Twins are moving Jax and Thorpe to the pen

[bighat]

I'd have preferred the Twins simply brought in better players to fill the BP roles. Jax had a 6.37 ERA last year, and Thorpe's got a career ERA of 5.79 and a career -0.8 WAR.

The fact that both of these guys are going to make the opening day roster doesn't make me feel any better about the Twins' pitching situation. Yikes.

[Otto von Ballpark]

1 hour ago, bighat said:

I'd have preferred the Twins simply brought in better players to fill the BP roles. Jax had a 6.37 ERA last year, and Thorpe's got a career ERA of 5.79 and a career -0.8 WAR.

The fact that both of these guys are going to make the opening day roster doesn't make me feel any better about the Twins' pitching situation. Yikes.

I don’t think this means they are both making the roster. The article doesn’t say that.

I’d actually be a little surprised if Jax makes it (barring injury or some kind of superlative spring performance). But relief can still be his role at AAA.

Thorpe has an easier path to making the roster — being out of options, he is probably penciled in as the last guy in the pen — but given his history, it wouldn’t shock me to see him on the IL or waived either.

[ashbury]

5 hours ago, bighat said:

I'd have preferred the Twins simply brought in better players to fill the BP roles. Jax had a 6.37 ERA last year, and Thorpe's got a career ERA of 5.79 and a career -0.8 WAR.

The fact that both of these guys are going to make the opening day roster doesn't make me feel any better about the Twins' pitching situation. Yikes.

I don't necessarily like it, but Joe Nathan had a 4.60 career ERA as a starter, and turned it around to the tune of 2.50 in the pen.  Glen Perkins, 5.06/3.09, would be another example.  Not every such move works, but if the braintrust thinks there's a chance, I'm not going to gainsay it before trying it.

[DJL44]

They should probably be making these decisions sooner so the pitchers don't run out of options before they try converting them. On teams with established pitchers in the rotation the only option for some is the bullpen. That makes the decision a lot easier. The Twins depth chart has been empty for years but now there should finally be a pecking order established. Players who are not at the top of the depth chart for starting pitching at Double-A or higher and are taking up space on the 40 man roster (Vallimont, Henriquez, Strotman) should get converted sooner rather than later.

[PseudoSABR]

This is how you build an actual quality bullpen with depth.  You take your marginal starters and convert them sooner rather than later.  Given the starting depth in the high minors, it's time to give these guys a chance in the pen.

[a-wan]

2 hours ago, PseudoSABR said:

This is how you build an actual quality bullpen with depth.  You take your marginal starters and convert them sooner rather than later.  Given the starting depth in the high minors, it's time to give these guys a chance in the pen.

True, but this move and also feel a lot better if Thorpe hadn’t already lost 3 miles an hour off of his fastball. Also they could take the many millions saved by trading Donaldson and signing relievers as well.
 

[Major League Ready]

On 3/17/2022 at 5:56 AM, bighat said:

I'd have preferred the Twins simply brought in better players to fill the BP roles. Jax had a 6.37 ERA last year, and Thorpe's got a career ERA of 5.79 and a career -0.8 WAR.

The fact that both of these guys are going to make the opening day roster doesn't make me feel any better about the Twins' pitching situation. Yikes.

There are many pitchers that had similar numbers and went on to be very good.  Remember Berrios his 1st year?  That said, I have no faith in Thorpe and would not blink if they cut him tomorrow.  I hope he proves me horribly wrong.

[Roaddog]

Saw somewhere Jax is touching 96 and consistently sitting at 94. I know he wasn't doing that last year