Edwar Colina Claimed by Rangers

[Mike Sixel]

Is he even going to pitch next year? A lot of angst over an injured minor league relief pitcher. The fear on this site that the Twins might lose a good player is amazing. Not just this move, but nearly every player people are worried about. Many of those posters also hate trading Berrios for prospects..... Which is ironic.

[Otto von Ballpark]

20 hours ago, ashbury said:

When Texas puts Colina on waivers a few days from now, I hope the Twins take him right back!

Might be more than a few days, as Colina is still on the 60-day IL so he doesn't count against the Rangers 40-man.

The Rangers will have to activate him by the 5th day after the conclusion of the World Series.

[Otto von Ballpark]

18 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

I thought, since he was on the 60 day IL, we could just keep him there until ST. Maybe I was wrong. I dunno.

As Brock alluded to, we could have kept him on the 60-day IL until the 5th day after the end of the World Series (early November). But at that point, we'd have to activate him and all the other 60-day IL guys without the roster going over 40 players. Now the Rangers will have to make that decision on him.

The 60-day IL returns as players report to spring training -- Pineda went on that list on Feb. 17 during his TJ recovery season. But there's about 3.5 months in the offseason where the 40-man roster is a hard limit of 40.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Colina had a non-TJ elbow injury way back in spring. Obviously I have no idea what the recovery prognosis would have been. It sounds to me like they weren’t expecting Colina to pick up a baseball at all in 2021. I hate to think that Shaun Anderson was acquired in response to Colina going down, but we don’t know the timelines. Right here and right now, it’s probably not a big deal to waive Colina. Just my two cents. Best of luck to him in his recovery. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

I found a few references to "debridement" elbow procedures for other pitchers (and perhaps more have had similar operations without that specific term being used?). Colina's lack of recovery in 2021 and the "additional procedure" suggests his may have been more serious that others, though.

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2018/09/12/yu-darvish-undergoes-minor-elbow-surgery-in-dallas/

Quote

While we don’t know exactly what the procedure entailed, debridement is the removal of damaged tissue and/or foreign objects from a wound or joint in order to promote healing. In the case of the elbow, this most commonly involves removing bone spurs and/or other loose bodies, but could also include fenestration of the olecranon fossa (the thick, bony portion of the ulna that forms the “point” of the elbow).

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

FWIW, Rangers were 3rd in waiver priority. So Baltimore and Arizona each passed on making a claim for Colina.

[ashbury]

35 minutes ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

Might be more than a few days, as Colina is still on the 60-day IL so he doesn't count against the Rangers 40-man.

The Rangers will have to activate him by the 5th day after the conclusion of the World Series.

Good!  By then we'll be down to our 40 too, perforce, and if there's one more pitcher remaining we want to take a chance on losing, DFA him and snag Colina!

Oh, the Merry-Go-Round broke down
And we went round and round
Next time's the charm, we'll claim that arm 
And the Merry-Go-Round went
"Um-pah-pah, um-pah-pah
Um-pah! Um-pah! Um-pah-pah-pah!'

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Is he even going to pitch next year? A lot of angst over an injured minor league relief pitcher. The fear on this site that the Twins might lose a good player is amazing. Not just this move, but nearly every player people are worried about. Many of those posters also hate trading Berrios for prospects..... Which is ironic.

Well, the angst mostly came before the news of a second surgery. Plus I'd guess it's partly due to a general frustration of our pitching prospects consistently fizzling out year in and year out.

[operation mindcrime]

14 hours ago, Five minute major said:

Another aweful move by this FO regarding the 40 man.    What is up with the ineptness of the GM's of all our pro sports teams here.

 

Glen Taylor says hold my beer!!!!!! 

[TheLeviathan]

I guess my biggest takeaway, as of today and what Falvey said in that clip, is that the team is going to be aggressively remaking the 40 man.

I'll reserve judgment until we start to see more of how that comes together.

[Sousy]

24 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Well, the angst mostly came before the news of a second surgery. Plus I'd guess it's partly due to a general frustration of our pitching prospects consistently fizzling out year in and year out.

What's the axiom here: if you want a good major league pitching prospect you first have to have at least six minor league pitching prospects?

[2wins87]

Seems like kind of weird timing.  But also sounds like he won't be ready to start pitching again by spring training, so we're talking about a relief only guy who's pitched all of 1/3 of an inning in the past two years, and who knows when he'll be built back up to start pitching again.

[nicksaviking]

This makes so little sense that it really does seem like someone knows more than what is being reported. The fact that Falvey responded to questions about it the same day makes me think we're looking at an Alex Meyer/Nick Burdi kind of thing.

But if that's not the case and it's the FO just trying to be cute, that's a huge issue because it still means they're prioritizing non-descript vets.

Either way, we'll probably know the answer if Colina is pitching next spring.

[prouster]

I honestly don’t understand the consternation over this move. Colina has had two surgeries for the same injury in less than a year, and he virtually hasn’t played since 2019. Lots of guys throw as hard as he does. What am I missing?

[ashbury]

46 minutes ago, prouster said:

I honestly don’t understand the consternation over this move. Colina has had two surgeries for the same injury in less than a year, and he virtually hasn’t played since 2019. Lots of guys throw as hard as he does. What am I missing?

I think my unease with it is that the player clearly was seen as of value to someone, yet the FO couldn't swing an instant trade to get something back of value like I can do at will when I'm a general manager playing Out Of The Park. *

 

* In fairness, the game doesn't actually let me make trades either, until the WS is over.

[Danchat]

42 minutes ago, prouster said:

I honestly don’t understand the consternation over this move. Colina has had two surgeries for the same injury in less than a year, and he virtually hasn’t played since 2019. Lots of guys throw as hard as he does. What am I missing?

If so many guys throw that hard, why was half our bullpen rolling out AAAA guys who throw 91-92? It doesn't seem to be a problem for many other teams, but the Twins can never seem to convert these type of arms into effective MLB relievers.

[Brock Beauchamp]

6 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I think my unease with it is that the player clearly was seen as of value to someone, yet the FO couldn't swing an instant trade to get something back of value like I can do at will when I'm a general manager playing Out Of The Park. *

* In fairness, the game doesn't actually let me make trades either, until the WS is over.

In today’s Game of Tanking, I don’t believe waiver wire claims indicate value. The Rangers, in a word, suck. They’re going to suck for awhile. A 40-man roster spot is virtually nothing to them at this point, especially when they almost surely plan to waive Colina later and try to pull the same crap the Twins pulled. Why not just grab anybody who interests you even a little? There’s nothing to lose, really. 

[ashbury]

4 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

In today’s Game of Tanking, I don’t believe waiver wire claims indicate value. The Rangers, in a word, suck. They’re going to suck for awhile. A 40-man roster spot is virtually nothing to them at this point, especially when they almost surely plan to waive Colina later and try to pull the same crap the Twins pulled. Why not just grab anybody who interests you even a little? There’s nothing to lose, really. 

It's not like the Twins FO is new at this, but they chose a time that makes this easy for the Rangers, whereas they could have waited until after the WS and probably sneaked him through a little more effectively.

[ashbury]

19 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Falvey sounds pretty sure of himself

Really?  I thought I detected a note of flop sweat in that video.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, ashbury said:

It's not like the Twins FO is new at this, but they chose a time that makes this easy for the Rangers, whereas they could have waited until after the WS and probably sneaked him through a little more effectively.

Possibly. The timing of this makes me pause. 

[nicksaviking]

OK, I'm not a waiver wire guru or anything, but is it possible they did it now instead of after the WS, because with the playoffs going on, it likely took 10 teams out of the running to make a knee-jerk 40-man roster add?

[Boom Boom]

4 hours ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

FWIW, Rangers were 3rd in waiver priority. So Baltimore and Arizona each passed on making a claim for Colina.

That's interesting.  I would think that being claimed by the 3rd eligible team means that Colina was snatched up pretty quickly.  But I don't know the waiver system very well. 

[prouster]

4 hours ago, Danchat said:

If so many guys throw that hard, why was half our bullpen rolling out AAAA guys who throw 91-92? It doesn't seem to be a problem for many other teams, but the Twins can never seem to convert these type of arms into effective MLB relievers.

Lots of guys—not necessarily lots of guys on the Twins! 

[Otto von Ballpark]

58 minutes ago, Boom Boom said:

That's interesting.  I would think that being claimed by the 3rd eligible team means that Colina was snatched up pretty quickly.  But I don't know the waiver system very well. 

Any team can put in a claim on a player during the waiver period, and at the end of the period, the league awards the player to the claiming team with the highest waiver priority.

So we don’t know who else may have put in a claim after Texas, but yes, being awarded to the 3rd team suggests some interest. Compared to, say, JT Chargois who went to the Dodgers when they were second-to-last in waiver priority!

[KirbyDome89]

3 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

OK, I'm not a waiver wire guru or anything, but is it possible they did it now instead of after the WS, because with the playoffs going on, it likely took 10 teams out of the running to make a knee-jerk 40-man roster add?

Me neither but those 10 teams likely don't have the 40 man room that many of the teams who missed the postseason do. He only made it by 2 teams before TX took him right? 

[ashbury]

21 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Me neither but those 10 teams likely don't have the 40 man room that many of the teams who missed the postseason do. He only made it by 2 teams before TX took him right? 

Those 10 teams have 40-man cuts to make too, and their 41st men (respectively) are probably better than any of ours including Colina. Letting them make some of their cuts first, and have the bottom-feeder teams fill up on those, seems called for, the more that I think about it.

What WAS the rush?

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I was surprised to hear the Red Sox actually had a Rule 5 guy on their roster all year. So any in the final 10 maybe have room as well (and I’m betting are still checking the waiver wire).

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 hours ago, ashbury said:

Those 10 teams have 40-man cuts to make too, and their 41st men (respectively) are probably better than any of ours including Colina. Letting them make some of their cuts first, and have the bottom-feeder teams fill up on those, seems called for, the more that I think about it.

What WAS the rush?

That makes me think the rush was:

1. This front office wasn't interested in Colina for the next few months

2. They were trying to be cute (again)

First point, okay, Second point, STOP ALREADY.

[KirbyDome89]

5 hours ago, ashbury said:

Those 10 teams have 40-man cuts to make too, and their 41st men (respectively) are probably better than any of ours including Colina. Letting them make some of their cuts first, and have the bottom-feeder teams fill up on those, seems called for, the more that I think about it.

What WAS the rush?

100%. I don't know if there's necessarily a good rationale for the timing, even if the second procedure is a concern. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

On 10/6/2021 at 5:02 PM, gunnarthor said:

I thought, since he was on the 60 day IL, we could just keep him there until ST. Maybe I was wrong. I dunno. Colina isn't going to make or break anything but the FO has made enough head scratching moves that this could be another of them. Still, he's 25 with serious history of arm injuries. I don't like this FO but I'll reserve judgment for now.

According to AZPhil a minor leaguer must come off the 60 day at the end of their league’s year, 

stashing Colina on the 60 day until next spring wasn’t an option. Rule 5 roster setting needs to be completed by Nov 20, so this move was 5-6 weeks early, but some tough decisions are still yet to come.

I agree with you. Let’s reserve judgement on this to see how it all shakes loose.