Twins Add Clete Thomas, DFA Tyler Robertson

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins just officially announced that Tyler Robertson has been DFAd so that the Twins can add OF Clete Thomas to the 40 man roster.

 

Thomas has had a terrific season thusfar in Rochester, hitting nearly .300 with nine home runs despite missing nearly two weeks with an injury.

 

Robertson, the Twins 3rd round pick in 2006, was designated for release or assignment, making him the second 2006 pick DFAd in the past week (Joe Benson, 2nd round). The left-hander debuted with the Twins in 2012 and was on the Opening Day roster this year. He struck out Prince Fielder in Game 3 in a crucial situation. The following day, he gave up a grand slam in a big situation to Chris Davis.

 

The Twins now have 10 days to trade, release or outright Robertson. Of course, to outright him, he would need to clear waivers.

 

There were rumors abounding that Thomas had a June 2nd opt-out as well.

[joeboo_22]

Why Robertson? I guess I don't understand baseball and 40 man roster moves, but I'd try with someone who is not a lefty reliever as there is no such thing as too many lefty relievers

[cmathewson]

My guess is Robertson still doesn't have his velocity back. He was throwing in the mid 80s when they sent him down. And he hasn't exactly mowed 'em down in AAA.

 

The opt-out clause on Thomas makes sense. I thought the Colabello move was oddly timed. But if they had to add Thomas or lose him, it makes more sense.

[gunnarthor]

My guess is Robertson still doesn't have his velocity back. He was throwing in the mid 80s when they sent him down. And he hasn't exactly mowed 'em down in AAA.

 

The opt-out clause on Thomas makes sense. I thought the Colabello move was oddly timed. But if they had to add Thomas or lose him, it makes more sense.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. Too bad about Robertson. I remember when we were all hoping he could be a big time starter for us. But he is walking 7/9ip in AAA right now. Ouch. Still, Toronto will claim him.

 

I don't know if losing Robertson itself is a big deal, although some might. I think Aaron Thompson could step in and replace him now.

[Mike Sixel]

Or they could have just lost a bad 29.5 year old OFer.......not sure why anyone is worried about losing Clete Thomas. Either way, I hope Seth is right, and this is all about playing the youth, and having an old player sit around and do nothing much.

[Kwak]

Will Thomas be added to the Active Roster also? If so, will there be a corresponding move from New Britain to Rochester (and who?).

[nicksaviking]

Still with 5 catchers on the 40 man. I guess I don't have much of a problem with DFA'ing Robertson, he is a lefty reliever but because of that the Twins could have given him more leash than he deserved. I'm glad they aren't concerning themselves with holding out hope on fringe roster players.

 

I'm ok hopeing Theilbar sticks and although I was never high on Pedro Hernandez, I don't know that production-wise he's much different from Robertson aside from minor league strikeout numbers which the Twins don't generally seem concerned with anyway.

[boylan]

This move makes no sense to me. Robertson seemed like he had potential last year and he's 25. He's got (had, will have?) +velocity,gets it done L-L, obviously walked a lot of guys mostly righthand'ers But, isn't he more of a prospect that Clete Thomas who is nearly 30?

 

Robertson is for sure not going to clear waivers. He might even be tradable.

 

Does this say something about Hicks?

[gunnarthor]

This move makes no sense to me. Robertson seemed like he had potential last year and he's 25. He's got (had, will have?) +velocity,gets it done L-L, obviously walked a lot of guys mostly righthand'ers But, isn't he more of a prospect that Clete Thomas who is nearly 30?

 

Robertson is for sure not going to clear waivers. He might even be tradable.

 

Does this say something about Hicks?

 

I think this is more of a 2013 move. Thomas is the only viable backup CF we might have right now. Hicks will have more rope but if they need to send him to AAA they needed Thomas, who otherwise would have left for an opportunity somewhere else.

 

Robertson has no trade value. At best he's a LOOGY, which are everywhere.

[TheLeviathan]

This move makes sense. Yay!

[greengoblinrulz]

How does Drew Butera survive been DFAd???

[jokin]

Will Thomas be added to the Active Roster also? If so, will there be a corresponding move from New Britain to Rochester (and who?).

 

Nate Hanson back up or Jordan Parraz, hopefully causing a down-line domino effect of OF promotions? (Fingers crossed.)

[jorgenswest]

He could be the third 25 year old lost this year. We have already lost Burnett and Benson. Building teams usually try to retain their younger players at the expense of older journeymen.

 

Burnett looks like the ultimate replacement level player as he has gone from Twins to Blue Jays to Orioles to Cubs (who have recently designated him). The loser in all this is Burnett. Baseball and the MLBPA need to fix this.

[gunnarthor]

How does Drew Butera survive been DFAd???

 

I'm honestly not sure but isn't he on a ML contract this year? So even if the Twins release him, they still have to pay him his 1m salary? And he isn't the worst player on the 40 man roster.

[LewFordLives]

With the emergence of Thielbar, there really is no spot for Robertson unless someone gets hurt. I'm not gonna lose sleep over this one. Having someone like Thomas who can play all three outfield positions is more valuable to the Twins at this point.

[gunnarthor]

The loser in all this is Burnett. Baseball and the MLBPA need to fix this.

 

I think fangraphs had an article on this. Toronto was sorta breaking the spirit of the rules with all their waiver claims. The idea was that if you claimed someone, they were supposed to have a real shot with your organization and not just be org depth.

[jokin]

He could be the third 25 year old lost this year. We have already lost Burnett and Benson. Building teams usually try to retain their younger players at the expense of older journeymen.

 

Burnett looks like the ultimate replacement level player as he has gone from Twins to Blue Jays to Orioles to Cubs (who have recently designated him). The loser in all this is Burnett. Baseball and the MLBPA need to fix this.

 

Do I detect any underlying groundswell for the call to the Twins for reclaiming Burnett? He basically has been given 3 full-salaried & all-expenses-paid tryouts- and picked up oodles of extra frequent flyer miles as a bonus. What needs to be fixed, and how so?

[IdahoPilgrim]

I'm honestly not sure but isn't he on a ML contract this year? So even if the Twins release him, they still have to pay him his 1m salary? And he isn't the worst player on the 40 man roster.

 

Careful...for some here those are fighting words.

[IdahoPilgrim]

He could be the third 25 year old lost this year. We have already lost Burnett and Benson. Building teams usually try to retain their younger players at the expense of older journeymen.

 

Burnett looks like the ultimate replacement level player as he has gone from Twins to Blue Jays to Orioles to Cubs (who have recently designated him). The loser in all this is Burnett. Baseball and the MLBPA need to fix this.

 

How is Burnett the loser in all this? If he were a better player, wouldn't he have stuck with one of those teams? Wherever you set the bar, there are always going to be some players who are just at that level - sometimes they can clear it, sometimes they can't. That doesn't mean the system is broken; it means that in MLB you don't give participation trophies - you have to be good enough to make a club want to keep you.

[nicksaviking]

I don't have much issue with the move, but did anyone else realize that the Twins now have as many catchers on the 40-man roster as they do left handed pitchers?

[Mr. Ed]

Or they could have just lost a bad 29.5 year old OFer.......not sure why anyone is worried about losing Clete Thomas. Either way, I hope Seth is right, and this is all about playing the youth, and having an old player sit around and do nothing much.

 

 

Agreed

[cmathewson]

Or they could have just lost a bad 29.5 year old OFer.......not sure why anyone is worried about losing Clete Thomas. Either way, I hope Seth is right, and this is all about playing the youth, and having an old player sit around and do nothing much.

 

Right. Thomas is the new Ramirez, who was the new Mastorianni.

[Gernzy]

How does Drew Butera survive been DFAd???

 

The sooner everyone realizes that this will never happen the better we all will be.

Honestly I'm sick of seeing this post everytime we make a move.

[joeboo_22]

This just doesn't make a ton of sense anyway you cut it. Is Robertson blocked? Yes. Is he a top prospect? No. But he is a lefty reliever with MLB experience who was putting up respectable #'s at AAA. Who is only 25 years old and could become a reliable LOOGY.

 

If the Twins felt they needed a backup CF, why didn't they just bring up Benson 10 days ago?

[stringer bell]

I'll comment on all of this: Clete Thomas does 0, nada, nothing, zilch for me. I'd rather they use Parmelee and/or Herrmann as backup center fielders (although that would be ugly if they ever played more than a sporadic game). I would have preferred the callup of Antoan Richardson, only because he is a leadoff guy, which this club sorely needs (I don't hold any illusions about Richardson's overall ability, but I think he would get on a fair amount).

 

Regarding DFAs. Burnett is a loser, because he has been shuttled all over the place without a real chance to perform and show anyone if he has the skills to be a big-league relief pitcher or not. The first third of his season has been rendered null and void, not from injury, but from coming and going. Counting spring training, Burnett has been assigned to eight teams--eight managers and eight pitching coaches. This is not how players should be treated and IMHO, it is not fair to Burnett to be a pawn in 40-man roster machinations.

 

Designating Robertson: I saw his best performance of the spring, a one inning job where he struck out two big-league RH hitters and got Joyce on an easy grounder to first. I asked Ryan if he thought Robertson had found himself and he replied that he needed to throw the ball like he did that night a lot more often. The velo has been down all year, from what I saw and from reports from Rochester. He can get a lot of minor leaguers out with 85 mph fastballs and a pretty sharp slider, not so much for major league hitters. I have a fondness for most guys that throw lefty, so I would have picked soft-tossing Hermsen instead, but unless both of these guys find a way to electrify their fastball, they don't have much future.

[gunnarthor]

This just doesn't make a ton of sense anyway you cut it. Is Robertson blocked? Yes. Is he a top prospect? No. But he is a lefty reliever with MLB experience who was putting up respectable #'s at AAA. Who is only 25 years old and could become a reliable LOOGY.

 

If the Twins felt they needed a backup CF, why didn't they just bring up Benson 10 days ago?

 

They have a ton of potential LOOGYs - Thielbar (26), Thompson (26), Hernandez (24) - who are all pitching better than him at AAA.

 

As bad as Thomas is, he's a lot better than Benson.

[whydidnt]

I don't really think Robertson had much of a future so, it's not really a big deal. Does anyone here think that Thomas had suitors lined up to grab him if the Twins didn't promote him? I find that difficult to believe with his track record. He's too old to be a prospect and we've seen enough of him at the ML level to know he's pretty replaceable. This is one of those moves that I don't really understand, because I don't see how Thomas helps the team, now or in the future.

[TKGuy]

Some team will want him and pay the pro rated salary, so I think it makes sense to do this rather than DFA him

 

 

 

I'm honestly not sure but isn't he on a ML contract this year? So even if the Twins release him, they still have to pay him his 1m salary? And he isn't the worst player on the 40 man roster.

[spideyo]

This just doesn't make a ton of sense anyway you cut it. Is Robertson blocked? Yes. Is he a top prospect? No. But he is a lefty reliever with MLB experience who was putting up respectable #'s at AAA. Who is only 25 years old and could become a reliable LOOGY.

 

If the Twins felt they needed a backup CF, why didn't they just bring up Benson 10 days ago?

 

Uh... By the time Ramirez got hurt, Benson had already been DFA'ed.

 

And really, if this team is building for the future, stockpiling potential LOOGYs seems kinda dumb. Better to hang on to guys like Pedro and Duensing who have proven that they can also spot start or pull long relief. A couple years from now when we potentially could have Gibson, May, Meyer, Sano, Rosario, Buxton, and others at the major league level, I will be THRILLED if our biggest problem is being short a LOOGY

[Shane Wahl]

There were half a dozen marginal players on the 40-man to choose from, and Robertson was one of them.

 

If things go as expected, Wilkin comes back at some point and Thomas is waived (and likely picked up by somebody). And it clears room in the minors for needed promotions.