Mike Clevinger still available

[jaimedude]

Would be nice to have another experienced arm in the rotation. Would allow them to work Varland out of the bullpen. Clevinger gives you innings and can pitch. Seems willing to accept one year deal now. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

Nah, we are good.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Clevinger's not what we need, but we do need a starter. I'd rather have someone we can stash in AAA as the 6th starter so Varland can be in the rotation from the get go. Too bad Jake Odorrizzi already got signed. There will be a spot for whoever we sign, if we do, at some point this year. Brad Keller maybe? 

[howeda7]

I know it's not ideal, but his situation isn't all that different than Miguel Sano's was.

[Squirrel]

Varland will be our 5th starter … who is our depth past that? Clevenger won’t be better than Varland, imo. If he wants to be minor league depth and pitch in AAA just in case, maybe.

[Mike Sixel]

Not interested. Why do they need another veteran? Four isn't enough?

[strumdatjag]

12 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Varland will be our 5th starter … who is our depth past that? Clevenger won’t be better than Varland, imo. If he wants to be minor league depth and pitch in AAA just in case, maybe.

 

8 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Not interested. Why do they need another veteran? Four isn't enough?

Who is our depth?  You ask!   Randy Dobnak 2.0.    Josh Winder is still around. SWR will be at AAA.  David Festa is probably ready after a few months at AAA.    
None of that may wow you, but there is some depth. 

[nicksaviking]

Just sign Jonny Cueto or Matthew Boyd to a MiLB deal and stash them in St. Paul in case of emergency.

[GKuehl]

It all depends on whether the front office is authorized to spend any more money to sign a SP to a MLB contract or has to sign someone to a MiLB contract. It would be really nice to sign someone like Michael Lorenzen to a $6-8 million deal, which would be an absolute bargain, but that is probably out of our budget. 

I'd target Rich Hill, Matthew Boyd, Greinke, or Cueto on a MiLB deal that provides substantial incentives for their performance while in the majors. 

[Doctor Gast]

11 minutes ago, GKuehl said:

It all depends on whether the front office is authorized to spend any more money to sign a SP to a MLB contract or has to sign someone to a MiLB contract. It would be really nice to sign someone like Michael Lorenzen to a $6-8 million deal, which would be an absolute bargain, but that is probably out of our budget. 

I'd target Rich Hill, Matthew Boyd, Greinke, or Cueto on a MiLB deal that provides substantial incentives for their performance while in the majors. 

Rich Hill is a great guy to have around

[sweetmusicviola16]

12 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Rich Hill is a great guy to have around

Rich has hinted that he doesn't feel up to a full season. Which may explain why he is still available. Sign him up, activate him sometime in later June and see what you have. That may fit in great with our needs anyway. 

SWR and Headrick are likely our first fallbacks. I'm good with that. Then Festa.

[Danchat]

I'd love to stash Clevinger at AAA, but seeing how he pitched last year I doubt he settles for that. 

[jaimedude]

Probably a little panic to the pitching injury news. Thought Clevinger might help is. Varland would be a really good 7th or 8th inning guy. Not sue he has stamina to be a long term starter for Twins

[jaimedude]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

Just sign Jonny Cueto or Matthew Boyd to a MiLB deal and stash them in St. Paul in case of emergency.

Cueto can still go a little, if they could sign him to Milb deal that would be good. 

[Greglw3]

3 hours ago, jaimedude said:

Would be nice to have another experienced arm in the rotation. Would allow them to work Varland out of the bullpen. Clevinger gives you innings and can pitch. Seems willing to accept one year deal now. 

 

I’ve been writing that on Twins twitter for a while now. He pitched well last year and is 1 more year removed from injury. I’d sign him tonight!!!

[Greglw3]

32 minutes ago, jaimedude said:

Probably a little panic to the pitching injury news. Thought Clevinger might help is. Varland would be a really good 7th or 8th inning guy. Not sue he has stamina to be a long term starter for Twins

I agree wholly with you. Clevinger had a 3.7x ERA last year, 1 more year removed from injury and now sans Thielbar and Duran, Varland would be perfect and proven at up to 100 MPH and effective in late innings. That’s what they should do. Sign Clevinger to a 1 year deal w team option tonight!

[Doctor Gast]

2 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

Rich has hinted that he doesn't feel up to a full season. Which may explain why he is still available. Sign him up, activate him sometime in later June and see what you have. That may fit in great with our needs anyway. 

SWR and Headrick are likely our first fallbacks. I'm good with that. Then Festa.

Rich Hill is a great mentor, he could help a lot with some of our prospects

[Tbrooker11]

I would say this is dependent on him coming in and starting the year at AAA on a MiLB deal. Career 3.45 ERA would be nice to add to the mix, but I would rather see what Louie can do to start the season (I wanted Louie over DeSclafani to begin with). 

But if Clevinger can be added purely as depth it would be a no brainer in my opinion. But there are quite a few guys out there who would fit that profile. 

[Oldgoat_MN]

I prefer 'self delusional' to 'stupid', but I marvel how I was starting to think Canterino could be healthy & helpful this year. 

The cancer has clearly spread to my brain. 

[Aggies7]

5 hours ago, GKuehl said:

It all depends on whether the front office is authorized to spend any more money to sign a SP to a MLB contract or has to sign someone to a MiLB contract. It would be really nice to sign someone like Michael Lorenzen to a $6-8 million deal, which would be an absolute bargain, but that is probably out of our budget. 

I'd target Rich Hill, Matthew Boyd, Greinke, or Cueto on a MiLB deal that provides substantial incentives for their performance while in the majors. 

Doesn’t say too much about the state of things if we’re considering Rich Hall a desirable starting pitching candidate. No offense to the man but he’s 44

Giants just signed Snell

[Shaitan]

24 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Doesn’t say too much about the state of things if we’re considering Rich Hall a desirable starting pitching candidate. No offense to the man but he’s 44 and started 5 games last year 

Giants just signed Snell

Alternate take: nobody wants any of the pitchers named to throw 120+ IP. They want a roster filler to pitch 50-100. One could argue that means that pitching isn't such a weakness after all. 

I think they just prefer a known quantity versus a rotation on the AAAA shuttle in the SP5 spot.

[Aggies7]

23 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

Alternate take: nobody wants any of the pitchers named to throw 120+ IP. They want a roster filler to pitch 50-100. One could argue that means that pitching isn't such a weakness after all. 

I think they just prefer a known quantity versus a rotation on the AAAA shuttle in the SP5 spot.

Fair enough

[David HK]

Get. Him. Now. 

[CRF]

No way do I want Hill back. Lorenzen would be my choice. I'd settle for Clevenger, but I can't see that happening. Probably, we'll just do absolutely nothing. I think if we were going to do something, it would have been done already. 

[Shaitan]

23 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Fair enough

Not sure what my personal take is. I think I'd only want them to sign a "difference maker" and none of those are available right now in the Twins' price range. But none of the names here move me.

Edited March 20, 2024 by Shaitan
one s/b "none" lol

[Doctor Wu]

On 3/19/2024 at 7:06 PM, CRF said:

No way do I want Hill back. Lorenzen would be my choice. I'd settle for Clevenger, but I can't see that happening. Probably, we'll just do absolutely nothing. I think if we were going to do something, it would have been done already. 

The Rangers just signed Lorenzen so the options are getting fewer. I don't quite understand the negativity about Clevinger. I'd be happy to give him a chance at this point. I think we will need that extra arm in the rotation early in the season.

[FilthyMogwai]

Yes. You can never have too much pitching. And none of the Twins' starters, outside Pablo, have shown that they can be successful over the course of a full 30 start, 180 innings season.

[JD-TWINS]

On 3/18/2024 at 3:54 PM, LA VIkes Fan said:

Clevinger's not what we need, but we do need a starter. I'd rather have someone we can stash in AAA as the 6th starter so Varland can be in the rotation from the get go. Too bad Jake Odorrizzi already got signed. There will be a spot for whoever we sign, if we do, at some point this year. Brad Keller maybe? 

I know the organization doesn’t want to spend more but Clevinger threw 131 innings in ‘23 and managed to compile a 9-9 record for the brutal White Sox. He threw 2 complete games, so there is some stamina. His ERA was 3.77 and his career ERA is 3.45.

Ober in ‘23 was 8-6 with a 3.43 ERA in 144 innings.

Ryan in ‘23 was 11-10 with a 4.51 ERA in 161 innings.

Lopez in ‘23 was 11-8 with a 3.66 ERA in 194 innings.

Odorizzi didn’t pitch in MLB in ‘23 ……didn’t pitch in ‘20……...he threw 104 & 106 innings in ‘21 & ‘22 with ERA’s of 4.2 & 4.4…….he’s a crap shoot at best and not someone to rely upon. At his best, he’s a 12 start depth guy IMO……does not give any feeling of value at this point in his career.

[LA Vikes Fan]

I hear you but I think the real choice is Clevinger in the rotation with Varland in St. Paul, or Varland in the rotation with a veteran AAAA guy like Odo or Brad Keller as the 1st line of depth in St. Paul. I like Varland in the rotation better, but I also like him better as the AAA depth. Tough call.  

[LA Vikes Fan]

Actually, now that more time has passed this Cleavinger Idea might work. He isn't ready to break with the MLB club having missed spring training. Give him a 1 year MLB deal with an opt out on May 15. He spends 6 weeks in AAA building p and showing he's ready to go. The chances are at least 50/50 by May 15 we have at least one starter who need an IL stint or is ineffective. If not, he opts out and goes somewhere else. Same logic would apply to guys like Julio Teheran, Brad Keller, or even Johnny Cueto.