they’ve apparently cut him outright. 

Poor guy.  I would expect someone who is sick to be pitching as he was.  I'm amazed he was still getting that much velocity, which no doubt made him sicker faster.

His numbers in recent years are not great, so I don't think this is why he was cut.  The only justification for cutting him after being sick on the mound would be if he was drunk or something.  With all that coughing he was doing, I doubt that's the case.

The Twins might be bad, but they're not marching people out there who should be in bed.

[KirbyDome89]

3 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

There are five rotation spots. Barnes isn't going to miss any starts. They're getting data on him. And he made four starts in AAA in 2019. That's not like a full season or anything. Barnes and Jax will get chances when there's a spot. 

They didn't have a problem with Jax missing some starts. If the argument is that Barnes must remain in a rotation, there's still room at the major league level. Ideally that data is from games played against major leaguers. This thread exists because there was a spot and it was given to a waiver claim. 

[AceWrigley]

I thought Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) was the guy who bonked all the family Huttinger women who the Mrs. Robinson song was supposedly based on. ? (Ya ya, different spelling, I know.) 

[USAFChief]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

If Jax, Dobnak and Ober are 3/5 of next year's rotation, this team is in trouble. Jax is a great story, but he's probably not an average MLB starter. He's probably not even a number 5. I doubt we'll agree on this, and I'm ok with that. This team 100% needs at least one GOOD starter from this year's minor league teams to be in next year's rotation (or, to spend way more money on FAs or trades than they've shown they are willing to do). That won't happen if that pitcher isn't in MN for 7+ starts this year, imo.

I'd say if more than one of those three are in the opening day rotation I'll be surprised, and that will be another bad offseason for the front office.

[cHawk]

On 6/23/2021 at 1:23 PM, USAFChief said:

I'd say if more than one of those three are in the opening day rotation I'll be surprised, and that will be another bad offseason for the front office.

Ober should. Dobnak and Jax should not