Is THIS the Year for Jorge Alcala?

[USAFChief]

No.

 

[Aerodeliria]

8 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Alcala has options, plenty of them. It puts him as the odd man out for opening day without injuries or maybe the Twins not liking what they're seeing from Topa.

We've got quite a few of relievers Falvey picked up from the Island of Misfit Toys, and not all of them are likely to find homes on the 26 man. Plus injuries are inevitable so I'm sure Alcala will get some opportunities this year, I just don't think it'll be opening day.

Ha! I like this: 'Island of Misfit Toys'. I'm gonna start using it instead of 'scrap heap.'

[ashbury]

39 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Yes, having two spots that can be shuttled would be a better setup. Of course, an injury to one of the locks or out of options types and it is then the optimum situation. BTW, Winder is out until late May so he won't factor into decisions for the first third of the season. 

Guess that makes Winder an even longer shot.  😊. Thanks for the correction.

[Rosterman]

Hold back and start the season in the warmer environs of training camp if the Twins see fit (although it is WARM in Minnesota...amazingly). Then a bit of time in St. Paul. He will have to be on the roster at some point to showcase that he can handle the majors for real.

I'm hoping he does return and becomes a part of the Twins bullpen for a few more seasons. Always felt he had the stuff (but maybe not total attitude) to be closer material. Maybe he will get that chance elsewhere. Maybe not.

But I put more stock of him being in the pen in 25/26 than the mess of minor league free agents and aging bullpen arms that should give us at least one good season that the Twins can trot out for 2024.

 

[DocBauer]

59 minutes ago, ashbury said:

It's true.  But the trick is to do it without consuming too many major league innings in failed projects.  IMO the Twins aren't quite at the point of having to do it the wrong way, but they're cutting it close.

By my review of the 40-man roster a few weeks ago, these are the pitchers who can't be sent to the minors (service time, or 0 options remaining):

Pablo Lopez
Chris Paddack
Anthony DeSclafani
Brock Stewart
Caleb Thielbar
Steven Okert
Jay Jackson

And these are the optionable pitchers who are locks to come north anyway:

Bailey Ober
Joe Ryan
Griffin Jax
Justin Topa
Johan Duran

That's 12, and leaves room for one of these conventionally strong candidates (a month ago):

Jorge Alcala
Kody Funderburk
Josh Staumont
Louie Varland

Anyone who believes one of these is a lock, believes we have our 13, and there's no room for a "find."  Even with just the first 12, there's not a lot of room for maneuvering.  If those four don't make the grade, these are the longer-shots:

Matt Canternino
Brent Headrick
Cole Sands
Josh Winder
Simeon Woods-Richardson
Zack Weiss

If a non-roster invitee makes the cut, then Weiss or Sands probably gets DFA/waived.

Anyway, there's not a ton of wiggle-room for letting a long-shot do his thing.

 

Of course all this is "barring injury", which means it's not really definitive at all. 😀

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the great breakdown!

I think we all can agree, other than an IL for Desclafini, Varland begins the year at AAA, right or wrong, as Ober did a year ago. SWR and Canterino the same, though Cantetino MIGHT get some early AA time, IMO, in what might be slightly better weather to just his "groove on" plus a potential initial roster crunch at AAA as they sort out the arms there. Personally, I'd rather they just jettison some of the milb FA they brought in and just make room.

What your list proposes is the Twins have ONE bullpen spot available to begin the season, everyone healthy and ready to go, including Disco, who is a wait and see despite reports he's throwing and going to be ready.

Despite options or no options, barring an injury, Duran, Jax, Stewart, Thielbar, Topa are all locks. And I'd say deservedly so. Okert has a solid history and is also a probable deserving lock. That's 6 of 8 bullpen spots. 

You're right when we talk about the last spot, or two, being flexible for bullpen rotation. But if you have a solid rotation and pen, does that flexibility matter? Sands spent most of 2023 as a sacrificial lamb who barely threw at the ML level at times. 

So who fills the final 2 spots in the pen? Well, the re-invented Jay Jackson went overseas to find himself. And he has not options. And he did well for the Jay's last year. But his $ is negligible. So if he stinks, he costs next to nothing to let someone else to take his spot. How many others have we seen DFA the past few seasons and then go back to St Paul?  But Jackson is certainly a candidate to make the roster if he's actually showing something. And why not? Not to sound disheartened, but he'd be an easy DFA if things don't turn out. Can Staumont get his game together? If he can, he was a tremendous signing. If he needs more time, how do the Twins make that work? And he does have an option.

Meanwhile, there are the arms of Alcala and Funderburk, and maybe someone like Henriquez sitting and waiting. I DON'T agree the Twins have assembled some pen with no options. Point in fact there ARE pen arms with options, and only a couple of arms without options that could be easy DFA options for the last couple of spots if they don't produce. 

[arby58]

3 hours ago, Hubie29 said:

We have a bullpen of reclamation projects and guys other teams were willing to get rid of. Don't know where all the thoughts of a shutdown bullpen are coming from! 

I assume 'willing to get rid of' means players acquired by trade. By that 'logic' we would dismiss the performances of, in the past, Gray, Lopez, Ryan, and Duran - all acquired by trade.

The Twins have picked up some bullpen arms that way for this year - we can only hope that Topa and Okert are similar performing 'guys other teams were willing to get rid of.'

[Whitey333]

Good article.  It sure amplifies how fragile the bullpen is.  Spring is always a fun time for positive vibes about the Twins.  Acala?  Who knows?  I mean with injuries and all.  We've waiting 8 years for Buxton to prove all the hype correct.  Acala has only had about 4 years.

[Doctor Gast]

18 hours ago, stringer bell said:

His performance in the only year he put up a reasonable amount of innings was just okay and IIRC he really struggled with left handed hitters and home runs. It seems to be that he both needs to be healthy and make the adjustments to keep lefties at bay. 

Again, from memory, Alcalá had too many deep counts and was forced to groove too many pitches in the "whomp em" zone. I think he's got the stuff to be very, very good, but every team has several guys like that nowadays. 

Right you are. So what has he been doing to combat LHPs? Has he developed a new pitch? He has looked pretty good this ST,

[stringer bell]

58 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Right you are. So what has he been doing to combat LHPs? Has he developed a new pitch? He has looked pretty good this ST,

I haven't heard any word of a new pitch. Getting back to the upper 90s on his fastball would help against everyone and better command also. As I said above, Alcalá got behind on too many counts and grooved too many fastballs--if the count is 1-2 or 2-2 instead of 2-0 and 3-1, he has a lot better chance of getting outs no matter which side of the plate the hitter uses. 

[jmlease1]

6 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I haven't heard any word of a new pitch. Getting back to the upper 90s on his fastball would help against everyone and better command also. As I said above, Alcalá got behind on too many counts and grooved too many fastballs--if the count is 1-2 or 2-2 instead of 2-0 and 3-1, he has a lot better chance of getting outs no matter which side of the plate the hitter uses. 

His success will depend on whether or not he can command the changeup he was developing before the big arm injury knocked him out for basically the year. Alcala has been death to righties with the fastball-slider combo, but needed a different result to be effective against lefties. It looked like it was starting to come around, but we really won't know until he gets another shot at MLB hitters outside of spring training.

The velocity is looking like it's back where it needs to be, he's got a weapon in the slider, and if he can command the change he's going to be a very effective reliever if he can stay healthy. I'm a fan of his ability. He's got the talent to pitch late innings, not just be a 6th inning kind of guy.

What's unknown to me is how many innings he can pitch in a typical outing; is he strictly a 1 inning guy, or can he get 3-6 outs as needed?

[gman]

I think Alcala will have some good seasons in the major, I hope they are with the Twins. They spent a lot on talent (Pressly) and time waiting for him to make good.